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.