Figure I’d start things off with the usual shot of the Cool Jerk table, but as I was going through our photos, I realized I didn’t take a photo of the table! So here’s the next best thing: a pic of some Starfleet cadets with a Photobomb thrown in free of charge.

Here’s Kady and Keith, a couple of long-time Cool Jerk readers, with their haul. Keith got himself Bimboozled (and a FREE T-Waster print, because he had a subscriber coupon), plus a couple of the canvas panels. I debuted the panels this year to much interest and fanfare. It was interesting (to say the least) to see which ones sold. (Memo to self: Must do more comics that feature zombies, boob jokes, ultraviolence and John C. Reilly.)

Many of the attendees’ costumes are half-assed and unfortunate. Melissa Felton’s Huntress was NOT one of them. Bravo!

Now this is pretty cool. David Oakes — a certifiable LEGO Maniac — made a custom LEGO of Armpit. Lovin’ it! He promised a Puppy LEGO is just around the corner.

Speaking of LEGO Maniacs, here’s the charming and delightful John Layman, author of Chew. I’m not sure if this is before or after he won the Eisner Award for Best New Series. I’d say after because it looks like he’s been celebrating, but he ALWAYS looks like he’s been celebrating. Hearty congratulations, John! It was serendipitous that he wrote Bimboozled’s foreword for me.

Lil’ Terminators. Skynet/CyberDyne keeps making ’em smaller and smaller. I guess they go through less titanium alloy that way.

Again, excellent costuming. Yes, we’ve seen Indiana Jones. But I’ve never seen his dad… OR the old knight from the Last Crusade! “We named the dog ‘Indiana!'”

Little bit of crossplay, with a female Blade. Or maybe Daywalkers have infiltrated “The View?” Never did get the story. Love the teeth!

I, uh… sorry. Lost my train of thought there. Unfortunately, there is no way to crop this picture without damaging the artistic integrity of the composition. I’d thought this lass was actually veteran cosplayer Ruby Rocket dressed as Emma Frost/White Queen, but by Day 3 I was pretty sure she was just a gal who liked wearing underwear in public. Note the inset: It would’ve been HILARIOUS if her fingers were just a little bit longer, so as to cover up the second “O” in the book title.

Here’s a lovely Sue Storm, drawn for me by Ming Doyle in the front of her sketchbook. This is the first sketch I’ve had drawn for me in many a year! *blushes* (the Scotch tape effect is part of the printed sketchbook) She also drew Darlene a Barbara Gordon Batgirl. ORIGINAL ART IS AWESOME YO!

This is a fun after-hours photo of Matt Groening being interviewed by Scott Thompson (from The Kids in the Hall).

A few minutes later, we left the convention center. Oxygen yay! BATMAN RETURNS (to Hall C) — apparently he was called back into the convention center to thwart some villainy.

The crowds were cray-cray, as you can imagine. The sweet spot of this photo is Jack checking out the gal in the lime green shortshorts.

We don’t need another hero! These cosplayers ROCKED. Extra credit to Mad Max who screamed a profanity-heavy tirade into his cell phone.

It takes some extra moxie to pull off Luke Cage: Power Man (circa 1977). And the wings on Hawkgirl are WAY above-and-beyond the call of cosplay duty.

Here’s the wife-beater variant of Logan with Sailor Maan.

Here’s some eye candy for the ladies: Chris Hemsworth, who will be better known as Thor come May 2011.

Marvel Studios had a gigantic display. Actual-size Asgard Throneroom. Here are the helmets of Loki, Odin and Thor. In a neat trick, the display cases were usually fogged up with dry ice, so you couldn’t see what was contained within. They also had the Destroyer armor (hidden inside the Twilight Sword behind Odin’s throne) and — apparently — the Infinity Gauntlet. *thorgasm*

Something for everyone! Here’s a rubber dress-wearing Daphne (Scooby-Doo) for Jonathan Solomon. The previous page had a lot of Sharpie marker bleed-through, so that’s why there are little black and red spots here and there. (The guy who drew on the previous page? Me).

