Another convention is in the bag! Mexamericon, we love you and we had a great time! If you keep updated with my socials, you probably know I attended my second convention ever, this time it was Mexamericon in Austin Texas.

Collected Comics and Games

But before we got to Austin we had one stop along the way, Collected Comics and Games in Haltom City, my old stomping grounds. The store I used to work at before I was a comic creator was having a Halloween themed event with local creators and comic book sales the whole family could enjoy. We got invited by the shop owner, Brent Erwin who has been like a mentor to me since my days of working at the shop. We considered this a practice run before Mexamericon. We got to meet some other local creators, Halo Parr, Paige Erwin, David Degrand and Paul Gomez. The best part was getting to sell copies of our comic to customers who I used to sell copies of Batman to. It was like a full circle moment, where I realized I’m actually doing what I always wanted to do when I was younger, make and sell comics! At the end of the day, the store owner bought a few copies to sell at the store, so we are officially available at one comic book store!

Mexamericon 2024

The date was November 2nd, Day of the Dead, the trip from Dallas to Austin about a 3 hour drive. Weather looked like it could rain, but we didn’t let that deter us. We made the 3 hour drive, picked up some Whataburger and found the park that the event was taking place. We arrived just in time for the event to start, we met with the con owner, Nino, we found our table and got set up.

Before the show started we had a creators meet-up circle where all the guests introduced themselves. It was so cool to see so many faces I met and knew from Texas Latino Comic Con and to meet new faces, some I had known through social media but was meeting for the very first time today. I introduced myself and then we went back to our tables.

The event started, it was slow at the beginning, but we were determined to make a sale, we had everything we needed this time, our beautiful creator banner, bat decor, comics, posters, stickers, and we even invested in a square POS card reader. We were ready, but the clouds had other plans. A few hours in and it was still going pretty slow but steady.

Creator Panel

At around 3:30 it was time for the Paranormal Panel, Cuentos Oscuros: Folklore, Horror & Paranormal Narratives Moderated by Ayden Castellanos of the Susto podcast featuring panelists Podcasters Paranormal Putas, Miguel Myers creator of the comic Aztec Death Whistle, and myself. This was my first ever panel, and I was super excited for it. Ever since I was a kid I would watch comic con panels featuring my favorite comic creators, for a while this was how I learned the craft of writing comics, I would watch recorded ones on Youtube and I would go to cons and watch them live, often times asking questions myself. I always dreamed of one day being on the stage and answering questions about my comic. Well the day had finally arrived and it was a great moment for me! The panel discussed experiences with the supernatural, folklore, and horror. Many of us shared a history of watching scary movies growing up, being told scary stories like La Llorona and Cucuy. We answered some questions from the audience and after that it was over and back to our table. But it was definitely a moment I’ll never forget.

Right afterwards we got a swarm of folks who attended the panel, looking to buy our book. I guess doing those panels is a good thing, people heard about our book and were now interested in buying it and meeting me in person. Many people mentioned how they loved that our comic was both horror and based on Mayan mythology, something new that people don’t see on shelves but that there is a need and hunger for. After the panel there was a steady stream of people coming to our table.

Grimmcore United!

But the coolest person I met at the convention was none other than, letterer of The Return of Camazotz, Mason Solimine, who made it to the event just to meet me in person for the first time. We instantly hugged and started gushing all over each other. What can I say, we were happy to see each other for the first time, the thing about making comics is that you often never see your collaborators in person but you still grown a bond with them just through the process of making comics with them. We took a picture of this monumental moment, and we even double signed a copy of the book for each other to have. Mason, we love you bro! Keep up the great work. It was so nice to meet your family, and for you to meet mine. I’ve got nothing but love and mad respect for you bro.

Nearing the End

The show started at 2 pm and it was now getting dark, and at around 6:30pm, the rain finally started to come down, luckily we were in a tented area so all of our stuff was safe. Big thanks to the Mexamericon staff who made sure all the creator's stuff was safe from the rain. While the rain didn’t last long it was a sign for us that the event was nearing it’s end. Before we tore down I made sure to stop by other creator’s booths and say hello, or buy their comics. It was cool getting to meet new creators who I had been following on social media in person for the first time.

8:00 rolled around and it was time to go, big thanks to my biggest supporters and helpers, my family, my sister Laureen and her husband Ronnie made sure everything went smoothly for me, without them there’s no way I could have made this event. I even lost my wallet after the show and almost couldn’t pay for the hotel, luckily they helped me out and I found my wallet. It was an amazing event and we made a few memories there that will last us a lifetime. I hope to go again next year.  Shout out to Rey Garza, Freddie Lopez Jr., Ray Mendoza Landa, and Professor LatinX, and everyone who stopped by my table, bought a comic, or just said hello, I had a blast. Professor Latinx was super cool, he came by my table and said such nice things about our comic, I gifted his class a copy of the book and a poster, and he invited me back to Austin in March for BIPOC. So I guess I’ll see ya there!

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