Monday, February 25, 2013

Magic Mini Con Aftermath



Magic Mini Con is over.  It was the first event since the return of Charisma Kills Studios from hiatus. It started off a bit rough, with a mad dash to get new material ready for prints, art cards, and posters. On top of that, we were up until 4AM getting the main page,  www.charismakills.com  , up. It still needs some tweeking but I’m very happy with it. Sherri Craig did a great job on it. Unfortunately, burning the midnight oil caused me to sleep late, leaving no time to get prints made, and missing out on selecting my table. After a few rounds of musical tables and chairs, I got a small spot in the back. This was not a big deal, except I didn’t have room to set up my stuff and still have room to draw.
The venue, Magic Comics & Hobbies LLC, is a comic and game enthusiast dream. If you find yourself in Slidell Louisiana, you have to check it out. It’s located at 727 Robert Blvd. Nope, I’m not getting paid to plug them, I am just that impressed. Comics, tons of toys, collectables, models, very friendly staff, and a large gaming area where the hold officially sanctioned table top games.
There were also lots of people in costume, mostly Star Wars from the 501st Legion. These guys are hardcore too…very authentic costumes and gear. The good “Doctor” was there to with K-9 and sonic-screwdriver. Oh, and Wonder Woman and Aquaman. Hey, don’t laugh. That guy was more Aquaman that the one in the comics lol.  
After the initial stress of getting there late, not having new prints, and missing out on my table, I had a good time. We got a good response on “Sweet Dreams are Man of Worms” and a fair amount of interest built for Apocalypse Pizza. And I actually sold prints! The old standby “Jason vs. Courage the Cowardly Dog” print is always one of the first. It gets them to the table. The lighting was a bit off in the building, so nearly all of the photos I took didn’t come out. I did post some video of the 501st on the Charisma Kills Studios facebook page.
As for the next events, we seem to be squared away with Coastcon for 2014, got an inquiry into appearing at this year’s Contraflow, and Bayou Con. I have been eye balling Comicpalooza in Houston Texas this year too.  We still have a lot more to do to get the Studio to where I want it, but it’s coming.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

I thought I would give everyone a progress report on the Charisma Kills Studios reconstruction. I've been working on tons of new material for both web comics. Mostly concept art, but new pages for Sweet Dreams are Made of Worms and Apocalypse Pizza have been penciled. I'm working on the inks now. I'll hopefully have those out soon. I'm also working on a new run of artist collector cards that includes material for both comics as well as teaser images from the "Wyrd" project. If you recall, that one was going to be a Summer project back in 2011. Well, I'm taking it back to it's original roots. I don't want to go too much more into it until I get the copyright BS taken care of.

The new Charisma Kills Studios web-site is under construction. I don't have an ETA on that, but I'll keep you posted. I know the address is still the same www.charismakills.com It's just dead space at the moment, but I will put something up, even if it's just temporary.

I've also been looking into creating electronic versions of the books, shirts, online print shop, etc. zazzle and those other middleman sites are just ridiculous.

Here is something that you could help me with if you are interested. I'm making props to bring to conventions to use as both decor and sale as limited edition stuff. Right now, I'm working on an Ego costume to make one of the "thugs" wear. Mad Dogs armor and gun, and Horrorshow's chainsaw (who is this "Horrorshow"? you ask, he's part of the Wyrd project). If anyone has any tips on prop or cosplay crafting, I could use some help.

I also thought it would be cool to start a Charisma Kills Studios channel and show video of things like the conventions I attend, the making of the costumes, and what have you.

So, that's where I'm at now. Thank you for your support and readership.