Wow. As usual, Crypticon was a whirlwind of spooktacular gothiness and boozy overindulgence. It was an epic weekend. Every day was wonderful, so here’s kind of a run down of the weekend as it played out for me.
FRIDAY – Arrival and setup went smooth. Sabrina showed up and kicked it at the booth for a while before departing to bartend in the VIP lounge on the 13th floor. She’s basically Crypticon royalty at this point. I still have to pay to get in! I’ve learned in the past not to go too hard on Friday, or I’ll have no juice left for Saturday. Sold a few comic books, but after only four or so “Kenaritas,” (hornitos gold and limeade) I retired to the room to eat some dinner and hit the sack. HBO was showing the first part of the new George Carlin’s American Dream. Since he was a bit of an inspirational figure in my life, I fell asleep watching that.
SATURDAY – is where things started to get WILD. Sold a BUNCH of comic books, quite a few pieces of original art, including my recent Heilung piece AND the Elvira drawing I whipped up last week. This dude Richard bought the original Elvira drawing, had Cassandra Peterson sign it, then he brought it back around so I could snag a pic! Dig this dude!
Wow! Like what even came next? I talked to a ton of cool people, sold a bunch of comics and art, and by the time the vendor room was ready to close, Sabrina and I were eager to skip up to the film festival rooms to watch ENTER THE MIND DUNGEON!!!
The room was almost full as we wandered in. I finished up the rest of the Kenarita mix as we took a spot in the back. Folks continued to shuffle in and stand around the edges of the room. James Clark wandered in right as the last short before Enter the Mind Dungeon screened. From the very get-go, folks were laughing. It seemed to me that EVERY single joke landed. The timing of the material was perfect, as soon as the laughter subsided, the next joke shot off, and folks laughed again. BAM! Another joke! And AGAIN and AGAIN! I could not have asked for a better reception to our little proof of concept short. Crypticon LOVED Enter the Mind Dungeon.
Since we were the only filmmakers from the block present, they asked us to do a quick Q&A. Happily, Sabrina, James, and myself took the stage to answer questions about our little production. Folks loved it, they asked insightful questions, and all three of us had the opportunity to answer them. It was DELIGHTFUL.
Once again, Sabrina was off to bartend in the VIP lounge. As nothing more than a couple of plebs with nothing more than GenCon 2021’s Best Gamer Film under our belts, James and I headed to visit with my homies from the GRIT CITY PODCAST. We happily ate day old pizza while bullshitting with the boys about the joys of Crypticon. They had just come from our screening of Enter the Mind Dungeon, and they all loved it. Most of them also went a bit too hard on Friday, so they were in somewhat of a lay-low recovery vibe Saturday night. We recorded an impromptu podcast where James and I talked about filmmaking and junk. Then I drank WAY TOO MANY of Structures’ Teal Fuzz courtesy of Brogan while we stayed up into the wee hours talking about movies n’ other stuff.
SUNDAY – the final day of Crypticon! At 11 AM the vendor room opened back up, and I was still drunk as I started my last day of selling comix. The best part of waking up still drunk from the night before – no hangover! The screenwriter of KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE, Charles Chiodo, stopped by and bought a copy of our film PENNY PALABRAS. Sabrina’s VIP bartending skills were driving VIPs to the booth!
We sold out ALL of the remaining Penny Palabras DVDs. That’s it, folks! There are no more Penny Palabras DVDs, and it is unlikely I will order more. So if you’ve got one of the 100 Penny Palabras DVDs in existence, you’re one of the lucky folks out there! Of course, Penny is still available to stream on the Fantasy Network, and the film was torrented over 20,000 times in the first few days it was out, so you can find it if you’re so inclined. There is only ONE Dead Drift DVD left, and I’m not ordering any more of those either.
I met and exchanged books with local cartooning legend Mark Monlux! Mark is great, I had a lot of fun chatting with him, and I LOVE his book so far.
The Grit City Podcast boys stopped by the booth, and Becca brought me another Structures Teal Fuzz. It helped make the day even better! Sabrina was awesome as usual. All in all, Crypticon 22 was one of my favorite con experiences of all time! I sold a lot of comics, and I hope most of those folks come back around to see what’s in store for Danielle in the final chapter when Hellbound Slant 6 #4 comes out later this year!
I’ll see you at SummerCon next month!
KenzoFKC 