Capes-n-Babes

Yeah, yeah, yeah… I know. This one is kind of late but I hope you guys enjoy the couple of original caricature cards (and two My Little Pony cards as well) that I did at the one day Great Allentown Comic Con one day show this past Saturday.

On various podcasts I have done, I have often spoken about how important it is to establish and maintain relationships – not just in terms of creating a webcomic but in life as well. This past weekend is a prime example of that. For example, I wasn’t originally planning on attending the one day show in Allentown but I got a message from various friends that due to Hurricane Sandy, the show had a lot of last minute cancellations. So, having met and talked with the organizer, Christopher Wertz, I e-mailed him and asked what I could do to help and told him if I could find a place to stay on Friday night, I would come to the show and help him out. I was able to do that because I got to know Chris a little bit back in August when I attended his two-day show for the first time.

Back in August, my friend and former co-worker, Bob Kimble, suggested that I travel with him and his wife to Allentown and stay at his brother’s, Rick’s house. I got to meet Rick for the first time early this year at the Pittsburgh Comic-Con and had a great dinner with him, Bob and a bunch of my other webcomic friends during that weekend. Again, building and establishing relationships.

In August, I got to meet Rick’s wife, Sue and had a great time getting to know both of them over the course of that weekend. At the end of the trip, Rick told me to give him a call if I was ever planning another trip to Allentown. So, once I heard about Chris’ situation, Rick was the first person I contacted and, even though it was an absolute spur of the moment situation, Rick and Sue graciously opened their homes to me once again and I had another great time talking to them about all sorts of things Friday night.

So even though I know I gave both of them a shout out on Facebook yesterday, I again wanted to thank both of them for graciously hosting and letting me stay with them once again.

At the show, my Webcomic Alliance cohort, Dawn Griffin was there. She was also another reason why I decided to attend the show as well. And during Saturday, we talked about going to her place after the show, hanging out with her husband, Rick, and grabbing something to eat before my three hour trip back to Virginia. I got to know Rick a few months earlier when both of them made the trip to Virginia and stayed with me and my wife for a weekend so I was relishing the chance to hang out with both of them again too.

In the end – and given the circumstances of the show – I thought the turnout on Saturday wasn’t too bad. I made enough money to make the trip worthwhile but ion the end, I realized I didn’t actually decide to do the trip ultimately to make money. I did it for a number of reasons that ended up having little or nothing to do with monetary values. I got to spend time on Friday hanging out with two people I want to get to know better. On Saturday, I sat across from one of my Webcomic Alliance partners all day and got to talk WA-shop all day long as well as hanging out with two other convention circuit pals of mine, Bill McKay and Dan Nokes. Then later on, I got to have a great meal and hang with Dawn and Rick a few hours more before heading back to good ol’ Virginia. All in all, it was a hectic driving weekend but because of all of those friends I got to hang out with on Friday and Saturday, it made the trip well worth the travel.

And thanks to everyone who bought something from me on Saturday, I was able to treat my wife to a very nice birthday dinner at Olive Garden (her choice) last night so I thank everyone who bought a book or some art from me on Saturday! I very much appreciate it.

Now, go out and make your own relationships happen!