The BLAM! Crew returned to the land of Chicago, where we exhibited at C2E2 (April 26-28). This was our first year having our own table set-up at the convention in Artist Alley (Table G17), and we had a great time getting to meet everyone who stopped by. Special shout-out to Jonboy Meyers who was an excellent table-mate, leaving us his space when he was switched to another area last minute. This meant we had even more room than expected to showcase everything that we had for the show, and we clearly needed it!
Friday:
Andrew E.C. Gaska and Chandra Free joined Adam Withers and Comfort Love for their panel “Let’s Make A Character”, which was an hour long seminar breaking down concepts on how to make a character and then inviting the audience to participate in creating a new character which would be formed and drawn on the spot. Now, our narrator (Katie Delz) was not in attendance at the panel, instead being in charge of the tables. But, you’re in luck! This panel was indeed recorded by the convention and will be posted here as soon as it is up. Super Secret sources inform us that the panel was super fun, and we even had a few people who were in the audience stop by the tables after seeing Andrew and Chan on the panel.
They both had signings at the Archaia booth that day (and every day, for that matter). Many thanks to everyone who followed the wise words of table guard/production assistant Katie Delz, and sought out either of our respective BLAM! members to get their prints and books signed.
The entirety of Friday was mostly to prepare us for the super madness that was..
Saturday:
Wow, was this a day! We had the chance to meet lots of fans of both The God Machine and SPACE: 1999. We let go of a lot of the Convention exclusive issues that day. We also sold out of quite a few of Chan’s prints to the lucky ones who arrived at our table early. We shall not forget this when we return next year!
Now, quite frankly, we wore ourselves out on Saturday. There was only one thing to do, and that was go to a Brazilian Steakhouse with some fine Archaia folk (Mike & Liz Kennedy and Mark Smylie), naturally. We got to meet and catch up with some multi-faceted and mulit-talented people such as Ben Templesmith, Andy Belanger, and Jeremy Bastian. We can safely say that everyone ate themselves into a shallow yet pleasant and deserved food coma.
Sunday:
Sunday might be the close cousin of Saturday in terms of how much we did. As the last day for the convention, The God Machine was 1 book away from selling out, and we had to replenish our supply for both TGM and SPACE: 1999 Aftershock and Awe. We simply could not keep a full stack on the table, so thanks to everyone who kept us busy with your hunger for books and knowledge and greatness! Ahem..
A cool factor of this convention was that while we did have to tend to a table, interviews, signings and panels, we actually had the opportunity to catch up with fellow creators and friends. Sunday night was spent catching up with Sean E. Williams, Comfort Love, Adam Withers and Bryan J.L. Glass, and meeting new friends (and fellow Brooklynite) Sheilah Villari.
We descended into late night madness. Below is the Board-Certified and State Approved photograph of our convention family: Andrew E.C. Gaska, Katie Delz, Bryan J.L. Glass, Chandra Free, Comfort Love and Adam Withers.
In the end, we loved C2E2. We wanted to give a huge thank you to the convention crew for being among the nicest we encountered, along with everyone who took a few minutes to swing by our table. Since we spent most of the time behind the table, it was really everyone who came by who made the convention for us.
Another special shout-out to Sarah and Catherine Satrun who were our other table mates. Super sweet and super cute art, we did a small exchange of art with them. We hope to see you all next year!
And with that, the grand daddy of all conventions known as San Diego Comic Con will be our next convention. We will not be having a table at this convention, but we will have some special things in store. Stay tuned to our site for news and information!
- The BLAM! Crew
