FUBAR signing at Beyond Comics

Being a part of the FUBAR team, getting to publish regularly and successfully working with other like-mined folk, has been a real joy over the last few years.  Making comics can be, and often is, a lonely task, and beyond the creation process, it's been a lot of fun interacting with others who share similar goals and industry perspectives.  On Saturday, September 21, a group of FUBAR creators met for a signing event at Beyond Comics in Frederick, Maryland.  It was a chance to meet some creators I previously hadn't, to see some familiar friends, to sign some books and to have a good time just in general.  I took a few pictures of the signing and of the store, and I thought I'd share them here, because...well, because this is a blog about comics and stuff.  Also, why not.

It took about three hours to drive to the Frederick Beyond Comics location, which is situated in a shopping plaza and has a fairly unassuming store front.  Once inside, though, it was apparent that the store had pretty much everything one might look for in a comic shop...

 

  

 

The store had a very nice layout.  It was stuffed with cool things but not intimidating the way some comic shops can be.  Also, they had a healthy arrangement of high-end Thing items, such as this Sideshow beauty:

I guess they also had a huge Hulk display from the movies or whatever.  Impressive.  But imagine how much more impressive an oversized Thing display would be!  Very impressive.  Let's make it happen, universe.

 

I downloaded the latest iOS update for the iPhone the night before the signing event, so of course I had to play around with the panoramic camera features.  It's a weird perspective but it lets you see the whole setup.  I was positioned between Jeff McComsey and Steve Becker on either side, and the two drew sketches almost the entire time throughout the four hour event.  Also in attendance were Dom Vivona, Rafer Roberts, M. Giles Crawford, John Shine and others!  There was a big FUBAR presence in one spot - perhaps more contributors in one area than at any time before - and it was fun to experience.  We had people waiting for autographs and sketches for most of the day.

  

Here Rafer gesticulates wildly as I stare on in abject terror:

 

 

The entire event went really well and I hope to be involved with another one before too long.  At the end of the day, a lot of us did some shopping.  I had my eye on this guy:

...but I let it pass this time around.  We're possibly looking at an upcoming addition to the collection, though.

At one point in the day, I tried out a silver marker that decided not to mark, for whatever reason.  I brought a handful of Teddy and the Yeti sketch cards with me (a few people ended up walking away with one), and I used one to scribble on in an attempt to get the marker back in working order.  After drawing a thousand circles, I decided to keep scribbling and made a caveman-esque image of the Tick and Arthur.  Jeff McComsey look the card and made what looks like an ACTUAL drawing of the duo, which I completely take credit for in front of anyone but you, Internets.  I like the Tiny flying Arthur the best.

One more quick FUBAR update:

The FUBAR: Mother Russia Kickstarter fundraiser is in its last days!  It's wildly exceeded expectations, and as such, we're offering up a lot of great rewards.  Anyone who pledges at least 25 dollars will not only receive the original Mother Russia graphic novel, but also get some great brand new comics in the balance, including the 44 page FUBAR: Guts and Glory and the 24 page FUBAR: Better Red than Dead, both of which will have new stories by me.

Some great times ahead, and as always, it seems that FUBAR is an unstoppable monster.