ECC 2014: After Action Report

Wind whipped across the parking lot, driving the rain almost horizontally across the asphalt. Two men stood facing one another by a black sedan, the water dripping from them disappearing into the puddle at their feet.

“What now?” the taller of the two asked, the dull light from the cloudy sky shining in his glasses.

“You know,” said the other as he curled his hands into fists.

“We really going to do this?”

“There’s no other choice.”

The tall man rolled his neck and then swung his arms across his body as he hopped from foot to foot, pausing to shake out each leg.

The other man looked up and let the rain wash over his face for a moment, before settling into a crouch, left foot forward, hands up.

The taller man began to shuffle, firing quick jabs with both hands. He settled into a boxing stance, shoulders forward, chin down. “On three,” he said.

“Right.”

A car horn blared in the distance, reverberating off the brick buildings around them.

“One.”

A woman walked by, her head down against the wind and rain. She never noticed them.

“Two.”

The remnants of a plastic bag fluttered past.

“Three.”

Hands flashed on both sides and there was sudden stillness, punctuated by the sound of rain hitting the car.

“Poop,” said the shorter man. His outstretched hand showed scissors.

“Ha!” said the other, his hand showing rock. “You have to carry the big box!”

The preceding was a dramatic interpretation of how we figured out who had to carry the heavy stuff in a parking lot near the Seattle Convention Center. Actually, we parked in the underground lot, so it wasn’t really wet. And we had dollies. And, frankly, everything was heavy.

It’s probably best to just forget that first part.

Anyway, Leigh, my brother Rick and I survived ECC 2014 intact. There were a lot of early mornings, as the parking lot is full by 9 am, but we persevered and managed to get decent parking all three days. Jason Raines, the penciler on Capes & Heels showed up later and had to park almost 7,001 kilometers away, which is something like 3 blocks.

Yes, I’m a bit hazy on the whole metrics thing.

To sum up the con: fun, costumes, nerds, hot-dogs, pictures, more fun, many con-buddies, fans new and old, finishing with sleeping and then doing the whole thing over again. It was like attending a party for three days with comics and intermittent alcohol.

We saw a lot of con buddies and friends alike. To our left was David Ketcherside. Across the aisle were the Scottish Ninjas and to our left was Sam Wood. Our con buddies Jason Metcalf was in attendance, as was Quentin Shaw of QED Publishing, Jason Martin, Randy ‘Rantz’ Kintz, and Beth Guizzetti of ZB Publications.

Overall, a great time was had. Drinks were drunk. Hot dogs were consumed. Comics were . . . comicked.

Next up for us is the Salt Lake FaneXperience on April 17-19^th. Come by, say ‘hi,’ and check out some of our new projects.

Cheers,

-Jason