Darlene stumbled upon Joshua Jackson — one of her Island Guys ifyouknowwhutI’msayin’andIthinkyoudo — while getting lunch at the neighborhood Ralph’s. Double-Jay (as Darlene now refers to him) was holding “Pacey-Con” across from the convention center, attracting female fans far and wide. Darlene even got an autographed 6-page fanfic “Pacey and Joey Have 6 Kids.” D was walking on clouds for days, until she learned it was all being filmed for a Funny or Die short. Luckily (?) she didn’t make the final cut. More of this tale from Darlene’s point of view here!

Riverdale High represent! Betty, Archie and Veronica stopped by for some chocolate malts. Note the blue hilights in Ms. Lodge’s hairdo.

Pretty much the creepiest super-hero costume I saw was Red Lantern Mera at the DC booth. I can’t confirm if she was puking blood or not prior to this photo.

Couples! Here we have Tim Burton-style Queen and Mad Hatter, Spock (XX chromosome variant) and an Orion Slave Girl, and Mary Marvel with Captain Marvel. I know I’ve been going to A LOT of these shows when I start to immediately recognize cosplayers in different roles. You might recognize the Marvels from previous ‘cons, when she was Batgirl and Black Canary and he was Kirk Alyn-style Superman.

Squirrel Girl! Didn’t see Tippy-Toe or Monkey Joe, however. I think Kevin Church voted this the best costume at the ‘Con.

Here’s my buddy “Magic Snapshot,” who comes by my table every year. She’s going through a rough patch but I’m — we’re — confident she’ll be coming back year after year. XOXO

Here’s another example of cosplay done right! Meet Brittany Skipper. That day she was Sleeping Beauty, but I know she’s also cosplayed most of Disney’s stable of princesses (Belle, Ariel, Tinkerbell, Alice, Cinderella, Snow White, among others). And it’s kind of refreshing to see costuming done completely devoid of the perv/skank quotient. Bravo, Brittany!

Simple, yet effective. Best Uhura I’ve seen.

Our friends Sarah Kuhn and Jeff Chen came by the table, too. I think they had a fun convention: Sarah was on the Geek Girls Exist panel, and Jeff helped out over at JustJennDesigns a couple rows behind us. In this photo, I think Darlene was telling them where they could sneak away to have a nap.

Little slice of life behind the table. Here are my neighbors Wendy Chin-Tanner and Jose Cabrera during a brief — but welcome — lull in table traffic. Good neighbors to have!

If you’re going to fail, FAIL BIG. That’s my motto. At first glance, I’d just chalk up these costumes to being half-assed (like seeing a dude with steampunk goggles and backpack but wearing a polo shirt and Tevas). But these two guys transcend fail and bring it to an art form. I don’t know who I liked better: the Stormtrooper with a bucket for a helmet and paper plates as a suit of battle armor, or Iron Man in bathroom slippers, armor made from Coca-Cola boxes and touch lights on his palms. Let’s call it a tie.

One book per Jackie O, please!

San Diego Comic-Con International 2010 is all but a fading memory. Only a slightly cracked voice and a small pile of mementos (freebees or otherwise) are here to remind me that I spent a solid five-day work week on my feet, talking to friends and making new ones. Oh, and Darlene and I took a slew of photos. But I’ll get to those later in my annual SDCCI Photogasm Recap, as tradition dictates.

This year’s ‘Con marked the worldwide debut of Bimboozled, the third volume of collected Cool Jerk strips. It was serendipitous that I asked my long-time pal John Layman to write the foreword several months ago. Who knew he’d go on to get nominated for — and ultimately win — an Eisner Award for Outstanding New Series? (I did, secretly) His Image comic Chew is the talk (taste?) of the town, and I’m really happy for him. Bravo, Mighty Layman. Bravo.

This year’s coupon — available ONLY to subscribers — was for a free, full-color poster print with the purchase of Bimboozled. The print was an extremely limited run and they all went to subscribers who participated. Thank you! My gift to you for supporting small press and independent cartoonists, and for being a subscriber!

