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