SDCC+JEFBOT AftermathHey, all! I’m back from the San Diego Comic-Con, and although I’m exhausted physically, drained mentally and spent emotionally, I gotta say: I miss it already and would go back and do it all over again if I could!

This con gets so much media coverage and is so well-known the world over by so many geeks that I won’t rehash just how big this event is or post exactly how many people and comic book/media/video game/toy companies converge on San Diego, California every year to participate in it (but click here if you want the L.A. Times Hero Complex’s Top 10 Moments of SDCC), but I will tell you just how much fun it is and how much of an honor it still feels to have a table there and to be a part of it. It started last Tuesday (gods, that seems so long ago now) when I packed up the BOTmobile, drove over to Mombot’s (yep, she came to Comic-Con this year!), picked her up, made the 4-ish hour trip to San Diego and then started setting up the BOTbooth until we were kicked out around 9pm, at which time we checked into our hotel and started walking around the already-semi-crowded city, to forage for dinner.

Now, unfortunately, there was a mix-up with our hotel and there was only one king bed in the room for my mom and I to share instead of two queens like I requested, so, needless to say – the trip already started off on an awkward foot. Due to Comic-Con, there were no available hotel rooms in a 20-mile radius, so we had to make due with what we could, even though I was like, “Dude. It’s like, one bed for me and my mom,” to the woman at the hotel check-in. Their one brilliant suggestion was that they could give us extra pillows to divide the bed between my mom and I. Gee, thanks. What was to make this situation even more awkward, was that my sister Laura (Lor, in the comic) was arriving to the convention to help out two days later, on Thursday night (you can see my mom and her above in image #3 from the left.) We tried some hypotheticals about sleeping positions with the three of us on the bed but after, say, 10 seconds of mental placements, I decided it would be best if I slept on the floor and left the bed to my mom and sis for the rest of our stay. The floor wasn’t all that bad, especially sleeping on a folded up bedspread, and I was too tired after the con each day to really even care. While it wasn’t exactly fun at the time, it worked, and will surely inspire some future (awkward) JEFbot comics, methinks.

Anyway, the con was awesome, as expected. While Wednesday and Thursday weren’t amazing as far as sales went, things started ramping up on Friday, and by Sunday sales had gotten so heated, I’d completely sold out of some print designs and nearly ran out of 8×10 backing boards. Weird that Sunday was my biggest sales day, as Saturday tends to take that crown at each con, but I’m not complaining. A number of JEFbot readers stopped by the BOTbooth, which – as always – is supercool. As much as I love conversating with you guys in the comments, it’s always fun meeting y’all in person and getting to know you face-to-face. And although I was very stingy with the free BOTtons I give out at every con, and only gave them to true readers this time, I only had a few left by the end so will be saving them to give to friends (or maybe a reader or two? Hmmm… [UPDATE: See end of post.])

While I do already miss the convention and the crazy, kinetic atmosphere the thousands of fellow geeks bring to it, I’m happy to be home and am nearly ready to start writing and drawing JEFbot again! Between all the paperwork, unloading, errands, inventory, and shipping of orders that have accumulated over the past couple of weeks (sorry, peeps who are waiting on orders! I’ll give each of you something special – a little sketch or BOTton or something – for the longer-than-usual wait time) I won’t be able to get back to drawing the strip until late tonight or tomorrow, which means a new strip won’t be up until Friday. I’ve said it in a previous post, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all your patience during the times I put the strip on pause! You BOTreaders are, awesomely, eternally, The Best, and I don’t take that for granted.

I think that about wraps it up, as I just wanted to let y’all know I’m back and about to continue where we left off in the previous strip! I love where this storyline is headed and can’t wait to get back to sharing bot and Mu’s journey with you. See you on Friday!

Related links:
San Diego Comic-Con 2012 + JEFBOT
Back from SDCC (2012)

SDCC BOTtons!SDCC BOTton GIVEAWAY! [UPDATE: Contest over.]

After I wrote up this post, I thought it’d be fun to do a little giveaway with those extra BOTtons I mentioned, as these kinds of pins aren’t normally available outside of a convention, so here’s the deal: all you have to do is leave a comment on this post, and I’ll do a drawing sometime at the beginning of August and randomly pick three commenters (I’ll have someone honorable like Mombot do the picking) to receive an exclusive San Diego Comic-Con + JEFbot BOTton. And yes, I’ll make this open to any BOTreaders around the world and will just keep my fingers crossed that the mailing expense isn’t too high. Just make sure you put a distinctive name into the comment field (i.e. don’t leave it as Anonymous) and I’ll announce the winners in another blog post the first week of August. Anyway, comment away, and good luck! [UPDATE: Contest over. Winners have been randomly picked and will be revealed tomorrow. Thanks for playing!]