I usually don't take a lot of photos at signings so it's not so much a dump as a light dusting.
I sat with the folks from JHU Comics, most of the books in that first phoot of my set up were theirs. There were two Pete DiNunzio cosplayes yersterday. I don't think I will ever get used to anyone cosplaying as Eltingville Club members. I'm not someone whose characters were easily translated to cosplaying, I've seen Milk & Cheese Halloween outfits but they're too bulky to waltz around in at a con. The cast of Beasts of Burden lends itself more to bringing pets to the show than dressing up. Everyone hates Fight-Man. So seeing someone dressed up as a character I drew is pretty mind-blowing to me.
It wasn't a busy show for me, probably owing to having done a sining literally up the block at JHU Comics two weeks before. But I don't go to the New Dorp con to up my income, I have always done high school events as something you do for the students and to support the comics or art club. It's a benefit-type thing, you draw people in and try to entertain attendees and often you're donating something.
The cool thing is that JHU Comics had their best day at the show, and the sales of Nerd Inferno, Beasts of Burden and a batch of older collections I worked on helped make that happen. I signed a bunch of their Eltingville CLub prints and books. I made enough to gas up the car, which these days ain't hay.
The biggest splash of the con was this little soot-ball kitten you see above. A woman found her the day before, its mother had been killed so she rescued it. She couldn't find anyone to watch the kitten so she took it to her table and brought her in a little home-made box bedroom on wheels. Everyone at the show wanted this little baby, myself included. The desire to take this little thing home was palpable by the end of the event. If you placed this animal next to a jack Kirby originl and instructed me to choose I'd have broken down like Robbie the Robot when he was ordered to kill in Forbidden Planet. I was afraid to pick it up because it was so goddamned precious so I only took pictures. The woman is keeping her, and everyone probably dreamed of the baby last night. Best thing at the show by far.
I went back to JHU Comics with the gang and during the drive up New Dorp Lane was stopped at a red light next to this cutie. I took a picture to send to the kid along with the kitten pics.
Back at the shop Ron Hill asked if I could sign another batch of the Eltingville Club prints they did to be packed up with their remaining first print copies of Nerd Inferno. These should be available on their website for online orders. If folks can wait, and they ask, I'll be happy to personalize the books before they go out. I won't be in the shop for a week or so, but the option is there. They're letting folks know that their last copies have some small defects from Penguin's shipping, but I've seen them and compared to what many folks are getting from Penguin, not to mention Amazon, they're in very good shape overall.
https://jhu-comic-books.myshopify.com/search?q=nerd+inferno&options%5Bprefix%5D=last
FInally, here's a drawing I promised a friend at the last NDCC and brought in yesterday. I messed it up a bunch but luckily it wasn't a color piece and I could toss the white ink around. It's okay for free, I think. I scanned the art and will see if it will work out for a Patreon print. Now I just have to get my overdue paid commissions done and I can breathe a little easier. I don't know why commissions are so stressful for me. I asked my therapist and we're still working on it.
If you're wondering how my hand is doing, it's actually in really bad shape. Ha ha, I'm not complaining, it's just how it is. I met an artist at the show named Jeff Brennan (he has done a ton of TV, commercial, storyboard and comics work, and as it turns out drew a two-pager I wrote for Bongo back in the day) and he told me he was doing forty shows this year. My entire body shuddered audibly when he said that. I cannot imagine doing that many shows. I don't think I could have done that in my prime. I wondered how I'd handle things physically during the tour and I expected issues but I didn't expect things to get this bad this soon. A lot of it is my fault, I'm not in good shape and I haven't been walking or exercising. I'm tired all the time and am in a lot of pain so I blow everything off. I have a headache I can't kick. I've been eating too much crap and gaining weight. I am not doing all my stretches. I can't blame that on the signings, I haven't been taking solid care of myself for a while now. But don't get me wrong, I am having a blast and am grateful to be this busy. But I'm crashing out after each signing, I slept almost sixteen hours in two shifts after coming home last night. I'm taking Merloxicam, Pregabalin and Ibuprofin (the latter when my Fluvoxamine allows) as much as I safely can. I'm in wristbraces 24-7 outside showers. I wear so many Salonpas on my back and arm that I look like Marv from Sin City. I have to remmeber that I'm not young and I can't bounce back like I used to. When this is done I have to get my act together so I can feel better physically and back to work.
Anyway, that was round three of the Nerd Inferno tour. Next week I'm in Austin, Texas, unless I get the world's worst pilots. I hope folks turn out for that one because they spent a lot on my flight and hotel and that stresses me out. I talked to my therapist about that and we're still working on it.