This comic-con had a lot of exciting events: “Scott Pilgrim,” “The Walking Dead,” “Thor,” “Green Lantern,” “True Blood,” “Glee” (?) and scores of other TV shows and movies dominated the buzz, as did a face-stabbing in Hall H on Saturday and rumors about if Comic-Con is going to leave San Diego in the coming years.

Sadly, dozens of familiar faces (familiar to Team Cool Jerk, that is) didn’t attend Comic-Con this year, for one reason or another (conflicting schedules, passes selling out, the economy, moving out of the area, etc.). Missed you guys! You know who you are.

But I did get to say hi to a lot of friends and allies of Cool Jerk: Tom Bray and his posse (Tom was instrumental in getting Cool Jerk into multiple newspapers back in the early 1990s), Richard Foley, Jay Halili and Jamie Lim, Earthdog, Marc Mason, Alex G., Randy, Eric (and Jocelyn, by proxy), Jim Burns and Jason Childs (responsible for this strip, swear to God), Wendy the Rollergirl who kicked my ass last year, Lacie, Brian, Dennis Schamp, Trina Mills & her brother and pop, Kim the Catgirl & her brother and pop, Armando, Magic Snapshot (hug to you, dear lady!), Kurt Snibbe, Marian (and Majorie, by proxy), Bridget Crosby and Josh (!!), Keith G. and Kady, David S., Donald and @kirbiecravings, Jonathan Solomon, Larry C., Shaylan and Ty (only reps from the Poway Posse this year), James Michael’s emissary whose name escapes me, Grace and Araceli, a slew of former co-workers (Anita, Nel, Michelle, Rose and Jeff, Luis and Neil), Steve Yatson and Rebecca Watson from Poser/Manga Studio, and @acomicbookgirl. Thanks to Mike, the other Mike, Matthew, Todd, John, Tak, Hans from Peru, Kim’s co-conspirator Patrick, Bailey, Jonathan, Dan, Justin and Lauri, Rob and his boy Matt for stopping by and making my acquaintance (or vice-versa).

Even though I was super-busy, I was able to catch up/spend some extra time with pals and colleagues Jodi Kurland, Sarah Kuhn and Jeff Chen, Kevin Church, Ming Doyle, Daniel and Dawna Davis, Ryan Claytor, Ben and Andrea Walker, Naomi and Jose Cabrera, Bavarian Erin and Superfro, Deb Aoki, Tyler and Wendy Chin-Tanner, James Hicks, Chris Wisnia, Phil Foglio, Abby Denson (and Matt Loux, who I met) and Ren Bates. JustJenn gets a big virtual hug for letting us spend so much time with her. XOXO

I also got to meet fellow creators (and first-time Small Press exhibitors) Audra Furuichi & Scott Yoshinaga (mahalo!) and steampunk simian Chet Phillips, which was a whole lot of awesome! I understand they all had a good show.

It’s nearly impossible to mention you all. I hope I didn’t leave out anyone who’s reading this!

Special thanks goes to the other half of Team Cool Jerk, my wonderful wife Darlene! Among her many in-front-of-and-behind-the-scenes escapades, she ran into one of her five Island Guys on the way to getting me lunch! “OMG! PACEY CON!” *swooon*

Photos to come!

What the heck?!? Keep reading!

• Debuting at SDCCI: my FOURTH comics collection, Cool Jerk Vol. 3: Bimboozled! Unlike other trilogies (“The Matrix,” “Star Wars,” “Smokey and the Bandit”) these books keep getting better and better! Like Hodabeast and Chickadoowa that precede it, Bimboozled is loaded with more than 200 strips, and nearly 15% of them are Bimboozled-exclusive (i.e. they appear ONLY in the book, and haven’t/will never be online)! Sketches, Director’s Commentary, Outtakes, the insane-o Index… all there! Foreword by CHEW creator John Layman! $12.

