Jeff and I weren’t really sure what to expect from the show. It had been a dozen years or more since we’d done a show, and this was a newish sort of show Wizard having taken over an existing show. Check-in was a breeze and then we went to find our table. (We had found our table number online, but the map was illegible. We could have tried consulting the map in the program once we were there, but it was pretty hard to read even when I did check.) First surprise was we had an entire table to ourselves, I had thought we were getting a half table. Maybe they took pity on us and decided two artists might need two chairs. We didn’t ask.

Next surprise was the name on the table beside ours.
Leonard Kirk! We had done a lot of shows over the years and it always seemed we were sitting next to or across from Leonard. So 12 years later and once again, he’s right beside us. Not that that’s bad. It was great. He, and many others as the weekend went on, made it feel like no time had passed at all. Plus he was good company, put up with our shenanigans, was great to chat with and ended up doing an awesome sketch for me. Thanks Leonard. Should we be asking to be next to you at every con from now on, just to safe?
So we set up our table. And man, I’m glad we had the whole thing. Once we try and cram 12 issues of the mini run, the trades, postcards, magnets and a folder with the first dozen pages of the new web based story, there was little space left for us to draw on. Poor Jeff was trying to crank out a bunch of little giveaway sketches and had very little room to work. Having that much material is both a blessing and a curse. We’re looking forward to having all the old stories collected so we only have the two trades to display.
Another item on the table was the analogue Guargum updater. (A ceramic tile version of the random sillyness of our Twitter feed.) As the day went on, we would update both online and right there at our table. Fun when we’d post a random comment someone said and then they’d wander over and see it. We’ll likely continue to bring this to cons. And we might even do custom ones if people are interested.
So then we settled in to our quite comfy chairs and waited for the hoards. Okay, a Friday, of a newish show, in the afternoon, admittedly, there were no hoards. But as the day went on, more people arrived and we began to chat with folks, make jokes, explain what DFS was all about and generally have a good time.
I should give a shout out here to the Volunteers at the show. If there’s one thing they did very well, it was the volunteers. They were easy to spot, if a bit blinding in their neon shirts. The circled regularly and checked in to see if you need anything like water, a pee break, a pizza retrieved from a delivery person, someone killed, it was really nice. (Never did get my ribs…) Special mention to our favourite Volunteer Alex. I was also impressed when the con organizer made a point of stopping to check in with every person. It’s a small thing, but again, a nice touch. Hello to assistant Heather (Droopy).
The other noteable person of Friday was Alice of
TDot Comics. She was very friendly and chatted with us for quite a while. She even ended up capturing us on film, but that was on Saturday and is a whole crazy thing of it’s own.
Eventually eight o’clock rolled around and we packed it up for the night. It hadn’t been a busy day, but fun at least. And the next day was the longest and likely to be the busiest, so we headed out and only stayed up to watch half of the
New Moon Rifftrax.