Lots of Fun at Fanime!

Despite the fact that we are not manga, Genevieve and I hoped that there would still be people attending Fanime who were interested in Islands in the Sky. As it turned out, a whole lot of people were interested and even though we were stuck in the very back corner of Artist's Alley, we nearly sold out of the substantial number of books we brought with us. Had we a premium spot, I definitely think we would have run out by Sunday evening.

Fanime was a four day show that started on Friday and ended on Monday (Memorial Day) and it was quite a test of endurance for me but I'm happy for the experience because between three days at WonderCon, two at SuperCon and the four-day Fanime show...I think I'm as prepared as I'm going to be for the big one: San Diego Comic-Con. It'll be our first year attending Comic-Con as exhibitors but after about eight years in a row as an attendee, I think I'm ready to see the show from behind a table. =)

Though we had tons of customers for Fanime, we didn't snap photos of them because Genevieve was attending the show most of the time and wanted the camera to snap photos of all the cosplayers. I don't know if people really care but I always enjoy showing customer photos so maybe next year I'll purchase or borrow a camera for that purpose. Anyway, I asked Genevieve to send me a selection of photos she took of the cosplayers and once I get them, I'll post them here for you all to enjoy.

We don't make a huge profit on the books but for us, it's not really about that. The most satisfying thing about the experience of having a table at any of these shows is hearing from customers the next day about how much they enjoyed the book. Just chatting with you guys and gals is about the comic and the world of IITS is a lot of fun and Genevieve and I can't wait to share more stories of Kayli and Gordo with you all. Thanks to everyone who picked up our comic and inspired us to do even better with the next book. You guys rock!

P.S. Extra special thanks to B.J. (our neighbor and recipient of the show's worst location for a table...we were only the second worst) for being such a cool dude. You really made the show much more fun for us! Thanks, man.

P.P.S. B.J. makes custom arcade sticks for consoles and PC...check out his work at Electric Trouble!

P.P.P.S. If you managed to find the site despite my failure to send you a reminder email when you signed our guest book, sorry! I had a tough time deciphering the handwriting of a lot of people and got more than a dozen "failed to send" notes.

As promised, here is a small collection of photos from Fanime 2009:

Genevieve explores Artist's Alley on her "day off".

"Waugh..rourouraw...mouraw!!!"

Genevieve (as Maka) and some of her good friends.

A great pose from Prince Nuada (Hellboy II).

The guy on the left created his own armor from leather plates. The girl on the right wants what's inside the armor.

"Sssssss...aaaaaah! Sssssss...aaaaaah! Sssssss...aaaaaah!"

Genevieve (as Maka) in the center of a large group of Soul Eater cosplayers.

An awesome Retro cosplayer (from Dead Leaves).

Genevieve with Jody's niece and some other Soul Eater fans.

Mike, J.C., and Jody as Luchadors.

Pedobear appears...

...and he strikes!

Seriously...WTF?

J.C. punching me in the nuts.

The blue Castle Crasher's guy.

Hirokazu Kojima from Gainax with Genevieve and Mike (both wearing their Gurren Lagann shirts).

A Kayli commission Genevieve did for Charles.

Here's a Kayli on the Stink Flipper she did for Byron.

Shoot...forgot who this was for...but I'm sure he's very happy with it.
(James, maybe?)

Here's a Yoko in her space outfit that Genevieve did for Mike U.

Here's a cute pic of Genevieve and Mike U. with the commission.

My personal personal favorite of the bunch: a Kayli in panties for Stephen. Thanks again for all the Pocky, Stephen!

Annnd...we close with a pic of me, Kayli, and BJ.

Genevieve and I met up with a lot of old friends and made a lot of new ones at Fanime this year. Thanks to everyone who dropped by our booth and made our Fanime experience just a little brighter...see you all next year!

- Joseph

Super-Con Pictures!

Super-Con went quite well and the organizers were nice enough to accommodate our request to be seated next to not just one of our friends, but three. Our friend Vince was to our left and Anthony and Sherwin were to our right in two separate tables. When the show got a bit slow, and we were surprised at how small the attendance turned out to be at times, having friends close by really helped to pass the time away...so no complaints!

The show just happened to land on the two hottest days of the year and whenever we were required to be outside, we were getting cooked alive. Luckily, the South Hall "tent" that the show was housed in was cool enough to make the event more than tolerable.

Despite being such a small show on such a hot day, the attendees seemed to be in high spirits and many cosplayers showed up to strut their stuff. Speaking of cosplayers...outside on the street, many streetlamps flew banners for next week's big Fanime show. We'll be at a table in Artist Alley so be sure to come by and say "Hi" to us!

Now here are some pics from Super-Con, but only the ones from Saturday...when I get the rest of the pics from Genevieve, I'll include them here:

UPDATE: Got the rest of the pics and intermixed them with the rest!

Our friend Kelly Riley snapped this pic of us at our table just before the show started on Saturday morning.

Here's Genevieve and I in a picture taken by Arthur. It was cool of you to drop by and see us again, man! Thanks!

Genevieve wanted me to take this picture of these cute puppies. To this day, she still refers to Pomeranians as "Pomernarians".

The denizens of this mystic place assault you without warning.

3...2...1...FIGHT!

Here it comes! Either we get to see what a Kirby cross section looks like or Kirby will soon be wearing a cute, little white hoodie!

Awwww...how sweet.
A big thanks to Kelly who supplied all the pictures of this epic battle!

Here's Genevieve molesting Jigglypuff...oops, I mean Kirby.

Here's Genevieve with Dr. Who...the fourth one, I believe.

Ryu, Chun Li, and...uh, Mario.

Kirby takes a moment out of his busy schedule to sign our guest book.

Here's our friends Vince and Kelly Riley flanking Norm's table at Super-Con.

Genevieve started doing commissions at this show. I'm so jealous of this one...I wanted it sooo badly. =(

Our friend Anthony and his Masters of the Universe box. He drew images of He-Man characters from memory on all sides of the box. Awesome!

I couldn't just show one side of the awesome Masters of the Universe box so here's a side with Merman on it.

The Walrus People...they collect sketches of walruses from all the artists they can...including Genevieve!

Here's Dave, aka "KidKobun" from DarkDiamond.net. He's the one who put together the awesome feature and interview with us on their site! Thanks for coming to see us, Dave!

And the rest of the pics are of some of our customers...thanks!