• Of course I’ll have plenty of copies of Hodabeast (Cool Jerk Vol. 1), Chickadoowa (Cool Jerk Vol. 2) and Doc Splatter Ominous Omnibus to help fatten up your library! The Cool Jerk volumes run $12 a pop, and Doc Splatter is $8.

• Didn’t get a Cool Jerk T-shirt last year? They were pretty popular so I did a reorder. It’s probably my favorite design so far (it was Darlene’s idea). It comes in a myriad of sizes, in both crew neck (M/F) and ladies’ tanktops. $15.

• IT’S ART, YO!
Now this THIS I’m really excited about. I’m debuting Cool Jerk Panel Canvases at Comic-Con! What you’re looking at in the photo above is an assortment of small, gessoed canvases stretched onto a wood frames. Darlene and I pored over hundreds and HUNDREDS of my comics, and chose 40 panels that either consistently made us laugh and/or would be a sure-fire crowd pleaser. Supply is VERY LIMITED — we hand-manufactured only about 60 of these bad boys; for most of the panels, there was only one copy made. First-come, first-served! You have to see ’em to believe ’em. Perfect for your desk, wall or gallery! IT’S A POCKET MASTERPIECE! $25.

• ALSO debuting at Comic-Con this year, Cool Jerk original art! Yes, you read that right. You’ve seen ’em in Chickadoowa and Bimboozled. I’m selling the Sharpie roughs I use to create Cool Jerk (click here for more on that), and each sheet usually has two strips roughed out on it. Ready for the price of these one-of-a-kind keepsakes? READY?!? $5. That’s right. A five-spot. A fin. A Folding Lincoln. THAT’S CRAZY CHEAP!

• How about my 24-Hour Comic starring Doc Splatter? I’ll have a few of those, plus stickers, NEW glow-in-the-dark buttons, window decals and other Cool Jerk shwag you can’t possibly live without!

• As always, I’m more than happy to stink up your sketchbook with some pencil-and-ink action! Gratuities and donations to the HornCo Fund are always appreciated, of course. =:^)

• If you’ve been to my table before, good news! Team Cool Jerk is in the exact same spot we’ve been at since 2003! Here’s a map I whipped up as a refresher!

Click it to Comic-Con-Size it!

Lots of good stuff here, folks! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be doing this — I really appreciate your support, enthusiasm and friendship.

No shoving! Line starts to the left. Single file, please!

Phoenix Comicon is bagged and tagged and in the rear view mirror. It was a pretty odd show. It lasted three days (Fri.-Sun.) with a three-hour preview on Thursday night. Without getting into the grim, tear-inducing specifics, Team Cool Jerk almost pulled up stakes Friday night and called it quits.

I’ve done three-hour store signings that made 20 times — and that’s NOT an exaggeration — the amount of sales as Thursday and Friday brought in. When Friday wrapped, I asked myself, “What the hell? Does Phoenix not LIKE comics?” I knew it wasn’t Cool Jerk-specific, as I talked with other creators/exhibitors who considered every gimmick short of performing handstands (or sexual favors) to make a sale. It was more like a junior-high super-kawaii Halloween cosplay cutegasm hugfest than it was a convention for comics fans. (Comics fans with wallets, that is.)

Saturday arrived and immediately a dude ran up to my booth and exclaimed “OH MY GOD! COOL JERK! YOU ARE MY HERO!” That was pretty startling, but, alas, no sale was made. I gave Darlene the “let’s pack up the Subaru and go looking for Gila Monsters” look, but shortly afterward, a dude named Ron came up and bought a book. Then Josh and Rochelle. Then Adam. Then Bastion and Brad, who each bought two books. Tiffany remembered me from 2006 and bought both Cool Jerk volumes. Others came by and bought my t-shirts, buttons, stickers. Saturday ended up being pretty decent. We decided to hang around through Sunday.

Sunday mirrored Saturday with brisk sales and lots of activity. Thanks to Ben, Stephen, Daniel, Tyler and others who also patronized my table, joined the subscriber list and/or made the day worthwhile.

