Carter Comics begins 2024:

My apologies for another long break between these blogs, but as you all know, life can really get in the way sometimes. After a nice a different Christmas traveling to spend time with family, and my first trip to New York, it’s time to get back to the business of Carter Comics. For 2024 so far, that means": Conventions big and small, finishing up the second half of a final comic issue, joining comic politics so to speak, and a fun new freelance project I got back in December.

COSMIC FORCE CROSSROADS FINALE PROGRESS: So far, all artwork phases are on schedule. I completed the pencils, inks, digital colors, and dialogue for Part One of the Finale in mid December shortly before my family Christmas trip This makes Crossroads Part One 51 pages total. When the new year began, I started illustration work on the first ten pages of Crossroads Part Two. The pencils and inks were completed near the end of January. In fact, the page 10 inks were finished near the end of my first 2024 convention: Pasadena Comic Con (more on that later). As of this writing on the first of March, I have completed the digital coloring process on all 10 pages of Part 2 earlier this week to wrap up February. It’s still looking like I will be able to finish Part 2 and wrap up this entire series by summer (end of June), and hopefully start on my first kickstarter campaign to fund the printing costs, as this will be an expensive 150-plus page trade paperback when both Finale parts are printed together.

2024 CONVENTION SCHEDULE: The Carter Comics Convention Circuit has been off to a pretty good start. It began with Pasadena Comic Con, and Simi Valley Toy and Comic Fest, two small, local, one-day shows that bring in the surrounding communities who may not be able to attend the larger shows such as San Diego Comic Con, Wondercon in Anaheim, Comic Con Revolution in Ontario, and LA Comic Con. My Artist Vendor experience at the Pasadena show was much better than in years past, especially my last year there back in January of 2020. Held at the Pasadena Convention Center, the event had been moved to a different and larger hall, and some in-demand comic/sci-fi celebrity signings. The latter had attendees lining up at least an hour before showtime as I was setting up my table along other vendors (I was placed in the lobby area outside the main halls). My sales and overall crowds were slightly better than 2020, but still an improvement. I even had a creator I met back at the 2022 San Diego Comic Fest who picked up my first issue at that event, purchased my second and third issues at the Pasadena show. Along with some sales of my Cosmic Force trades, another big highlight of the Con was meeting martial artist and actor Taimak, best known for playing Leroy Green (Bruce Leroy) in the ‘80s kung-fu comedy/musical cult-classic “The Last Dragon.” He was such a humble and nice guy to chat with as we took two photos together. I of course, had to mention that it was the first movie I remember watching at 4 years old with my family, and that it just gets more entertaining the older I get. Lastly, there was a trading card show in the same building, but in a different hall. While there was some overlap with the items for sale, both shows seemed to do well. Overall, a great first show to start the convention season in Southern California. The next, and most recent show I did was last Sunday’s Simi Valley Toy and Comic Fest, which took place at the Grand Vista Hotel. Both this event and Pasadena Comic Con were run by the same promoter, with this show being held in a much smaller venue. The main draw was Yu-Gi Oh and Pokemon voice actors. I got slightly better sales than last year, and got to chat with a vendor buddy I met many years back as San Diego Comic Fest. This show’s highlight was talking with producer and storyboard artist legend Larry Houston. I met him back in 2017 at a convention in Santa Clarita, and due to an unfortunately low turnout, got to talk to him for at least 40 minutes on his animation career, working on my favorites Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, and the 1990s X-Men animated series. This time, we spoke about both my comic series on the table, as well as my favorite X-Men episodes, before ending the conversation with high hopes for the new X-Men ‘97 cartoon premiering on Disney Plus in mid-March. My next show will be Wondercon at the end of the month. It will be my ninth Small Press vendor appearance there, and I once again look forward to meeting various attendees, making some big sales, chatting with vendor friends, and all other kinds of great stuff. Stay tuned for the highlights next month!

CAPS SECRETARY AND FREELANCE WORK: Last, but certainly not least, I was recently blessed with two comic and art-related opportunities recently: the first, was a freelance art project illustrating scenes for a puzzle book. The project’s creator approached me back at Los Angeles Comic Con back in December, explaining what he was working on, and asked if I would be interested in creating the art for the book. After signing a contract emailed to me, I completed two Illustrations for an agreed pay rate so far earlier this year, with two more illustration opportunities that were recently sent my way. It’s always alot of fun getting paid to do what you love, no matter what the cost. I was also elected secretary of the Comic Arts Professional Society board, of which I’m a member. I put my name in the election hat back in December, and now I will be doing such duties as creating the organization’s newsletter, recording meeting minutes, occasionally setting up our monthly Zoom meetings, and maybe much more. I first attended CAPS meetings as a guest of a member (an artist friend I met at a local convention) back in 2013, and continued to attend until I became a full-fledged member four years later. Currently, our organization is reaching out more to new artists/writers/cartoonists/animators to join us, with one of the bigger incentives being able to promote and sell your work at various Comic Conventions across Southern California for free, thanks to complimentary booths that the Comic Arts Professional Society receives at certain events. There are also annual creative professional banquets, auctions, and art workshops some members are a part of. Stay tuned, as there are several creative endeavors coming down the pipe.

That concludes this month’s column, which covers most of the previous month’s happenings for Carter Comics. I should be able to return for another blog update next month talking about how Wondercon went, as well as my freelance gig, the first month as CAPS secretary, and many more happenings. See you in April, or May!

A Historic time for my homestate:

My birthplace of Honolulu, Hawaii has had increasing traffic problems for the last 50 years or so. What has also happened during that timespan, were constant plans and debates over a metro rail system. At least five Mayors since the late 1960s tried to construct an elevated train line from west to east across the island of Oahu, and each time they were met with opposition from other politicians and some of the public who refused to let it happen for various reasons such as construction costs and low population to support it at the time. June 30th, 2023 made history for the aloha state, as the most recent rail plan that was actually approved and began construction back in 2011, finally opened its first of three financed segments. The 4th of July opening free weekend for the train, called “Skyline,” drew big crowds of residents and some tourists. Many of those residents in the crowd had been previously frustrated at the mismanagement of the project, with some calling for it to be torn down, but the experience of finally riding it (with many having never been on a metro rail system) did help to open their eyes a little bit at the potential this project will have on not just island commuting, but island life in general.

While I was unable to fly back home for this important island event, I watched the many local news live broadcasts online of the opening ceremonies, and finally the first group of residents taking their first ride on the first metro train in Honolulu as it left the Halawa Station near Aloha Stadium. The first segment of Skyline is eleven miles of elevated guideway and nine stations, stretching from the east end of Kapolei and the new Ho’opili residential and retail development in West Oahu, to Pearl Harbor. The next segment will take riders from Pearl Harbor to the Middle Street Transit hub just outside the town of Kalihi, and just a few miles away from Downtown Honolulu. That second part of the project will include four more stations, with the most important one being a station directly connecting Honolulu International Airport. The guideway, tracks and stations have been constructed and are almost complete. An opening date of July 2025 has been set for phase 2. The third and final financed segment will run from Middle Street Transit Hub to the Civic Center in the town of Kakaako, just east of Downtown Honolulu, tentatively set to open in 2031. Currently underground utility relocation work is occurring east of the guideway near Middle Street in preparation of column and guideway construction. Now onto more of the first segment opening day. Many Hawaii political dignitaries spoke at the opening ceremonies, including a few of the mayors who dealt with the project. Then the public finally got their chance to use the escalators, elevators, or stairs to reach the platform and take the very first train from Aloha Stadium to East Kapolei. Many were in awe of such unique US rail accessories as platform gates at the station, to having fully automated trains. The big impression made on island residents, were the 50th state views from the rail cars. Residents and tourists alike couldn’t get enough of seeing the island landscape from a 30-foot elevated perspective. There were even a few buildings and houses that I didn’t recognize from that viewpoint, and I was born and raised on that island.

Throughout the free opening weekend from June 30-July 4, most residents and visitors rode the train back and forth for both a first time experience with rail, and for the views. Some came from areas far north of where Skyline’s service runs. While new passengers were mostly pleased with the rides, there were some issues that were raised: Operation hours are extremely short, from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, and from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends and holidays. This was apparently a contract decision by the train manufacturer, and would cost more to operate if the initial hours ran longer. Department of Transportation officials (who are in charge of Rail operations) have stated that hours will be increased (probably to midnight) once segment to opens to the Airport and Middle Street. Another issue was parking. Currently, three of the first nine stations have park-and-ride lots. There was some confusion with DTS and local news mentioning other stations with smaller amounts of parking stalls. The East Kapolei station, at the west end of the Skyline route does not have parking, but the next station near UH West Oahu does. That did create issues with illegal parking on a nearby bike path and grassy area fronting the first station. Future plans include a park-and-ride lot at East Kapolei station, and an initially cancelled 1600-stall parking garage at the Waiawa station. The last, and honestly most annoying complaint about Skyline: no bathrooms. Thinking it over, I believe that this complaint is base in alot of inexperience most Hawaii residents have with a rail system. Restrooms at metro rail stations are not common, and are usually found at large transit hubs like a Union Station in New York, DC, Los Angeles, etc. I can speak from experience for the LA Union Station bathrooms, that they’re unable to be cleaned on a regular basis, and can be known for some criminal activity. It really frustrates me that of all the issues people had with the Skyline opening. a lack of bathrooms seemed to be #1 on the list. There don’t seem to be alot of restroom complaints with bus stops. Some bus transit centers do have bathrooms, but much like beach parks and community parks, they’re dirty and very sketchy-looking, so most would rather not use them. Also, Skyline’s first segment is a 20-minute ride each way, 40 minutes round-trip, with trains arriving every 10 minutes. Compared with the long and inconsistent bus travel and arrival times specifically in the suburban and rural areas (some buses can run every half-hour to an hour), I don’t really see what the problem is. Regardless, DTS mentioned that some stations had bathrooms available by request, but later strongly suggested folks use porta-potties placed at the east end Halawa station for the opening event. It was just alot of inconsistent messaging going on. Rail and bus connection feedback seems to be 50/50, depending on what connecting bus routes are used. A limited stop express bus connecting the Halawa Station to Downtown Honolulu, Ala Moana Shopping Center, and University of Hawaii at Manoa has been reported to run very frequently at 10 minutes. On the other hand, some new circulator buses connecting western suburban areas to the west end rail stations have had some issues. A few were delayed, running 40-45 minutes instead of the ideal 10 minutes. To me, these connections are the most important of the four Skyline issues I listed. Passengers should be able to get to town faster with a rail-to-bus connection from parts of the Waipahu community that are within walking distance of the two stations located there. Other areas farther west of the rail line or closer to the east end of it, will likely keep taking a single bus to work or school, and wait until the next segment can take them closer into town, which is understandable.

Regardless of what anyone’s complaints are with the Skyline’s construction since 2011 (cost overruns, guideway and track issues, changes in the completion date), or the first open segment of Skyline (doesn’t go into town yet), this is a transformative project for the future of Oahu. Going back to the fact that many island residents have not used a metro rail system until now, it will have to be understood that rail projects can not only focus development near their stations, but also change your quality of life by simply having more options to travel, and planning commutes or weekend outings in a different way. While the first nine stations go from farmlands transitioning to housing and retail, to existing suburban communities with just a few major businesses near stations, there is the potential for Skyline station events to keep people excited about using the rail line. It can be small farmers markets or music festivals at the west end stations for example, but it will be fun activities for families while kids are out of school for the summer. The Aloha Stadium station, while the stadium itself is officially closed and set for demolition and redevelopment into a new smaller stadium and entertainment complex in several years, the Aloha Flea Market Swap Meet still occurs in its parking lot on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Folks can easily take a car free trip on Skyline to get there and back. The Pearlridge station is just a short walk from the indoor mall of the same name, where you can get off the train and do a little shopping, breakfast or lunch, or go see a movie. There are also a few popular local eateries that are near the Pearlridge, Waipahu Transit Center, and Waiawa stations. Probably the most peculiar station from a location standpoint, is the Waiawa /Pear Highlands Station. It sits in the middle of a former banana patch and current freeway interchange between the communities of Waipahu and Pearl City, near two tall condos and the Pearl Highlands Shopping Center. The aforementioned 1600-stall parking garage that was in the original plans for this station got cut due to lack of funds, as well as a dedicated freeway off-ramp for drivers and buses to feed into the station. A larger issue is the dangerous pedestrian access, with just one crosswalk on a narrow stretch of highway connecting nearby residents to the station. For now, DTS officials are trying to boost new bus service doing drop-offs and pickups at the station, but a longer term solution for walking access would be a pedestrian footbridge connecting the station with the upper level of Pearl Highlands Center, which has small shops, a food court, and a movie theater for Skyline riders to use. Another separate problem with development along the line are the impending closures of the last two major grocery stores in Waipahu: Times Super Market, next to the Waipahu Transit Center station, and Don Quijote, next to the West Loch station. It is very unfortunate that both stores are set to close at about the same time next year, though they are being replaced with mixed residential and retail structures that provide better pedestrian access to each station. My only hope is that both store can still be incorporated into the residential structures, such as having the affordable housing units placed on top of what would probably be a smaller version of the supermarkets. No matter what happens, the community will desperately need a grocery store, so I feel that would be the best compromise.

