Monster Commute – a Traffic Novel

We’ve been doing the Phoenix Comicon for 5 years now, and it continues to grow at a faster and faster pace.

When we exhibited there in 2005 for the first time, there were only about 2600 attendees. It was still a good show, and we did well.

For comparison, the 2009 show had 7000 attendees, a dramatic increase. But that’s nothing with the 2010 show attracting just about 14,000 folks! Simply put,  I can’t think of very many shows able to double their attendance in a single year.

We’d like to thank you for your support, as we did exceptionally well. We had planned for, and purchased, a single corner booth. Last minute, our neighbors backed out, and we had the opportunity to go massive with a 10 x 20 booth, the largest in our 5 year history.

It was a big challenge to get everything set up and expanded in one day. Dawna and I had to go shopping for supplies, and we actually bought out Lowes for some of their fittings.

Our helpers relax before the doors open…

Poor Dawna got sick on Sunday, so thankfully Jenni and Dirk (pictured above) stepped in and lent a hand. I was really busy with 3 hrs of panels on Sunday, so we really needed it.

Photo courtesy of Simon Jonathan

All of our panels (Get Your Steampunk On, Webcomics Academy, and Monster Abduction is REAL) were all really fun, and full of people. (A success.)

It was my first time doing the Monster Abduction one, and it went pretty well. I’ve got a lot of refinement to do, but it was great to have at least one under my belt, with an enthusiastic and friendly crowd. I’ll be taking this one on the road in the future, so you lookout.

Also a big thanks to DennMann Denny Riccelli of Get that Chicken and Lollygaggin Adventures for doing the Webcomics panel with me. He made it much more informative.

I was also interviewed by Mr. Brock Buttman again:

Another big round of thanks to the Staff and Volunteers of the Phoenix Comicon. You guys really outdid yourself this year, making this thing something great. This could have easily been a disaster, but instead it was pretty fantastic. I know that plans are undeway to improve the experience next year, and outdo 2010!

- Daniel

So, Monster Commute was named as a finalist to the first annual Phoenix New Times Big Brain Awards.

Apparently there were 150 submissions, and we’ve somehow found ourselves in the top 3 in the Online Media category. (Yay!) While it’s certain that we do not have “craniums of unusual size” we do pride ourselves on working hard and attempting to foster some creativity here in the valley. In truth, there would be no Monster Commute had it not been for us living here in Phoenix traffic.

This is an honor for us as we’ve been putting out comics (over 400 so far) on a 5 a week basis, and we’ve put a lot of effort into helping build a community of artists here in PHX with our TINY ARMY group.

While I won’t be able to make the celebration this Saturday night, my partner/wife Dawna will be on hand to talk about what we do. Feel free to ask her for a card, while you’re at it.

Photo: Jamie Peachey

While it’s pretty unlikely that we’ll win (we’re up against the popular Light Rail Blogger and CenPho.tv folks), we’re still thrilled to have been recognized for doing something creative here.

Without sounding too swarmy or New Agey here, the benefit here  isn’t in the winning, but in the meeting of new creative folks and maybe being recognized to be a member of the local Creative Class.

And heck, it’s just more proof that your support of us is working.

- Daniel

I was recently interviewed by the Andrew Long Show, where we talk about the Monster Commute, the business of art, steampunk and monsters.

Photo courtesy of the Andrew Long Show

It was a really good time talking to Andrew, and he is a top-notch interviewer. I’m really glad I had the opportunity to ramble on.

- Daniel