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Creating Comics · Jun 2, 2026

Con Season is Here

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Jim Whiting · Creating Comics

The Albany Comic Con kicks off the summer convention season.

I prefer to do most of my comic work during the winter months and slow down a bit during the summer to tackle repairs and general maintenance around the house and studio. Summer also marks the start of convention season for me. I look forward to kicking things off with my local show and then bookending the season with the local fall convention.

After years of exhibiting at conventions both large and small, I’ve settled into mostly doing local shows. There are a few reasons for that. I’ve built a loyal local fan base here in my hometown, and I enjoy debuting new books, projects, and prints to that audience before releasing them to a wider market. Last weekend was the Albany Comic Con, one of my favorite local shows.

The pre-Con dinner with Mark McKenna, Steven Freivogel, Elisa McKone, promoter John Belskis, Mike McKone, Paul Pelletier and yours truely.

The show also attracts a great roster of guests, and over the years I’ve made many professional friends there. After a long winter spent working in the studio, it’s always good to catch up.

Artist Byron Dane Turner and I found some time to ham it up.
Dorian Sinnott and Mark Sinnott are regulars at the Albany show and I always enjoy catching with them.

Last weekend was the Albany Comic Con, one of my favorite local shows. One of the projects I debuted at my table was Besprinkled with Scarlet, an anthology inspired by the writings of Edgar Allan Poe and the many artistic interpretations his work continues to inspire.

My table setup with Dr. Masque Retro at the Albany Comic Con show.

I shared a table with the book’s publisher and writer, Mark Brandow, better known as Dr. Masque Retro. Mark and I collaborated closely on the project. In addition to contributing artwork, I handled the design work, created a logo, and prepared the book for print.

Besprinkled with Scarlet debuted at the show.

It was a fun project to work on throughout the winter and even more rewarding to finally debut it at the convention. The show was packed, and we sold a healthy stack of books, sketch cards, and prints.

Shout out to one of favorite local artists at the show, Myron Lauzon for the Margo plug.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m always poking around dollar stores looking for inexpensive art supplies. Bristol pads, poster board, markers, whatever I can find.

One thing I almost never find is fine-point black Sharpie markers. They always seem to have red, green, orange, or some other color, but rarely black.

This week, however, my local dollar store unexpectedly restocked them.

Fine-point black Sharpies are one of my go-to tools for sketches, convention drawings, and quick layouts. Finding them at dollar-store prices felt like striking comic creator gold.

I may have gotten a little excited.

I bought a dozen.

Keep Creating,

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Read the original on whiting.substack.com

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