Favorite memories from C2E2

As the dust settles from C2E2, I wanted to take a few minutes to jot down some memories before they fade. As always, click on the thumbnails to see full-size photos.

First off, I exhibited with two of my very best friends, Kris Straub and Scott Kurtz. That alone guaranteed that it was going to be an awesome weekend. After setting up the booth Thursday, we had a phenomenal steak dinner and prepared for the upcoming weekend.

I learned a couple things Thursday. First, my endeavors to spread the popularity of the Whiskey Sour are starting to bear fruit, as it became the signature Halfpixel drink of the weekend. And secondly, according to the Bell Captain who delivered Kris' luggage to our room, I look like Kris' father.

Not his older brother. His father.

Moving on.

As Friday morning hit, I took a quick walk around the Webcomics Pavilion that Reed Exhibitions had established. For those of you who may not know, I also run an information-and-advice site for webcartoonists at Webcomics.com. Members of that site got a table in the Webcomics Pavilion for 15%-off (a 200% return on the annual subscription price), and I wanted to make sure that my members had made it in OK and there were no problems with their tables. Not only were there no problems, but everyone was happy and really cool to meet.

Of course, it was sad not to be exhibiting with the fourth Halfpixler, Dave Kellett, but, thanks to Ryan Sohmer, we had a stand-in. A standee stand-in. I don't know if Nick Jonas is much of a cartoonist, but he certainly got a little attention behind the booth.

A true highlight of the show was Scott introducing me to one of my heroes, Amanda Conner. If you're reading this blog, you already know that I'm in awe of her work on Power Girl. Her ability to render facial expressions and dynamic figures is second to none, and I pour over every page she does, trying to divine her secrets. She is every bit as delightful in person as you'd guess she is, and she accepted my overwrought, effusive fanboyism with grace.

On the last night of the convention, webcartoonist Chris Hallbeck and his wife offered to take Scott, Kris and I around Chicago for a little site-seeing and dinner. The photo at the top of this post was from their tour. They showed us around town -- narrated by Chris' wife Amanda (soundtrack by their ultra-adorable two-year-old) -- and then took us to Heavan on Seven for some truly delicious cajun food.

As usual, we did a live version of the Webcomics Weekly podcast, video from which shall be posted a little later in the week.