Patient Zero and the Endurance Test.

We exhibited at New York Comic Con this past weekend, and for those of you following us on social media you already know what happened.  If you don’t follow us on Facebook and/or Twitter, I’ll tell you what happened.  Garth got sick and was unable to attend the show on Friday and Saturday.  I covered our table solo during his sick days.  He eventually recovered and was able to return for Sunday, but at the end of the weekend the poor guy missed half the show.

I’ve done long shows by myself before.  I used to exhibit at tables alone for most of the decade I was doing Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire.  So when Garth woke up on Friday morning looking like Patient Zero of a zombie outbreak I told him to go back to bed (or “stay the hell away from me!”) and to let me cover our table alone.  There was no other choice.  I’ve done it before.  I can do it again.  I did it… but just barely.

There were several factors working against me in my two days alone at our table:  New York Comic Con was a four day show, and for three of those days the Artist Alley was open for ten hours.  There was an estimated two hundred thousand people in attendance over the course of the weekend, and just being in a crowd that massive is an exhausting experience.  I had to wake up early every morning to commute into the city from my parents’ house on Long Island.  And last but not least, I’m going to be forty years old soon and I do not have the energy I did when I was in my twenties or early thirties.

On the other hand, there were several factors working in my favor:  My neighbors in the Artist Alley knew of my predicament and were nice enough to cover my table for bathroom breaks.  The Artist Alley had a concierge service where you could text staffers to refill your water bottle.  Instead of cramming into a hotel room I got to stay at my parents’ house and spend every night in the bedroom I grew up in.  My mother made sure I was well fed going in to the city and coming home every night.  NYCC was an endurance test, but even with Garth out of commission I had an impromptu team at my back.

Despite all that, New York Comic Con was fun and I want to thank everyone who came to keep me company.  You helped me endure that marathon of a show.