Connecticon! What a blast! What a show! What an experience! What a way to spend a weekend! If you want to see some pics I took during the weekend, check them out here.

This is a long post, so see the rest after the cut…

For those of you who don’t know, I premiered this comic at Connecticon back in 2008, so as far as conventions go this is pretty much as close to a homecoming for the comic as I’m ever going to get. And from those humble beginnings look how much it’s grown! 400 comics, over 600 blog posts, a steady and amazing group of readers, and plenty of great experiences.

The best part about this is seeing fans who have come up to the table in previous years who come by to say hi. I know for them (you) it can feel like you have to buy something since there’s this big table full of merch between us, and I’ll gladly help you if you can, but otherwise it really is cool when people just come by and say hello and that they’ve been reading. It is great to put a user name with a face, and there’s about 6 or 7 people who came up over the course of the weekend to do just that. Thanks all! Of course those who read and might see me at other conventions, the offer still stands. Come up and say hi.

A special shout-out to my bestest fan, Systemic Allison who has been coming by the table the last 2 years, since she won some merch from me in the Webcomic Auction even though she’d never heard of me, and was nice enough to not run away when I hugged her a little too much last year. This year she brought by a candy bar that will be going up as a System in the Wild post, as soon as I unpack it. That way I can also finally eat it.

Of course Connecticon wouldn’t be what fun it is without the other webcomic artists. I could list all of them one by one, but special commendation must be made to the creators of Caf-Fiends, Kev and Blondie. Two nicer people do not exist in this world. They made my pins, drove me around, let me stay with them for the weekend, signed for shipping on things, fed me daily, and gave me the best sponge bath you’ve ever had. If you want to help me thank them, go check out their comic. It’s about the most f-ed up town ever, and the normal people stuck there.

I got a chance to rub elbows with some great fellow comickers, including Scott Ramsoomair (who I found out reads the comic!), Shawn Handyside (whom I found out is why Scott reads the comic), Alina Pete (who is the nicest Canadian of them all, and that’s like being the prettiest princess), Dirk Tiede (who has also been linked to “Drunk Dirk”, the happiest guy in webcomics), Lar DeSouza (who is the 2nd nicest Canadian of them all), Dave Willis and his wife Maggie (whom I may have inferred I slept with and  given STDs during a panel, neither of which is true or can be proven), Matt Melvin (who was kind enough to let me sit in on his panel), Alex Heberling (kind enough to share hotel rooms last year), Tina Pratt (the most modest and shy artist I know), Dern (whom owes me big time for putting him in the same room as O whether he admits it or not, but he is getting me a sandwich so I’ll call it even) Garth Graham, Brian Wilson, the Morlock gang, Steve Napierski, Yuko and Ananth, Hawk and probably more than a few more. I know I’m forgetting people. This weekend had so much going on it was bound to happen, and I didn’t take notes. If I forgot you I’m sorry, shout out in the comments.

Of course no talk about the con would be complete without mentioning Super Art Fight. From humble beginnings, we have risen to become champions. Last year was our first SAF show at Connecticon, featuring a packed room of 150 screaming fans. This year they moved us up to the main events stage, a room designed to fit 2,500 people. We were nervous going into the show, since it is easier to pack a room of 150 by orders of magnitude than it is to fill a room of 2,500. Somehow, though, this happened.

What’s that? You can’t tell what’s going on in the picture? I’m sorry, it’s really hard to capture what 2,000 screaming people looks like from on a stage. My bad.

Yes, we did it. We packed that events room fuller than me on free muffin day. Then what did we do? Had an amazing show! I could write it all here, but Marty did a great write-up of it from our Super Art Fight website. Go check that joint out. Thanks to everyone who attended, was a part of the show, and in any way helped spread the word. The buzz is building, my friends.

There’s always more I can say, but let’s think bigger for a minute. More conventions is seeming like a must, since they are the best way to find true fans and to sell some merch, which frankly is how I manage to afford to keep the site going. They are really fun, except for the coming back and needing to return to the rest of the world. If you know a convention I should be hitting up, let me know. I’ll see if I can get there, which is always more likely if you have any way of helping me do so. Garuanteed there is bigger and better on the way, so stay tuned.

Again, thanks to all the fans, fellow artists, staffers, and friends who helped make last weekend so amazing. And of course Eric Badger, the sexiest con staffer I know.