Coiled Comics

Emerald City ComicCon

By Peter

Amanda and I recently went to the Emerald City ComicCon. I go every year with my two sons, and we visit the HalfPixel tables and buy their books. They’ll always sign their books with a drawing, and it’s just a really fun event. Amanda sat in on the Web Comics panel talk given by the HalfPixel guys, and it sounds like they had some useful insights into the business of creating Web Comics.

One of the highlights for me was meeting Pete Abrams, creator of Sluggy Freelance. Sluggy Freelance has extraordinarily creative and complex storylines, yet every single strip has a punchline in it. I don’t know how Pete does it. When I showed up at his booth, I discovered he was, well, a regular guy. I told him that I considered him one of the first to create a Web comic and I asked him what he thought about the explosion of Web comics all around him. He told me that people come up to him all the time to ask him how to get started in the business, but that when he started it was all new, and he had no advice to offer. “I’m really not that good at it,” he told me. I pointed to the books on his table and said, “You do this very well.” He gave me a shy grin and agreed that he drew comics very well.

The most amazing thing about the ComicCon is the sheer amount of creative energy. Highly talented artists are crammed back-to-back into a convention center. It’s rather overwhelming, but inspiring as well.