Is this photo any way to start a post for one of the most exciting events of the year? When it concerns "Angry Bob" it is. This is the room that Angry Bob and myself shared our first night in San Diego. Comfort Inn my ass. The short of it is this, we reserved the room last minute, and despite reserving it for two people, we got a tiny room with a full size bed (smaller than a queen size). FAR TOO SMALL for two such passionate men as myself and Canada's own Angry Bob. Luckily, I brought my inflate-a-bed for just such an emergency. But the room was so small, we had to rearrange it by removing the chair and nightstand and rotating the bed 90 degrees. Strike One. The photo was taken in the tiny foyer next to the toilet. Just about all the floor space is covered by the two beds here.
Due to time constraints, we passed on preview night and showed up to start the fires on Thursday morning. Thinking we had enough time, we ate a good breafast at the hotel and thought we could park at the convention center... we were wrong. We sat in a line of traffic for a nearby parking structure for an hour. Bob drove as I kept running out to the car to unload what I could. This second strike for the trip was not a good way to start a long working weekend.
So we finally got parked, unloaded and set up as the doors were open to fans. Bob & I braced ourselves for the throngs of people to coming rushing in toward us... and we watched them run right by. They were all rushing to get freebies and convention exclusives. No worries though, it was just opening hour.
For Day One it was just Bob and myself working the table. This was Bob's first time working with us outside of L.A. He was slow to start, but by lunch he was charming ALL THE LADIES, as well as dispensing his patented Canadian threats to non-passionate riff-raff. His anger helped fuel his selling frenzy for the ultimate goal of beating the number of sales from Thursday last year. Oblivious to the passing of time, Bob only saw red. Then, as his "Wolverine-like Beserker Rage" subsided at the end of the first day, he glanced at our sales ledger and produced a toothy grin while bearing witness to his achievement. We beat last year by almost 50%! In all honesty, Bob was a great help and I was lucky to have him at the table to help sell the book and sketch characters for fans.
After the final sale was made, Bob & I went to our next hotel, the Westin San Diego, whose "Heavenly Beds" were true to form. Unfortunately, as I plopped down on mine, a leg broke off. We dealt with the hotel engineering staff for an hour before finally going down to the hotel restaurant for a meal... just as it closed. We ate at the bar, which was fine cause it had the same menu. Wow, I know it sounds like a harsh first day, but it all turned out good. I am at a loss to think of any good anecdotes right now, except for the one of the Latin woman who asked me if I knew what she was. I looked deep into her eyes and replied "Beautiful."
Needless to say, another fan and another sale was made.
Enjoy this handful of photos mi amigos.
This here is the "Coupon Kid" a walking, talking, free advertising space which we took full advantage of.
Lobster Johnson stopped by to display his new favorite periodical.
These two cuties are part of the ever-expanding fan base of Hot Mexican Love Comics.
We hook 'em while they are young to insure a lifetime of passion. Actually, they are Hazel & Charlotte, products of true Hot Mexican Love, being that their padre, Anthony Vukojevich, has been a contributor to the book since 1996.
ARRIBA!
We dug this kick-ass Rorschach costume. He dug our passion.
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