I am still very happy for my homestate for this milestone of the largest project ever built on the island. There’s so much potential with the future segments that will serve Honolulu Airport, Honolulu Community College, Chinatown, Downtown Honolulu. I think that once the simultaneous construction of the guideway into downtown, while trains test the airport segment, some of the remaining naysayers will join others who rode the first segment and are clamoring for more. While financing was only available to downtown and not the original terminus of Ala Moana Center, cutting a west-east commute in half by passing freeway traffic overhead on Skyline will be such a game-changer on its own, I feel that the public will support any way to get to Ala Moana, then the University of Hawaii, then back west to Kapolei and maybe even farther west to the Waianae Coast. Some always mention a Waikiki extension, but I actually don’t think that’s needed as much as people think. I believe that a station serving the entrance to Waikiki, while on the way north to UH would be fine, as the rest of that area is very walkable. Even a spur line to serve Central Oahu towns Mililani and Wahiawa should be in the cards. Skyline is truly the gift that keeps on giving, and over time with each segment opening, Oahu residents will begin to realize that.

Conventions from May through June, and Cosmic Force issue 7 progress:

A lot of comic and non-comic news has happened since the last blog (I will be doing a separate non-comic blog later). the months of May and June were still fairly busy in terms of larger conventions and new smaller local events. Even the middle of our current month in July has a few more things brewing with the Cosmic Force finale project being half-illustrated, two magazine interviews, and a potential interactive in-store signing at a new local bookshop. As always, I will explain more below:

Pearl Con - Saturday May 13th at Daniel J Pearl Magnet School, Van Nuys, CA: This event is the best example of just how important it is to make connections at art festivals and comic conventions. I had no prior knowledge of this show until I got a random email from the promoter a few weeks before I was set to exhibit at Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con back in April. It turns out that the Pearl Con show organizer was one of my customers last July at the Reseda Summer Art Fest, and remembered both myself and my work. Her event was a fun little show taking place at the Daniel Pearl school parking lot for a car show, the front campus for opening festivities, and in their cafeteria for the vendors (which was where yours truly had been located). The show ran from 10-3, and attendees started coming into the cafe vendor hall from the outside starting at about 11:30 that morning. There were lots of students and parents supporting the artists by making purchases of their items, but the highlight for me was a guy who followed my Carter Comics Facebook page several months ago, and was the first to pick up a full set of Damn Tourist books from me. Not to be outdone in the show highlights department, were two friends of mine who helped me break down my table display and treated me to lunch at a hidden diner nearby. Overall, the show was small, but had a great positive vibe to it with students and parents that were very enthusiastic about the items each vendor had. I would gladly exhibit at this show again.

Comic Con Revolution - Saturday and Sunday, May 20th and 21st, at the Ontario Convention Center: I had previously exhibited at this show’s Artist Alley during its first three years of existence starting in May 2017, but sales and customer interest were very low for independent comics, or at least my particular books. I did get to participate in my first ever panel, and gained a new fan who was my very first customer when I set up. She purchased several books of mine and I did a requested sketch cover for her. Overall, it was never a show that I did very well at, so I took it off my convention list until this year. The Comic Arts Professional Society (or CAPS), of which I am a member, began purchasing exhibitor booths for other members to promote and sell their books and art (as well as CAPS) for free at various conventions, including this one. I ended up splitting a 10 X 10 booth with two other artist members for the Saturday and Sunday show, and unfortunately sold less than I did during my first three years in their Artist Alley. That area had now become separated from the main exhibit hall, where our booth was, and the artist friends I spoke with during breaks had different viewpoints as to how sales were. Some did very well on Saturday, but not so well on Sunday. Others didn’t do well on either day. A few asked why the CAPS table wasn’t in Artist Alley, but no exhibitor booths (which hold more people) were located there. I’m still on the fence about returning next year, but its hard to say no to a free table. Also, it was my first time tabling there since 2019, so I could do a little better at the booth for 2024. My fellow artists at the booth did suggest that for a corner 10 x 10 exhibit booth space, only two people should be there. Squeezing 3 or 4 people in a space that size dilutes the sales of all artists there, as each person will have limited space to advertise there work. It also confuses attendees as to whose work they’re looking at. Just some food for thought regarding a 2024 show.

Shangri-LA Market - Saturday June 3rd, in El Sereno, CA: This will go down as the single weirdest show I’ve ever exhibited at. Ah, where to begin: The area the event took place in, El Sereno, was new to me. Upon arriving, I noticed that there were no signs of the street being closed off for an outdoor market. After walking around a mostly desolate neighborhood on an early Saturday morning, I finally ran into other vendors who were also wondering where the event was. At that moment, the show promoter came out of a gate to reveal that the show was in her backyard! The book and art fair was spread out from a downstairs parking lot, to various sections of her yard around her house. I was set up at one of her lawn tables. All of this would be completely fine, if neighborhood customers came by to see and purchase our work. Instead, the promoter had a select group of friends come by the show, and most were brought up to a part of the yard where she and her other friends were hanging out. Needless to say, no sales were made, and hardly anyone coming by to look at my books. Other vendors didn’t fare that well either. It wasn’t all bad though, as one of the vendors managed an indie creator friendly bookshop. I was able to make a connection with him for future store consignment and in-store signing.

Nostalgic Comics Signing in San Gabriel, CA - Wednesday June 7th: My third comic shop signing of the year was not as successful sales-wise compared to the Comic Bug and Hi De Ho Comic shop signings I did back in April. While Wednesdays are usually chosen for signings due to it being new comic release day, it can depend on how many people are coming in to do so, which unfortunately were not alot. The cloudy and cool June weather could have also played a factor. Overall I just did 1 two for $10 book sale, and a commissioned sketch for a fellow artist vendor friend who came by. I did get to chat with the owner alot, who I first met a few years ago when he put together a local comic convention in East LA. He also had some forgotten ‘90s films on the TV when I came in to set up (Blankman, with Damon Wayans from 1994). I’ll try his shop again to see if there’s a busier Wednesday, or if he has a weekend event with a few other indie creators.

Anime Street Market at in Culver City, CA - Sunday June 11th: My most recent show of 2023 also happened to be on my birthday, but since it was a new show, I decided to give it a shot anyway. An outdoor event set up in the parking lot of Dreamworld Comics in Culver City (which was converted from a former gas station), this show had just enough space for about ten vendors, who all needed to bring their own setup supplies as well as merchandise (table chairs, pop-up tent). I was luckily able to borrow a tent from a friend living down the street from me, and I had everything else. After re-learning how to set the canopy up with the help of m vendor neighbor, the show unfortunately suffered from the same cloudy and cool weather that my previous comic shop signing did. The show ran from 11 am to 6 pm, but customers didn’t start coming into the parking lot on foot until around 2 pm. By 4 pm, very few new customers were coming in, so the promoter allowed us to leave an hour early at 5 pm if we wanted. I did just two sales (both 2 for $10 book purchases), with one of them being from a friend and former co-worker who lived in the area. There was talk by the promoter of doing the show monthly, but plans may have changed since there was no July event. I guess we’ll see if he feels it’s worth trying at least one more time.

Cosmic Force issue 7 and future events: There is currently a lull in shows for me at the moment. This may change by fall with a possible free booth at Long Beach Comic Con courtesy of CAPS. As I write this, San Diego Comic Con is coming up this weekend, where just about all of my indie comic creator and artist friends will be. I haven’t attended since 2012, and unfortunately don’t have the financial resources right now to have tried again this year, or even exhibit for the first time. I will get there eventually though. In the meantime, I have put my focus on completing issue seven of my science fiction series “Cosmic Force. In case you were not informed, I decided early last year to end this series in eight issues, creating a two-part finale that would serve as the third and final volume in a trade paperback. This decision was made in order for me to focus completely on my more popular series “Damn Tourists.” I currently have half of this issue in some form of illustration, so about 37 of a 67 page book. Since this was my first comic series, with its roots tracing as far back as 1988, when I made my first ten comics at 8 years old from legal sheets and construction paper, I have a lot of mixed emotions about its ending. It was still surreal completing the script last year for the final issues, and a little nerve-wracking trying to remember all the characters and storylines I now need to wrap up. There’s also some excitement involving one last story twist to the supporting characters, and creating a large backstory for some new characters. Then there’s the shock of what I am about to do at the climax of issue eight. While it will be some time before I start illustrations on part two of the finale, just writing it last year even surprised me for a moment. I’m realistically looking at a full completion date of December 2024, then launching my first kickstarter to fund it for the 2025 convention season, while I move onto scripting the seventh issue of “Damn Tourists.”

That is it for now. I will probably play next month by ear in regards to another blog, as I would like to write these when I have a lot of things going on the comic world. That may not be until September, so unless something changes, expect the next blog to happen then.

Enjoy your summer!

A busy April for conventions and in-store signings

Very busy. From three single-day local shows at the beginning of the month, all leading to a three-day convention in Las Vegas at the end of the month. It’s always great to gain a lot of momentum as a vendor in the form of multiple shows, no matter how they turn out for you. A schedule that starts out slow but ends up very busy can snowball into other vendor opportunities.

ANA-CON: Taking place at the Anaheim Central Library during the second Saturday in April, Ana-Con was a small local event that I had done once previously as a vendor way back in 2019. It is an event that is absolutely free for both attendees and exhibitors, but the other thing that stood out for me regarding this show is how the event dates are scheduled either before or after the spring extravaganza Wondercon, just a few miles away at the Anaheim Convention Center. The 2019 show took place before Wondercon, while this year’s event (which was also their return show since the pandemic) happened afterward. I feel that in both cases, you will get alot of families and single older adults who aren’t able to attend Wondercon, and flock to this show instead once they hear about it. Sales between the two shows I did were radically different, mostly because of what I had on my table. I did just one sale of $20 during Ana-Con 2019, though I had already done San Diego Comic Fest a few weeks earlier, and was low on my first two Damn Tourists issues. I instead brought a mix of Damn Tourists and Cosmic Force books to Ana-Con, which may have made my table setup confusing to some customers at the time. For this year’s show, it was all about Damn Tourists’ six issues for $8 each, my art portfolio, and my bundle deals (issues 1 and 2 for $10 altogether; all six issues for $40). I did much better, with three sales that totaled $50, which is not bad for a free table. I also really liked being able to park in the library parking lot right outside, instead of a church parking lot across the street that vendors had to do during the 2019 show. The only crosswalk far down at the corner. That made for some rough loading in and out for vendors. I would definitely do this show again next year.

COMIC SHOP SIGNINGS: It has been quite some time since the first and last two in-store signings I did in 2015 at Pulp Fiction Comics in Culver City, and at the former Meltdown Comics in Hollywood respectively. Since most shop owners like to schedule signings on Wednesdays during new comic release day to help ensure more customers for the creator, that usually means taking a day off work. As I am currently still unemployed unfortunately, I fortunately can at least take advantage of these mid-week opportunities to promote and sell my books. This brings me to my latest two in-store shop signings at The Comic Bug in Culver City, and Hi De Ho Comics in Santa Monica. I’m no stranger to The Comic Bug, as I have been in their flagship Manhattan Beach store several times over the years for comic creator meetings, and mini-conventions featuring a lot of fellow artist and writer friends of mine. I was also a vendor at their former Culver City location for Free Comic Book Day from 2017-2019. However, contacting them via their general website email about a signing in their new Culver City store was a different process entirely, as I didn’t expect much of a response due to them having so many other various emails to answer. Low and behold, I got a positive response that allowed me to set up shop in their shop on a Wednesday in April from noon-5 pm. The store, placed in a strip mall behind a larger shopping center, got decent traffic between 3 and 5 pm, which was when I made a couple of sales. It was a different story with the Hi De Ho Comics signing, as both myself and the owner are comic book creators, and members of the Comic Arts Professional Society. He gave fellow members a first crack at doing in-store signings at his shop, and I was more than happy to take him up on the offer. I did a few more sales in the afternoon at that shop, where my signing hours were also 12-5 pm. The owner also purchased a few of my books to sell in his shop afterwards. Much like Ana-Con, both signing events were free for me, so it was all profit, no matter how big or little.

