a²alien

An old coworker and friend of mine dropped by the a2alien table at SPX. He introduced me to a friend of his who was helping him publish a book. We all chatted for a while and even talked about how easy it is for anyone who has a little bit of persistence to put together a web comic. The next thing I knew, I received a suggestion to fan the Ted Dead comic on facebook. You guessed it, they left SPX and created a new comic!. I have to admit, I was pretty darn impressed! People with that kind of go get ‘em, just do it attitude always amaze me.

So, I present to you Ted Dead, just your everyday zombie by Cal Miller and Greg Bogle. Ted Dead takes place in an office where Ted (just your everyday zombie) battles his need for brains while his coworkers fend him off with head cheese and obnoxious customers. In just a few months, they have already created a comic that gets better and better. Of course, since Cal and Greg just started Zilyon publishing and their first book, Het Madden, A Zombie Perspective is now available via both Create Space and Amazon it really shouldn’t be much of surprise that the writing is sharp and the jokes are funny.

So, if you’re looking for a Zombie comic, then look no further .. go check out Ted Dead!

Day two of SPX was quite a blast. I finally got to wander around a bit and met some wonderful artists. One of the things I really love most about going to cons is meeting other artists and discovering their work. Robert and I were lucky enough to be neighbors with Kurt (One Year in Indiana) and across the way from our neighbors last year (Bamn). The people around us were fabulous and I meet another local artist (Chris Malone) as well as artists from NYC and MA who I’m hoping to see at King Con Brooklyn and perhaps the New England Webcomics Weekend (still upset I missed that last year and hoping there is a reprisal, but I digress).

So,  what came out of meeting so many great people? I obtained quite a few mini-comics. Details below (in no particular order) …

Minicomics and a few extras from SPX 2009.

Blue and Blonde. I stopped y Chris Malone’s table on day two and we ended up trading comics. He’s got over 500 comics on his web site–woah, I can’t imagine finally creating that many! His mini-comics are great. I’m pretty impressed with the simple, yet detailed style ofhis characters and I really enjoy the jokes; they remind me of my days at the beach and my surfer dude friends. Stay Casual Barlowe.

One Year in Indiana. Kurt was our awesome neighbor and this comic kicks ace. It is the story of the “worlds smartest death metal vocalist and his adventures in the Hoosier state.” His art style is very different from what I’m normally attracted to, but it really compliments and fills out his stories. The stippling for shading looks great and gives the art a gritty look that is consistent with the story. The facial expressions are priceless. I loooooooove the mouth of horrors storyline.

Spinks! is an adorable little monster with tiny eyes and a big mouth. It’s a picture comic and I’ve very impressed with the cute little stories that are told without words. The spinks crew had knitted spinks characters for sale and they were adorable!

Fashion Parade and Surprised Monsters. These mini-comics by Anne are pictorial and don’t have stories to them, but are still quite amusing. The art is very fun; my favourite is the “death of higher education” costume in Fashion Parade. Brilliant! Who says robes are good for nothing but graduations? And, the scared octopus-like monster is fabulous.

Hey Pais. I love kitties and Hey Pais is a journal comic by Paisley the cat. I ended up with “The Best Thing in the World.” This mini-comic pits various things from Paisley’s life such as ice cream vs. soft treats. It’s a bracketed series and the winner is… ok, I won’t spoil it, but there is a complete bracket in the comic as well as one you can play yourself. How neat!! Since Paisley was unavailable at SPX, The Girl was kind enough to sign the comic for me and even drew antennae on Paisley.

Sam Koi. Oh happy day! Mal Jones dropped by and traded comics with me too. I love love love Sam Koi, as anyone whose been reading the blog already knows. Even happier for me, I was chatting to a really nice young woman who turned out to be Rhiannon Thumma who writes the stories for the Sam Koi comic. Issue Two is a printed edition of the Sam Koi comics “The Chase” and “Pals”, which are sad but sweet tales told by beautiful illustrations. I could stare at the blue of the cover for hours it is so relaxing.

My Boyfriend is a Space Robot. This mini-comic by Abby Denson is a short story about a girl with muscular dystrophy who meets a robot. It’s a color comic with a limited palette, but the colors really work for this story. It is a short but sweet tale of a girl who meets a robot and what happens next.

Erik Siand. Robert and I talked to Erik for a while about his artwork and  how he got into doing SPX.  I ended up with one of his prints which I like to think of as a British Police woman. It’s blue stippling on an orange background. Generally, I can’t stand orange, but this just works so well; it really is quite beautiful.

That’s all for the mini-comics .. more on the books another day!

The a2alien will be at X Con World in Myrtle Beach, SC October 2-4, 2009. If you missed us at SPX in Maryland, come see us at the beach! In addition to having comics and antennae, the a2alien will be participating in a panel discussion about comics.  Between this and CREATE South I’m getting plenty of public speaking practice. It would be great to see some friendly faces in the audience, so please come out and support this up and coming con!

More information about X Con can be found on the X Con web site. Also, from the X Con World press release:

X Con World is a convention on the beach, featuring local and national talent, businesses, artists, and entertainment. October 2^nd – 4^th Springmaid Beach Resort will be hosting this years’ event, which is located at 3200 S Ocean Blvd, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577. Rooms are available at the location, call the resort to inquire  – (843) 315-7100 or visit their website at  – http://springmaidbeach.com

Featured at this years event – Nationally renowned talent such as Jonathan Hickman, Bob Camp, Tim Seeley, Joe Staton, Paty Cockrum, Rick Ketcham, Vinnie Tartamella, as well as local artists including Matt “Six” Bahr, Kaneesha Bryant, Jeff Bracey, and many more.

X Con World boasts a massively multiplayer console gaming tournament, panels, contests, and demonstrations throughout the weekend, as well as viewing rooms showing movies and anime, a vendor hall, and an after dark zombie walk on the beach! There is so much to do at X Con World, come enjoy your weekend with some of the industry’s best up-and-coming names as well as veteran talent as they hang out in Myrtle Beach.

Corsair Comics in downtown Myrtle Beach and Apocalypse Comics in Longs has paired to bring this annual convention to the Grand Strand and X Con World has recently partnered with Zombie Con, held in Greensboro, NC.

You don’t want to miss this and future events!

For more information or tickets, please call Corsair Comics at (843) 839 – 4820, or visit our website at http://xconworld.com [Ed. Note: site has sound]