I had about an hour drive up from Orange County on Friday afternoon. I checked in at the Hyatt (the picture above is actually from my hotel room), then walked over and set up the table in the convention center. Not many people were there at that time… seems like most of them waited until Saturday morning to bring their stuff in. I got an early start on Saturday, not knowing what to expect. I was offered a free breakfast with my room, but the problem with breakfast is that it happens in the morning, and being a night owl, I’ll be sleeping until the last possible moment. I got to my table early enough that I had some time to walk around and get a sneak peek at the other tables. I purchased a 4-foot space (sharing an 8-foot table with one other exhibitor). By around lunch time, I decided that the other exhibitor was a no-show and hijacked their half of the table. I was off to a good start (and they never showed up the rest of the weekend).
Along with my art prints, I had posters, postcards, and business cards laid out for Vestigia. Despite the large FREE POSTER sign, not a lot of people were picking it up. On Sunday I decided to add a little “take one” note with an arrow pointing to the stack of rolled up posters… then they really started moving. Lesson learned: be very specific. I was wondering why people weren’t seeing it, then I did the same fucking thing to the guy at the table next to me. I asked him how much his posters were, and it was right there on a little sign -_-
There was a cosplay contest on Saturday. I’d have to say the most popular costumes at the show were Deadpool and Harley Quinn; there were way too many to count. I don’t know a lot of people that do cosplay, so I’m not sure how many are superfans and how many just like to dress up. That thought crossed my mind because I rarely saw any cosplayers stopping at tables to look at merch – most of them seemed to just be walking around hoping that someone would request a photo op. I think my favorite costume of the whole show was a guy dressed as Captain EO (look it up kids).
On Sunday I attended a panel where James O’Barr was speaking about the The Crow. I’m a huge fan of the book and the film, so the hour went by fast. It was very inspiring to listen to how he was able to retain the integrity of his property, and not just sell it off to Hollywood. I learned that he hand-picked the artists on the soundtrack – really cool. Do movies even have soundtracks anymore? …not at that caliber. It was also nice to hear that the new film is not a remake of the Alex Proyas film (what O’Barr called Brandon’s legacy). He said that the new director wants to to basically go shot-for-shot from the comic. Looking forward to that!
Lastly, I snapped some pictures of the prints I bought at the convention (shown below). Of course, I bought some from O’barr. He signed both prints and also my 20-year old copy of The Crow graphic novel. I also bought a Batman print from Ben Templesmith. Unfortunately I somehow overlooked that he would be attending, and didn’t have my copy of 30 Days of Night for him to sign. Next time!
So after my first experience as an exhibitor, I’m even more pumped to finish Vestigia. I think I have something that’s quite outside-the-box for the ending, and I’m anxious to see how it’s received.
