I am a thesis advisor for a student at the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont, so it was not totally unexpected that I was invited to be a guest artist to the small college last week. I was also to be a guest at the one day Portland Comicbook Show in Oregon a couple of days later. American Airlines had cancelled 1900 flights last week, but I was flying on 3 different airlines none of which was American. I was more concerned with the tornadoes and thunderstorm in the midwest. However, the flight to Manchester Airport in New Hampshire went smoothly even with the connection in Chicago.

I had a great time in White River Junction, where the school is located. To say that it is a small town would not be exaggerating. Across the street from the CCS is a typewriter sales and repair store! Here's a couple of photos of the downtown:



Despite the "Do Not Enter" sign, the Polka Dot Restaurant was pretty decent. It is an old time diner where the waitresses call you "Sweetie" or "Cupcake".


The CCS is housed in an old department store.


I was quite impressed with their facilities, and more impressed by their curriculum and students.

Anyway, it all went well, until my Friday flight to Portland, OR.



Bryan dropped me off at the Manchester Airport at about noon (9 am Pacific Time). I had a couple of hours before my flight, so started thumbnailing UY 115. We boarded as scheduled, but sat on the tarmac for more than an hour. There was a line for gates at Philadelphia, so we sat on the tarmac there as well. I ran to my connecting gate just in time to see my next flight backing away.

I had two choices: wait for a direct flight the next day, or catch a connecting flight from Las Vegas that would reach Portland at 2:30 am. I chose Vegas. I made calls to tell Dark Horse, the con organizers, and Sharon about my change in plans.

Again, we boarded on time, but, because of the weather, there was a queue of two dozen flights waiting to take off. It was more than a two hour wait for us. We got to Vegas 20 minutes before my flight. With luck, I might make my connection. We waited to deplane. And waited. And waited. The hatch was stuck. It took 20 minutes for US Airways to get the door open. By then, my midnight flight had left.

I could catch a 8 am flight by way of Phoenix, or wait for a 11:30 am direct flight to Portland. I chose the direct flight. Again calls were made to inform people of my new plans. By this time, my cell phone battery was depleted, but the airport rechargers did not fit my model. So my calls were very short: "Hey, I'm coming in tomorrow afternoon. Bye."

I thought about catching a cab to Vegas, getting a cheap room, and maybe taking in a show or something. Mark Evanier would have done this. In fact, he probably would have relished being stuck in Vegas for 11 hours. I was never a big Vegas fan, so I found a quiet corner and worked. By the time the sun came up, I had thumbnailed UY issues 115 and 116.



2am at McCarran Airport

I finally reached Portland at 2:00 Saturday afternoon, about 29 hours after I checked in at Manchester. I was met by the show organizers, checked into the hotel, then was whisked away to see a performance of Cirque du Soleil. It was incredible. I had been wanting to see this, but never before had an opportunity. Sure, they're in Vegas as well, but I was in no mood last night.

The Portland Comicbook Show went very well. It had a nice dealers' room, and I did a presentation. That evening, I had dinner with my editor Diana Schutz, designer Cary Grazzini, and Matt Wagner at a terrific seafood place at the top of the city.


Matt had the opakapaka

I went to Dark Horse on Monday. The last time I was there was about 1994 or '95, before they became my publisher. I had a great lunch with Mike Richardson, got to see the facilities, and met people who I only knew by name.

My flight to Burbank that evening went very well. It was a great trip, aside from the Manchester to Portland leg, of course.

Now I've got to finishing inking UY 113 before I leave for Poland and Sweden on Saturday.