All tallied up, Phoenix ended up being a better show in two days than either Emerald City or WonderCon. Come to find out, the dude who stormed my table on Saturday morning was the boyfriend of a long-time Cool Jerk reader, Jamie (she became a subscriber at the 2006 show). She meant to come by but was either too busy with convention duties or was repelled by the manhole cover-sized splash of puke from Saturday afternoon. Sorry I missed you, Jamie!

Will I do Phoenix again? Hmm. I’ll have to think about it. Phoenix was a valuable lesson that no two shows are alike. I needed to adapt on the fly to accommodate attendees and pique their curiosities. Darlene suggested maybe I need to do some strips with Yuri in a milkmaid cosplay uniform so I can sell tiny hats with lace glued to them next year. =:^)

It could have been the sweltering Phoenix heat with temperatures hitting the triple digits. Maybe it was the milk maid accessories housed immediately next to my booth. It might’ve been the illo of Seashelly Dumpster on the Cool Jerk banner behind my table. Whatever the reason, Cool Jerk was quarantined temporarily Saturday afternoon. Someone called didn’t make it to the big white telephone to call Ralph and instead dropped a round-trip meal ticket right there in the middle of the aisle, closing traffic for part of the afternoon.

Fortunately, this reversal of fortune didn’t affect the many people who came out on Sunday and stopped by the table — many of whom are now new fans and friends of Cool Jerk.

Updates on the Cactus Comicon to come later this week!

Click it to Gila Monster-size it!

By overwhelming demand, Team Cool Jerk will be returning to Phoenix Comicon, Thursday-Sunday (May 27-30) at the Phoenix Convention Center! This marks my second time at the “Cactus ‘Con” and I’m looking forward to kicking it with you loyal subscribers from 2006, plus indoctrinating thousands of new readers into the Cool Jerk posse! I’ll have all my books (didn’t have ’em in ’06), plus lovely new T-shirts (in mens’ and womens’ fits) and other stuff you can’t possibly live without!

My fourth-straight year at WonderCon was terrific! Darlene couldn’t make it this time around, so instead I enlisted my loooong-time buddy (and loooong-time Cool Jerk reader) Jay Kenoyer (above) to help man the table on Saturday. We go way back, Jay and I. Like 1982. He’s one of the funniest people I know. So as you can imagine, hilarity ensued. It was awesome to see a bunch of old friends and nake new ones. I’d like to personally say hi and thanks to Daniel & Dawna Steamcrow, Team Space Punks, Team Lunasea Studios, Team Ben Walker, Alex Gamboa, IronChuck, Earthdog, Duncan, Jacob, Korin, Neil, Vinh, Gabby & Raquel, Joseph, Peter, Alan Groening, Gaby, Sam and his pork bun, Chris & Tara, Mimi Cruz, Justin Orr, Brian Peets, Lance and Carla Bloodcolossus, Deb Aoki, Jane Wiedlin and probably many others!

Here’s a brief photo recap, so you can live vicariously through me!

Making sure the walkways are free of Hydra agents are Captain America and Col. Nick Fury! (that’s me in the background on the left, texting Madame Hydra to STAND DOWN!)

Puppy as Agent of WUAAARGH marker sketch for Alex Gamboa, who I think has at least a half-dozen quasi-pervy character sketches from me by now.

Hey, it’s Angel from the X-Men! How’s it hangin, big guy? Um, apparently to the right.

Duncan Cook is in the hizzle, fo’ shizzle! I say that because that’s totally the way he talks. Hey, Sarah Kuhn — he likes your book!

Here’s Valerie Perez as Zatanna, along with Mary Marvel and Supergirl. See? I’m throwing some props to you DC fans, too!

This attendee flat-out rocked the Batgirl costume. Custom-tailored leather everything.

Cool Jerk’s next stop will be in Phoenix at the end of May. I hope to beta-test something really cool there. I’m pretty excited about it, and I think you will be, too. (hint: NOT a book, NOT a T-shirt)

So I was at WonderCon (San Francisco) last week, manning the Cool Jerk table and all the things that entails — selling books and T-shirts, doing sketches, chatting with readers and making new friends, Tweeting and texting updates to Darlene (she opted to stay in San Diego so she could join me in Phoenix next month).

