Photo by Geoff Carter, from the 2010 Emerald City Comicon.

The last time I tabled at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle was 2010. The show was relatively new, and only ran Saturday-Sunday. I was also relatively new (to the comic scene), and as you can see by the lack of items on my table, only had a few comics there to shill, and not much else. I had just entered the fray in 2009 with my lil’ publishing start-up, Pop! Goes the Icon, and although I’d done well locally with the first print collection of my own webcomic, The Utopian, the first issue of Omega Comics Presents, Pop!’s flagship anthology series, went over like a lead balloon … and almost had me throwing in the towel.

Well, it’s 2013, and in one week from today, I’ll be back in the City that Spawned Grunge for my first return to Emerald City Comicon since then. The show is now a three-day event spanning multiple levels and wings of the Washington State Convention Center, with a projected attendance of more than 80,000 comic-loving people. In the interim years, The Utopian went on to see four print comics, a collected trade paperback, and a sequel webcomic, The Utopian Foundation, that I really should be working on right now. Pop! Goes the Icon has put out four more issues of Omega Comics Presents, our first color one last year. We’ve published two anthologies, in 2010 and 2011, benefitting the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Foundation, with another on the way this year. We’re developing new and exciting properties on the publishing end, and personally, I’m collaborating with new talents to produce all-new comics such as Eastsiders.

So, if you visit Artist Alley table J-09 at ECCC on March 1, 2 or 3, there’ll be plenty to peruse and purchase, but mainly I hope you just stop by to say “hi” and chat for a few minutes. I don’t spend hundreds of dollars on travel to these conventions to sell a few books. It’s nice if it pays for the table or hotel, but for me, a successful comic book convention is one in which I make new friends, see old ones, and forge stronger relationships with the comic creator community in general. Plus, I like to travel, to see new (and old) places, and to meet face-to-face and beer-to-beer with people who are otherwise little more than organized pixels on a computer screen. Here’s a handy map to help find me:

Emerald City is a great show that, despite its growth, is still primarily about comic books, the people who make them, and the people who love to read them. If you live in the area, I highly recommend you attend (assuming tickets are still available). Hope to see you next weekend!