Had a nice time at MeCAF: had good conversations with old & new acquaintances (including two nonfiction-makers), acquired what looks so far like a pretty good bunch of comics, and enjoyed Portland and its surroundings. Sales were a little lower than I’d expect from such a show but were OK (which is normal for MeCAF). Vampire Pickle magnets were popular. I didn’t bother to meet special guest Jeff Smith because I knew the line would be huge and I’d nothing to say beyond “I really liked Bone!” — but he ended up next to me at the night-before reception saying, “Hi, I’m Jeff; who are you?” so I had a nice little chat with him (OMGHBBBLL). He seems quite friendly and nice.

Feedback on my work at the show included: Some laughter at the humor (a nice perk of working in a genre meant to provoke an involuntary reaction). One fellow cartoonist said my drawing style reminded them of Quentin Blake and another said the history bits in Square Dance reminded them of Hark! A Vagrant; both nice to hear, though I don’t mistake “reminds me of” for “is as good as”. Best of all was a description of a piece as “well-timed” from an accomplished cartoonist whose fine qualities include superb timing.