A couple of petite women wandered up to my table amid a small flurry of traffic. They started leafing through my Cool Jerk books and after a few seconds, the one closest to me dressed in pink and green gestured to the covers of my books and asked, “So are you a fan of The Capitols?” (the reference: The Capitols did the song “Cool Jerk” in 1966)

My face widened in a smile, “No, I’m much more of a Go-Go’s fan.” The gal who asked the question smiled back. (the reference: The Go-Go’s covered “Cool Jerk” on their 1982 album “Vacation.”)

We chatted the usual comic-con small talk back and forth across the table for a minute or two. “Are you having a good convention?” “How many times have you been to WonderCon?” “Has it started raining outside?” “Are you here all three days?” Her answers led me to think I might be talking to a fellow professional, as she said she’s been to the San Diego Comic-Con International a few years in a row and that it’s good to chill out at WonderCon where she can just walk around and have fun. I glanced down at her badge but it was turned around, so her identity remained a complete mystery. But I had a gut feeling, brought on by her answers and a familiar, distinctive squeakiness in her voice that I didn’t quite place when we first started talking. I waited until she was looking away and I said one word.

“Jane?”

She turned around and said, “Yes?”

Yes, this whole time I was talking to Jane Wiedlin. Guitarist of The Go-Go’s. And I sincerely had no Clue up until about 30 seconds into our chat. (I wonder if someone were filming this, at what point I had my “a-ha” moment… and if it was even noticeable)

I continued with my conversation. “At the expense of being a dork, could I get a photo of you, please?” Jane not only said yes, but came around to my side of the Cool Jerk table. She introduced me to her sister, who graciously took a photo of us. I took another one for good measure. Afterward we continued chatting about comics. She said she’ll be at SDCCI promoting her comic — Lady Robotika — coming out this summer. I told her to come by Small Press and say Hi again.

Photo by Meg Wiedlin

As they were leaving, I said “Hold on a sec.” I gave Jane the display copy of the ladies’ Cool Jerk tank with narrow strappy straps as a thank you for the decades of good music. I asked her to wear it in good faith and promote Cool Jerk — whether lounging around or washing the car, etc. She said, “Oh! I’ll probably have to wear something underneath it,” as she held it up to her small frame and laughed.

Jane rocks (you can tell by the secret double devil-horn hand gestures)!

Jane Wiedlin. How ’bout that. Anyone who’s known me for more than a few years knows I adore The Go-Go’s. I even have an autographed Go-Go’s poster on the wall next to my Mac that I got in San Diego at a 1999 reunion concert.

I texted Darlene immediately afterward and we laughed loud about it, because Darlene has an otherworldly ability to lock in and remember faces in some cyber-techo-organic mental database. SHE would’ve known that was Jane Wiedlin 20 yards away. God as my witness (and Jane, if you’re reading this, I’m crapping you not), it took me a minute of conversation — WELL AFTER I mentioned I was a Go-Go’s fan — before I realized who I was talking to.

A couple days later I’m back in San Diego, and I know I have to write a blog about this. I wanted to verify Jane’s sister’s name, but the Internet wasn’t very helpful in that regard. So I Tweeted her and asked, “@janewiedlin I’d like to give credit to your sister for taking a photo of us at #wondercon; Meg, right?”

A little while later Jane replied, “Yes, Meg! I love my CJ dress, wearing it as nightie.”

>shudder< WHAT HAVE I DONE…?!? Fellas (and a bunch'a you ladies, don't deny it), I apologize -- if it weren't for Cool Jerk, Jane Wiedlin would be sleeping in the nude.

…was awesome. Next year it’s a three-day event, which will guarantee it to be 50% MORE AWESOMER!

I really like Emerald City. It’s feels like a true “comic convention…” like San Diego was in the 1980s and early 1990s. When you walk through the convention doors, you can smell the paper. Mmm… comics…! This was my second time tabling at ECCC, and the first with the Doc Splatter Ominous Omnibus, new t-shirts and a new table display.

