The economic aftermath of hurricane Sandy was felt at King Con. With most subways not running this weekend, people scrambling for gas, and the fact that it was the first really cold weekend this fall, hardly any customers showed up. On top of that, the Lyceum had no heat!
It was hard to draw with my hands being so cold, and hard to even see the colors of my markers with little light (where my table was). But I kept thinking of all the people who are still without power and heat, and that's what kept me going.
2 years ago the last King Con saw many tables lining the center as well as the perimeter of the Lyceum, and so many people you could barely walk the aisles. This year with so many vendors unable to get there, some people got a table last minute for $25. Despite difficulties of low attendance, other artists and I still made a bit of money. During the slow times, it was super great to meet lots of creators and writers! I talked a lot with Jason Quinones, who was at the table next to me. I was even able (through the power of twitter!) to get my friends Sean Von Gorman and Josh Gorfain to exhibit.
I made my table money back with one sketch! An anime called "One Piece" features a character called Luffy that can stretch his body like rubber. The guy that wanted the sketch saw similarities between Luffy and Plastic Man.
Since many families with small kids came, I drew some of my favorite cartoon characters like Finn & Jake from Adventure Time and Sponge Bob.
After the con, I got some creators together for an after-party at The Rock Shop. It was so nice to get to know other cartoonists and writers! Jason said it best: "You all helped to make what should have been a disaster of a con into something special." It's also noteworthy that this convention still went on despite many events in Manhattan and Brooklyn being cancelled or postponed (even the New York Marathon!). It took very passionate people to make King Con happen. Cheers to getting NYC going again!
