It was bound to happen. After more than 15 years of attending various book and comic shows I was sick for the first time. I was fairly “out-of-it” during the whole show. My voice went out Thursday night, and I could barely talk for much of the show. I was disappointed for a number of reasons. I could only talk for short spurts until my voice went out. I couldn’t talk to anyone who approached the booth, meaning, no promoting, no selling, no answering questions, no talking about all of our exciting new books we are working on, no sharing of our new Steve Rude: Artist in Motion book with friends. For the most part, I sat in a chair in the booth, doing my best not to look as bad as I felt. I hear this bug is going around. With me, it went around and around and around again.
Fortunately, our books managed to sell themselves at the Flesk booth. We had a good number of people picking up the exclusive Mark Schultz Storms at Sea and Gary Gianni The Prince Valiant Page exclusive show posters. Randy Dahlk sold out of his show exclusive Mark Schultz Various Cutie’s magnets.
Schultz was present at our booth during the entire show. He brought along five finished art samples of his upcoming Storms at Sea book. They received much praise and attention. These pieces are unbelievable.
With WonderCon being my local show, I always enjoy the mellow atmosphere and seeing many of those “once-a-year” acquaintances. To me, this was the first year that the show lost its intimacy. On Saturday, the crowds moving through the aisles looked more like the San Diego Comic-Con show. This doesn’t’t bother me; it’s just growth and change, which is inevitable if the show organizers are doing a good job at promoting, which they are.
I noticed a large TV and movie star guest list for this year. I rarely watch TV, so the stars and shows were completely unknown to me. This, I would imagine, was the reason for the large attendance on Saturday.
We were set up next to Stuart Ng Books. Stuart carries a wide assortment of new art books and graphic novels that are hard to find in the States. I picked up Melange and Mandy’s Shorts, two collections on Dean Yeagle. Also, Droles de Pin-Up by Erroc & Herval, Belladone with art by Pierre Alary, and Songes Coraline by D.P. Filippi and Terry Dodson. I absolutely love what Dodson is doing in this French album. This is the first of three albums planned, and there is a Songs sketchbook, too. As far as I know, Stuart is the only US source for purchasing this book right now.
The next show we will be exhibiting at is Book Expo America at the Los Angeles convention center starting May 29. William Stout will be present for a signing to promote our upcoming William Stout: Prehistoric Life Murals book. We will also have exclusive posters promoting Gary Gianni’s The Prince Valiant Page and Mark Schultz’s Storms at Sea available to attendees. See you there!
John Fleskes
Flesk Publications