STAPLE! 2010

As I write this, the last thing I have to do to declare the book closed on STAPLE! 2010 is see Guy Davis safely back home and then get all the new books I picked up for the store logged back into the inventory. So as of tomorrow afternoon, STAPLE! 2010 will officially be over for me.

It was a great year, at least on my end. Good attendance, great fans, and everyone I talked to seemed to have a good time. Chris Schweizer (of Crogan's Adventures) and Chad Thomas (of Archie's Sabrina comics) both stayed at my place, and I had a great time hanging out with them. Also helped work Guy Davis's table, and Guy is about as nice a guy as you will ever meet.

The four of us went out to Chuy's for lunch on Friday, where Guy was amused by the "big as your face" burrito and the dinosaur sign over the restroom caught Chris's eye, leading to a brief dinosaur meme at live art on Saturday. We also stopped by Book People and went out to the UPS store so Chris could get some prints done, and then of course there was the Austin Books pre-party.

I know I own another shop in town and shouldn't say anything too nice about the competition, but... damn. Austin Books really is a spectacular comic shop, and being there gives me feelings of envy and inferiority every time. Which is a pretty high compliment, given that I think Rogues Gallery is a pretty kickass comics shop. As always, got to check in with a ton of people who I don't see often enough, and though I had to pass up an invite for LEOG post-party fun and an invite to grab dinner with Kristian Donaldson, Nick Derington and some other friends because I was too damn tired, it was a good time.

STAPLE! itself went really smoothly for me. It was tiring, as I spent most of my time at Guy's table, helping out with sales and chatting with fans in the always long lines to see him. He did free sketches for tons of folks, we sold out of the Marquis and Guy's awesome sketchbooks, and had a good time talking to Paul Maybury and Jason Horn, both of whom shared table space with Guy at one time or another.

I did get out to buy a few things. Picked up the collection of Let's Be Friends Again, Yehudi Mercado's cool-as-hell looking graphic novel Buffalo Speedway, Monica Gallagher's Boobages & Bonnie N. Collide Books One and Two and Chad Townshend's newest sketchbooks. And I was given some cool stuff, including a couple badass prints by Evan Bryce, a Sabrina page from Chad Thomas, Chris Schweizer's Crogans & Smokers of the Marvel Universe prints and the last sketchbook Guy had before we sold out.

Franklin Barbecue for dinner. It is easily the best barbecue I've ever had. Went again for lunch the next day. Will definitely be going again. Soon.

Got quite, quite drunk at the Live Art event. Didn't buy any live art as a result, bummed I didn't get the Guy Davis piece but somebody else nabbed it first. You can follow things I may or may not have said on Nate Southard's Twitter. I don't *think* I wanted to fuck a werewolf, but I'm not entirely sure at this point, to be honest.

Sunday was barbecue again, with Chris S., Chad, Guy, Uncle Staple!, Leo McGovern (of Antigravity Magazine in New Orleans) and Toby Craig, and then took Guy up to visit Rogues Gallery. Then, after a relaxing afternoon, got out to see Shutter Island at the Alamo Drafthouse with Kristian and my friend Jamie.

Fun weekend. Tiring, but I'm not exhausted, which is good, because I've got to do inventory prep and then inventory and then new comics day at the store. And then prep for my D&D game on Friday.

Then I can start planning more for D&D Encounters at the store, finalize all the stuff I've been working on for Free Comic Book Day and get everything lined up for the April New Orleans trip. Oh, and I've already got some ideas for who we should invite to STAPLE! 2011, but I'm afraid if I say the words STAPLE! 2011 to Chris right now, he'll snap and kill me.

STAPLE! 2009

I dropped off Twitter for a day because I have an iPod Touch, not an iPhone, so I couldn't Twitter the show. It was a great one, though. Rambling post ahead.

We co-sponsored with Austin Books to bring in Jeffrey Brown and Stan Sakai, and I helped run Stan's table most of the day. We did a brisk business... Stan sold out of almost everything he brought, I sold out of about 80% of the Usagi graphic novels I bought. Including a pretty sizable number of volume ones and a way too small number of Art of Usagi. Two shows in, I'm still learning how to order for STAPLE!

Oh, and the food, by Mike Barnes, was awesome. I had a chicken and sausage gumbo for lunch, a cuban sandwich for, uh, let's call it lunch part two and another cuban sandwich for, uh, we'll call that "pre-dinner." Seriously awesome food.

Pre-party at Austin Books was fun as usual. Every time I go there (which is generally once a year for the STAPLE! party) it looks all the more impressive. The new glass doors are particularly swanky, but I'm always just floored by the deep stock that Brad's got at that shop. I'm proud of Rogues Gallery, but Austin Books always does make me feel a little bit tiny by comparison.

