ArtisticallyChill

This year’s Wizard World Chicago felt a bit less glamorous as there was no Marvel, DC, or Top Cow presence. In fact, there weren’t that many small press booths either. But in a way this was good. It wasn’t as crowded as last year and the lack of the bigger named publishers mean the traffic through the convention was moving. Artist Alley looked like it had a lot of traffic going through it. Regardless if you were a seasoned vet like J. Scott Campbell, or making your first appearance like my brother, Justin, fans of all sorts were making their way through Artist Alley, stopping at everyone’s table.

Serena at her table:

Justin (with his girlfriend, Nicole) making his debut in Artist Alley:

The convention started off rather slow on Preview Night and even Friday’s attendance seemed a little toned down compared to last year. Serena managed to get into her groove rather quickly and managed to sell a some sketchbooks and get a few commissions done like the one seen here of a Snake Woman:

One of the coolest things about Artist Alley for Serena is that she always gets the coolest neighbors. This year we had the honor of sitting next to Bryan J.L. Glass, the writer and co-creator of Mice Templar, which is published by Image Comics. Bryan was such a cool guy whose energy kept a smile on our faces and motivated Serena while she sketched. He also enjoyed Serena’s company. He enjoyed it so much that he gave Serena a signed copy of his hardcover graphic novel collecting volume 1 of The Mice Templar.

Unfortunately, Serena got food poisoning that Friday night. Her body couldn’t fight it off fast enough overnight, so her attempt to sit through it on Saturday failed. I took her home that Saturday afternoon and then rushed back to convention to manage her table in her absence. She was pretty down for dropping out so early on the busiest day of the convention. So to cheer her up, I rallied some of her friends from work to call her and cheer her up. They later decided to stop by with balloons and chocolate in hand. Her health is far too important. There will be other conventions. I kept everyone of our table buddies in the loop and they all wished her a speedy recovery and admired how I came back to manage her table. I managed to sell a few more sketchbooks and a print. By the time the convention closed for the day, I had heard from Serena that she was doing much better after just getting more bed rest.

By Sunday morning, Serena was so much better. I packed crackers and chicken noodle soup for her to eat at her table. She was able to get some more commissions done and sell a few more sketchbooks:

Even though Serena got sick and missed out on most of Saturday, we both had a great time. Making new friends, meeting old friends, and just being nerds and geeks. Hopefully, next year will be better. We’ll definitely avoid the overpriced convention food and pack a suitcase full of snacks, soup, and homemade sandwiches we know we won’t get food poisoning from.

Next up on the convention list: C2E2. I’ve already entered Serena in their Artist Alley process. Hopefully, she will get approved and she’ll make her debut at their inaugural show, next year in April.

~ LoneWolf