Post Comic Con, I've been looking at a few ways of making this site more functional for readers. I have several items on the table. One of the options I have open to me is a free service through which people can sign up to get a text message sent to their cell phone every time the comic and blog updates.

Yes

No

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Passed along by Evil Inc henchman Rodrigo...

A Craigslist/London ads asks for...

"20-30 henchmen needed for moderately-sized supervillain organisation with large expansion potential (fortresses built into geological structures, corruption of government officials, possible genesis of 'nemesis' vigilante). Electrical theme. Applicants must be willing to learn new skills, including but not limited to operation of specialised 'lightning guns'. Applicants will also be required to wear specialised uniform when at work (functional rubber suits with my logo on front), except in cases where deception is required (posing as hostages in order to ambush vigilantes, etc). ..."

Read the entire ad here.

Read the coverage by The Register here.

Henchman / Henchwoman

Lackey

Thug

Goon

Minion

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Yup, folks... once again, it's a mystery with clues that reach way back in the archives. Here's a round-up of the paper trail, from left to right:

<> The phone message left while Evil Atom was ousted.

<> The half-burnt document Memo found in the incinerator.

<> The invoice Haynus and Louise were trying to hide.

Iron Dragon

Desdemona

Oculore

Dr. Haynus

Lightning Lady

Memo

One of the Ghost Board

Miss Match

Someone else

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I've never been given so many things as I have at Comic Con. I mean, you guys really made me feel special. Most of it was simply thoughtful and indicative of the in-jokes we share. For example, Wes Molebash brought me a copy for SkyMall magazine from his flight in (autographed!). I also received a copy of a newspaper that used "Champing at the bit" as a headline. My friend, Keith, who works at NC Soft, the makers of City of Villains, brought me a cool City of Villains cape (pictured to the right). My sons have been running around in the cape every since I got home. Sometimes they even give me a turn. The one that kills me is that someone -- and I have no idea who -- left me a Green Lantern ring and a pen that projects the Bat Signal when you press a button. I left the table for a bathroom break, came back, and saw the swag setting on the table between Kris Straub and me. I immediately began coveting it.

"That's so cool," I said to Kris, "Who gave it to you?"

"Dude. That's yours. Somebody brought it for you."

It was stealing without the theft. :)

Clearly, I need to take more bathroom breaks.


My pal Ryan Archer (right) brought over a T-Shirt from his strip, and David Oakes, who has always surprised me with more Lego versions of the Evil Inc cast at every successive convention he visits, gave me my very own Lego me. You can see it below, third from the left, in a little VILF shirt. Yes, that's a lego Dr, Haynus on the far right.




...And that's not mentioning all of the treats (including a huge bar of Lindt's 85%-cocoa, dark chocolate), books, comics, well-wishes and lascivious glances.

You guys humble me with your kindness. But I really do need to make this clear -- all I ever ask is that you come up and say hi. I don't need gifts or trinkets. Heck, I don't even care if you buy a book. I just get a thrill when someone comes up and tells me that they read the strip every day.

Hands down, I have the best readers in comics. You can have your Sheldonistas handing out crates of Hobnobs (I can't believe Kellett started hoarding them!) ... I have a pen... and it projects the Bat Signal. I can turn off all the lights, put on my cape, and use it to strike fear into my own, superstitious heart.

Too much information? Right. Moving on.

The Killing (Practical) Joke

So, on the podcast, we've made somewhat of a point of saying that we really feel uncomfortable doing portfolio reviews at comic conventions. So, it was with a deep, inward sigh that I received a perfectly nice guy who started his conversation with how much he loved Evil Inc and then transitioned directly to...

"I know you don't do portfolio reviews, but I'd love for you to just take a quick look at my work. It would mean the world to me."

"Sure, let's see it."

At this point, he takes out a pad of tracing paper.

"Ugh," I think to myself.

He slides out a comic, and...

OK. It was offensive. And, when I say it was offensive, I mean, it was offensive. It was so offensive, I can't even tell y -- listen... it was OFFENSIVE.