What totally makes my day is when someone comes up and says “I bought Cool Jerk volume one last year… and now I’m here to get volume two.” Or when another comes up and says “Whoa… hold on a second! I remember your strip from… Reno, right?!?” Or when someone wanders over and says “My instructor Britt Nowlin told me to find you and say ‘hi.'” I also had a Cool Jerk mailer subscriber from last year convince her friend to subscribe, saying “it’s the best email I get every week. EVERY WEEK.”

Dr. Who and a Dalek at Emerald City ComiCon

Saw many familiar faces (Jacie Landeros, Boo Davis of Quiltsryche, Geoff, Marina, Tim, The Mighty Layman, Team Chris Wisnia, Team Steamcrow, Team Ben Walker, Team Lunasea Studios, Team PJ Perez, @GirlFridayK and @OracleBatgirl) and met many more (Ben Costa, Scott, former Renoites Mel & Laura, Misa the Rat City Rollergirl, Jaime, Corey, Kassandra, Jesse, Charles from Belgium, Rita and Mike, among others)! I’ve added scores more subscribers to the legion of Cool Jerk allies, so please make them feel welcome!

Next stop is San Francisco for WonderCon, April 2-4. I’ll chat a bit more about that in a few days.

By popular request. (Will Puppy be the new Gyros girl?)

I just shipped a book order out this weekend. Not terribly newsworthy in and of itself, and normally not worth mentioning in my blog, but this a little different. It was to Greece.

A few years ago at San Diego Comic-Con, I met a fellow named Dimitris Sakaridis. He came up to my table and checked out my comic. Either he liked what he saw or my mind-controlling brainwave emitter worked, because he bought a copy of Hodabeast. While I was signing it off to him, he signed up for my weekly e-mailer.

When Hodabeast was distributed via Diamond in 2008, I spotted an online recommendation from Greece. It was in Greek, but I used Babelfish to “translate” it:

COOL JERK VOLUME 1: HODABEAST (Hornco Press – p285) Only that I know for this comic he is that editor, Dimitris [Sakaridis] it worships him. (Unless I tangle him with some other… Hopefully not). That means that exist enough probabilities it is really good. Judge better alone you. (Editor’s Note: No, you do not tangle him. COOL JERK is his exceptionally entertainer, astute comic strip and author, Paul Horn, which I [personally] knew in San Diego, it is a horribly cool type – and by no means jerk. Buy this comic!)

So this week I got an order from Dimitris, with these strict instructions: “Please, please, please, could you make it “to Dimitris – a real cool jerk!”? Thanks!” Due to a PayPal snafu (my fault), I didn’t have an option for overseas shipping & handling (i.e. $0), so I essentially made about $2 on the sale. But no worries. I let Dimitris know his book was on its way. He replied shortly afterward:

Hey Paul!

Thanks for the heads up. I’m actually trying to promote Cool Jerk to everyone I know here, since 2007. I met you briefly that year in San Diego Comic Con. You were actually the first exhibitor/creator I met on preview night and I’ve always been sorta emotionally attached to your strip. It being really cool and well made helps a lot!

I’ll do my best to convince other people here to order your books. Fix the shipping charge thing soon.

Best wishes
Dimitris

P.S.: Seriously, I feel bad about the no shipping thing. If I don’t manage to get more people to order your books, I’ll order a few more myself and start giving them away to those I love as gifts.

Nice guy, that Dimitris. People like him make the world a smaller place. And to all of you readers from outside the U.S., I fixed that shipping glitch so YOU’LL HAVE TO PONY UP SOME EUROS LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!

EPILOGUE: I’ve learned Dimitris is a reviewer and one of the head honchos at Comicdom, Greece’s premier comics news site. Also, he’s spearheading Greece’s only comic convention, ComicdomCon. If your travels take you to the birthplace of Heracles, Pythagoras and the Olympics, do what you can to help support the industry, won’t you?