Broken Frontier

It's time to say goodbye to LBCC for hot British publishers Com.x, the guys responsible for such acclaimed collections and OGNs as Cla$$war, Razorjack and Path. Com.x Publisher Eddie Deighton is back with a concluding diary entry to fill us in on what he, Com.x co-publisher Ben Shahrabani, Com.x marketing director Jon Sloan and upcoming OGN '45' writer Andi Ewington got up to in their final hours at Long Beach. Let's join Eddie and the crew one last time...

Read Part One

Read Part Two

Read Part Three

October 4, Day 4

We start the day well. No-one was arrested last night or in need of bailing out, so we headed off to a little breakfast place that has become our regular haunt this trip. It's located right opposite Gold's Gym on Pine and they do great omelette. For future reference, all.

Andi with Tim Vigil (Don't worry, we won't be going there again).

After breakfast, Jon and myself stayed behind at the hotel a little longer. We have to travel up to San Francisco after the show, so we had to pre-book hotels, hire-cars, etc. Andi and Ben held the fort in the convention centre. The show was pretty much the same as yesterday, in that there were plenty of people walking the floor and lots of cosplay in effect. But the Sunday is usually a bit more chilled for the actual exhibitors, so you can walk around a little more and meet with people you've been waving at in passing or the ones you've been missing in the evenings at the bars.

This was the day we also did portfolio reviews. We were scheduled to host our reviews upstairs in one of the convention rooms, but decided that it would be better to have everybody visit the booth and we would handle them from there. I enjoy reviewing 'folios, as I like to think I'm quite honest with my approach but helpful at the same time. I had some great tutors in university that really helped me advance in my work, so I'm always keen to pass that kind of advice on. As with most reviews, it was a mixed bag, but there was one 14-year old boy who stood out. Very talented. Fortunately, his parents seemed very supportive so, if he retains his own self-belief and drive, he has all the ingredients to become something special. Looking forward to seeing his work in the future.

The start of the break-down – the booth, that is.

I also had some nice surprises today. Josh Middleton turned up to say "hi", as did a number of good friends from various industries. We had extended the offer to come visit to a lot of people, as it wasn't looking like we would be able to see everybody socially this trip, and pretty much everybody turned up. It was great to see them all again after being only being able to email them.

I also managed to head 'round to artist alley and see some of the guys that I hadn't been able to catch up with at the beginning of the show. Spent some time with Jimmy Palmiotti, whom I haven't seen in person for over five years. The ridiculous thing is, we're staying in the same hotel, yet our schedules and social activities have meant that we haven't had a chance to talk after the show!

Sadly, the last hour of the show looms and we head over to a couple of the retailers to drop off some copies of our Long Beach Comic Con samplers before we start shutting down the booth. So, if anybody visits Things From Another World, Atomic Comics, Meltdown or Golden Apple, then you'll be able to pick up our exclusive convention ashcan and check out our new titles for 2010.

More incidental shots from the floor.

Half hour from closing, our contractor turns up to take the booth down. What amazes me about 'breakdown' on a show is how fast the floor is cleared; what takes one or two days of preparation and build takes literally, a matter of minutes to breakdown. And that's the entire show floor. The only delay is the queue of contractors and exhibitors waiting to load the materials and stock into their vehicles at the loading bay. We take an alternative option; Ben parks across the street to the convention centre and, as we don't have that much stock with us, we do two trips to the car and we're done.

Back to the hotel, a drink, a session in the gym to kickstart the endorphins after standing around all day and then off to dinner.

It's pretty clear that the show has been a success for the event organisers. There's been great foot-fall through the doors, there was the right mixture of 'media' in attendance and, if all goes well, there's no reason why they won't be back again next year, but bigger, badder and better. Martha, Phil and The Scig (our event contacts) have been awesome. I'd also like to thank John, Karim and Mona who were there on the show floor, right in the line of fire, helping out with all the technical and mechanical glitches.

Andi giving the Top Cow booth a free plug.

So, in summary, here are our individual highs and lows of the show:

Jon: Highs – The moment after our stand was set up, the A/V switched on and the trailer we sweated over was playing in all its Blue-Ray glory. Actually, that was more a relief than a high. Meeting a lot of people, both writers and artists, whose work I've enjoyed for years and finding out that they were nice people and not a**holes. Having Bob Wayne from DC come to our stand, yes come to us, and say "hi". I felt we were part of the real scene again.

Andi: Highs – Meeting Jim Lee and shaking his hand (finally!). Having Stan Lee say 'Hey how you doing?' as he walked past. Staying out late and flying the Com.x flag high. Meeting Richard (Battlestar Galactica) Hatch and blagging his email address. Taking a photo of Jon next to a microphone and purposely swopping their tags on facebook. Being involved in the whole awesome experience of Long Beach Comic Con! Lows– Having Jim Lee tap me on the shoulder and asking me where Stan Lee was and not realising it's Jim Lee until moments later. Getting Randy Green (artist on '45') mixed up with Randy Queen and greeting him overly warmly. Seeing some really dodgy cosplays, including that huge yellow cat-suited Kill Bill girl that still brings tears to my eyes. The buildup to the Com.x panel that first friday and seeing the size of the conference rooms. Running out of cash when there were so many cool things to buy. That last moment we left the Long Beach Comic Con behind.

 Booth down, boxes packed. A fond farewell.

Ben: Highs – Exhibiting again, Our amazing booth, getting a Tim Vigil sketch, and meeting "Bennet" from Commando. Lows – Andi's snoring (we shared a room).

Eddie: Highs – The number of people that came up to the booth to welcome us back (attendees and artists alike); Hanging out with Tim Vigil post-watershed; seeing old friends and colleagues again after such a long time. Lows – writing this final diary entry, knowing it's all over and we have to get back to 'real' work!

If you've enjoyed the Com.x team sharing their LBCC experiences then be sure to check out the Com.x website to find out more about all their projects. Andi Ewington's debut OGN '45' debuts from Com.x in December and for more on the big news about Cla$$war being tapped as a movie look at our news report here.