Monday, January 26, 2009

A Festival Occured


(click on all images for manly sizes)

One day, the Yus bird decided to go to the Vavel Festival. So he packed up and went. There he met up with the rest of us and set upon the table the new comic book in which he features!


(This is not my coat. This is not my hat. I don't even smoke)


Although things seemed to have started slow...



The place was eventually packed. The book seemed to have gone down well with the natives.



In the next photo you may see the specially designed Culture Ovens the government has issued to churn out new comic artists when the ones manning the tables have died from exhaustion



The atmosphere in our little fanzine oven corner was wonderful, with old friends making return visits and new friends debuting. Next to my spot were the wonderful people of Schizoid mag with whom I established pleasant retort and company and here I will thank them again very much for it. I sold about 120 books, which is about 1/3rd of the way towards paying off the debt from having printed it. I estimate that in the next 3 to 4 months I will be out of the hole on that respect.

I met many people from my little corner and I asked them kindly to when they've read the book leave me comments on the blog or by e-mail to tell me what they thought of it. The comment-space for this post is the place to do so then, kind customers, readers and foremost humans. I appreciate the communication more than I appreciate the patronage, and I already appreciate the patronage quite a bit so, there you go! Let me know what you think!

It was four days of sitting, bad eating, one-upping each others extravagant claims absurdly (something of an inside joke with the Schizoid folks after a while, memorable quotes include myself saying "I never tell lies" and being replied with "well I never tell lies TWICE") selling fanzines, being surrounded by beautiful women (seriously, kinda surreal! beauty to my left, beauty to my right, what is to become of me!) and of course, patiently and futilely drawing on the counter. Here are some assembled shots:
















I stress that these are not my drawings (well some of them are) but a communal effort of friends sharing the common bond of being bored out of their gourds. All of the Free Your Line people and all the Schizoid people along with their assorted friends (about 12 people all together) contributed to beautifying a tabletop that as we speak is being painted over to be used again next year.

Also I should mention that none of these were my own photos, they've been kindly donated by a friend who for nebulous reasons would rather remain nameless. There's much yet to teach this friend about abandoning all shame, I feel. I'd have posted more photos of the other rooms of the festival but I spent 4 days pretty much in that space so I think it's more honest to communicate my personal experience. It involved a lot of sitting down, a lot of calculating change to give to customers and a lot of friendly conversation. It was good times, for me. Good things happened in this festival to me and to people I love so hey, good karma all around!

If you have any questions about the festival or anything else you'd like to know about me and my deepest dreams and sexual fantasies, don't hesitate to ask.

After all of that four-day constant commotion the Yus bird was a bit grumpy and tired so I took him home for rest and recuperation.



8 comments:

pan pan said...

heh both my haircuts are featured

Unknown said...

The Schizoid people would like to thank you for the mention and also for the great company. It was a fun time indeed and i doubt it would have been, if you weren't there.

About the book,I finished it tonight and enjoyed it very much.To begin,I won't even discuss your drawing abilities.You've heard about that before, I'm sure.

Now,I must say that I am very interested in people-their thoughts, wants, feelings etc.Dysfunctional and "broken" people are therefore my favorite.Your stories about people like that were great,deep and human at the same time.That part of the book is were I unexpectedly laughed at times(even though I don't think of it as a "funny" book),actually feeling kind of guilty for it.

The other stories,those "weird" ones,the ones that make you read again,were something different.You know which ones I mean.I don't regularly enjoy this kind of story-telling much,yet I read and re-read these stories as much as I had to.I don't think I understood everything, yet I feel that you were not really talking to me at some points.You were actually talking to yourself (M.Antaras said so in the first page) and having met Helm,I thought watching Helm talk to Helm was very interesting.

The YUS bird is amazing.Please write another book with YUS as the main character this time.

About the last page,I find what you did very honest and daring,as I would have just looked the other way and taken the money.

Generally, a great comics book, I'm glad I have read and own to read again.

RothmanSmoker.

PS.I'd like to know more about your sexual fantasies.Elaborate.

Helm said...

It's a very flattering comment that you enjoyed the book on all the levels on which I intended it to be enjoyed. You laughed a little (and felt guilty about it!), you examined the humans involved and you thought about why the artist would spend time talking to the artist. My aspiration is complete. Thank you. No, no. Not just once. Thank you TWICE.

P.S. Has Jesusgun made back home safely? He got a bit stranded last night.

P.S.2: Sexual fantasies: anything that is contra natura, I am interested in. Wasting one's seed, turning the purest act of life-giving around and into the act of pure selfishness, wanting something and just taking it.

It is very inspirational for me to wrestle away from nature the point of sex from creating children to just pure enjoyment. It may hurt a little in the beginning, but it's almost like free will.

Unknown said...

Thank me twice?No problem, it's just that I always thank people 3 or more times.

I haven't heard from Jesusgun yet,but I'm sure he'll be ok.He has a way of surpassing difficulties without much effort, that has baffled me for quite some time.I will investigate further and inform.

*Pseudo-psychology on*
*Mature content on*
The subject of sexual perversion is a very interesting one,as I believe that no human is "normal". Everyone has their little quirks, and finding out what these are, usually tells a lot about the personality of the person that has them. Yours in particular are very interesting and coincides with the whole "Fuck,Eat and Sleep" philosophy. I ,on the other hand, am more turned towards reaching into the brain and messing with it.
But that's just me.After all, we are all sick in the head somehow.
*Mature content off*
*Pseudo-psychology off*

RothmanSmoker.

Helm said...

We stop being 'normal' the moment we realize we exist, I agree -- I mean I agree with your statement that "nobody is normal" but perhaps my reasoning on why might differ from yours, I don't mean to put words in your mouth.

Actually I think my sexual habits are vestigial to when I was battling my instincts more than they are in conformance with them. A conversation for a different time, perhaps. In a few months we'll meet again at Comicdom con.

Unknown said...

I was thinking something more along the lines of the obvious "we are all different,there is no center of normality",but your reasoning seems interesting too.

I'm curious about the particular instincts you were battling and what the result of this battle was.Well, it is a conversation for a different time indeed, and not one to have through the net.One more thing to talk about while we wait for the customers at Comicdom.

RothmanSmoker.

PS.Jesusgun is home and safe, you can stop worrying.

Anonymous said...

Τηλέμαχε καλησπέρα.

Θα ήθελα αν μου επιτρέπεις να αναρτήσω την Α/Μ φωτογραφία με τον πολύ κόσμο στο greekcomics, μιας και αρκετά απο τα μέλη του είναι σε αυτή (ανάμμεσά τους και ο γιός μου :) ).

Ακόμα να σου πώ ότι έχουμε κάνει παρουσίαση στο Εκτός Θέματος καιέχουν αναρτηθεί και σχόλια απ όσους το έχουν διαβάσει ήδη. Μπορείς να το βρείς εδω:

http://www.greekcomics.gr/forums/index.php?showtopic=12177&pid=102019&st=0&#entry102019

Ευχαριστώ,

Αντρέας.

Helm said...

Ναι βεβαίως!