AMAZING LAS VEGAS COMIC CON: All of those local events were leading to the big out-of-state one: The 2023 edition of Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con. Held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, this show returned from the pandemic hiatus back in September 2022. Their usual dates pre-pandemic were in June, but the promoters were unable to secure any weekends in that month. I had done this show three times before, but with a 4-year gap in-between, so it was hard to make a comparison with those shows to see how good or bad I do in Artist Alley there. To remedy that, I exhibited at the 2022 show, which was a rough return, as many artist tables and half the convention floor was empty, causing low attendance. I did ok in sales, but not what I expected for a three-day show. I tried it again last month, and I only did slightly better sales-wise. However, the show floor was filled with activities and booths from end-to-end, with a lot of special guests for attendees. My best showing at this event was back in late June 2018, where I was part of an 8-artist exhibitor booth (already paid for) that was near the front of the convention hall. While I didn’t expect to immediately replicate or surpass that showing, it seems that many of the same attendees who flocked to conventions before co-vid have either not returned yet, or may have moved onto other activities. Nonetheless, I decided to skip vending at this show based on my two consecutive years of flat sales. Unless I get another free shared exhibitor booth scenario.

And that was Carter Comics business for the month of April. As we get into the rest of May and later June, I have a few more shows on the horizon, specifically two that came completely out of nowhere. I also have one more comic shop signing, a guest spot on a podcast interview, two magazine interviews, and an offer later in the summer to discuss my work and a friend’s livestream program. Until next month!

Regards,

Allen Carter

Carter Comics

Wondercon 2023 and a busy April!

Yes, it has been another looooong while since my last blog, but I’ve been busy with both art, comics, and life issues. It took a reminder from a fan at Wondercon (who I first met in 2019), to help guide me back to both my email newsletter, and this column. Also with being recently unemployed in February, I found more time in-between job-searching to work on my penultimate issue of Cosmic Force, and set-up in-store comic shop signings during the week, which I will explain in more detail with two conventions I will be exhibiting at:

First: Wondercon 2023: This event’s second year back since returning from its two-year Co-vid absence back in April 2022, proves that you can’t predict customer behavior, no matter how much you try. Coming into the show a few weeks ago, I had a sense that my placement at the front of Small Press would have more consistent traffic that the back rows, which turned out to be true. However, I also participated in a convention vendor “Swag Hunt,” which gave attendees the opportunity to visit several artist booths throughout the show floor, have their playing cards checked by each artist/creator, and given a free prize (I gave out custom postcard magnets featuring the Damn Tourists outside of Wondercon). I was next to another artist friend who also participated in the game, which guaranteed traffic to my booth whenever people stopped by his. This is where the customer behavior predictions come in: My prediction was that people coming by my table would not necessarily sample or purchase books while I check my booth off their cards, but that passers-by would be intrigued by the people already at my booth and also stop by to browse my books and possibly make a purchase. This turned out to be false, as many players were focused on the game and not what was on my table (which is understandable since it is a new concept for the show). This behavior changed a little bit on Sunday the last day, with some book sampling and even a sale. Two different strategies I made at my table in terms of book sales: #1: Pushing book bundle deals for my comics such as a 2 for $10 deal for purchasing Damn Tourists issues 1 and 2, which run for $8.00 each. My main reasoning for this was that the first two issues take place in the same setting (Hawaii), making both books serve as a jumping-off point into the rest of the series instead of just the debut issue. #2: Re-introducing my sci-fi Cosmic Force series to this show only. Ever since returning to conventions last year, I decided to focus on promoting and selling just Damn Tourists, which had proven to sell much better going back to 2019 and 2020 shows (especially me selling out of all copies at Amazing Comic Con Aloha in Hawaii back in February 2020). In order to do that, I needed to end Cosmic Force (currently at six issues) in eight issues. Since the writing and illustration of the final two books would take another year or so to complete, I decided to take limited trade paperback copies to the show (CF Volume one: Issues 1-4, CF Volume Two: Issues 5 and 6, and a five-part Character prequel book called CF: The Before Times). I also did a bundle deal, charging $40 for purchasing all three trades, which run from $10-$20. In addition, I had a second retractable banner made that better advertised my company name, real name, and creative title at the top of the banner, bathed in my signature orange look. While sales were lower for me than last year, I still stayed at my sales threshold from Wondercon 2017, which made me satisfied with the show overall, and staying in Small Press, which historically doesn’t get as much traffic as Artist Alley with SP at the back hall of the show. However, the small traffic that comes by tend to make large purchases, and are more comfortable with the area not being shoulder-to-shoulder, as an area can get too crowded to the point that people don’t want to stop at tables. I’ve been in Wondercon Small Press since they first moved to Anaheim back in 2012, and while the area started getting low traffic once it was moved away from AA in 2017, I’ve always ended up doing well in SP overall, and MUCH better than other two-and three day Southern California shows. Who’s to say that I would do better in Artist Alley? Who knows? I could end up doing worse.

Second: CARTER COMICS’ FOUR APRIL APPEARANCES: Originally, my 2023 convention circuit was going to start slow, with one convention each month from January to April. Then the January show in Pasadena conflicted with a trip I was taking to visit a friend so I rolled over my table payment to the next year. February took me to Simi Valley Toy and Comic Fest (which I had done once before back in February 2020). March was all about the big show Wondercon of course, and April was just set to be about my fourth appearance at Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con. Then three fantastic opportunities popped up: The Comic Arts Professional Society organization that I belong to, sent an application link to be a vendor at Ana-Con, a small library convention in Anaheim happening in the middle of April. Then a cold email to The Comic Bug shop in Culver City to ask about doing an in-store signing was answered with a date, hours, and location confirmation to happen a few days before Ana-Con. Finally, I successfully rescheduled a shop signing at Hi De Ho Comics in Santa Monica a week after Ana-Con that was originally set for late February, but was cancelled due to me having to report for Jury Duty. So in preparation, I restocked quickly on the issues of Damn Tourists that I sold at Wondercon. It will be interesting to see just how many sales are made before I head out to Vegas at the end of the month. I have done Ana-Con before, which brings in alot of families for a small free event (for attendees and vendors), but I had a mix of my Damn Tourists and Cosmic Force books, so I didn’t have a clear idea on what folks were interested in. This time, I’ll just take the Tourist books, which will hopefully go over well with parents despite the name (Realistically in 2023, Damn is a pretty tame curse word, though I can jokingly call it ‘Darn Tourists for that day). In terms of the shop signings, I have done two of them back in 2015 in Culver City and Hollywood. Both of the upcoming signings are on Wednesday afternoons, which tend to get the most shop traffic for new book releases, with that same traffic being mostly people working in the area, rather than living nearby. I was confirmed of this for Hi De Ho Comics, but I’m not sure if that’s also the case for Culver City. I’ll email them about that as the event gets closer.

So, I think that’s more than enough going on for the month of April. While it was good to have all that rain and snow to help out with the California drought, hopefully we can have a bit of a break from that for awhile with all the driving to events that I’ll be doing in the next few weeks (and especially the 5-hour drive to Vegas and back). I promise to be back here next month to discuss the results of all these shows, as well as mention news for any upcoming events for May. Until then!

Wondercon Return, Damn Tourists issue six, and the end of Cosmic Force

Yep, three months into 2022, this is my first blog since last July. This is because, of course, I had very little still going on outside of remote work and my Damn Tourists issue six comic project, which I will elaborate on later. Through the continuous ups and downs up this pandemic with two more variants between July 2021 and March 2022, I was still wary of exhibiting at the few conventions that were returning (my only convention experience since the Co-Vid was attending LA Comic Con back in December as a professional). I didn’t have the best timing with the first two conventions I had booked for earlier this year (January and February) back in October, as the latest variant hit us hard, and I wound up cancelling my tables at those shows, while the shows themselves went on. Now in a March virus lull for now (fingers crossed), I have booked three more shows, and hopefully I am comfortable at exhibiting for all of them. I will discuss the first one so far, Wondercon Anaheim, that opens in less than two weeks. Also worth mentioning is my completion of Damn Tourists issue six in another month, and my decision to end Cosmic Force.

WONDERCON 2022: Hard to believe that the last Wondercon convention was in the spring of 2019. While they are definitely back for 2022, there are some changes and questions regarding the show. As of this writing, masks and vaccination proof/negative Co-Vid test proof are required (and will hopefully remain in place come showtime). Also, from an individual vendor’s standpoint, crowd interaction and table arrangement become big questions now. Aside from me just having my books, portfolio, and retractable banner at the booth, how do I keep my table as sanitized as possible, when the point of the show is for customers to touch items? Do I sanitize them immediately after a person leaves the table? Do I touch and hold items myself for customers to look at? Is it a mix of those two? Will I be understood in a large, noisy convention hall wearing a mask? Most, if not all of these questions may not be answered until day 1 of the show. On the flip side, it will be beyond fantastic to display my work in public again, as well as see vendor friends——most of which I have either not seen in person, or at all in almost three years.

DAMN TOURISTS ISSUE SIX: I am happy to announce that I am entering the home-stretch of my latest comic project: “Damn Tourists issue six: Dee-Cee!” What was once going to be a 36 page book has now been reduced to 33 pages, with all illustrations inked and ready to be colored. Dialogue will be the final step of course, before launching my first kickstarter to fund the printing costs. I was originally set to launch the campaign next month on April 1 (first day of Wondercon), but later decided to wait another month as I need more time to finish the book. Set in Washington DC, our clueless travelers in this issue are dealing with the threat of rain for the first time possibly ruining their visit, though it never goes beyond a few big raindrops. The rest of our nation’s capitol, full aware of what Florida put up with, decides to avoid dealing with the tourists as much as possible by selectively closing any attraction they approach. They also meet two younger “Damn Tourists” in training so to speak on the way and while in DC. They even try the Metro train system and rideshare for the first time (which they of course mistake for a cab). And I should not forget to mention their side quest to visit the commander-in-chief’s residence. All this and more oblivious and annoying behavior in “Dee-Cee,” available online and at conventions this June.

THE END OF COSMIC FORCE: I had been thinking about doing this for awhile, but was always swayed by the off convention or small indie comic event where I would get slightly more sales for this series, but the combination of selling out Damn Tourists at the Oahu convention in 2020 and focusing entirely on Damn Tourists issue six during the last eight months drove me to the ultimate decision to end Cosmic Force in the next two issues (an 8-issue series total), instead of the 12 issue series I was originally planning. I had to come to the realization that Damn Tourists is my stand-out series, getting reactions from convention passer-bys and if I mention it to people outside of cons. My customers, most of whom are new or lapsed older comic fans, are intrigued by such a unique idea for a book. Cosmic Force is a tough sell in a crowded market of science fiction and superhero team books, with just a niche audience. I’m actually going to put this to the test at Wondercon next month, and only take my Damn Tourist series. It is time I re-evaluate and streamline my Carter Comics operations, focusing on what my most successful series is to save time and energy since I am a one-man show after all.

Well, that is all for now. I will be back late next month to cover my first two shows back (Wondercon and San Diego Comic Fest), and talk about not only how they went sales-wise, but also how I felt working with Co-vid precautions (masking, heavy sanitizing, etc.) Until late April fans!

Damn Tourists issue 6, A return to conventions, and first kickstarter

Yes, long time no hear from, but as we all know, it has been a very challenging year and several months. Being fully vaccinated helps, but returning to outdoor and indoor activities with crowds is still a daunting task in the time of Co-vid. So far i have returned to using the LA Metro trains, waterfront boat rides, a fully-vaxxed family BBQ, and one-on-one outings with friends. The final activities I have yet to return to are working in the office (still working remotely), concerts, traveling, and comic conventions. In the meantime, I am hard at work on my sixth issue of the vacation parody “Damn Tourists,” and once that is completed, I will be venturing into new territory for me with my very first kickstarter that will help fund the book printing costs. This will be one of the three topics I will be expanding upon in my first blog after a LOOOOOONG absence.

