Hello again fans,
Who knew that the first two months of the new decade would turn out like this? Five weeks ago, following lackluster sales at Pasadena Comic Con in January, I bounced back at the inaugural Simi Valley Toy and Comic Fest at the beginning of February. Almost three weeks ago, I was on cloud nine with my first complete sellout at my first Amazing Comic Con Aloha while visiting my home island of Oahu. Now I’m wondering what Wondercon will bring for Carter Comics this year. Before we jump to far ahead, let’s focus on some of the exciting things that went down in the second month of 2020!
SIMI VALLEY TOY AND COMIC FEST: February started off pretty good with a brand-new show: Simi Valley Toy and Comic Fest. Held at the Grand Vista Hotel on Sunday February 9th, it was the city’s first comic convention. Thanks to the Con promoters reaching out to the local comic shops in the area, and Simi Valley residents’ hunger for their own comic event, this first show was extremely well-attended and received. Case in point: While the event started at 10 am officially, the 9:30 a.m. early bird opening drew at least 30 people, which is a great start for a new show. How did Carter Comics do? 15 books sold with a $120 profit. Not bad for a show with a $60 artist table fee. More importantly, I had a good number of new subscribers to my mailing list, whether or not they purchased books from me. I also got to re-connect with two friends and longtime Simi Valley residents, as well as having another good friend help me out with my table during bathroom breaks. All in all, it was quite the bounce back from a not-so-good start to my 2020 Con Circuit back in Pasadena.
AMAZING COMIC CON ALOHA: I was actually anticipating this show more that Wondercon, which is usually my biggest show of the year. Boy, did my mindset change after this show was over. In the nine years that I’ve been exhibiting at comic conventions, artwalks, libraries, and comic shops, I had never had a complete sellout of my entire inventory of books I brought with me, until this show. Held at the Hawaii Convention Center, the event ran from Friday, February 21st to Sunday February 23rd, and has been running since 2015. The show’s geographic location, on the island on Oahu in Hawaii, was particularly special for me, as I was born and raised on the island for the first 25 years of my life. Returning after a seven year absence since my last visit was a surreal experience, as things were both familiar and different on the island. While this was my first appearance at a Hawaii Convention, I obviously knew how to get to the convention and surrounding areas near my hotel. In essence, this trip was business, vacation, and homecoming all in one. The business part of it went AMAZINGLY well, and beyond all my expectations as I mentioned earlier, with the 50 books I flew over (10 copies for each of my five Damn Tourists issues) completely selling out by Sunday afternoon, the last day of the show. Customers ranged from residents to tourists, to even friends from High School that I haven’t seen since Graduation over 20 years ago! All of them enjoyed the premise of my book, and even after I sold out of them, attendees still came by my table, as I just had the five display books for people to read still present above my hand-written “SOLD OUT” signs. I could tell from their enthusiastic reactions, that had I not run out of books by that point, they would have purchased those books. I also got to participate in a panel featuring the local comic group: The Hawaiian Comic Book Alliance, of which I’m a member of. We all spoke about our books and upbringings that led to our interests in storytelling, and we contributed our art to a coloring book where attendees collected our signatures for prizes. I couldn’t have asked for a better showing in my hometown. I even got some extra time before and after the convention to cruise old hangouts, family outings, and even did an old hike with another High School friend. Due to this fantastic performance, I will do everything in my power to make my way back to the islands in 2021.
Now we get to the current bad news: As you all know, the entire world has been turned upside-down by the spread of the CO-VID 19 virus, which has killed many people and infected much more. Because this is a new virus, we currently don’t have a vaccine to treat it, and with it being much more contagious than the flu, with infected people showing flu-like symptoms while others show no symptoms at all, much of the world is on a self-imposed lockdown. This means nothing beyond essential businesses such as grocery stores, pharmacies, laundromats, post offices, banks, auto repair shops, and the like are allowed to be open. So large events such as concerts, parades, broadway shows, movie theaters, and yes, comic conventions are definitely not allowed. This is all due to how quickly the virus can spread through large groups of people undetected. Myself, and many other comic creators have been completely blindsided by the number of shows that have either postponed or cancelled including Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, and Wondercon in Anaheim. Several smaller shows that I was booked for have postponed their conventions as well, and comic shops have also shut their doors, as they aren’t an essential business like a grocery store. To combat this sudden halt in the comic convention circuit, several artists are focusing toward their online stores, and even are trying to put together online versions of comic book conventions. While these ideas are unorthodox, desperate times call for desperate measures, as many artists create, promote, and sell their craft full time to pay rent, bills, and put food on the table. Hopefully Virtual Conventions become an attractive temporary replacement during these Con cancellations.
Well, that’s gonna be about it for an unbelievable March that we will all never forget. I will be doing some serious evaluating regarding how to promote and sell my work in this new self-isolating world, possibly trying out these new “Virtual Cons” that are being considered, but definitely working on the sixth issue of “Damn Tourists,” doing some podcast interviews by phone, and also putting in alot of work at my day job, which has our entire company working from home due to the virus. Best believe, I won’t let anything stop the incredible momentum I gained after my last three shows so early in the year. CO-VID 19 or not, the creative juices will never stop flowing! Until next month, stay strong, stay safe, and we’ll get through this tough time as a human race together.
Regards,
Allen Carter
Carter Comics