If you’ve been reading this column recently, you know that I’ve been attending a lot of comic book conventions this year! I mean, a lot – like 12 or 13 of them! You can go here and see the list of them!
It’s been a great experience, interacting with other fans as well as many creators who truly are passionate about their creations. I’ve loved every minute of being on both sides of the table. Cons are like parties – everyone who loves comics getting together to celebrate and share!
There’s been only one problem – I haven’t had time to read most of the comics I’ve acquired!
SOMETIMES REALITY GETS IN THE WAY OF COMICS
When you’re “working” a convention, you’ve got to do a massive number of things to get ready, never mind making the comics! Packing, loading and unloading, travelling, carrying and moving heavy stuff all take up time. We have a van we travel in, thankfully, so all the stuff fits nicely.
You have to set up and then “man” your booth. At times, you get to wander the floor to check out what others have brought. Often at night, you’re tired and just want to zone out and watch the TV. We like Forensic Files on HLN. Every mystery is solved in just 30 minutes! Talk about efficient!
All too soon it’s over, and you begin the sad task of tearing down the booth along with everyone else. As Prince sang, “parties weren’t meant to last,” but they can make you wish they could. The place you’ve enjoyed being in for three or four days suddenly is dismantled right before your very eyes. Sigh. Then it’s loading time, following by more travelling.
With our experience this year, sometimes as soon as we got home, we had to start preparing for the next con. In between all of that, we have obligations to meet, hopefully balancing all of this successfully.
Who has time to read?
CREATORS ARE BUSY CREATING
As I’ve talked with comics creators, I used to ask the question, “What are you reading now?” I stopped doing that because so often the answer was, “I’m too busy making comics to read them!”
I won’t bore you with the process, but let’s just say that it keeps all these good folks really busy, especially those Indie comics people who have to do literally everything themselves! It’s tough to squeeze in the time to read the books they haven’t made yet still would love to enjoy!
WHAT’S GOING ON NOW?
We recently were at the Baltimore Comic Con, a fun one to be sure, but now we have something of a break before the next one, a month or two away.
See, I haven’t stopped getting the comics. They’re here in the house with me. What I need to do now is, finish up all the things I didn’t get to in the last several months, then organize the books and read them in the proper order.
All this takes time, of course!
Right now, a very nice guy has emailed me copies of work created by the clients he represents. He’s anxious for me to read them and set up interviews with them for my podcast. He’s very nice about it, but every two days or so over the last week, he’s been emailing me, asking if I’ve read them yet. I’ve politely responded, “No, I haven’t gotten to them yet, but I will.” (Guess what I’m going to do after I get this column written!)
I mean, I enjoy being busy! I’m working hard on organizing things and following through on the promises I’ve made. For instance, I promised I’d read a children’s book for its creator a few months back. I just need a couple of hours to finish it, then I’m going to contact him. I’ve loved what I’ve read so far, though!
I MISS MY COMICS!
You’ll notice I have been writing my columns and getting my podcasts done, pretty much on a regular basis. Most of the books I’ve read recently, I’ve written reviews for.
But I look at the stack of high-octane DC Rebirth titles I’m anxious to read, some now coming out every two weeks, and I long to get to them! I will, mind you, I’m just not sure when!
We’re all busy people these days, seems like. I have a website to update as well as an article to read over, so I’m trying to be as efficient as possible. I hate it when reality gets in the way of comics!
Why I’m talking about all this is simple: I used to loathe it when a friend would say, “Don’t talk about that show (or that comic) because I haven’t gotten to it yet.” I’d respond: “WHAT? I so want to discuss that! Rats!”
Now I am that person. Argh!
One good thing is that I can now be more understanding when others can’t talk about the very latest show or comic. Hey, I’m there, man! It makes me wonder if bi-weekly comics are such a good thing after all!
Maybe some of you have suggestions for me when it comes to getting back on track! If you do, please mention them below. If not, I’ll understand – Hey, I’m glad you made the time to read this column! Now, get busy – you and I both have other things to do so we can finally read our comics!
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Wayne Hall creates the Wayne's Comics Podcast. He’s interviewed Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, John Layman, Kyle Higgins, Phil Hester, Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray, David Petersen, Christos Gage, Mike Grell, and Matt Kindt. On this site each week, he writes his "Comics Portal" column (general comics comments and previews) and reviews comics.