I'm still exhausted from the NY con, so running headlong into a second one possibly wasn't the best of ideas. Still, it was fantastic to get to spend some quality time with Dean and his lady Sarah, as well as pull Leslie (my poor, overworked sweetie) into the mix for some quality fun time.

It's funny to call any of the following "traditions" since STAPLE! is only 3 years old, but at least Chris Nicholas and company know what they're going for in a comics convention — kicking the flavor of the town they're in, a serious live music locus and college town. Austin Books throws the pre-show party the night before with booze and sandwiches in their spacious shop (comparable with Jim Hanley's in size and scope), STAPLE itself is a one-day affair on Saturday, and the live art show is the afterparty.

Dean (aka man_size) dropped in Friday night, and I nabbed him from Austin Books for a quick enchilada dinner with friends before the big Austin Books in-store shindig. Dean's been the big poppa bear for Brooklyn cartoonists for quite a while now, even moreso as the head honcho of act_i_vate, so I was glad I could pull a few strings and get him down to Austin to share the love.

The AB party was a hoot, as I got to meet Randy Lander (of The Fourth Rail and Comics Pants fame) and Nick Derington for the first time and catch up with Kristian and Diana, as well as meet a bunch of peeps just in for the show. Dino and I would've crashed early, but Leslie was stuck working until 12:30, so we both picked her up and dabbed her tears of tiredness with late-night chicken nuggets and bon mots.



The con itself was in the Red Oak Ballroom (whose name had me wondering if it held old folks' swing classes on other nights), and even with 60+ tables and 400-something attendees, sales seemed surprisingly brisk and shoppers were pretty enthusiastic. I was my usual carnival barker/salesman self, which I hope wasn't too annoying to my table-neighbors. I couldn't have been that bad, as I sold a decent chunk of STYX TAXIs, more copies of EVERYMAN than I expected (despite a dirty look I got from an old man over it early on), and even a few copies of Leslie's minicomic SHHHH!. I didn't have tons of time to shop for goodies or rub elbows, but I did get to trade with my friend Litsa (comics for one of her pretty prints) and nabbed copies of Viper's series THE MIDDLEMAN (by Javier of LOST fame).

(Check out Marianne Wells' photoset for much better visuals from the con floor.)

The afterparty? KICKED. ASS.

3Deep, the same crew that spun for the live art show back in August with Chip Z and Kristian, were back, and laid down the perfect soundtrack for this kinda event. We got in a little late, but found a nice perch to the side of the stage next to Dave Crosland and Jim Mahfood, and watched them and Dino work their magic. Dino ended up doing a smart Billy Dogma piece — surprise, surprise — and Dave and Jim collab'ed on a giant-size Animal from the Muppet Show on the drums, among other awesomeness. Leslie and Dino bonded over glasses of Maker's Mark, and we all ended up dancing with Sarah (Dean's lady, who drove down from business in Dallas just for the con/show) and our friend Ian, when the grooves got smokin' enough.



Good, good times.

The next day started with slowness and hangovers, so we basically brunched with Dean and our friend Mike, who we had to pry away from his GRE prep with a crowbar. All was good, though... he'd hit that point where more prep is borderline detrimental, where you need to just STOP because you've got what your brain's going to absorb and any further effort is just anxiety-building. We toasted our Sunday with coffee and Kerbey Lane goodness, and jammed about movies (Mike's got his eye on a master's in film criticism), webcomics/serials, and tons of junk in between.



All in all, it was the kind of comics weekend I haven't had since the last SPX ... and in one respect, it was nicer: we could just drive home and sleep in our own bed when all was said and done (and drank).