For the families who lost someone 10 years ago. This country owes you so much more.
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Birthday Present!
Scanned for Your Enjoyment:
I recently went through a physical folder of fanart and caricatures and other goodies, and scanned the pieces I have been collecting. It’s easy enough when you get fanart in your email inbox and you can quickly post the jpeg and be done with it. But there is something really special about receiving a physical piece of fanart, sketches and the like. And these pieces deserve to (finally) make it up on the Z&F website.
New York Comic Con Welcome Gift!
Today I am featuring 2 pieces by the Lunchtime Sketch Master, Marc Lapierre. I have known Marc for a long time now (first met him at the first New England Webcomics Weekend), and have tuned in for all of his projects… whether it be SpookyDoofus or working with Brock Heasley on The Superfogeys or his wonderful Popketch collection. Marc is proof that the more you sketch, the more you LOVE to sketch, and try to expand your horizons and draw DIFFERENT things, the better you will become. Practice like the practice is more fun than “really” working.
So, as one of his “lunchtime sketches”, I received a birthday sketch of my guys a year ago. And when I arrived at the hotel in New York for the NYCC in 2010, I found a funny little gift waiting for me. I forget why the pony came up, but I am assuming I asked jokingly for a pony upon arrival. Like, a real one. Naturally. This one was much better, and less smelly.
Social Media Meets Comic Conventions!
You have probably seen a couple blog posts about some fancy-shmacy convention I’m attending, and thought “Gee, if I only had the money/time/could travel that far…..”. I hear ya, my friends. For this very reason, my friend Ryan Fisher has started the “DigiCon“, which is a fully ONLINE convention and the first of its kind! This time, I’m COMING TO YOU! Through your computer.
With only a headset and a webcam if you choose, you can interact with your favorite webcomic artists, like myself and my fellow Webcomic Alliance members! Ask for sketches and commissions and watch them do it LIVE! Plus, buy books and merchandise from them, listen in on live panels on different subjects, and if you’re a fellow creator, this a great chance to network!
More Reasons Why DigiCon is BETTER than Regular Cons:
- No lines
- No smelly bathrooms (unless you never clean yours!)
- No need to find or pay for parking
- None of that pesky walking around, or figuring out the floormaps
- What jet lag? What recovery time? What gas prices?
- Your favorite kind of snack foods! Because it’s at YOUR house! Order a pizza if you want! Or Chinese! Hire a caterer! Okay, that’s a little crazy.
- Webcams are still cool little gadgets.
- YOU CAN DRINK BEER! (or whatever you please…. this actually helps enhance the experience)
I will be available THIS WEEKEND at DigiCon’s video chat from 12pm-3pm on BOTH Saturday and Sunday! I’ll be drawing live, taking commissions, and goofing around with other creators and fans! I hope to see you there!
Although a cartoonist cannot ALWAYS cater to his/her readers, I am always open to hearing suggestions, advice and reviews from you guys. After all, you are the ones who keep Z&F going. I may have come up with the concept for the strip and have the drive to do it for 5 years now, but on those days I am just not feeling up to sitting in front of a computer to create another Z&F comic, thinking of the readers who stick by me and these little alien dog creatures helps me to focus. You have generously left me your opinions in the Z&F Survey that has been open in the past few months. Thanks to everyone who took the time to complete it. I plan to take the majority’s preferences in mind and try to implement those improvements. This means I have announcements and some changes down the road for Z&F, but first…
The results of the survey thus far:
Back from Baltimore, and letting everything sink in. I can now say that I have a soft spot for the Baltimore Con…. not just because I can stay with my good friends Howie and Shelley of TaraNormal (who have the cutest pugs!)… and not just because Baltimore is a great little city… but because this comic con is known as the “antidote to the San Diego Comic Con”. What that means is, Baltimore is a COMIC con. Not a pop-culture and celebrities and movies and TV and other assorted paraphernalia… and oh yeah comics… convention. The focus is truly on comics here, and the big celebrity in attendance was none other than Stan “The Man” Lee. The best part is the atmosphere this creates— a crowd that isn’t in a rush to get in line for an autograph…. they are happy to mosey through the aisles and check out new and indie comics, and that is the perfect atmosphere for someone like me. When you TRIPLE that attendance, which DID in fact happen at this year’s Baltimore Con- even got capped on Saturday due to the fire marshall’s concerns, it results in one of my best conventions ever! The only reason it’s not right at the top is only due to it being a 2-day con, instead of 3 or 4.
