We Become What We Deserve To Be, by Elayne Riggs

Elayne Riggs

Elayne Riggs is the creator of the popular blog Pen-Elayne on the Web. She was a founding member of Friends of Lulu, an organization dedicated to increasing the involvement of girls and women in comics, as readers and creators. She is married to inker Robin Riggs, with whom she shares two cats, and has odd love/hate relationship with Hillary Clinton.

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9 Responses

  1. Alan Coil says:

    I always suffer a down period after getting to or leaving a convention. It's as if the adrenaline rush has subsided. Yet I still attend whatever conventions I can. I had auto problems last November and couldn't get to Mid-Ohio-Con. I was down about that for a few days, too. But there are 3 cons within driving distance in the next month that I am considering going to. Maybe the down cycle is all part of the package of going to conventions.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Great post Elayne!–Frank Beans

  3. Vinnie Bartilucci says:

    I really think you're overreacting regarding the MoCCA/Lulu "Snub". As I was waiting for Mo Willems at their table, they had one of the ladies from the Lulu book signing (which was featured on the front of the table), and another lady explaining what Friends of Lulu was. I don't think it's any more complicated than they had a lot of art to show off, and spinning one table opened up a lot of floor space in the booth to show off more stuff. That they chose to put your banner on the sideways table instead of their own is hardly an act of war.We had a good time at the show – the wife and kid successfully avoided all Papal appearances (and the commensurate crowds and headaches) on Friday and Saturday, and joined me at the show on Sunday. Shugie's starting to actually READ the comics, and nit just look at the pictures; that's a big step for her.

  4. Adriane Nash says:

    I have to agree with your 'join us join us' pod people line! When we hit the MoCCa table to ask if they knew where to find someone else's table a kid came at us with membership pamphlets asked us if we were members and didn't know what to do when all three of us simply said "No but we go to the shows" I took a form from him just to make him go away since we'd obviously not stuck to his script and he was standing there wide-eyed waiting for someone to throw him the line…

  5. Martha Thomases says:

    Maybe because I'm a publicist, but I never go to one of these shows thinking it's all about me. That would mean I'm doing my job wrong. Seeing that one's charges are fed, watered and happy gives one a sense of mission (and, if the charge is Neil Gaiman, it makes the occasion feel like a 1940s spy movie).

  6. Kathy Pearlman says:

    It was truly good to see you again. You know, I passed the MoCCA table and didn't notice anything about Lulu at all…BTW, it's Garner Fructis #70. :-)

  7. R. Maheras says:

    Hey, Elayne, I've never forgotten the wonderful hospitality you and Steve showed me when I visited New York for a con at the Javits Center nearly 15 years ago. And while I'm sometimes terrible at keeping in touch with old pals because of that express train called life, I just want you to know your generosity was, and is to this very day, very much appreciated. And since I'm out of the New York loop, tell Jamal I wish him and his wife the best with their soon-to-be born child. He's a great person and it was a privilege to have him amongst the comic book industry tour group I took to McGuire Air Force Base back in 2005.

  8. Jeff Trexler says:

    No one put me up to it–I recognized you from the web and really did seek you out. I'd meant to introduce myself before, but believe it or not, I'm shy to a fault.As I said at the Con, I looked forward to reading your reviews every week. They started the same time I was working as a law clerk, when my life basically revolved around court documents with breaks for comics & the internet. I'd read my pull list and then look to see what you said about my latest books. As many comics as I'd read before then–and that was a lot–the column inspired me to think about the stories in ways that went beyond the latest adventures. I started breaking down narratives, making new interpretive connections–really, it got me thinking in ways that have helped keep comics engaging up through today. And your subsequent mentions of Robin's work on your blog got me to pick up his books, which means it's win win all around! So yes, definitely, pick up that pen (or whatever it is people write with nowadays) and tell the stories only you can tell.