Epic Default Productions

Staplehead Godzilla is attacking the city! We must flee!

So a long time ago (okay, maybe it was only the middle of March) in a galaxy far, far away (and by far away I mean a two-hour drive to Austin), I had a weekend full of fun and excitement. Hell, I was in Austin hanging out and was able to see Watchmen with a group of 10 other nerds: how cool is that? But I’d definitely say that one of the highlights of that weekend was a media expo in Austin called STAPLE. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

Oh god, the booths... and the pretty, sparkly things floating above.

So to start off, I’ll say I was not quite sure what to expect. I mean, I knew that this was going to be a comic con, so I knew there were going to be numerous comics and webcomic artists. I think what really floored me from the beginning was the approach of having such an open form to promote only independent artists. And don’t think that this means you are decreasing quality either, because you would be dead wrong, you terrible inconsiderate bastards. By god, independent comic artists are people too! But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you about what I found there before I start going on about how much I enjoyed this.

Well, one good thing is the cost; how many cons can you say you went to for only $5? This is an established con, but they set this thing up so you’re not wasting money on entry fees. They want you to be able to have plenty to spend on the artists, not $20 to $40 on getting in and being too short to buy volume one, two or three of a new found comic or a really cool piece of art from any type of the vast variety of artists at STAPLE. And that was amazing, too, the quality of the work you could find. There were a slew of artists that blew me away at this con, all producing quality, original, unique art that you’d gladly throw down $30 for.

A man showing off his work. Oh, the bloody horror.

And you got to talk to them as well. That certainly brought on a plethora of joy. I don’t know about other comic cons but the most I had to wait was three minutes to talk to a graphics artist about a painting he had, because he was in an in-depth conversation with a girl that was drooling over his work and quite possibly trying to get in his knickers. I was able to have great conversations, involving the picking of what may or may not have been brain matter, with a number of artists including Alan Porter about his book “Before They Were Beatles” (a great gift for any big Beatles fan), and Danielle Corsetto from Girls With Slingshots about some webcomics she likes (she was really nice, great to talk to, and apparently is a fan of Goats and Anders Loves Maria too. Also Josh Lesnik… who I could honestly care less about, but I know a slew of women that love his work (don’t even begin to ask me why), so I’ll mention him anyway.

Some other great people you may not know include Jenifer Bryan from Lucy Blue Studios, who makes some kick ass belt buckles and business card holders that I had to buy; Robert Stikmanz, who is writing a book series called “The Hidden Land Of Nod” and created a religion based on a dice-rolling, rune-uesqe form of prophecy; and Mark Gonyea of Mr. Oblivious, who makes these immensely entertaining comic story posters. Being able to talk to artists, writers, and production members from a number of indie comic publishers like Nerdboy Comics, Red Handed Studios, Torc Press, and Uncle Envelope gave me some really good insight as to what actually goes into the process of making an independent comic and how, with decent coordination, a lot of people can do it with less money than you’d think.

I'd prefer brains, but I'd accept the dismembered body parts of other comic book artists at this point.

I also want to give props to a great group of guys I met at STAPLE that built a website around a face-palmingly good idea. Their website, Busy Gamer, is based on the concept of reviewing games around how many hours a day you have free to play them. For people who love to play video games but have fairly full days, they provide a forum to find suggestions for games they can still enjoy. Any site that encourages a way for a greater a number of people–particularly busy ones–to get their fix is a good website in my book.
So at the end of the day, you get at least 3 or 4 hours of fun, find some great pieces of work,t talk to some amazing artists, all for $5. In the words of that ShamWow guy, the thing frackin’ sells itself. So I definitely encourage anybody that lives in Austin or within a few hours travel by car, plane, boat, or bicycle to check this thing out next year. This is a great example of a fun con I think you’ll enjoy.

If you’d like to check out more of the photos I took at STAPLE!, you can follow this link to my photo website. If you want to chat about some other cons you’d suggest we attend, then post your suggestions for us on the forums. If you want something else, well I’m afraid I can’t help you out there.