Zub Tales

I grabbed takeout Chinese Food earlier this week. While cleaning up my kitchen counter tonight I saw the fortune cookie I’d forgotten to crack open… *crunch*

Cute. Now does that sound like a compliment or a warning?
Hmmmmmm.

A small part of a tattoo design I’m doing up for a friend:

I procrastinated on finishing it because I’ve been so busy. I think I also backburnered it because I’m intimidated at the thought of a person putting something I drew permanently on their skin. Tattoos can look so tacky when done badly and beautiful when done properly.

I finished the full design today after a few months of putting it off and making excuses. Hopefully they like it as much as I do.

I quite liked the fish part of it so I thought I’d share and also make an LJ icon out of it. Now you know.

More stuff later… thanks to all the people who commented on my Portfolio Gauntlet of Doom the other day.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot that my fifth comic portfolio building article went up at Newsarama. While you’re there also check out the other end of things in a brand new column by JMS about writing for comics.

So many things going on right now – it’s a bit dizzying.

After every convention I end up with a bag of promotional posters, hand-outs, keychains, postcards, magnets – you name it. 90% of it is total crap.

But sometimes the really bizarre ones are gold in their own special way.

Looking at this ad we were given for an upcoming model kit, I’m not quite sure what I would have named:
“Sexually posed under-age anime girl wearing crotchless pants riding a chicken tailed rocket chair.”

But lickety-split, the Japanese have an answer. They call it:
Rooster Booster

It really does speak for itself. Sometimes the industry I’m in scares me.

New York Comic-Con was an unexpected blitz in the midst of February. I’d never even been to New York before, so I knew it would be an experience.

I think this near-exhausted/stunned look was locked on to my face all weekend.

A lot of those brutal clichés about New York seem quite true now that I’ve experienced them first hand. The taxi that picked us up from the airport sped through unbelievably busy streets with no regard for pedestrians or the speed limit, cutting off people at will and honking madly at anyone stupid enough to get too close. Gripping the ‘Holy Shit handle’ on the car door, I wondered if our dental records would be enough to identify us with.

Trying to curb the financial hit of having this extra con on our schedule, we booked a hotel in New Jersey. The hotel was right after the Lincoln Tunnel – a mere 10 minute drive from the convention centre. What we didn’t anticipate is that taxi drivers DO NOT want to go to Jersey. Manhattan is so packed that they pretty much always pick up a new fare each time they drop another off. Going to Jersey means driving back 10 minutes without a fare in the back. In turn, they demanded outrageous amounts for making the trip. After setting up our booth on Thursday, the whole crew was exhausted and we just wanted to rest. Finding out that a 10 minute cab ride to the hotel was going to cost us $60 was just the icing on the cake. Next time we book a place in Manhattan proper.

February weather there was brutal. The wind cuts into your flesh like a knife and the buildings create frozen gusts that practically push you sideways. Hustling amongst the crowded streets from spot to spot was tough because we didn’t know the neighborhood in the slightest.

The above makes it sound like everything was awful. It wasn’t actually. The weekend definitely started off rocky but it did get better.

The city speeds by as I cross the Brooklyn Bridge.

When the show started, it was quite good. Crowds were thick, sales were good and fan reaction to the Udon products was very strong. Having our artists sketching for people solidly throughout the weekend was like a tractor beam that kept peoples’ attention. There was almost always a mob in front of our booth compared to everything nearby us. On Saturday there was way more people than the convention staff had anticipated, causing the fire marshal to limit the amount of people allowed in the building. Although there were pissed off people with tickets waiting outside with tickets, it inadvertently became quite the advertising when people heard the show was filled to the brim and should make next year even more successful.

The crowds pile up and stretch down the street 3 hours before the show opens on Saturday.

Quite a few people recognized my name and complimented me on the column at Newsarama, which was pretty flattering. A few others asked for Makeshift Miracle sketches too. The steady con schedule from past years is paying off in recognition now, with lots of pros and exhibitors having a better sense of who I am. Here’s hoping that equates to more opportunities by summer’s end.

Friday night I ended up crashing on Chris Butcher’s hotel room floor because it was too late to grab the bus back to Jersey and I wasn’t willing to pay the taxi fare of doom. Walking to the convention the next morning in the same clothes, I stopped in to giant department store that opened at 6am to buy a t-shirt, pair of underwear and some socks, changing when I got to the convention centre. It was a bit surreal.