Damn Tourists #6: “Dee-Cee” This 36-page story featuring our four clueless travelers with superhumanly-annoying vacation habits is making good progress. Currently, the first 10 pages have been inked and are ready to be digitally colored in Photoshop. This latest expedition by our obnoxious foursome has them driving from Florida (from issue 5) to the Washington DC area. Much like in the sunshine state, residents and officials in and around the DC Metro area are fully aware of what the Damn Tourists are capable of (thanks to news footage from issue 4 in Las Vegas and word of mouth from Florida) . Other states south of them are too, with Georgia, and the two Carolinas closing their states once the tourists enter them, and are pointed in the direction of our Nation’s Capitol. DC officials hope that an approaching storm will help steer the tourists away from their area and onto another state. The full storm never materializes beyond a few raindrops, however, and our travelers without a clue brave the “elements” for their next trip. Much to the complete disgust of DC officials and residents, our tourists (with an overpacking visitor they pick up from Florida and drop off at a DC train station) ride the Washington Metro Trains, visit the International Spy Museum, the DC Waterfront restaurants, and unsuccessfully search for the commander-in-chief’s residence, The White House. The entire book is tentatively scheduled to be completed at the end of 2021, and ready for conventions in 2022 (So long as things don’t get worse again in terms of the virus). That leads me into the next topic:

Carter Comics returning to Conventions: It has been fifteen months since my last show “San Diego Comic Fest.” Since that time, I have been communicating with other creators and doing interviews about my work via Zoom video and audio calls, and of course, producing more stories. If there was a silver lining to the lack of major Cons in 2020, it allowed me to get more books done in time for an eventual return to conventions. I completed the final two Cosmic Force Prequels last year, and then put all five 12-page prequel stories into one-60 page Trade earlier this year. As was mentioned earlier in this blog, I am currently working on Damn Tourists issue 6, which when completed, will even out the issues I have with my other series, the science-fiction Cosmic Force, also six books strong. As far as bringing this new material back to conventions, my current plan is to attend a small local show later in the month, and observe other exhibitors there to get an idea on what safety precautions I am going to make for both myself and my customers. Will I use a face shield to communicate better with customers? Will I have glass partitions and hand sanitizer on my table to protect my books and regulate who touches them? Or will I just pick up the book myself and show the pages to a customer? It will all depend on what I see at this local show, and also what Co-vid rules that venue may have. Simply put: Long-term planning of larger 3-day conventions (in or out of state) are off the table right now, as things are still not stable enough for me to do so. Smaller local 1-day shows will be the testing ground first.

Kickstarter Newbie: With the lack of Conventions last year, income for Carter Comics was flat. While I did get some money refunded from cancelled shows to purchase a few copies of the Cosmic Force project I finished, there won’t be enough funds left for the new Damn Tourists issue in production. That revelation lead me to finally planning my first crowdfunding campaign through Kickstarter. I am aware of how late I am to this game, but my convention sales have always been enough to pay for the book inventory that I needed for future shows. Since that is no longer an option right now, it’s time for me to get on the crowdfunding ball. After speaking with a few other fellow creators that have done Kickstarter campaigns, I decided to start slow with supporting other campaigns first, which will spread goodwill with other creators, while I learn different styles of online promotion. I am currently looking at February 2022 to launch my first Kickstarter that will fund Damn Tourists issue six, once it is completed at the end of the year. Some of the rewards I have in mind include custom time lapse portrait sketches, custom face masks, and my previous issues of Damn Tourists. Some of these plans could change in the coming months, but rest assured: A Carter Comics Kickstarter will happen in 2022, one way, or another.

And that’s gonna be it for this month. I can’ promise a return to doing these blogs monthly, but I will try to do more of them when I do have a lot to talk about (possibly toward the end of the year, as the completion of Damn Tourists issue six gets closer. Have a great fourth everyone, and I will be back up here before the end of 2021 at least.

10 Years of Carter Comics

Greetings fans!

These last two months just seemed to run together, with no event or moment specifically standing out to write about. So, I decided to cover them all quickly here: Throughout this entire 60-day period, I did manage to finish another Cosmic Force character Prequel, had an podcast interview I did featured in a kickstarter campaign, and got some more great social media feedback regarding my Hawaii Bus Sketches. With this being the 10th year of Carter Comics, I would like to cover the past decade of Conventions, Comic Shops, and Artwalks across four states, along with the many professional contacts, on-the-spot press interviews, sales, and friends I made.

THE COMIC CON CIRCUT - YEARS 2O10 TO 2015: My journey began on the 4th of July weekend of 2010 at Anime Expo in Downtown Los Angeles, when a co-worker and friend of mine several months earlier invited me to split an Artist Alley table at the event with himself and a friend of his. Both of us were coming into this situation blind, so we learned together how and where to get our books professionally printed (thanks Ka-Blam Digital Printing), had business cards printed out, and had change in bills set aside for cash purposes. The results of my first show were minimal but expected for a debut exhibitor outing selling western-style comic books at an Anime Event. However, it was all about the experience and rush I got when I made my very first sale of Cosmic Force issues #1 and #2 (these were the only books I had printed at the time). At the end of the show, it made me that much hungrier to try my hand at more events to gain experience promoting, selling, and most importantly, improving on my table presentation. Over the next two years, this would be a two-person effort, as my table partner/co-worker/friend and I were not quite ready to go solo yet with the minimal product and Artist Alley table experience we had at the time. From there we split tables at small and medium-sized conventions in Long Beach and Anaheim, before appearing at our first big-time show: Wondercon Anaheim in April 2012 (this would be the first of seven Small Press table exhibitions I would make to what became my best-selling show of the year). Then that inevitable split started: In October 2012 at my first and only exhibitor appearance at Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco. Since we worked at the same day job, and only one of us could take time off to keep our team fully staffed, we decided that I would try out my act solo at the Northern California event. I reached another Con milestone here, breaking the $100 sales mark on my books (which now included my current best-seller Damn Tourists), and a generally positive and excited crowd hungry for art and stories they’ve never seen before. Case in point: I had my first customer approach my table when I wasn’t even completely set up yet. I drove out of the Bay Area the day after the show feeling like a rock star. The following three years leading to the end of my Convention Circuit’s first half became a little financially difficult with the loss of my day job at the time, but I still managed to experiment with new shows big and small, expensive and cheap before things got really bad. Some of those experimental shows for me were Third Thursdays in Canoga Park ( a four-month stretch of Artwalks that happen once a week in the Western San Fernando Valley of Southern California), LA Zoo Comic Jungle (an outdoor comic event held in a pavilion on the Los Angeles Zoo grounds), Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con (my first out-of-state exhibitor appearance), and Tulare Sci-Fi Con (A new small-town show located several miles north of Los Angeles, between the cities of Bakersfield and Fresno). The attraction to that show was the offering of free tables to Artist Alley exhibitors.

THE COMIC CON CIRCUT - YEARS 2O16 TO 2020: Following two struggling years due to a lack of a day job (which resulted in fewer big shows and just a few smaller shows that I could still afford), I bounced back with LA Comic Con in 2016. During this time, I had increased my social media presence with art games like Mongoose Mondays and posting about my various convention appearances, been on various online podcasts and radio shows thanks to a local Con promoter at a show I did in Granada Hills (San Fernando Valley Comic Con) with alot of connections, improved on my table setup with large and professional shelves, table covers, retractable banners, and custom T-Shirts. and most of all: Added new issues of Cosmic Force and Damn Tourists. While my sales were decent at the LA show, it would be nothing compared to the sales I would do in 2017. That year marked my return to Wondercon following a two-year hiatus due to financial issues. Armed with a fourth issue of Damn Tourists, I broke the $200 sales threshold that spring weekend, and also selling out of my second issue of the series. My return to Northern California shows with Silicon Valley Comic Con in San Jose saw me outdo my sales at Wondercon by just a few dollars, but much like Wondercon, (and Alternative Press Expo before it), this Bay Area convention featured an passionate segment of attendees looking for independent books and art, which not only helped with sales, but more than kept my energy up at the standard 3-day long show, which can burn you out by the time you reach Sunday. The last two successful 2017 shows were two sleeper events: Open Arts and Music Festival in Glendale (near my current day job), and Reseda Rising Artwalk and Night Market. Both are free block-party style arts and craft fairs that close a block of a major street in their respective neighborhoods and include live bands, various independent vendors in tents and tables, and food. I made a total of $250 in sales between the two fall shows, as the customer base are mostly people that rarely or never attend comic conventions, and are presently surprised when they see that type of merchandise offered at an artwalk, so long as its as locally produced at any other form of art at the show. It was here that I also modified my table setup (specifically at the Reseda show), thanks to an artist friend with a canopy to keep the wind and direct sunlight at bay, as well as making my booth more presentable among everyone else’s. The last two years on my Con Circuit featured another new and exciting challenge: Flying my table setup to exhibit at out-of-state shows. While the Las Vegas show helped me learn about temporary sales tax permits and forms, 2019’s Awesome Con in Washington DC gave me a helpful lesson in packing my show supplies for a flight. While mailing them via UPS to the show’s state was another option, I preferred keeping my work, close to me to prevent having to run around in a new place to receive and ship my inventory. Like most firsts, I fell on my face when it came to packing, as I was well above the weight limit in leaving the Airport, which resulted in an additional baggage charge. Sales were not as good as the amount of people stopping by my table to watch me draw, but any kind of interaction helps my energy at a show. It was also very helpful of my sister to invite me to stay with her while working the show, and helping drive me back and forth to the show on the first and last days to set up and tear down my table. This experience made my two other Con flights to Colorado later that year in late May/early June, and to my birth state in Hawaii that much easier. The Denver Pop Culture Con was about the same as Awesome Con sales-wise, but with much less attendees stopping by, which really made those three days drag. Amazing Comic Con Aloha on my birth island of Oahu was my biggest milestone yet: A complete sellout of 50 books (10 issues each of my current 5-issue Damn Tourists series). I also got to participate in my second-ever panel with the Hawaiian Comic Book Alliance, which I’m a member of (my first panel appearance was at 2019’s Comic Con Revolution show in Ontario, California, where I spoke about how I fund my books). As the entire entertainment industry was within a few weeks of shutting down after my hometown appearance, it was a memorable and historic show to do. I was lucky enough to squeeze in one more show the weekend before the shutdowns and remote work kicked into high gear at the San Diego Comic Fest, but you could tell just how much things were changing, with news of event cancellations across the country posted online, people washing their hands more than usual, and trading hugs and handshakes for waves, fist, and shoulder bumps. At least that final show went well for me also, breaking $200 in sales (far from the $330 in sales at the Hawaii show, but still pretty good). I even got to do one final on-the-spot interview at my table.

So that is the first decade of Carter Comics in a nutshell. Am I bummed that my con circuit wasn’t able to continue the way I wanted it to? Yes. Did that stop me from producing new material? Absolutely not. Do I think that Conventions will return sometime in 2021? Possibly. Safety is key and the priority to not only reopen large events, but convince the masses that they will be safe. I could see smaller shows starting to come back by Fall possibly in September or October, but I would like to see shows before then pivot more toward virtual events, with Video meetings replacing the exhibitor/attendee experience as much as possible. As the saying goes, only time will tell, but hopefully our behavior combined with new medicine can make that journey back to physical interaction a quick one. Best wishes for 2021 everyone!

Regards,

Allen Carter

Carter Comics

Took a break from the art grind for awhile, but I'm back now.

Hello fans! While I normally post a blog here every month, it’s been very hard to maintain alot of schedules this year with everything going on in the world today. I also suffered some physical as well as mental exhaustion in these past two months since my last blog, coupled with late remote hours at my day job (including over a weekend). Now that things have calmed down a bit in that department, I can get back to informing you about my art projects and any other related happenings. Recently I made some fantastic progress with my latest comic in production, and went back to my childhood art roots which resulted in three times the social media reactions I usually get. So, let’s get started:

BACK PAIN: Not much happened in August outside of the usual timelapse art games, Mongoose Mondays, Live Art Agendas, and Comic Creator Zoom meetings. That all changed in early September (the week before Labor Day weekend to be exact), when I threw my lower back out one evening by simply overreaching to check my phone charge. Even though the worst of the pain wound up lasting about three days, I took a full week off of my art games to fully recover, which gave me time to actually relax and catch up on some favorite streaming TV shows. In hindsight, I think this was my body telling me that because I don’t relax like I should when I mentally burn out, it had to teach me a lesson physically. Rest assured, I won’t be defying what my body says ever again.