And it was drawn poorly, too.

As I begin stammering, my eye is caught by some familiar faces around this young 'toonist. One is Gloria Calderon Kellett, Dave Kellett's wife. Another is David Scales, an actor and friend of Dave and Glo, who I met in New York at a production of one of Gloria's plays. And... And...

These are show folk.

And I... I have been had.

The laughter positively erupts from all around.

Fred, the erstwhile cartoonist, is a writer, but for my money, he could be an Oscar-worthy actor.

And an amazingly nice guy. He apologized unnecessarily. It was one of the best laughs at the Con, and that's heavy competition.

Left to right: Me-a, Culp-a

Oh, and did I forget to mention that I stood in the presence of greatness all weekend? No, I mean besides Straub. Catastrophic Comics is launching a "Greatest American Hero" comic series, based on the classic 80s TV show starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca and...

Robert Culp.

That's right, losers. Me and Mr. "I Spy"... close enough to do manly knuckle-bumps for five straight days.

Not that we did.

But I did work up the courage to ask for a photo.

And then knuckle-bumped Kurtz. The "bing" sound effect at the end? I added that.

Plastic Man

Speaking of Scott Kurtz, he was staying at the Marriot next to the convention center. Take a look at what was plastered all over the facade. It seems the newest DC animated series is a take-off of the Brave and the Bold series that teamed Batman up with another DC character each month. And just look who was being promoted. My favorite hero of all time, Plastic Man. He was even on the fans that DC handed out. In fact, put Plastic Man And San Diego into a Flickr search and you'll see not one, but two people cosplaying the ductile doofus at Comic Con this year.

I'm telling you... his time has finally come. Can a revamped monthly be far behind? Could there be a better man than me to write/illustrate it? I got the portfolio. I got references.

I got Culp.

Robert Culp

Cpt. Sisko

Cmdr. Riker

Plastic Man

Phil Foglio

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Evil Inc Annual Report Vol. 3 hits Diamond Previews this month. Eagle-eyed readers can find it on Page 296 -- in a virtual battle-of-the-cleavages with the She-Buccaneer.

As I've done in the past, I'm putting the call out to all of the Evil Inc Henchmen and Henchwomen: On your next visit to your local comic shop, please make a point to draw the attention of the manager to Evil Inc Annual Report Vol. 3 in the August edition of Previews.

The order forms are right here.

"There's no friend like an old friend..." (Oliver Wendell Holmes)



Comic Con -- aka "The Nerd Prom" -- is special for me because it's my opportunity to reconnect with all of my old friends in comics. Primary in this group are my three, close friends Dave Kellett, Kris Straub and Scott Kurtz. Including the How To Make Webcomics book, the Webcomics Weekly podcast and countless other side projects and appearances over the past year, we've gotten to be very good friends with one another. It's more like a family reunion when we all get together. I laugh so hard with them my face hurts by the end of the night.



My Halfpixel colleagues and I had two panels -- both on the subject of Webcomics -- on Friday. One went 3-4 p.m. and the other was 6-7 p.m. The first was moderated by another old friend, Phil Foglio. Phil and Kaja Folio sent their boothmates to Subway on Saturday to buy lunch for a bunch of us. Seriously, we were slogging away at the Halfpixel table when up they come with four trays of sandwiches and toppings. It was a seriously thoughtful thing to do. Listen. They don't come classier than the Foglios. Nowhere.



And Phil was in rare form, hosting the Webcomics 101 panel. I counted about 220 seats in the room, and we had filled it to capacity. The Comic Con officials had been warned about allowing standing-room-only attendees, so people were turned away at the door. We talked and laughed, and joked and teased each other. Go to the 2:32 point in the video below to see the introduction to this talk.


San Diego Wrap Up from Scott Kurtz on Vimeo.

