THERE ONCE WAS A NOTE, PURE AND EASY

You've got to appreciate the speed at which the internet moves. Steve Duin went to Stumptown on Friday night and had blogged a review of our book on his OregonLive column the very next day. You can read his review of 12 Reasons Why I Love Her right here. I don't know where I was when he bought the book, because I was surprised to hear from Diana Schutz on Saturday that he had. Judging by his review, I don't think my absence disappointed him. It's all about Joëlle! I think the guy's just mad at me because I get to hang out with her and he doesn't.

It was actually pretty cool that a handful of people bought the book at Stumptown on Friday and came back to the show on Saturday having read it, and we were able to get instant reactions. I did feel bad during one conversation, though, as when it was done, I worried maybe the gentleman thought I was schooling him and telling him he was wrong when I was saying there was possibly another interpretation of the ending. All interpretations are valid, I was just suggesting it could also have gone a different way, and that it's interesting for me to hear what people choose. So, if it was you and you read this, I'm sorry!

The show overall was a real success for Joëlle and I. 12 Reasons sold extremely well. We signed a lot of autographs, and Joëlle did some cool sketches. I liked her drawings for fans of Death from Sandman, a monkey, and Storm from the X-Men (though, not all in the same sketch), as well as her personal sketches of people in the crowd. Naturally, I walked away with the best (Kelly Sue, eat your heart out!):

Both days seemed very well attended, and what I liked was it seemed to me that the cycle of people kept renewing. It's not a huge room, so anyone coming could scope it out, meet the creators they wanted to meet, make their purchases, and then make room for the next set.

Among the highlights for us was our editor giving Scott McCloud a copy of our book and later talking to Paul Chadwick about it and hearing what he has going on these days. I bought a really great minicomic from Clio Chiang called Soooo Lucky, and Corey Lewis gave me a copy of Stab Kids, which I think is my favorite thing he's done. We also got to see Craig Thompson, Steve Rolston, Sabina, Colleen Coover, Paul Tobin, Gail Simone, Greg Rucka, Shannon Wheeler, Liz Prince, Matt Black, Mason West (who also wrote up 12 Reasons and the show), David Walker, a lot of the Top Shelf and Fantagraphics gangs, Lois Buhalis & Tom Orzechowski, Vera Brosgol, Steve Lieber, Katie Moody, Diana Schutz, Bob Schreck, and I'm sure a bunch more I'm forgetting. People I've met at previous shows and on MySpace also said hello.

The Oni/Top Shelf party at Voodoo Lounge after the show was a great way to top it off. Jacquelene Cohen, Top Shelf's intern and a product of the comic book factory that is Atlantis Fantasy World in Santa Cruz, organized a pretty spectacular event, with Jason from Floating World DJing. I got pretty sloppy by the end of the night, but that's what I was there for. Frank Beaton and I sat down and discussed writing at one point, so I wasn't too far off my game. Of course, I recall having two drinks in my hand at that moment, and I think by the end of it someone could have gotten drunk by wringing out my pants, but such is life.

Current Soundtrack: shuffling Gruff Rhys, Public Enemy, Spiritualized, T. Rex, Morrissey, Hope Sandoval, Bryan Ferry

Current Mood: cheerful

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[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2006 Jamie S. Rich