COMPLETION OF MY 4TH COSMIC FORCE CHARACTER PREQUEL: After my back fully healed, I made the slow return to finishing my latest comic: “Act Your Age,” the fourth out of a 5 total set of character prequels chronicling the early lives of the current Cosmic Force members long before they meet in the field that night to watch the meteor shower that changes their lives forever. As of this typing, all 12 pages have now been illustrated in some medium (pages 1-6 are fully colored, while pages 7-12 are pencilled). The purpose of these prequels are to help flesh out the five members of the Cosmic Force, who in the parent series, are stuck together dealing with their self-isolation from missing two years of their lives with the rest of the world declaring them dead, as well as trying to get a handle on each of their new abilities. Add in the newly formed government task force hunting them down with advanced weapons to eliminate what they feel to be an alien threat, and there’s not alot of time to focus on building one character, let alone five. For this prequel, we take a peek into the life of one of the two younger members of the group: Kevin Simons. Born in 1968 to parents Deborah and Wayman Simons, Kevin suffers a tragic loss early in his life when his mother dies of sudden heart failure when he is only seven years old. Now it’s up to just himself and his father to try and move on as best they can. Moving from a spacious house to a confining apartment, we see Kevin grow up over the years, graduating high school and landing the college internship at the local TV station he is seen working at in Cosmic Force #1. By the time we get close to the issue 1 timeline in the Prequel set the day before the October 1987 meteor shower, we find the nearly grown-up Kevin in a heated argument with his father, who is now pursuing a long-term romantic relationship with a woman for the first time since his wife passed 12 years ago. As father and son became much closer after the tragedy, it upsets Kevin greatly that a new person (who could possibly wind up as his stepmother) was entering the picture and ruining the relationship he has with his only living natural parent. Much like the previous three prequels, I had alot of fun building and expanding on certain character traits based on dialogue from the firth issue of Cosmic Force, where I first introfduce the estranged families of the team. The most fun to me was doing research in attire and technology from previous decades (mostly the 1960s and 1970s) to help illustrate their early lives more accurately, as most of these characters range from their late teens to mid-thirties in the late 1980s to early 1990s timeline. This story should be finished and ready to print by the end of October, which leaves me with just one more Prequel to complete: “It’s a Hologram,” about the early life of the second youngest member of the C-Force, Brandon Quitog.

THEBUS LIFE COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS: This new art project started last week at the beginning of October, but because nothing else happened at the end of last month, it’s getting mentioned here anyway. For those that have known me since my elementary school days in the 50th State, my first drawing subjects at the age of six were city buses. A big reason for that was how colorful Honolulu City Buses were painted, with tan, orange and yellow stripe designs on them. Also, the island of Oahu’s public vehicle fleet, simply called “TheBus,” had an assortment of different vehicle models that were assigned to specific areas, giving the fleet alot of variety (some had air-conditioning, others still didn’t). With that setup completed, I recently posted the first two of what will be many Honolulu City Bus color illustrations on social media. Not just the buses itself, but also capturing what life was like using TheBus as a main source of transportation growing up in the mid-to-late 1980s. So far, the first two illustrations that I shared from my Carter Comics fan page to Hawaii FB pages garnered three times the response I get posting my comic or timelapse art. Lots of additional likes to Carter Comics, but most importantly, alot of comments from current and former Oahu residents speaking out on their bus riding experiences through the years. It feels great to know that I was able to create something that struck an emotional chord with so many people, and it’s definitely something that I would like to continue, as I have started work on a third Oahu TheBus life sketch.

Well, that is it for now. As a change of pace, I will be back here in December for an update on both my life and art projects. By that time, I may have my final prequel book almost finished, and possibly several more Bus Life sketches finished. Hope you all had a great August and September, and will have a great October as well. See you all in two months!

Regards,

Allen Carter

Carter Comics

Just Kept myself busy for the month of July:

At this point, that’s the best any of us can do. Being home-bound since March 13th and only leaving my apartment for drug store errands around the corner, driving my car around the block to keep my engine running smoothly, or just going for a short walk around my neighborhood, there are only two constants in my life: working from home for my day job, and continuing to replicate my convention/artwalk/comic shop experience from my computer desk (which still includes the weekly Fanbase Creator Forum Zoom meetings that began four months ago) . After a rocky start a month and a half ago, I think I found my groove with three interactive art activities I perform across both Facebook and Instagram: The return of Mongoose Mondays, two timelapse illustration games on Tuesdays and Thursdays (both on FB), and a live art sketch plus agenda broadcast on Instagram. I also got to do a rare interview about my work, thanks to a trio of indie-comics-friendly individuals. So let’s recap last month in detail. as only I can:

CARTER COMICS @ HOME GOES INTERACTIVE: MONGOOSE MONDAYS: As I mentioned briefly in the first paragraph, my goal in these times of no physical comic book conventions or related mass-gatherings, was to reproduce that same energy with drawing a crowd to either my single artwork or comic books in an online format. Thus, the interactive illustration games Mongoose Mondays, Timelapse Tuesdays, Timelapse Thursdays, and Live Art Agenda Sundays were born. Now, to most of you reading this, Mongoose Mondays is nothing new, but the presentation of this game was retooled from a shot-in-the-dark guess with a few hints given, to a now multiple choice answer format. For those who may not be familiar with this game, Mongoose Mondays is a game I originally created seven years ago that feature a sketch of my cartoon character, Mr. Figure-of-Speech Mongoose. Mr. Mongoose likes to spend his quality time performing those everyday expressions, or “figures of speech” that we use everyday, but don’t really think about what they mean, such as “head in the clouds,” or “pushing the envelope.” Its current format is a photographed inked illustration posted on both Instagram and Facebook. I have even recently sketched two different “everyday expressions” to throw the online player off the scent.

TIMELAPSE TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS: The day after “Mongoose Mondays,” this game involves much more detailed illustrations, recorded in timelapse format from my phone as I sketch it. The subject: Realistic drawings of everything from celebrities, musicians, wrestlers, stand-up comedians, TV dads, and superhero actors that the player has to name as they watch the illustration come to life from the IG and FB posted video. To keep up with the alliteration theme, I do a second game on Thursdays, and create a theme for the two recorded drawings that week. I’m currently doing a Superman-themed week for the next few games, where I sketch various Superman, Lex Luthor, and Lois Lane live-action actors from TV and film over the years.

LIVE ART AGENDA SUNDAYS: I’ve done several different versions of this “Agenda” concept, from a quick social media live video, to just audio, to finally a mix of live video art with a short art and comic progress report for the week. These live drawings started out unrelated to the timelapse art themes, but soon I made them an extension of the twice a week recorded art, as I was running out of separate ideas for the Sunday concept. These “Agendas” currently run on Instagram live Sunday evenings between 7 and 8 pm Pacific time, with a shared version on my personal FB page (as I’m not always able to share them on my Carter Comics fan page).

INDIECOMIX INTERVIEW: One final but definitely exciting happening last month, was an online interview with fellow creative friend Tyler, along with his friends Brandon and Maddie. I went into detail about my “Damn Tourists” series, as the interviewers were very intrigued and amused by that comic line. I did slide in a mention of “Cosmic Force,” since I’m currently working on the 4th of five prequel books for that series. If you would like to listen to the interview, the podcast link is currently listed on my “Reviews and Interviews” page on this site. Definitely check it out when you get the chance.

And that is a wrap for July highlights. We shall see what the month of August holds for Carter Comics. Aside from the obvious California triple-digit heat, perhaps the completion of another book project? More themed timelapse and live art? figure of speech games? More podcast interviews? YES PLEASE!

Until next month!

Regards,

Allen Carter

Carter Comics

King for the month of June!

Hello again fans! Why do I proclaim myself King? Well, besides having two Zoom interviews discussing my artwork and comic beginnings, yours truly celebrated his time of birth with my closest friends. While the health, financial, and social unrest of 2020 continued through the first month of summer, Carter Comics continued to find its footing in the online promotion world. With most conventions still cancelled or postponed, and the few shows that find a way to go on prove too risky for my situation, Video meetings and timelapse sketches remain my social and promotional lifeline.

MOANA NUI ZOOM INTERVIEW: The first virtual conversation I had this month, was with a fellow comic creator and member of the Hawaiian Comic Book Alliance, Moana McAdams, who migrated to the East Coast from the island of Kaua’i. In addition to speaking about my comic and art upbringings, we both couldn’t resist discussing our island roots (in my case, how my tropical surroundings shaped the artist and writer that I am today). Other topics I talked about were about convention life for Artist Alley/Small Press vendors like the two of us. I specifically mentioned the early challenges of flying Con displays and inventory to out-of-state comic conventions for the first time such as Washington D.C., and my birth state of Hawaii. It was recorded to go about an hour, but we spent and extra ten minutes afterward on “Hawaii Talk.”

EAST LA CAPE ZOOM INTERVIEW: A definite sign of the times for 2020 is the rise of “virtual events,” whether they be concerts, business conferences, or comic book conventions. Safety is first and foremost in this unsure year, so many of the large conventions such as Wondercon Anaheim and San Diego Comic Con pivoted there events to online fans. Even smaller, but burgeoning new shows like East L.A. C.A.P.E. (Comics, Arts, Pop-Culture, and Entertainment based out of East Los Angeles since 2017) followed suit, giving artists who were scheduled to appear at their physical event a chance to still promote their work to an audience, albeit digitally. The show put on a series of Zoom video interviews for each comic artist, writer, or other creative talent and show promoters that would be recorded and later distributed on both YouTube and the talent's social media pages. My interview was pretty standard with the usual questions of art and comic origins and where to purchase my work, but it was still great to have that interaction (even virtual and brief) in a comic convention setting.

40TH BIRTHDAY ZOOM PARTY: And here’s where the “King” part of this blog title applies. While I was never one over the years to make a big deal out of my birthdays, when the stars still align to make a great celebration of life possible despite the biggest of hurdles, I jump on that opportunity without any hesitation. Oddly enough, without this pandemic, celebrating 40 years on this earth would probably have resulted in just going into work, having my desk decorated by co-workers, and maybe a mention of my birthday at our department meeting. Believe it or not, but Co-Vid 19 created an environment to have one of my best celebrations in a long time. Setting up a Zoom party the Saturday following my actual birthday (which fell on Thursday June 11th), the virtual format allowed me to invite just about anyone I wanted that had access to it. It resulted in a nice mix of friends (many whom had never met each other before) from my former roommates/roommates friends, current co-workers, fellow fans of my favorite ‘80s band, and Artist Alley vendor friends. The five hour party consisted of online board games, and lots of chatting between old friends and meeting new friends. So……thanks Co-Vid?

Well, that’s a wrap for this blog look back at the month of June for Carter Comics. Come back here next month to see what other virtual activities (comics-related or not) I come up with to fill the physical convention void. As much as I’d like to look on the bright side of things, it’s gonna be a rough next month or so, and who knows what the world will look like then? Until then, stay safe everyone!

Regards,

Allen Carter

Carter Comics

The comics and art continued in May as the world completely burns down.

Hi fans,

As we move into June (and for me, a special birthday month) it’s time for a look back at the previous month for both Carter Comics and myself personally. Just as the events of Co-vid 19 took the year 2020 from bad to worse during just one week in March, the month of May went from a steady rebound, to a complete nosedive into the depths of hell, when a longstanding problem in this country pushed everyone to the breaking point of nationwide protests. Before all of that though, there were some events that made for a promising month such as an online interactive event for complimentary books, the completion of my latest project, and the introduction of live sketch art.

ALT FREE COMIC DAY: Fully-named “Alternative Free Comic Book Day, this new virtual event was a replacement for the physical “Free Comic Book Day” held at various comic shops across the country. So, instead of the usual layout of tables inside or outside a local book retailer with food, refreshments, and music, virtual panels, downloadable indy books, and AMAs (Ask me Anything Q&A sessions) were the new norm for this show, which took place on Facebook via a group page on Friday May 1st and Saturday May 2nd. Yours truly submitted a pdf download of Damn Tourists issue 1 for free reading, and a link at the end of the book to guide users to my website to purchase the four follow-up issues. While I didn’t do a virtual panel, I did grab the last AMA spot toward the end of the online comic event Saturday evening. This was done by text only in the events’ FB group, where each scheduled creator would post a bio, ending with a phrase initiating the online attendee to ask the creator anything they would like to know. While the attendance were mostly other creators and a few friends of those creators, we still supported each other by asking questions about various topic such as art style, influences, etc. The best part for me was being able to go back and answer earlier questions I had to think harder about before answering, which is pretty tough to do in person.

