The Most Important Thing I Did All Week
C2E2 wrap-up. Plus: Buc-ee's vs. Wally's
Hey, there! Periodic reminder that I’m Clay Adams, writer of BLAZING BLADE OF FRANKENSTEIN and DREAMQUEST, co-writer of CARMILLA UNBOUND: 1973, and co-editor of the NIGHTMARE THEATER horror anthology. You probably signed up for this newsletter on one of those Kickstarters… or maybe we met at a signing or con? In any event, glad you’re here. Pull up a seat, grab a beverage of your choice, and feast your eyes on the latest news…
Hey, how was your weekend?
Mine was spent (finally) recuperating from C2E2. Which I’ll tell you about in a sec, but first…
Only $200 away from slaying our first stretch goal!
Over at the campaign for DREAMQUEST 2, you came out in force to fund us in the first 48 hours. Now we are rapidly approaching our first stretch goal at $7,500.
At that point, we'll unlock a digital bundle of bonus books for everyone at the Digital Deluxe Tier and up.
What books, and how many? That's up to you, in a sense, because we are unlocking 1 comic for each 50 backers.
So far, that's 3 bonus books (almost 4!). How many we'll end up with is anyone's guess. But we'll let you know about them as we unlock the extras.
As for Stretch Goal #2... that's at $10,000.
And we're gonna need a bigger book.
Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, this comment just popped up on our page:
Thanks for the kind words, John! This totally made our day. As always, we appreciate the support!
(If anyone wants to join the cool kids—e.g., John—and see what all the fuss is about, you can click the images above, or…)
C2E2 Wrap Up
A couple Wednesdays ago, Mick Beyers and I hit the road to Chicago for our first C2E2, but our first stop may have been the most important thing we did all week:
For the uninitiated, this place is like Walt Disney opened a gas station.
The toilets are pristine.
The food is…edible.
But the snacks?
We then hit the road again, but our next stop was probably the most important thing we did all week:
For the uninitiated, Wally’s is a knock-off of Buc-ee’s.
But it’s better, because they sell gummy coke bottles, the greatest of all car snacks.
We then hit the road again, pausing long enough to see family in St. Louis (thanks Jen and Lyle!), but our next stop was probably the most important thing we did all week:
We unloaded at C2E2! And got our badges!
They were the wrong badges, and security wouldn’t let us onto the floor the next day, but we were blissfully unaware of that in the moment.
Because our next stop was the most important thing we did all week:
That’s right! We took in a game at Wrigley Field and watched the Cubs beat the Astros. Mick saw his first MLB game, and I lost the 50/50 drawing (again).
Afterwards, we hit up Graham Crackers Comics to pre-game for the convention. While we were there, Esau & Isaac Escorza, the art team of TMNT: The Last Ronin, surprised everyone (shop employees included) by dropping in and signing every copy of the book the store had.
But we couldn’t stick around, because our next stop was the most important thing we did all week:
Hero Tomorrow’s Ted Sikora dropped by and we grabbed a quick dinner (and toured a speakeasy!).
But it was off to bed early, because the next stop was the most important thing we did all week:
The con!
After security wouldn’t let us onto the floor, we got the badge situation sorted (sorry whoever’s badges we had!), and finished setting up our booth.
And that’s when the fun began, because we got to meet some of you.
If you stopped by the table to say hi, thanks for helping us put a face to your name. It was a genuine pleasure meeting so many of you in person (who knew you all lived in Chicago?)
In addition to several Yu-Gi-Oh! fans, we saw Frequent Friers Glen Pappas, Courtland LaVallee, Bret Juliano, Alex Breen, Alton Simpson, Jerry Willoughby, Kurt Zauer, Max Hoven, James Mascia, Michael Dolce, Onrie Kompan, Chris Brimmage, J.D. Oliva, Steve Bryant, Anthony Stokes, Pat Shand, and a few more I’m sure I’m forgetting to mention (apologies!). I’m an old man, it was a whirlwind, and I don’t remember so good without pictures.
Speaking of!
As much as I enjoyed being on the show floor, my next stop was the most important thing I did all week:
Eating my way through Chicago was a highlight of the trip, and I will never forget the fantastic meal Mick, Ted Sikora, Chris Brimmage and I had on Saturday night (still dreaming of that Branzino!).
We were joined at the meal by comics luminaries David Finch and Klaus Janson.
(And by joined, I mean they ate at the table next to us. But I like to think they were thrilled to sit next to the next generation of great comics creators.)
Alas, all good things must come to an end, and after the show on Sunday, we packed up and hit the road.
Because the next stop was the most important thing I did all week:
Typing all that out, I’m exhausted all over again.
See you next year, Chicago?
Clay