Recap: Philadelphia Alternative Comic Con 2010

Yesterday was Curls Studio's first appearance at Philadelphia Alternative Comic Con (PACC) and it was wonderful! Whenever I travel to a new city, I always try to soak in as much as I can outside of sitting at the table during the convention. We started the day by arriving in the city and getting breakfast and then went to the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site. Since the con did not start until noon, I figured we might as well experience something beforehand. Poe lived in the house we visited for one year or less. The cellar is where all the creepy action was at and most people suspect the cellar was an inspiration in his story, "The Black Cat."

After visiting Poe, we made our way to PACC, which was held at The Rotunda. I did not have too many expectations going into the show. I knew the venue had no air conditioning and I would be prepared for the heat and the tight tables in one room, but as far as the comics go... I had no idea what to expect. I was blown away by a lot of imaginative people at the show. It reminded me of the old SPX days. This show was like a mini Philly-based SPX. I realized that area is a creative hub for many cartoonists. A lot of people from New Jersey and New York were at the show as well. The location was good, as it is located between two colleges and next to a movie theater, so we were getting consistent foot-traffic.


The Philly creators have a comics newspaper called Secret Prison. They also do Comix Jams, which I believe are monthly. They did some at the show yesterday, where someone would start a panel and then pass it on the next person to create the next panel in the story and so on. This was the first time I have ever done this before.


I was also delighted to do a few commissions. I did not think this would be a sketch show, so I did not bring much to work from and had to borrow some pens... but from now on I will always be prepared to do some sketches. Especially if they are in a collected sketchbook. It really feels awesome to be a part of those and sometimes it is very intimidating to draw in them. For the Legettes sketch above, I drew on the page after Todd McFarlane.


I also did this sketch of Black Magic from Black Magic Tales as the Blue Lantern. The blueberry pie was fun as well.


Speaking of printed comics newspapers, yesterday I also got copies of the new Washington, DC based comics newspaper, Magic Bullet, from Rafer Roberts.


This is the premiere issue of Magic Bullet. Joe Carabeo and I have a Black Magic Tales story in it called Reunion. You will be able to find copies of Magic Bullet at many local comic shops, the metro, music venues and other hip places around town... so keep an eye out for an issue. I will also be giving the few I personally own to people who purchase $15 or more from Curls Studio at our upcoming tour appearances (while supplies last).


After PACC, they had an after party at Locust Moon Comics, which we attended for a little bit. We were starving so we left to have a Philly Cheese Steak Showdown! We went to both Pat's King of Steaks and Geno's Steaks. They are both apparently the best at what they do and conveniently located across the street from each other as competitors. Pat's is the original inventor of the cheese steak in the 1930s and they even have a historical marker in front of their location to document the significance. Geno's came around in the 1960s and uses bright Vegas-style lights to lure you in. At Pat's we ordered a cheese steak with provolone cheese and mushrooms. At Genos's we got a cheese steak with Cheez Whiz. I do not know if there was an overall winner, but we were hungry and they both tasted good. However, I respect Pat's a little more for being the originator of this sandwich.

And that's it. That was our day in Philly. The PACC show was a success and I am glad we were a part of history.

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