New York reminded me of LA. Amazing streets and areas where the tourists congregate surrounded by disgusting, destroyed areas of town. New Jersey is unbelievably filthy and smelly, at least all of it that I saw anyways. Time Square is an explosion of light and motion like I really haven’t seen anywhere else. Being there late, late into the night and realizing that visibility was practically the same as daylight from all the lit-up signs and gigantic screens was something else. The next time I have a chance to visit there I’d like for it to be in the Spring or Fall with milder temperatures and the ability to explore more.

City lights overload.

It was busy and exhausting. I never imagined con season would kick off so early.

Typing this quickly from Erik’s brother’s hotel room. In a weird state of synchronicity Erik’s bro is here in New York for a series of business meetings so we were able to use his room as an HQ after we checked out of our hotel this morning.

Busy times. My back is spasming pretty bad after some serious exertion over the weekend. New York was good, bad and ugly – the whole spectrum. Not enough time right now to cover it all but I will try in my next post from home. Apparently I also have a new nickname – very odd.

Our flight is delayed and I won’t be in until late tonight. Tomorrow I have to bounce right into high school tours at the school. Then my actual March Break from Seneca begins… though it’s currently looking like that will be “extended” of a sorts due to the impending teacher strike. Most of the other instructors are wigged out by this. I’m frustrated that it will play havoc with the semester schedule, but okay with a break from work if it ends up happening that way.

Drained and sore, inside and out.

Text and photos later on.

Take care all,

Jim

Article #4 for comic portfolio building is now up right HERE.

I’ve got a decent plan for the articles now to carry me through quite a few, which should make it go a little smoother. Ideally I’ll be able to sit down and pound out 2-3 in advance to build up a buffer so I’m not writing them the day/night before they’re due to go up. People seem to be really enjoying the column so far, which takes some pressure off at least.

Last week was chaotic. This week will be moreso. I head out Thursday morning for the New York Comic-Con. Dammit, why is con season starting in February for crying out loud! Who thought this was a good idea? Madness.

Udon’s NY Comic-Con List

If you’ll be there, swing by the Udon booth to say “Hi” or otherwise track me down. I’ll be there with bloodshot eyes hoping to find new projects and opportunities for the gang. Maybe the Marvel editors will finally take a chance on the pitch Ray and I have, *sigh*.

Home now. Got in the door about 15 minutes ago.

The procedure went smooth and the surgeon was really great. My pre-surgery check-in was around noon, surgery at 2pm and I was back at my Aunt’s place by 4:30ish.

I’ve been following the directions, icing and taking all the pills I’ve been prescribed and so far recovery has been much, much better than anticipated. No typical “day after” throat or nose irritation from the anasthetic, no visible bruising, almost no swelling. I slept without more pain killers needed through the night and dabbing my gums this morning showed that I have little bleeding going on. That doesn’t mean I’m gonna go grab a steak tonight, but a speedy recovery is looking quite likely.

This afternoon I’m going to relax and eat some pudding. No point in pushing things and screwing it all up.

I’ve currently got my goatee in full effect since I didn’t want to aggravate the skin on my chin and cheeks. It feels a little weird when I look in the mirror and see that old look I had from college staring back, only now without glasses or contact lenses.

Gal told me Tuesday before I left that I’d probably be a “poster boy of recovery”. Here’s hoping that’s accurate. So far so good.

Behind the LJ cut you get to see my extracted teeth if you’d like. Not for the squeamish 🙂

Check these chompers out…

Tooth update:

Dental surgery is tomorrow early afternoon. All four teeth to be extracted. I’ll be totally knocked out for the full procedure. I’ve been desperately trying to get as much work front loaded this week so people will know what needs to be done while I’m out of commission and recovering. It’s sort of working, but I know things will still go insane anyways.

Everyone I’ve talked to about the tooth stuff has wildly different stories. They’re all either people who recovered in a day and were eating fried chicken within two days or were in absolute agony for 5+ days. There’s no happy medium.

I’m a terrible patient, just awful. When I get sick I’m surly and needy, clingy and emotional. I’m a huge suck. I hate being “taken out” of the Game of Life and being laid up in bed feels like that to me. There’s too much to be done and my groggy antibiotic and painkiller inundated body doesn’t feel up to the task.

Wish me luck.

The third of my new “One Step” comic portfolio building articles is up here.

Here’s links to the three so far:
One Step 1: Launch
One Step 2: Critical Eyes
One Step 3: Sketching It Up

I like doing the column, though juggling it with everything else has been a challenge.