This year’s SPX was a total blast. I was really overwhelmed by the quality of the comics I bought during the show — it seemed like everybody had brought out their absolute best. Many of the faces I saw were entirely new to me, which was wonderful. It was great to se so many new entries into the field, and I blew more money this year on new comics (mostly minis) than I have the last two years put together.

We were also blessed to run into old friends aplenty, including Jay Hosler, whose new book, Optical Allusions, a gradeschool-level explanation of how eyes work, is gorgeous, and I can’t wait to sit down with it. We also ran into Whiteout and Road to Perdition artist Steve Leiber and his crazy-talented wife Sara Ryan, who just got BoingBoinged! Go, Sara!

Paul and I were lucky enough to stay with Carla Speed McNeil and fellow traveller Jim Ottaviani (who has an awesome new webcomic with Sean Bieri at Tor.com as well as three beautiful new books coming out soon, so you should totally keep an eye on his site). We arrived late to the Ignatz awards, and couldn’t even wedge ourselves into the aisles, so instead we sat in the lobby and hung out for a while with Jen Hachigian, Denise Sudell, Pam Bliss, Dan and Katie Merritt, Rich Watson, and some of the folks from Portland’s Periscope Studios: Jonathan Case, his wife Sarah and Susan Tardif. I was bummed about missing the awards, which rewarded my spontaneous decision to purchase Swallow Me Whole. Congrats, Nate!

The reception was great, complete with a return of Karon’s chocolate fountain. I didn’t photograph too many fellow creators, unlike last year, but here are a few:

The real surprise of the show came from a prop I brought to help attract attention to my clockwork jewelry: a pair of steampunked goggles. I won them on ebay and then almost ruined them trying to mod them up; I finally cannibalized some light fixtures I found in the basement and got them done just in time for the show. They were a huge success, and helped me sell out my entire stock of Clockwork Game minis, and all but four pieces of jewelry. Everybody wanted to try them on, so after about the third person, I started taking pictures.

Overall, this is the best show I’ve had in a long time. I ran into a whole bunch of other folks, too numerous to mention, but here’s a stab at it:

• Kate Beaton, who was mobbed the entire time. She seemed kind of overwhelmed at all the attention she was getting, but we tried our best to convince her that it was really well-deserved.
• Spike and Dirk, both attending their first SPX ever. Spike sold out of her graphic novels, so here’s hoping she makes it back next year. Dirk did pretty well, too, from what I hear.
• Leah Riley from Willrad.com, who sold me a really killer squid-with-its-tentacles-in-the-shape-of-a-heart tee-shirt. Paul was insanely jealous. Leah also took a picture of me blinking as usual Man, I hope I didn’t look like that much of a goober during the show.
• Three of my favorite webcomickers, all in a row:

  Meredith Gran, David Malki (the new Dark Horse Wondermark collection is really quite lovely), and Aaron Diaz. I was really happy to see such a strong webcomic turnout.

• Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman, selling their many, many series — and announcing some more good news!
• We were right around the corner from Bryan Lee O’Malley and Hope Larson, but hardly got a chance to talk to them the entire show. We did pick up a copy of Scott Pilgrim and one of Chiggers, complete with a lovely ink-brush cover sketch by Hope. People whose tastes I trust say it’s a fantastic book, so I can’t wait to dig in.
• All the folks at the Dada Detective booth were really sweet and stopped by several times to chat and swap books. Really nice folks, and I’m looking forward to reading their series, which just released its second volume.

There were so many more people I ran into — if you’re reading this and I forgot to post a link to you, let me know — it’s hard to remember everyone. Such a busy, exciting show!

I had a great time meeting old and new fans, passing out Clockwork Game cards, trading minis, and discovering new artists and comics. I’ve got a ton of new minis and graphic novels, and I’m really looking forward to a pair of long lazy mornings this weekend. Yay for SPX!