DOOM AND GLOOM CF PREQUEL IS COMPLETE: Following the completion of Damn Tourists issue five: “East Coast California,” in late November, I pivoted back to my Cosmic Force series with the third out of five character prequels I’ll be producing: “Doom and Gloom.” Much like the first three books, this was also a 12-page backstory of Cosmic Force member Bryan Snarski, touching on his early days with his rich uncle, the absence of his parents due to their high-demand business, working in the same grocery chain store that his uncle owned as a young manager, and the backlash regarding that nepotism. Alot of the distant behavior that his uncle Robert Blackwell Snarski displays toward his nephew is documented, along with the hatred Bryan’s employees have for him due to him being leapfrogged over everyone for a manager position due to family ties. This animosity slowly breaks Bryan’s spirit over time, until one day he could care less about how hostile he behaved toward a customer, who while incredibly rude, probably didn’t need to be escorted out of the store by security. A short telephone argument ends the prequel, with Bryan reading a paper advertising the next night’s meteor shower, where everything about him and the five others, changes forever. I find these prequels just as fun to do as the larger full-length books, as it’s a welcome change to do a shorter book for just a few months, as opposed to spending nearly over a year on a longer one. I also enjoy the creativity of adding layers to these characters with developing close relatives, birthdays, hairstyles, and attires that fit the decade they grew up in. It’s always been a fun challenge to do these things, and I can’t wait to continue these concepts on my next project: “Act your Age.”

LIVE ART: Ever since the Co-Vid 19 shutdowns in March, I, like alot of other comic creators, have struggled with pivoting from in-person event promotion and sales to online ones. The biggest hurdle for me in online sales (even before the virus), was being able to communicate with customers similar to my interaction with them at various comic conventions. Because promoting my online store, email blasts to mailing list subscribers, and simply posting art on Facebook and/or Instagram isn’t enough to grab people’s attention, I am finally able to do something that does: Thanks to a new overhead cellphone holder that connects to my desk, I am able to finally record my art process, whether in timelapse or live social media form, be it Facebook or Instagram. After spending a few weeks trying out different recording methods doing quick doodles, I got comfortable enough to work on more detailed artwork such at comic book covers, sequential art pages, and even m old Mongoose Mondays in Motion illustration games, which made a return after an almost 12-month hiatus. My new art schedule as of now with this new feature is as follows: Facebook Live art is relegated on Sundays at 7 pm PST as part of my weekly agenda (Renamed the LIVE SKETCH AGENDA), and on Mondays at 1 pm PST(as the return of Mongoose Mondays in Motion). While the figure-of-speech illustration with multiple choice answers is pretty straightforward, the sketch I do for the “AGENDA” is usually something non-comic-related that I discuss after I mentioning specific comic work and event agendas. So far I’ve sketched subjects such as the “Spider Man: Far From Home” version of classic villain Mysterio, Stevie Wonder/Bruce Springsteen for the 1985 charity single “We are the World,” and Terry “Julius” Crews from the underrated early 2000s sitcom “Everybody Hates Chris,” and I’m hungry for more. I’m considering linking the two Live art sessions and have the winner of “Mongoose Mondays in Motion,” able to choose what I draw during the “AGENDA” sessions. We shall see.

And that’s about it for my May recap on this blog. For July, I’ll have quite a bit to write about the previous month as well, with a Zoom interview with a fellow Hawaiian Comic Book Alliance (HCBA) member, another virtual version of a Comic Con set up by a budding East Los Angeles show, the tightrope that the Valley Comic Con in Santa Clarita is walking on by being one of the first SoCal cons since the shutdown to promote their operation later in the month, and a certain special day for an even more special creator next Thursday. Until then: Stay safe everyone!

Regards,

Allen Carter

Carter Comics

Con Life during a Pandemic:

Well, here we are fans: Approaching month-two of a mostly closed country and world. While there’s hope for some services to resume with necessary new restrictions in a few weeks, Let’s look back at the first full month and some of the changes to not only retail, education, travel, and sporting events, but also at what yours truly of Carter Comics was up to last month.

WONDERCON ONLINE: With the first of several conventions shutting down in early March due to the rapidly spreading virus, which included Seattle’s Emerald City Comic Con and Anaheim’s Wondercon, the concept of “virtual conventions” started to get tossed around between both displaced indy creator vendors and convention promoters. The first of these “virtual conventions” to be put together by a major physical convention was “Wondercon Online.” Following the cancellation of the 33-year-old comic and related media extravaganza, the show’s parent company Comic Con International (the same folks behind the goliath San Diego Comic Con) contacted all vendors to request their website, online stores, and social media links to be placed on the convention’s website. This would allow attendees who were originally set to flood the halls of the Anaheim Convention Center, to instead search for their favorite Artist Alley and Small Press vendors online while they self-quarantine in their homes. This was a great first step in increasing the online presence and experience to continue the comic convention experience, even when you can’t physically be there.

COMIC CREATOR FORUMS: Much like all gatherings in the Co-vid 19 era, this discussion between artists, writers, publishers, promoters, and other creative folk began taking place every Saturday morning on Zoom video conferencing back on March 28th. It has quickly become a welcome virtual event for many of us who mostly work alone in our homes with the exception of comic conventions, art festivals, comic book shops, and so forth. Created by Barbra and Bryant Dillon of Fanbase Press, this imaginative group discusses the cancellation of physical comic events, the pivot to virtual events and sales, financial assistance for full-time creators, and the occasional venting regarding of other comic and non-comic related topics. Regardless of the good or bad emotions involved, this weekly meeting fills the void of comic and art events as a way to keep in touch with old art friends, and to connect with new art friends.

And that wraps up the month of April for Carter Comics. This is probably the first time in awhile that I wasn’t able to finish as much as I would have liked to, with “Doom and Gloom” still in art production last month. I still have my Audio Agendas to vocally communicate with you all though. Tune in back here in June for what should be many more May happenings, and we’ll just see how the rest of this national purgatory changes, if at all. See you then!

Regards,

Allen Carter

Carter Comics

Covid-19: Month One

Hello fans!

I hope that all of you are remaining safe and sound during this unprecedented crisis. As you know, since all forms of entertainment have been temporarily halted, I am focusing more on promoting my comics online through book downloads, my Facebook live Audio Agenda, email blasts, and this blog. None of us know how long this will last, but let’s take a look back at how March treated Carter Comics, starting with the last convention I did earlier in the month, to when the entire world changed.

SAN DIEGO COMIC FEST: It’s weird to realize that this may very well have been my final show of 2020, just two-and-a-half months into the year. It took place from Friday March 6th, to Sunday March 8th (with a preview night on Thursday evening on the 5th), at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel. This is only the second year that this convention has been at this location, as it was housed in the Town and Country Surf hotel a few miles down the road since 2013. By taking place inside a hotel, this show embraces early comic con roots, with most conventions (specifically San Diego Comic Con), getting their start in hotels. Complete with comic and toy retailers, big-name artist exhibitors like Sergio Aragones and Scott Shaw, a large list of comics/animation panels, and two areas for emerging new artists and comic book creators: Artist Alley and Small Press, San Diego Comic Fest has pretty much everything you would want out of a comic/toy event, but at a much smaller and intimate scale, making contact with big-name artists and getting into panels a less stressful experience. This was my second year exhibiting at this show, and I chose a spot in the new Small Press area added this year, over the Artist Alley table I had last year. The difference: A 3-foot AA table space vs. a 6 foot SP table space. Not a difficult decision to make. Hot on the heels of my sellout first appearance at Amazing Comic Con Aloha just a week-and-a-half earlier, I did another sellout here (though this time it was just Damn Tourists #1), but I had alot of customers picking up multiple issues. I think alot of that had to do with me having my new fifth issue of DT, which filled up the table nicely, along with my always passionate pitch about a concept that anyone can relate to: annoying travelers, or being one without admitting it. I had twice as many mailing list signups that even at the Oahu show, as my list here was almost full. The challenge of this show though, is table set-up and breakdown. Since the event takes place in both the hotel lobby and hallways where guest rooms are located, the interior cannot be locked and secured, which means all vendors (except ones in the separate exhibitor hall building) must set-up and break down their tables each day. Even that was easier for me to do this year, as my trusty new handcart made it possible for me to set-up and break down my table in one trip! Overall, if this does turn out to be my last show of the year, I at least went out on a pretty high note.

THE COVID 19 EFFECT: And then, Wednesday, March 11th hit: While the virus known as Co-Vid 19 had begun its U.S. circulation in Washington state a week or so earlier (in fact, Emerald City Comic Con in Washington and South By Southwest music event in Texas were two of the first big events to postpone in the first week of March due to the severe illness and death in Seattle and other areas), it all really hit the fan for everyone on the 11th of last month. Starting with the suspension of the NBA Basketball season, to the postponement of large events such as Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals, Wondercon Anaheim, theme parks such as Disneyland, DisneyWorld, California Adventure, and all educational institutions. My day job has luckily been spared for now, as it is one of a handful of companies that are allowing employees to work from home. Other businesses, such as restaurants, theaters, and other entertainment venues haven’t been so lucky, resulting in massive cuts in work hours, furloughs, and even layoffs. While my day job is currently altered but still there, Carter Comics has been struggling with the loss of physical comic conventions. The postponement of Wondercon and several smaller shows I was booked for through late May are leaving me no choice but to pivot my promotion and sales to my online storefronts. Unfortunately, the bulk of my sales have always been in person, so it will be a struggle to replicate my success behind my laptop at home, instead of a 6-8’ table at a convention. Meeting customers, pitching my unique stories (especially my Damn Tourists book series), and signing copies of purchased books, is a great way to get to know new people, and for them to get to know me as a person, aside from my artwork and writing. That leads to me building a bigger and more loyal fanbase that will find me at future shows either to talk about how much they loved my previous books, or to purchase a new book I completed. Despite that challenge, I took this quarantine time to upload new downloadable book content from my “Damn Tourists” and “Cosmic Force” series to three of my online shops on indyplanet.us/carter-comics, allen-carter.squarespace.com/shop, and amazon.com kindle store. In additon, a few cancelled conventions that have refunded table fees to vendors, have also provided an online alternative to their shows, promoting websites of vendors that were scheduled to appear on their website. Wondercon Online was launched just a few days after the show was officially postponed and refund requests were processed. Now, vendors that were going to be in Small Press and Artist Alley on Easter Weekend will now have links to their online content listed on the comic-con.org/wca web page. A smaller local show set in late May that also postponed, EAST LA CAPE, is considering an online replacement of their event as well. And lastly, web-development-savvy creators have started small online conventions using the hot new web conferencing tool “Zoom” to replicate the face-to-face meetings between creative and attendee folk. It’s just another example of creators helping creators.

And that concludes both this month’s blog, as well as the surreal first thirty days of life in a pandemic world. Sadly, none of us (not even some health experts), know for sure when this will subside, but it will at some point. Life will probably never be completely back to normal the way it was before, but we will be back at some point. In the meantime, the virus can’t stop my audio agendas, email blasts, or blogs, so expect to see more of my words next month about how the April edition of self-quarantining went. I’ll make the most of it as I usually do, working on new comic projects, connecting with my fans through audio and text, and taking full advantage of streaming services. In fact, I’m in the middle of an MCU movie marathon. Take care, stay safe, stay inside as much as you can, keep washing those hands, and I’ll see you in May!

Regards,

Allen Carter

Carter Comics

An Amazing February!

Hello again fans,

Who knew that the first two months of the new decade would turn out like this? Five weeks ago, following lackluster sales at Pasadena Comic Con in January, I bounced back at the inaugural Simi Valley Toy and Comic Fest at the beginning of February. Almost three weeks ago, I was on cloud nine with my first complete sellout at my first Amazing Comic Con Aloha while visiting my home island of Oahu. Now I’m wondering what Wondercon will bring for Carter Comics this year. Before we jump to far ahead, let’s focus on some of the exciting things that went down in the second month of 2020!

SIMI VALLEY TOY AND COMIC FEST: February started off pretty good with a brand-new show: Simi Valley Toy and Comic Fest. Held at the Grand Vista Hotel on Sunday February 9th, it was the city’s first comic convention. Thanks to the Con promoters reaching out to the local comic shops in the area, and Simi Valley residents’ hunger for their own comic event, this first show was extremely well-attended and received. Case in point: While the event started at 10 am officially, the 9:30 a.m. early bird opening drew at least 30 people, which is a great start for a new show. How did Carter Comics do? 15 books sold with a $120 profit. Not bad for a show with a $60 artist table fee. More importantly, I had a good number of new subscribers to my mailing list, whether or not they purchased books from me. I also got to re-connect with two friends and longtime Simi Valley residents, as well as having another good friend help me out with my table during bathroom breaks. All in all, it was quite the bounce back from a not-so-good start to my 2020 Con Circuit back in Pasadena.

