Ego Tourism

I'm done!!!!!

Seventeen comic shops later, thirteen of them on the road over a month’s time over 6400 km, and I’m done.

Just over a year ago I got my driver’s license at the ripe old age of 95 and thought to myself, fuck it, if not now, then when? If not me, then who? If not train, then car?

So! Now that I’m done, here are NINE THINGS that I learned being on the road for a month doing comic shop signings:

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ONE!

You can “fix” a two-foot-long windshield crack with Krazy Glue and clear Gorilla tape.

TWO!

People like comics!

It was genuinely great to meet readers and shop owners. Sometimes I forget that real people read these books and enjoy them. My life is mostly just me sitting in a small room typing away until I finish a script. Then I send it to an editor and start typing another script. Sure, there’s online reaction, but it’s just not the same thing as hearing someone in person say how smart and hot I am, which obviously happened everywhere I went.

I’m guessing I met well over a thousand people on this trip and they were all great and enthusiastic about comics. It truly excited me to keep making them and convinced me to get off of Twitter, where anime avatars won’t stop yelling at me. THE FUTURE IS PHYSICAL!

THREE!

I will absolutely gain ten pounds eating out for every meal over a month while only exercising one foot.

FOUR!

I met a lot of new readers, people who got into reading comics through my work, which kind of blew my mind. I mean, of course that has to be a thing, but I rarely think about the fact that my work is the introduction for someone to a whole new world of books. The new readers also brought up something else…

FIVE!

A lot of new Daredevil readers, almost all of them young women, started picking up the book because of the Netflix show. I’ve had retailers tell me that the movies and shows haven’t translated to new readers, but I’m here to say that is absolutely not true because I signed a lot of books for these people!

SIX!

The next time I say that I can drive six hours and then write a script in my hotel room instead of lying on the bed watching Pawn Stars, call me a goddamn liar and give me a good slap. Keeping up with deadlines on the road was roooough. Apologies to my poor editors and artists!!!

SEVEN!

A lot of people don’t realize it, but the drive from Montreal to Ottawa actually requires you to put on a Beck playlist? Even though he’s not Canadian, he actually perfectly sums up both cities, whether you like him or not. I don’t make up the rules!

EIGHT!

I met a bunch of Mangasplaining listeners who got into manga because of the podcast! Again, I never really think about that outcome when we’re making it, so it was nice to hear. Also, it feels good to support the struggling manga industry!!!

NINE!

Nobody gave me shit for wearing a mask or running my mini air purifier or dunking my lips in hand sanitizer every time they kissed me with their dirty, dirty mouths. And, as a result, I didn’t get sick once during the tour! My nightmare scenario was getting ill and having to cancel a bunch of stops, so I’m glad I was able to do the whole thing on time and under budget! THE FUTURE IS PHYSICAL WITH SOME PRECAUTIONS!

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It was just a fantastic trip. I will absolutely do the east coast of Canada as soon as possible and, hey, maybe even AMERICA one day!

Thanks to all the shops who had me!

I NOTICED YOU CROPPED OUT YOUR ROAD TRIP GUT FROM THE ABOVE PHOTO

I’ve got a lot of work to do on both my body and my self-image

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In idealized photo news, the CBC just ran this:

Which is very funny for a few reasons. Having my photo in-between CANADIAN ROYALTY is ludicrous, but also jesus christ I need to update my website photo. For comparison, this is the photo I sent one of the CANADIAN ROYALTY during my trip to Barcelona:

Hmm. Maybe I’ll just make this my new bio shot? Is it funny to have my official press photo be of me holding up a Spanish version of another cartoonist’s book? I say YES.

NO

YES

But back to the CBC article, it’s just another reminder to vote in this year’s Eisner Awards (for me!!!!), so go do it!!!!

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And, finally, if you’re not sick of me just yet, here’s an interview I did in Vancouver! And I’ll be posting more Public Domain tomorrow, I’m just too fucking exhausted right now from looking at how old I am. I need to lie down (forever?)

Bye!

Love,
Chip!