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When I moved to the DFW area three years ago, one of the things I was immediately looking forward to was getting to meet Randy Milholland, the creator of Something*Positive.  I got to DFW in October of 2009, the Con was in November.  Randy was one of the highlights of DWEX (now known as STRIP) for me that first year.  However, I was extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet Samantha Wikan, creator of Life’s a Witch and Rebecca Hicks, creator of Little Vampires that first year and was instantaneously enamored with their work and that they both were very friendly people, too.  It made it that much more awesome when I went the second year and Randy, Samantha and Rebecca all actually remembered me!  This year, Randy didn’t have a table at STRIP but he did come later on and actually remembered me, which made my day.  Since I’ve been keeping up a Twitter relationship with both Rebecca and Samantha, it was like a reunion at STRIP this year and it was spectacular to get to sit with Rebecca and her husband James, as well as Chris Jeffrey and his wife and Jamel Jones.  For someone like me, who has not a drop of artistic talent, it was heavenly to get to sit with “the cool kids” and watch as they created some awesome artwork which was auctioned off for charity.  I am proud to say that I walked out with some absolutely stunning artwork and I’m thinking that I am going to need to sell a ton of bath fizzies to be able to afford to feed my passion for good art at STRIP next year!

It’s also fun to see the dynamics that can occur due to table placement at a convention and interaction between the artists.  This year, Joel Watson of Hijinks Ensue and the Cyanide and Happiness crew ended up next to each other, which lead to an impromptu concert, complete with ukelele.

I had the opportunity to chat with Barry Buchanan, who does Don’t Feed the Geek this year.  He seemed more relaxed than in previous years and he had brought his family with him.  Will Rodriguez of Mangled Stare also brought his family and his kids are on their way to becoming awesome artists, too.  I bought a “Hello Kitty” piece drawn by his daughter so when she gets famous, I’ll have a piece of “I knew her when…”   It was also great to get to see David Wilborn again this year and to hear that he will soon have a THIRD book coming out! I got some cool “grab bag” goodies from MC and Jen of ButterSword.   Also got to see Brad Diller of Funday Morning again and spent some time chatting with him.  He said the last time he was in DFW before STRIP was in February, when it was all of 19 degrees. (I like to think we balanced it out with our 100+ degree weather yesterday!)  I also enjoyed my annual jaw-dropping stop by Kit Lively’s table. I love that he has the guts to create the strips that he creates!

There were also some new faces at STRIP this year, too (Hooray for growth!!)  Elia Madrid who does Elia in a Box rocked her very first Con experience plus she was on the Women of Webcomics panel and did a fantastic job there, too!  Grrl Power, which I’m going to have to go back and read from the beginning.   I’m also really looking forward to reading Halloween Man (because, really, who doesn’t love a good zombie story?) Plus, the writer of Halloween Man has some of the coolest tats!  I’m trying to recall if Scott Tapp of Casey & Scottyhad been at STRIP previously. I do apologize if y’all weren’t new to STRIP but just new to me.  I was also really excited to get to see the premiere bits of Don’t Tell My Wife I’m a Cult Leader, which will debut in September here in DFW. I spotted Asatru, which is a beautifully illustrated comic, so I am looking forward to getting up to speed (and up to date) on reading that one! And was charmed by the very shy (but very talented) Patrick O’Neill.

I love the Southfork Hotel, but have to mention that it was somewhat disappointing that there wasn’t an open restaurant in the hotel.  I ended up venturing over to Twin Peaks (because it was just across the parking lot) which was… an experience.  The food was ok and the waitresses were very…ummm, easy on the eyes but I really wanted to sit them down, add a few inches to their skirts and feed them a sammich.  I know that the “theme” of the restaurant revolves around the…”assets” of the wait staff but the behavior exhibited by the bachelor party crew a table away was bordering on criminal and certainly offensive (applying a legal “reasonable man” sensibility, not my feelings as a female).  I have nothing against the feminine form and am not a prude by any stretch of the imagination but I doubt I’ll return to Twin Peaks in the future.

I really enjoyed the Women on Webcomics panel, featuring Rebecca Hicks, Samantha Wikan, Elia Madrid, Emily Karnes and Halo Seraphim.   I wish that the panel had been allotted more time because I think there were more topics that could have been covered and more questions that could have been answered.  I wish I would have had the opportunity to chat with James O’Barr, creator of The Crow who entered an absolutely stunning piece in the art auction. I know I have missed some really awesome and talented people and I apologize if you’re one of the ones I missed enumerating.  Please don’t think that I don’t appreciate your work if you weren’t mentioned by name.

I love that STRIP is growing and evolving.  The cosplay this year was impressive and The Taffeta Darling dressed as STRIP’s mascot was outstanding.  I’m looking forward to what 2012 will bring.  I am really hoping to be a part of bringing an even MORE impressive STRIP to the DFW area.

STRIP is run by Bobby Blakey, Jonathan Caustrita and Michael Moreno.     All three of them are awesome artists and it shows that they really put their hearts into running STRIP.  This year I volunteered to help at the 11th hour but I am resolving to get onboard MUCH earlier for STRIP 2012.   After having enjoyed the convention for three years as an attendee, I feel compelled to give back to an event that I’ve come to regard as a tradition. I’m already counting the days until we do it all again next year!