AMAZING COMIC CON ALOHA: I was actually anticipating this show more that Wondercon, which is usually my biggest show of the year. Boy, did my mindset change after this show was over. In the nine years that I’ve been exhibiting at comic conventions, artwalks, libraries, and comic shops, I had never had a complete sellout of my entire inventory of books I brought with me, until this show. Held at the Hawaii Convention Center, the event ran from Friday, February 21st to Sunday February 23rd, and has been running since 2015. The show’s geographic location, on the island on Oahu in Hawaii, was particularly special for me, as I was born and raised on the island for the first 25 years of my life. Returning after a seven year absence since my last visit was a surreal experience, as things were both familiar and different on the island. While this was my first appearance at a Hawaii Convention, I obviously knew how to get to the convention and surrounding areas near my hotel. In essence, this trip was business, vacation, and homecoming all in one. The business part of it went AMAZINGLY well, and beyond all my expectations as I mentioned earlier, with the 50 books I flew over (10 copies for each of my five Damn Tourists issues) completely selling out by Sunday afternoon, the last day of the show. Customers ranged from residents to tourists, to even friends from High School that I haven’t seen since Graduation over 20 years ago! All of them enjoyed the premise of my book, and even after I sold out of them, attendees still came by my table, as I just had the five display books for people to read still present above my hand-written “SOLD OUT” signs. I could tell from their enthusiastic reactions, that had I not run out of books by that point, they would have purchased those books. I also got to participate in a panel featuring the local comic group: The Hawaiian Comic Book Alliance, of which I’m a member of. We all spoke about our books and upbringings that led to our interests in storytelling, and we contributed our art to a coloring book where attendees collected our signatures for prizes. I couldn’t have asked for a better showing in my hometown. I even got some extra time before and after the convention to cruise old hangouts, family outings, and even did an old hike with another High School friend. Due to this fantastic performance, I will do everything in my power to make my way back to the islands in 2021.

Now we get to the current bad news: As you all know, the entire world has been turned upside-down by the spread of the CO-VID 19 virus, which has killed many people and infected much more. Because this is a new virus, we currently don’t have a vaccine to treat it, and with it being much more contagious than the flu, with infected people showing flu-like symptoms while others show no symptoms at all, much of the world is on a self-imposed lockdown. This means nothing beyond essential businesses such as grocery stores, pharmacies, laundromats, post offices, banks, auto repair shops, and the like are allowed to be open. So large events such as concerts, parades, broadway shows, movie theaters, and yes, comic conventions are definitely not allowed. This is all due to how quickly the virus can spread through large groups of people undetected. Myself, and many other comic creators have been completely blindsided by the number of shows that have either postponed or cancelled including Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, and Wondercon in Anaheim. Several smaller shows that I was booked for have postponed their conventions as well, and comic shops have also shut their doors, as they aren’t an essential business like a grocery store. To combat this sudden halt in the comic convention circuit, several artists are focusing toward their online stores, and even are trying to put together online versions of comic book conventions. While these ideas are unorthodox, desperate times call for desperate measures, as many artists create, promote, and sell their craft full time to pay rent, bills, and put food on the table. Hopefully Virtual Conventions become an attractive temporary replacement during these Con cancellations.

Well, that’s gonna be about it for an unbelievable March that we will all never forget. I will be doing some serious evaluating regarding how to promote and sell my work in this new self-isolating world, possibly trying out these new “Virtual Cons” that are being considered, but definitely working on the sixth issue of “Damn Tourists,” doing some podcast interviews by phone, and also putting in alot of work at my day job, which has our entire company working from home due to the virus. Best believe, I won’t let anything stop the incredible momentum I gained after my last three shows so early in the year. CO-VID 19 or not, the creative juices will never stop flowing! Until next month, stay strong, stay safe, and we’ll get through this tough time as a human race together.

Regards,

Allen Carter

Carter Comics

The calm before the CON-STORM!

Hello again fans! We’re just into the second month of 2020, and the convention season for Carter Comics is already well underway. While my season won’t really start kicking into high gear until later this month with shows in Simi Valley and back on my home island of Oahu, there was no shortage of convention and convention-related events last month. Let’s go through a few of them.

Pasadena Comic Con returned for its sixth year at the Pasadena Convention Center back on Sunday, January 19th. This was the fifth year I had been a vendor at this laid-back, but well organized local show, but there were two major changes that helped the event evolve: 1 - Having it on a holiday weekend (the Sunday before Martin Luther King Day to be exact), and 2 - Moving to the nicer, larger, street-level accessible exhibitor ballroom on the west side of the PCC Complex. Not only was the interior ballroom a fantastic aesthetic, the show was able to spill over additional vendors and the registration area to the outside lobby, showing passer-bys on the sidewalk all the fun they would be missing if they just kept on walking. My only suggestion to help bolster this great idea would’ve been to place a large banner in the window area above the ballroom lobby entrance to let people know that the fun they would be missing out on was a comic convention. That being said, the combination of the pre-holiday date and new exhibit hall did draw a decent amount of attendees, but there was one problem that came up at the last minute: A half-marathon that closed streets surrounding the convention center during the early morning hours from 6-11 am. This of course, caused alot of traffic problems for both attendees and vendors looking to park in the center’s parking structure underneath. Once the marathon concluded at 11 and the streets reopened, it was a little better for arriving attendees. Overall my sales were less than ok (though the few sales I did get were from an attendee who spotted my books years back at a Long Beach Convention and raved about them). but I feel that was due to not just the marathon closing streets, but also some people still not ready to spend following christmas, and perhaps Pasadena being more art-oriented as opposed to independent comics. A customer who spoke highly of the Pasadena Art Walk that takes place in the fall indirectly offered me some insight on what the community is interested in entertainment-wise. I’ll have to give some serious thought on whether or not I continue exhibiting at this show, as it may no longer be the right fit for the type of art/books I sell.

Long Beach Comic Expo went down the weekend before the Pasadena show on Saturday and Sunday, January 11th and 12th, at the Long Beach Convention Center. I didn’t have an Artist Alley table, but I did snag a professional badge, which are free if you meet the shows required credentials as a working artist or creator. I had been a vendor at this show and the fall Long Beach Comic Con from 2010 to 2016, but stopped after the table prices increased. However, like most shows I don’t table at for various reasons, I still attend them to support my many artist alley friends who do. Similar to Pasadena, Long Beach Comic Expo also moved their usual February dates that wrap around President’s Day weekend to January instead. This concerned many of my Artist friends there, who felt this date was too close to after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays than Pasadena Comic Con was. While this year’s show was smaller in scope in terms of floor size, it was bolstered by the centrally-located Artist’s Alley, and even moreso by shop owner Mike Wellman’s Atomic Basement Alley aisle. For those who may not know, Mike Wellman is a self-published comic creator and business owner, running the Manhattan Beach comic institution known as The Comic Bug (they also have a shop in Culver City), and just recently, a brand-new shop in Downtown Long Beach called Atomic Basement. In order to help out up-and-comic independent comic creators, he often purchases a row of tables at various comic conventions, and doing this at the Long Beach Conventions has been a years-long tradition. Also this year, Mr. Wellman was able to get local news station KTLA to cover the event as a part of their weekend morning news program. For the three-and-a-half hours I spent there speaking to vendor friends either at their table or walking around, the crowd was decent, though I was later informed the next day from friends there that it didn’t equate to much spending. Fortunately more of that happened on Sunday, when the admission prices dropped. I’m glad that most of my artist buddies did well there in some fashion, and I’m glad I got to see and support them. I also couldn’t leave out the other best part of any Long Beach Convention: Q Smokehouse across the street at the waterfront, which has the best fried catfish I’ve ever tasted.

And that was Carter Comics for January in a nutshell. February is where is gets interesting, as I have the new Simi Valley Toy and Comic Fest on Sunday the 9th at the Grand Vista Hotel, a podcast appearance on my friends’ show The Fanbase Weekly on Sunday the 16th (to be aired the next day on fanbasepress.com), and then, I fly home to the islands after a seven-year absence for the Amazing Comic Con Aloha Convention from Friday the 21st to Sunday the 23rd. Needless to say, I will have quite alot to say once March rolls around (and earlier that month, I’ll be driving out to San Diego for another show). Have a great second month of the new decade, and I’ll see you in the Spring!

Regards,

Allen Carter

Carter Comics

Welcome to a new decade!

Happy 2020 fans! I hope that all of you had a great Christmas and New Year’s. As we begin a brand new decade, I first would like to take a look back at not just last month, but also the last decade of the 2010s (which also happens to be the birth of Carter Comics) with some of the highlights and lowlights of the Carter Comics Convention Circuit. From there, we’ll look forward as I list some event (con and non-con related), that I’m looking forward to experiencing this year.

The 2010s: It’s mind-boggling to me that we’re already 20 years into the 2000s, let alone going into a new decade. I actually don’t remember alot of people (including me) making a big deal out of the 2010s, but life is weird like that sometimes. Anyway, the second decade was a big year for me as both Carter Comics and my convention circuit started in July of that year at Anime Expo. Thanks to a good friend and co-worker at the time, I was invited to split a table three ways at this convention’s Artist Alley area. Armed with only a computer bag of my first professionally printed books, business cards, and a ziploc bag of change, I entered that show with much curiosity toward the overall exhibitor experience. I exited with not only a couple of my first sales ever, but also a hunger for just a piece of the convention life. Starting from two shows in 2010, and ending with 17 shows in 2019 (my record still holds at 24 shows in 2017), everything about my passion for storytelling and art helped me grow into a much more confident and observant salesperson. Adding display merchandise such as shelves, banners, business card holders, creating more comic content such as standard comics and trade paperbacks, having an open portfolio present on the table, sketching to draw in more customers, starting a mailing list, blogs like this one, weekly to bi-weekly agendas via facebook live audio, and most recently: exhibiting at my first out-of-state conventions by plane, which of course involved learning how to pack both convention supplies and personal items without paying through the roof for luggage. I’ve learned so much from other creators as well over the last 10 years, with those same creators becoming good friends of mine. I feel the same respect as an independent comic creator from my fellow Artist Alley colleagues and I have for them. Although we all run our own businesses, you feel like you’re with co-workers at a 1-3 day job that you absolutely love during conventions, comic shop signings, or art festivals. Last, but not least, the traveling is just as exciting as the conventions themselves. This is coming from a person who was born-and-raised on an island, and at one point, was terrified of flying due to hearing about too many plane crashes on the news. Now, I just live in the moment as I board a plane and think about what I’m going to see on my new adventure. So far, I’ve done just that in Las Vegas, Washington D.C., and Denver. Trust me, there are more adventures to come.

2020 and Beyond: The planning for the first Carter Comics Convention Circuit of the new decade began back in July, and as of this writing, I am booked for 8 conventions so far. Of those shows, the conventions that I’m the most excited for: my first show of the year at Pasadena Comic Con, the new Simi Valley Toy and Comic Fest on February 9th, San Diego Comic Fest on March 6-8, Wondercon in Anaheim on April 10-12, another new Toy and Comic Fest in Ventura, and the two Amazing Comic Conventions in Las Vegas, Nevada June 26-28, and in my home state of Honolulu, Hawaii February 21-23. I am currently working on my next comic: “Doom and Gloom,” my third 12-page Cosmic Force Prequel that I would like to have completed in time for my biggest show of the year at Wondercon. That will give me two new books to promote and sell at that show (along with the recently completed Damn Tourists #5: East Coast California). I am also in the planning stages of producing some new Carter Comics merchandise: Screen-printed T-Shirts and a matching card game starring my recently-retired Mr. Figure-of-Speech Mongoose character. My merchandise goal for 2020 is to have the “Damn Tourists” series caught up with the “Cosmic Force” series by number of issues. With the C-Force at six issues currently, that means I’ll need to pump out one more issue of DT to even them out for now. My overall business goal for the year is to improve my relationship with my current fans/customers with new and engaging content, so that they will not only keep reading Carter Comics, but also tell their friends about it (and me). Gaining new fans is a given and will happen organically at shows, but keeping the fans that I have is more important to me.

Well, that is it for the first month of 2020. When you return here for February, you’ll get a recap of my first show in Pasadena this coming weekend, my “Professional” experience at Long Beach Comic Expo, supporting a friend’s new comic shop also in Long Beach, and my preparations for cons in Simi Valley, and especially my business trip/homecoming to Oahu, Hawaii for Amazing Comic Con Aloha. See you next month!

Allen Carter

Carter Comics

Going out with a Con-BANG in November:

Happy Holidays fans!

As we head into Christmas and the year 2020, and start to look back at both 2019 and the 2010s, I will start by looking back at how my month of November went: A new look and location for a longtime valley show that translated to my best sales there, ending my convention tour at a “new-to-me” Las Vegas event, capped off by the official completion of Damn Tourists issue five! So let’s start dissecting.

