Someone once remarked that I must be lucky to be able to go to so many comic book conventions. True, I enjoy going to cons, but it is work of a sort - but not the kind of work that brings you any closer to meeting deadlines. In fact. just the opposite. The more cons you go to, the further you are from meeting those dreaded deadlines. So I've gotten accustomed to bringing my work with me, though I'm not as dedicated to my art as my good friend Sergio Aragonés, who once inked Groo pages on a bumpy, overnight train ride in Norway while I slept.

Anyway, let me tell you about last May's Detroit Motor City Con, where we were guests.

Our plane had been scheduled to leave early Thursday, May 17, I had barely gotten to the gate when boarding started. I waited for Sergio. And waited. And waited. He had to come from a much farther distance, so I figured he'd miscalculated the time he needed to get to the airport. I went in after the last call, thinking he had missed the flight and would just catch the next one. Sergio calmly walked in about five minutes later. He had gotten there early and had spent the previous two hours in the bar, sipping coffee and roughing out pages for "Bhutan," his eight-page story for Dark Horse Maverick 2001. I had already turned in my pages for the anthology, but he had just returned from Spain the previous week and was scheduled to be in Boca Raton the next, so he was desperately trying to get caught up with his deadlines. It was a four-hour flight to Detroit, during which he scripted the story while I thumbnailed the pages for Usagi #52.

Once in Novi, where the can was actually held, Sergio gave me the script for "Bhutan"' and the pages to letter. I'd been prepared for this so had brought along my lettering tools. While I watched the Food Channel and lettered in my room, Sergio was in his room roughing out thirty gags for "A MAD Look at The Mummy Returns."

By the time I finished lettering, Friday morning, Sergio had already faxed in the roughs to MAD and had gotten a reply on which of the dozen or so gags they wanted to use (of course, the best ones are never chosen). We went to the convention and, to our delight, found that we were sitting with Guy Davis, one of the best cartoonists and one of the nicest people in comics. I also saw Mike Oeming, Greg Rucka (with whom I collaborated on a story for the Oni Press Color Special 2001), David Mack, Andy Lee, Billy Tucci, and Tone Rodriguez, among so many others. During the slow times, when we were not talking to fans or signing books, Sergio was inking his pages while I started inking a Simpsons story for the recent Treehouse of Horror special. Working at the cons like this also gives fans a good idea of how a comic book actually gets made. At the end of the day, we had a quick dinner at the hotel, took a short walk, and then it was back to our rooms for more inking.

Saturday was more of the same - except that Mark Crilley, of Akiko fame and one of my dearest friends in comics, was at the con. (I remember a San Diego Con a few years ago when Mark, Sergio, and I went out for a bite to eat and the night ended like a Marx Brothers comedy: with a stalled freight train, an eight-storey walk, and losing our car - twice.) Sergio and I also had a Groo panel on Saturday that went rather well. That night we had a quiet sushi dinner with Mark - then more inking.

Sunday was the last day of the con as well as my buying day. I picked up some books and original art for myself and some toys for the kids. The day ended much too quickly, and we were off to the airport. Sergio managed to get a little more inking done, and I plotted the story for Usagi #53 [out in December, by the way]. I got home late Sunday night and, exhausted, slept for three days, when Diana called to ask, "Hey, where's the next issue?"

I'm scheduled to be at UncommonCon, which will be held at the Wyndham-Anatole hotel in Dallas, Texas, November 23-25. Other guests will include Jeff Smith, Bill Stout, Marv Wolfman, and Sergio.