I found it fascinating that, although the five of us were absolutely lockstep on some issues, there were others -- retail sales vs. direct Web sales, for instance -- that we had wildly divergent views on. Phil, for example, actively encourages Girl Genius readers to buy their books from a retail outlet -- Amazon, bookstores, comic shops -- because he feels this has earned him a reciprocal relationship at the retail level. I've always asked you guys to buy directly from me for the simple fact that I make more money when you do that. I have to say, hearing Phil's logic gave me a lot to think about, though. If it gives you any indication, look at the photo below to see our reaction to Phil's explanation. Phil Foglio.... The E.F. Hutton of Webcoimics.



Now. Are you ready for this? The Webcomics 101 panel ends at 4 p.m., and a bunch of the people in the crowd for that panel ran to the room in which the second panel was to be held and started waiting in line. For two hours. The second panel seated close to 300 and we filled it to about two-thirds.



The second panel was aesome. It was the four authors of the How To Make Webcomics book doing a live version of the Webcomics Weekly podcast. It was supposed to end at 7, but we were having so much fun, we burned through for another 45 minutes. We went so late, we returned to find the exhibit hall locked. (That's where the David Malki / Magnolia Porter story starts up.)

Two more old friends, Bill Barnes and Gene Aubaum, co-creators of Unshelved, were onhand for Comic Con. They were exhibiting in the aisle prior to ours in the Independent Press Pavilion. Jim Demonakos, who runs my favorite convention of the year, Emerald City Comic Con, was hanging with the Unshelved boys, too, and stopped over for a chat. On Wednesday night, as Kris and I arrived in the parking garage with more than a dozen heavy boxes, Bill offered the use of his dolly (in addition to Kellett's), and what was going to be a nightmare became a snap. I'm always excited to see Bill. But when I saw him come around the corner with a second dolly, I could have kissed him. Bill -- wisely -- declined.



I also got a chance to reconnect with Ryan Sohmer and Lar Desouza, the creative team behind Least I Could Do. It's always great to see those guys, and they were swamped at their booth for most of the week, promoting Blind Ferret, LICD and Looking For Group. Lar joins us in being a huge fan and supporter of Evil Inc colorist Ed Ryzowski.

And I was happy to see a bunch of my friends at The Night -- like R Stevens, Meredith Gran, Phillip Karlsson, Jonathan Rosenberg, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Jon introduced me to his agent -- the one who landed the Random House deal for Jon's strip, Goats. Jon's agent said "Woo!" as Jon mentioned Evil Inc and Phables. Either she's a fan or Jon goosed her. (That was a joke. She's much to classy to be a fan.) Meredith brought around copies of the latest Octopus Pie book, which my wife has already devoured. We both agree, Gran's confidence makes her work shine.

Another old friend of mine who made it to Comic Con was Dennis Earlenbaugh. Dennis and I worked together in the graphics department of the Akron Beacon Journal. Dennis was attending with his friend, Mike Barr, who was invited as a guest by the convention to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his creating Batman and the Outsiders. To those of you who have read the story, Dennis is notable for the fact that he gave me the "enjoy your obscurity" talk. It was that talk that, years later, encouraged me to create Evil Inc.

Finally, I was able to meet up with a friend of mine from college, Beth Ann, whose husband now works for Dark Horse Comics. She and her daughter were cruising the hall and found me at my booth. It was so great to see her. We used to spend hours, sitting atop the Art Department building, talking about everything and nothing. Her daughter is confident and bright (home schooling, I'm told with a proud smile). Her daughter mentioned a fondness for mythological creatures, so I gave them directions to the PvP table. Scott, being the big softy that he is, gave the girl a Skull plush.

Evil Inc colorist, Ed Ryzowski, will be attending Connecticon in Hartford, Connecticut, this weekend (Aug. 1-3). Look for him in Artist's Alley -- better yet, look for his awesome new banner (pictured to the right) -- and take the opportunity to tell him how awesome he is.

Better yet, show him... by picking up some of the Geek Tragedy T-shirts, button and prints he'll have on hand.

And while you're trolling Artist's alley, be sure to look for Richard Essington, who is promoting his book, The Souled. He is currently sponsoring the Evil Inc site, so be sure to show him a little love.