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!