Today’s performance reviews didn’t just evaluate employee performance — they completely eliminated the need for Dr. Muskiday’s "inter-office orgy" plan. Turns out, nothing clears the emotional air quite like brutally honest feedback.
Upcoming Events
If you’ve ever thought about stopping by to say hello, these two events are genuinely special opportunities to do that.
Since I’m no longer doing the traditional comic-convention circuit, chances to meet up in person have become pretty rare — which makes days like the Moore College Comics Expo and the NCS Cartoonist Showcase all the more meaningful to me.
Philadelphia
Moore College Comics Expo
Saturday, April 11th
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
https://moore.edu/events/2026-moore-comics-expo/2026-04-11/
Columbus, Ohio
Cartoonist Showcase — Billy Ireland Museum of Comic Art
Saturday, August 8th
1 p.m. – 6 p.m.
https://nationalcartoonists.com/showcase/
I always enjoy putting faces to names, chatting about comics, and hearing what you’ve been reading (or creating). So if you’re anywhere nearby, I’d love to see you there.
And who knows — with travel getting trickier these days, these kinds of appearances may end up being even fewer and farther between… which makes this a pretty great time to take advantage of one.
Transcript
Panel 1:
Cassie Cruz: “The clouds are disappearing! But how?!”
Giant Tess: “Heh.”
Giant Tess: “Since everybody was standing around, I decided to make good use of the time by handing out the annual performance reviews.”
Panel 2:
Giant Tess: “Believe it or not, I actually softened the wording from last year.” In the office, all of the co-workers are furious, (clockwise from upper left: Miss Match, Count Spurlock, Psy-Chick, Lightning Lady, Iron Dragon, Desdemona, Holo-Clone Miss Match, and Catnip).
Detailed Alt Text
Panel 1:
Dr. Muskiday (a small, fly-like scientist with wings and large red eyes) hovers near Cassie Cruz, the branch manager, who is walking briskly into the office. Cassie looks surprised and says, “The clouds are disappearing! But how?!” Standing nearby is Giant Tess, a tall, muscular woman in a green superhero outfit with a cape and a large “G” emblem on her chest. She calmly holds a stack of papers and explains, “Heh… Since everybody was standing around, I decided to make good use of the time by handing out the annual performance reviews.”
Panel 2:
The scene cuts to the open office floor in complete chaos. Employees are reacting violently and emotionally to their performance reviews (clockwise from upper left: Miss Match, Count Spurlock, Psy-Chick, Lightning Lady, Iron Dragon, Desdemona, Holo-Clone Miss Match, and Catnip). MIss Match is surrounded by flames, Psy-Chick is shouting angrily, Lightning Lady is generating crackling energy around her hands, and others are arguing or throwing things. Papers are scattered everywhere, chairs are overturned, and computer monitors are damaged. Despite the destruction, Giant Tess stands calmly in the foreground, still holding her papers, and says, “Believe it or not, I actually softened the wording from last year.” Cassie stands beside her, taking in the mayhem.
Wizard World 2007 Con Report
Wizard World Philly was easily my best comic-convention appearance to date. It was good for Wizard, too. I can’t find confirmation, but I was told they broke their previous attendance record, and the foot traffic seemed to back that up from my perspective.
I was busy from opening to closing with convention sketches, and the books sold so well, that I had to place an emergency call to my wife to bring more books midway through Saturday.
I was so busy, in fact, that I neglected to take very many photos, and I wasn’t able to take many notes of the weekend as it progressed. As a result, this report just might be a little on the light side.
Convention SketchesI had commissioned sketches lined up all day during each day of the con. Convention sketches are a really interesting feat to pull off. The surroundings are less-than-condusive to doing a finely-detailed illustration. The table is always getting bumped, and it’s always a little jarring to look up in the middle of working on something realize that you’re being watched intently.
Not that I’m complaining — far from it. I love doing them. And, if I may say so myself, I churned out some real doozies.
BooksSomething cool happened with the books this year. Since I have
Volume Two out, I dropped
Volume One to ten bucks to encourage people to jump in from the beginning. Several people bought
Volume One on Friday and came back for
Volume Two by Sunday.
I figure I do well over half of my sales to people who never heard of me or my strip before. I hand them a sample, give them a quick pitch for the comic, and then I show them the book. Several of the peple who bought copies of
Volume Two this year had been sold
Volume One last year, having never heard of me then.
Speaking of books, I had the pleasure of meeting Eric Cooper (
he’s in the black Spider-Man costume in the photo to the right) of
Knight Seeker. Cooper is a talented writer whose sci fi books are truly inspired. Knight Seeker is a human who has been given certain powers in a unique way that enable to protect our world. But, in the grand tradition of superheroes, it’s his human side that will grab you.
If you’ve been to a major comic convention in the last few years, you’ve probably seen Eric. He often attends in costume — both Spidey (red and black) and his own character, Knight Seeker.
MediaI did a lot more media in Philly this year than I had done anywhere else earlier. I don’t know whether any of it got used, but I sure talked to a lot of people. I talked to a reporter from Trend, an 800,000-circulation newspaper delivered throughout the Philly suburbs, and I did a brief drop-in for local TV station
myphl17.
Last but not least, I taped an extensive interview with a couple guys that are trying to develop a cool reality show called
Villain 101. In the show, they try to see whether you could ever become a super-villain in real life. Their goal is to try to pull off crime without getting arrested. Sound familiar? I gave them some tips based on my comic strip.
Convention Sketches
Not that I’m complaining — far from it. I love doing them. And, if I may say so myself, I churned out some real doozies.
I figure I do well over half of my sales to people who never heard of me or my strip before. I hand them a sample, give them a quick pitch for the comic, and then I show them the book. Several of the peple who bought copies of Volume Two this year had been sold Volume One last year, having never heard of me then.
If you’ve been to a major comic convention in the last few years, you’ve probably seen Eric. He often attends in costume — both Spidey (red and black) and his own character, Knight Seeker.
