Apologies for the strip delay but I’ve been absolutely swamped getting ready for the San Diego Comic-Con (or Comic-Con International: San Diego, as it’s officially labeled) which begins tomorrow!!! (panic, panic.) Now, I’ve been doing comic conventions for almost two years – some big, some small – but nothing compared to the absolute insanity that is SDCC. Much to the dismay of some, this convention has grown immense, and is now a home for not only comics, but the promotion of current and upcoming television shows, movies, videogames and other media. This year alone, some of the presentations I’m most excited about include peeks at The Hobbit, Iron Man 3, Wreck-it Ralph, Elysium and Pacific Rim, among others. On the television side, I’ll be keeping my eye out for Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Doctor Who, Fringe and maybe Arrow. Videogames include all of the big developers for most of your XBOX, Playstation and Nintendo needs. And, of course, the comics contingent includes all of the Big Guns (Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse,) medium guns, small guns and this year, well, me!

I can’t tell you what a thrill it is for me to be packing up the BOTbooth, a bunch of prints, BOTtons and books*, driving down to San Diego and meeting a bunch of rabid, screaming fans – hopefully, some of which read JEFbot. Comic-Con was The Ultimate when I was a kid. The biggest, showiest, noisiest festival for all comic fans, film geeks and gamer nerds throughout the world. As I got older it became something I aspired to, but it was always one of those far off aspirations. The kind that are so far off, they’re almost beyond perception. I mean, I’d have to create something first. It would have to be somewhat successful. It would have to have a fan base. Where to even begin? And then JEFbot happened. I didn’t start this comic strip to go to conventions; it was actually kind of a fluke. But all of a sudden, there it was: I had a successful comic with awesome fans that would possibly show up if I started doing conventions.

So, here we are. I’m proud to say I’ll be at the comic convention of my dreams, which marks a personal milestone for me, in the Small Press Pavilion right between the Big Guns and Webcomics sections at Booth O-04. The tickets to the convention have already sold out, months ago, but if you happen to be one of the lucky few (and by few, I mean tens of thousands) who were able to get a ticket, come by the BOTbooth and say “hey!” and give me a high-five (or vice-versa). As always, I’ll be there with free BOTtons (while supplies last) to give away to JEFbot readers as a thank you for helping me get this far. Wish me luck!

* re: books. I won’t actually know if I have any books until I get to the convention, as they’re being shipped directly to the Convention Center from the printer. Being at Comic-Con without books would be… disappointing to say the least, so my fingers are tightly crossed.

Prudent Info:
COMIC CON INT’L: SAN DIEGO
San Diego Convention Center
San Diego, California
July 11 – 15, 2012 (Wednesday thru Sunday)
BOOTH #O-04

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