First off, my final two conventions of the year: the re-vamped Valley Comic Con in Santa Clarita November 10th, and the Great American Comic Con in Las Vegas November 16th and 17th. I say “re-vamped” for the Santa Clarita show, as it used to be called San Fernando Valley Comic Con located in Granada Hills since 2013. The new location and venue, moving from a rec room with an adjoining dance studio in a north valley strip mall, to a swanky hotel ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Valencia across from a major shopping mall, did wonders for to refresh the show’s image. Longtime and new vendors to the convention (including yours truly) loved the ballroom venue for the main show floor, which attracted more families compared to the old location (which mostly consisted of older comic collectors who simply aren’t interested in new comics or art). These families (and also a girl scout troop at the show to earn their comic scout badges) had alot more money to spend here as well. I had both the most crowd interactions and sales at this show, than any other SFV show I’ve ever exhibited at. The next show is tentatively scheduled for March, but whether or not the same beautiful Valencia hotel ballroom will be the venue once again is still up in the air.

Moving onto Great American Comic Con at the Las Vegas Convention Center the following weekend. This was my first time exhibiting at this event, which was recommended to me by a fellow Artist and Las Vegas resident (who let me stay with him while we both worked the show). This was a smaller show compared to Sin City’s summer convention: Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con, but looks were definitely deceiving. The crowds were smaller, but they were very interested (and willing to purchase) everything from toys, classic comics, prints, commissions, and especially independent books. I did even better than at the Valley Comic Con sales and customer interaction-wise, making enough (combined with my saved profits from previous shows) to purchase an Artist Alley table at the next Amazing Las Vegas show. And of course, I would love to return to Great American for a second year. Much like my artist buddy mentioned: It’s a small show that has the potential to grow into the late fall/early winter equivalent to Amazing Las Vegas. Speaking of late fall/early winter, it was very refreshing being in LV without it being in the triple digits. Overall, it was a fantastic way to end my 2019 Convention Circuit.

Last, but certainly not least: Damn Tourists issue five is officially completed, with fifteen copies having just been ordered last week! This is an exciting, yet exhausting revelation for me, as my usual eight-month comic process took an unprecedented thirteen months due to a production delay in order to promote and exhibit at my first two flying out-of-state shows in Washington D.C. and Denver. Titled “East Coast California,” our clueless traveling foursome’s fifth vacation takes them across seven states by car from Nevada to the sunshine state of Florida. With the staff of top Florida visitor destinations now fully aware of what these Damn Tourists are capable of (thanks to news footage of the obnoxious mayhem they caused in Vegas), hotel staff, park rangers, and theme park employees each attempt to neutralize the Tourists’ superhumanly-annoying habits, while still gladly taking their money. Will they succeed? Or will all this preparation be for nothing? There’s only one way to find out!

And that will just about do it for the final Carter Comics blog of both 2019 AND the 2010s. While I haven’t been blogging this entire decade, I have been exhibiting at shows for that long. It’s been a nine-year journey with alot of ups and downs, but also with unforgettable experiences such as on-the-spot interviews (audio and video) at my table, freelance comic work, new customers (of course), and most importantly, becoming friends with dozens of other artist alley vendors. It’s crazy to imagine that the great friends that I made just across a convention table, I could have never met at all had I not taken the leap back in July 2010 and split an Anime Expo table three ways with a co-worker and his friend. What should you expect from Carter Comics in the next decade? A possible return to my favorite show “Wondercon” for my seventh year, a sophomore return to San Diego Comic Fest, a new local show in Simi Valley, and an out-of-state convention appearance that will double as a homecoming on the island of Oahu. Thank you all for your support, no matter how long you have followed me. It’s fan reaction online and especially in-person at conventions that keep the wheels of Carter Comics turning. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2020! See you all in the new year!

Regards,

Allen Carter

Carter Comics

A Surprisingly busy October!

Greetings fans! I trust that you all had a fantastic Halloween (I did, which I’ll mention later in this blog). Usually, October is my winding-down period for conventions, art festivals, and comic shop signings, and the only big event I participate in (if I have a great costume idea), is Halloween. However for this second month of fall, I found myself at three shows, a community meeting, dressing up for the 31st, and even doing some cat-sitting.

The month for me started (and was dominated by) three art events: Monterey Park Artwalk, LA Comic Con, and the Sherman Oaks Street Fair. Just to clarify: I was only a vendor in Monterey Park, but I attended the 9th annual Los Angeles Comic Con (formerly Comikaze, formerly Stan Lee’s LA Comic Con) as a professional for the first time, complete with badge that proved it! As for the Sherman Oaks Street Fair, I went from attendee at the free event, to an impromptu assistant for a writer friend of mine who needed help taking down her booth after the show. All three were fun in their own ways: I made decent sales and met new fans at Monterey Park, got to chat with my talented writer buddy between here book pitches and sales to customers, and while checking up on Artist Alley friends at LA Comic Con, one AA amigo hooked me up with a November convention in Las Vegas called: Great American Comic Con. To further sweeten the offer, he even offered to put me up at his place while we both exhibited at the show (as he’s a Vegas resident).

The rest of the month was divided between finishing up Damn Tourists issue five Photoshop coloring, cat sitting for a friend, attending a morning rail transit meeting, and shopping for a Halloween outfit. While I am technically finished with the latest comic (only dialogue needs to be added before I make a print order at the end of the week), and the four days of caring for my good friend’s feline friend were happily uneventful, that leaves the transit meeting and Halloween to talk about in detail, and boy is there a lot to talk about: Late last month, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority held a series of community meetings the the Central LA area to discuss a northern extension of the currently under-construction Crenshaw light rail line. As is stands right now, the southern segment of the train (which runs from the Expo/Crenshaw station linking another light rail from Downtown LA to Santa Monica) to the Aviation/LAX Green Line station, connecting the Metro Green Line rail, which connects Norwalk to the east with Redondo Beach to the south. Crenshaw south will also feature a station at an intersection near Los Angeles International Airport, whereas LAX will build an elevated tram connecting that station with their terminals. The northern extension will travel from Expo/Crenshaw to the Red Line subway’s Hollywood / Highland station, connecting not only those to rail lines, but also the upcoming Purple Line subway to Beverly Hills, Century City, UCLA, and Westwood, and the popular city of West Hollywood——whom have been pushing for a train in their neighborhood for years. I attended the lone Saturday morning meeting they had, held at an elementary school cafeteria (the norm for most meetings like this), and was pleasantly surprised at the mostly positive response attendees had toward the presentation of this route. It was a welcome change compared to attending two previous transit meetings with quite alot of resistance toward transit improvements (Eagle Rock being the worst of the two, with opponents of a proposed BRT system literally screaming at any supporters of that project). While I was aware of the jist of the Crenshaw North project, I did learn that at three different types of rail are being considered for the new route: underground/subway (primarily), above-ground, and possibly street-level. There are currently five alignments for the train to get to Hollywood, with the western-most alignments (which serve West Hollywood) the most-favorable, though they are longer routes due to how spread out LA cities are. One straight-line direct route is faster and possibly cheaper, but completely misses the heart of WeHo with no real connections in-between. I’m personally in the WeHo camp, as the point of mass transit is to connect communities first, and other transit lines second. Areas this project will serve such as The Grove Mall, CBS Studios, and The Beverly Center, are areas I currently avoid like the plague due to heavy traffic, lack of parking, and convoluted street-parking signs. When this rail line opens, I’ll gladly return to the area for food, shopping, and events like the Halloween Carnavale. Let’s hope the line gets approved and build sooner rather than later.

And speaking of Halloween, I decided to dress up once again after skipping the last two celebrations. As I stated at the beginning of this blog, I don’t “costume-up” on this holiday unless I have a really great idea for one that I can actually purchase. Up until a few days before Halloween, that was NOT going to be the case. In my infinite wisdom, I first decided to dress up as a character featured in a '1980s music video from my favorite band, Level 42. It was going to be a “riddler-esque” character in yellow plaid—-which despite my best online and brick-and-mortar shopping—-failed to produce any favorable results. This led me to later choose an outfit that was staring me in the face the entire time: McDowell’s employee from Coming to America. While searching for a yellow plaid vest to use with the first outfit, I noticed that there was a red plaid vest as well. One set of black slacks, a red plaid hat, white dress shirt, red bow tie, and hand cut “M” later, I was ready to wow friends and co-workers. Based on both the in-person and online response between my office costume contest (which I didn’t win or place in but got some great compliments) and a friend’s Halloween party (where I placed third in her costume contest), I think it’s safe to say that I made the right outfit decision. And it just makes me genuinely excited for dressing up next year, now that I pulled this costume off.

Well, that’s about it for this month. Between now and my final blog of the year in December, look out for the official release of Damn Tourists issue five: “East Coast California,” my final two shows of 2019 at Valley Comic Con in Santa Clarita this Sunday and Great American Comic Con next weekend in Las Vegas respectively, and even more surprises which may include some new T-Shirts and work on a third Cosmic Force Prequel. So stay tuned through December!

Regards,

Allen Carter

Carter Comics

Time to go Home:

Wow fans, it’s October already! Only two months left in the 2010s! While the year is not quite yet over, I am already looking ahead to what the next decade in 2020 has to offer. So far, I have five shows lined up for the first Carter Comics Convention Circuit of the 2020s. Of those five shows, there is one that goes beyond the sales, exposure, business contacts, on-the-spot interviews, and artist camaraderie: Amazing Comic Con Aloha in Honolulu, Hawaii. Why is this upcoming artist appearance so special to me?

Because it takes place in my hometown.

Yes, for those of you who may not know (or haven’t read the “About Me” page on this website), I was born-and-raised on the island of O’ahu in the state of Hawai’i from June 1980 to June 2005. Alot of my laid-back personality comes from my surroundings here, as well as from my late father, Allen Carter Sr. He, along with my mother and older sister, moved to the islands in July 1977 from Maryland in pursuit of teaching positions. My late paternal uncle, Wayman Carter, was working in construction on the windward (or northeastern) side of O’ahu at the time, and had informed them of a need for teachers on the island. After living with my uncle initially to get settled and land employment as educators, my parents and sister (who was 2 years old at the time) moved to various apartments on the central and southern portions of the island until I was born three years later on June 11th, 1980. In my twenty five years growing up in the islands, I made some great childhood friends, great family experiences at the park, the beach, riding the bus, going to the mall, hiking with high school friends, and of course, beginning my love affair with drawing. I started this activity seriously at age six, and by age eight, began creating my own comics out of construction paper and legal paper just for fun. I came up with the name for my sci-fi comic series “Cosmic Force” at age 12, and “Damn Tourists” at age 19. Unfortunately, there were no proper comic book conventions, comic shop signing opportunities, online-print-on-demand, or social media in early-2000s Hawaii to help emerging independent creators get noticed, so on June 15th, 2005 I said “Aloha” to the islands and headed for Los Angeles, where I’ve been ever since.

Since my move to the continental U.S. 14 years ago, I have been able to make at least three trips back to my home island, with the last one being seven years ago back in September 2012. Alot has changed in the Aloha State since that time, one of them being the rise of comic book conventions (that have sprung up across North America and abroad) finally reaching several of the Hawaiian Islands: Kauai Comic Con in June, HawaiiCon on The Big Island of Hawai’i in September, Maui Comic Con in October, and both Comic Con Honolulu and KawaiiCon (a local Anime convention) taking place on O’ahu in May. The biggest of them all, however, is Amazing Comic Con Aloha, operated by the Sherman Oaks, Cailfornia-based Amazing Comic Conventions company, who also runs an annual comic con in Las Vegas during the month of June. Originally scheduled in August, Amazing Aloha was recently moved to February (specifically Feb 21-23 of 2020) due to a Hurricane scare last year that caused the show to be cancelled. As this is a con created off-island, alot of big names in both comics and Hollywood are brought over to a tropical state that rarely gets to see them. As a result, the show is able to draw some large crowds of Oahu (and even some neighbor island) residents. I recently purchased both an artist table at the show, along with a plane ticket, hotel, and rental car reservation for those February dates to promote and sell my work, plus an extra full day after the show to drive to my specific island hometown of Wai’anae to see my old stomping grounds, meet up with childhood friends, family, etc. Even with using google street view and keeping up with local news back there, it will still be a surreal feeling when I step out of Daniel K Innouye (formerly Honolulu International Airport, re-named after a late Hawaii Senator) on a late Thursday afternoon on February 20th. But for four days at least, I can utter two words as I’m waiting for my rental car shuttle at the arrivals pick-up area:

“I’m Home.”