PLASTIC CITY COMIC CON 2022!!! What a great time!

So, I'm a day removed from attending Plastic City Comic Con and it was a fantastic experience. Where to start? I brought along my son and I kept it a surprise, so when he woke up in the AM and I broke the news we'd be going and that he'd finally get to meet @Publishin' Pete! he was thrilled. He even went into his comic collector case and picked out a comic he wanted Pete to sign. Also, when I told him that @Keith Gleason himself was running the event, he brought a Mighty Mascots for him to sign, too!

After a surprisingly quick 90 minute drive, we were at Plastic City Con and made our way into the arena. Being a hockey guy, I'm still giddy that it was held in a hockey rink. I couldn't help but look on the floor periodically to check for missing teeth and bloodstains, but alas. Nuthin'. What I did find however, was Alterna Alley: a huge collection of Alterna creators that stretched pretty far out. First up, I stopped over to see the Death Curse crew, led by the one and only @Spencer Desmond and Mike McSweegan, along with Kayla and Beth. Wonderful peeps and cool cats, every one of them. They even had my 'City of Rot' campaign bundle there for me with some other cool extras, which was awesome. Little guy later told me how the "Buddy Mask" from Camp Rainbow creeped him out and he had a hard time getting to sleep, so I can add Spencer's name to Geronimo's on the list of guys whose characters scared my child. Well done. Also worth noting, I got to meet fellow Alterna fan @Ara Gelenian as well and shake his hand. Always a pleasant sight to see his name in the livestream chat, it was great to put a face to a name. It was a pleasure meeting you, Ara!

Next we waited our turn to meet Pete at the main booth and little guy was not disappointed. He was treated like a rock star by not only Pete but all of the Alterna creators, which I'll never forget and will always appreciate. Pete was gracious to sign his books and pose for pictures, which made his day.

We made our way over to say hello to the incomparable @Frankie B Washington, whom I've come to consider "The King of the Kaijus"! He signed our books and little guy picked out a poster print and some incredible sketch cards Frankie had done. After we left Frankie's table, little guy said to me "I really liked that guy. He was so nice." and I concur. Frankie is the best!

For myself, I brought a first print copy of Tinseltown #1 to be signed by the great @David Lucarelli and I was grateful to chat with him not only Tinseltown, but other projects he has planned down the line. I'll keep it to myself seeing as it's not my news to tell, but believe me it's all VERY exciting stuff that I'm not going to want to miss out on.

I was thrilled to meet @Clint Stoker creator of Down Cast, and was wise enough to grab every issue and get him to sign them. It was cool to hear that it was his first show where he had a table, so I hope he had a great and successful experience! Thanks for the pogs, Clint! I'll be teaching little guy how to play so we can put those beauties to good use!

Also in attendance was the great @Tyler Wentland of Red Koi. We got to chat for awhile and had some really great conversations about just about everything from comics, to the current comic atmosphere, to the Alterna forums, to life in general, and everything else in between. Tyler is a great guy and was super fun to talk to. Thanks for signing our foil Red Koi cards! They're already in little guys Alterna card binder, right up top!

One surprise for me was to meet @Fabrizio Aiello creator of H.H. Hoover. From what previews I've seen of his book, I'm amazed. His artwork is insane and the concept is weird and awesome and I cannot wait to read it. I wished him all the best and nothing but success this fall when H.H. Hoover comes to Alterna!

Eventually, we waited awhile to bump into @Keith Gleason, who was very high up on our list of people to meet seeing as little guy and I are HUGE fans of The Mighty Mascots. While I understood that Keith was a VERY busy man that day, my boy was starting to get a little worried that we might miss out. Those fears were quickly forgotten when we saw him in a crowd near the lobby and we waited patiently for an opportunity to say hello. Keith could not have been nicer, taking several minutes of his extremely busy day to sign Little guy's Mighty Mascots #1 and his Mighty Mascots poster, but also give us a sneak peek scoop on future Mascots cover art and story elements. I'm sworn to secrecy and will not divulge a single thing, but I'll say this: it's wonderful and hilarious. Mascots fans are in for a treat. In fact, on our car ride home it became a lengthy discussion between little guy and myself. It was awesome.

Finally, I had the pleasure of hanging out with @Anthony Gambino and what a great dude. For the past year or so, I've been watching Anthony on the Drawnimo livestreams with Robert Geronimo and have been blown away by his art every time. He was a blast to hang around and chat with, and after little guy impressed with his knowledge of Universal Monsters, we were lucky enough to get Anthony's incredible "Creature from the Black Lagoon" prints (along with a few other not-too-kid-friendly stuff for me) to hang up in the kid's bedroom. Thank you Anthony and Samantha (I sincerely hope I remembered her name, I'm AUFUL with names) for being awesome! I hope to see you guys again next year!

What about the rest of the con? I'm glad you asked, reader! It was excellent! Lots of comics. By lots I mean LOTS. If you were looking for something, you'd probably find it. Little guy even got to scratch the Pokemon itch and was able to wrangle Dad into getting him a plush toy and Japanese cards he's not even able to read. I guess he just wanted them for bragging rights on the school bus next year. I will say this: the show was VERY family friendly. Never at any point did I feel uncomfortable having my son walk around. Everyone there was having a good time and every vendor I did business with was professional. Really, that's all you can ask for.

So, I'm thinking that's it. We had a great time at Plastic City Comic Con and will be coming back again next year. I'd like to thank ALL of the Alterna creators for taking the time to chat, sign books, give little guy a high-five, a sticker, a temporary tattoo, etc. You made him feel very special and honestly me too, so thank you. Of course, thank you to Peter Simeti for everything you're doing at Alterna and for being my son's Stan Lee. He had asked me for a couple years, "Can I meet Peter Simeti?" and now that he has he won't stop talking about it. And finally thank you to Keith Gleason for putting on an amazing, fun show! We'll be looking forward to next year!