Image Comic Expo -- Oakland Bound!

Howdy all!

It's Thursday night and I know what you're thinking: "How can I bring peace to my life by knowing for sure that next weekend will be awesome?"  The answer, which I'll admit is a bit of a drive unless you happen to live in Oakland, CA, is the Image Comic Expo!  Beginning next Friday, February 24 ~ 26, some of the highest-profile creators in the industry will gather together at the Oakland Convention Center for a massive event made by comics creators, FOR comics creators!  The roster of Guests of Honor?  Damn, where to start..  Let's just say, the list is long.  Power through it though, and you'll spot in the Artists Alley section an entry for your friendly neighborhood indy publisher: CCP Comics!

So who in the crew will you sidle up to at the venue?

McLain McGuire, our illustrious Editor in Chief!  Swing by his table for portfolio feedback, inquiries about the company, Ryan Ottley fanboyism, or better yet to buy some beautiful high-quality CCP Comics!

Rita Moore, one of the hardest-working artists I've ever met.  Those of you who've met us at shows might know her best as "that chick doing the really nice watercolors".  Us, we know her as many things.  Penciler, inker, colorist, webmaster, freelancer, businesswoman, host to meetings, one of the most active of our members at events, one of the most credited of our members across CCP's oeuvre, and (not undeservedly) That Poor Girl who's replaced all her blood with energy drink.  This past week has been no exception, and I hope it pays off -- Because once she's done, she gets to go out to ImageCon and debut her brand-new half-issue preview of her creator-written FLIP Relapse!  Then, God willing, she'll come back to ATX and get a lot of sleep.

Matt Campbell, renowned creator of the webcomic Mythica, penciler of the Make-A-Wish Foundation's Electron Boy one-shot, artist for the preview of our upcoming series Station 39, and pin-up artist extraordiare.  Be sure to hit his table for his debut of the first complete printed-paper issue of Mythica!

Eroll See, world-famous karaoke bard and illustrator on Saint, Borderwall, and The Adventures of Justin Time & Jenny Power.  Drop by to check out his latest prints as well as his centerpiece -- a portfolio of his selected pencilwork!

I've hit my limit of exclamation points, so I'll just leave it at this:  If you're going to the Image Comic Expo, you should come say hello to these fine people.  While you're at it, you should bring your friends, your family, your portfolios -- and maybe $3 to $5, so you can walk home with a fresh-printed CCP Comic to call your very own.

New Orleans Wizard World Wrap-Up!

I slept last night, and let me tell you it was awesome.

Hadn't really done enough of it lately!  Most'a this past week I put in overtime at my day job, making up for missing last Friday because all last weekend was convention time!

New Orleans!  The Big Easy!  NOLA!  It was my first time in the town, and I must be honest, I wasn't mentally prepared for the party it proved to be.  Normally we'll roll in, have a nice dinner someplace near the hotel, and spend the rest of the evenings hanging around in the hotel lobby and drawing on this or that.  This is not what happens in N'Awlins.

What happens in N'Awlins is, you roll into a restaurant like Mulate's filled with live music and dance, and you're presented with the best food and drink you can ever remember tasting.  Perhaps you partake in a little more to verify that yes, yes indeed, it is the best.  Perhaps a few members of your writing staff get in on the music. Perhaps a few other members might decide they want some beignets, and you find yourself following them down Bourbon Street in the middle of the night to find some and yes, it turns out that they ARE that wonderful.  That's New Orleans.  It's an overwhelming feast that makes you want even more, and somehow when you go for more it gets even better.

Next year I come armed with this knowledge.  Either I'll stick to the hotel like my life depends on it, or I'll just plan not to work after dark :D

Anyways -- The show!  What'd we do while we were there?

We released Dead Beats #1, written by Rob Bass and drawn by Johnny Segura III:

Mr. Segura, meanwhile, also got to debut his dangerously cool new 89-page sketchbook!  What you get is right there in the title!

Writer Rob Bass saw the release of his collection of short stories, MASSIVE HEART ATTACK:

And Matt Campbell's Mythica #1, a collected edition of his lauded webcomic, talked about the world over!

And wonders never cease -- Rob Bass and Seth Humble saw the debut of CAPETOWN, featuring artwork by the amazing artist and all-around great guy Tommy Phillips!

So many zombies!

Previews of Deat Beats and CapeTown are available on our website along with previews of several of our other current titles.  Be sure to check 'em out!


Here are a few photos from the trip, most of which I swiped from CCP's Facebook fan-page. I'm assuming that's alright...

Busy times!

Dinner at Mulate's!  Pictured from the left: Matt Campbell, Rob Bass, Seth Humble [almost], Sam Lotfi, Jonathan Thibodeux, Ryan Alexander, Vo Nguyen, and Chris Beaver

Awesome associates Greg & Kristy Harms and Luke Donkersloot!

Matt Campbell, hooking up a fan with one of several exclusives he pulls together for the show!

At the end of the show we corralled everyone we could into a group photo.  Not pictured: Greg Harms & Matt Campbell

All in a all, GREAT times had -- Thanks to Wizard for hosting the event!  Looking forward to next year's..  In the meantime, stay tuned; our next show is coming up quick :)

Take care,
~Beaver