What I love about the pre-party, and STAPLE! in general, is that I get to feel like I have this huge group of friends. I know a ton of people in this community, both local and not, and although I never see them more than once a year, that once a year is always a blast.

Post-pre-party (labored time description, I know), a bunch of us wound up at T&S Seafood, which I didn't know stayed open until 1 AM. Nick Derington's wife Tonya stunned us all by ordering for the table, and getting a great selection of traditional favorites along with Peking Duck, Salt and Pepper Shrimp (with shell on, and now that I've had that I'll never eat it the other way again) and a bunch of other stuff. For $20 each, we all got stuffed.

Dean Trippe stayed with me for his first STAPLE!, and he seemed to have a great time. I got to spend a fair amount of time at the Live Art show hanging out with Kristian Donaldson and Jason Murphy, two friends I've had for a while, plus a lot of time chatting with Kristin Hogan, who is just super-cool and fun. I also met a bunch of new people and discovered a bunch of new artists. I really dug hanging out with and getting art from Evan Bryce and Monica Gallagher, and I loved the stuff I picked up from Kennon James. And she's a longtime friend who I never get to see enough at these things, but I loved hanging out a little with Danielle Corsetto, and got to pick up the second book of Girls With Slingshots.

Oh, btw, I did podcast interviews for STAPLE! that are up on the STAPLE! site, and guested on the League of Extremely Ordinary Gentlemen (or LEOG) podcast over at Spill in advance of the show... anyone who dug the Comic Pants podcast should listen to the crazed rambling of the LEOG show, which in this case was focused on Daredevil and STAPLE! If you liked the Comic Pants podcast, you'll like the LEOG 'cast. I may be guesting on a few more down the road, if I can find the time and the LEOG guys don't wise up and rescind the invitation.

I bought two pieces of live art (one from Stan, one from Monica) and a few prints, and those will all go up around the store in the next week or two, as I get time to frame them. It was a great show, and I'm sad that it's over for another year, but glad I don't have to do anything more in regards to planning or making sure things are done on my end for another year either. :)

New Podcast

As part of my role with STAPLE!, I've done a short series of interview podcasts with a few folks who are coming to the show. The first one just went up on iTunes, and here are the details and links:

Very excited to announce a brand spanking new feature of the STAPLE! website - STAPLE! Podcasts!

In this first episode Randy Lander of Comic Pants and Rogues Gallery Comics & Games talks to Fred Van Lente, author of Action Philosophers and a brand new work, Comic Book Comics, a comic book history of comics, which will be making its world premiere at STAPLE!

We'll be posting a new podcast every week, so be sure to keep checking back. Upcoming episodes include Danielle Corsetto (Girls With Slingshots) and featured guest Brian Wood!

iTunes users can subscribe to STAPLE! Podcasts using this link.

All podcasts graciously recorded by the studios of Dial A Stranger: When you don't know who to turn to, turn to who you don't know. http://dialastranger.com/

From Uncle STAPLE!

STAPLE! Registration has begun!

Hey everybody!

STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo is back for its
fourth annual show! Come out Saturday March 1st, 2008
to a new location – the Monarch Event Center next to
Highland Mall – www.monarcheventcenter.com. This
exciting new venue occupies the site of the former
Lincoln Village Theater in the Lincoln Village
shopping center in north central Austin. It’s been
completely remodeled and refurbished into a lovely new
spot just perfect for a bigger and better STAPLE!
www.staple-austin.org

We are very pleased to announce a very special guest
for STAPLE! 2008 - BRIAN WOOD! Author of Channel Zero,
Couriers, DMZ, Demo, Local, Supermarket, and the
forthcoming Northlanders (available December 5th),
Brian has made his mark as an influential and eclectic
pioneer of independent comics creation. We are very
honored and excited to have him appear at STAPLE! For
more on Brian go to www.brianwood.com

And if you’d like to start making your own mark, you
can be an exhibitor at STAPLE! Exhibitor registration
is now open and tables are available at $65 for an
eight footer and $35 for a half – cheap! They always
sell out fast so to get yours now go to
www.staple-austin.org/register

STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo is the Southwest’s
only convention for independently produced comics,
zines, graphic arts and animation. The fourth annual
Expo is Saturday, March 1st, 2008, 11am-7pm at the
Monarch Event Center in Austin, Texas. Admission is
STILL only $5 at the door! For more info go to
www.staple-austin.org

Thanks! Hope to see you there!