Imy the Comic

First, if you missed the SPX related comic I posted today then see it HERE. Also, for all other posts and comics relating to SPX, click HERE.

I’ll start by saying that the lead up to this year’s SPX was a LOT less crazy for me than last year. First of all, last year it was going to be my first con ever, which was pretty terrifying. Second, last year I didn’t know what to expect, having only seen pics of SPX and never been to one. Thirdly, I didn’t think the organization leading up to it (by the organizers) was so great for new people like me. Veterans already knew how things went down, but I didn’t, and the information wasn’t so great. I remember running around a lot and not getting any straight answers about anything from the organizers. But this year they did an EXCELLENT job, and I had zero questions about how things were supposed to be done.

Anyway, moving on…

Saturday was a LOOOOOOOOONG day. This year’s SPX clashed with “Kulturnatt,” which translates to “night of culture.” I’m going to assume there were other “culture” type things going on then, but I don’t know what they were. Because of this, the organizers decided to extend Saturday from the usual 6 or 7 hours to 11 FREGGIN’ hours. Far too long. I was done at 9½. And there weren’t that many people coming through anyway. And those who were had no idea what we were doing there.

But before that happened, it was a busy day. Our tables were smaller than last year becasue they used different sized tables and “split” them in half for each participant. So I was pretty cramped there. Many of us were. But the couple next to me didn’t return on Sunday so I got the whole table for the second day.

Because of the small table situation, and the INSANE popularity of my neighbors, Saturday was a bit of a slow day for me, and my table got overlooked a LOT. People standing and waiting to see the couple next to me crowded my table all day long. Anyone who had any interest at those moments would give up and walk away.

But Sunday it all worked out very well. I had the whole table to myself and I was able to spread everything out a bit more and catch more attention. More people stopped to talk to me, which was nice. The very first guy who stopped by my table thought I had a very professional set up. He ended up buying both my books which was very cool. In fact, a LOT of people who stopped by the table decided to buy both books, which surprised me, especially when they’d never even heard of “Imy” before! And a LOT of people that bought book 0.5 last year CAME BACK to buy book 0.5½! Many people commented positively on my strange numbering system. I’m glad they all pretty much found it funny instead of ridiculous. And the strips that I chose to display on the table, in both English & Swedish versions, got BIG LAUGHS, which was also a lot of fun.

Fredrik Strömberg came by my table and talked with me a little bit about my comic and then bought BOTH my books which was very, very cool. His website is here, and in English! You should check it out. A lot of interesting stuff about comics in general and nordic based comics.

In the end I ended up selling 27 books total, and some buttons and bookmarks here and there. Unfortunately, I only had the old bookmarks to sell, since the volcano disrupted the shipping of my new ones, but it was a minor set back.

I went around on my own and visited some tables and bought some things as well. I may write a post about what I picked up later. I haven’t had any time to look at anything yet. I did get to see Alberto Corradi, an Italian artist who’s table was across from mine last year and who I’ve kept in light contact with on FB ever since. Unfortunately, by the time I got to him he had sold out of all of his own stuff! But he gave me an AWESOME poster of his characters Mostro & Morto and I bought a book from him of another Italian cartoonist. But I do think I will do a post on all of that later on.

Here’s a small collage of the locale (click for bigger). Turns out I didn’t end up taking THAT many pictures. But I think I took enough anyway.

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Thanks to those of you that came out and stopped by to support me! It means a LOT.

All in all it was a fun time, and I’m looking forward to it again next spring! But first, It’s time to start preparing for New York Comic Con in October! WOO!