FanExpo: Ghostbusters, Drawings and T-shirts.

   I was a FanExpo virgin. I had never set foot in one of these "temple of geekdom" events. Don't be fooled, I am a geek (I know way too many lines from my favorite movies to deny it), but maybe a closeted one. So I wasn't sure what to expect.
  I was impressed.
  First by the amount of work and dedication people put in their costumes. I have seen some truly awesome feats of apparel in there. To name a few, in no specific order: Ghostbusters' Winston Zeddemore (the accelerator backpack was especially well done), Shaun of the Dead, Zombie Waldo (complete with half of a pen sticking out of his head), a shark with a little character cutting her way of its stomach with a chainsaw (If someone knows the story that refers to, please tell me), a robot pirate that played the theme from Pirates of the Carribean, and many, many more.
  Second, by the quality of the work on display. In Artist Alley, the (actually quite large) section dedicated to independent works, you could find anything from comics to webseries, with lots of fan art in between (check out these guys: they were our neighbours, and their stuff is really cool:
http://brianachan.ca/
http://johnsoleas.ca/
  Third, by the number of interesting people we met. It was really fun to talk we people who really get the idea of having fun with fiction. Duane even said that HBM was "comic books without the pictures", which sort of reflects the "fun to read fiction" aspect we're trying to achieve.
  Fourth, by the T-shirts. I'll leave you with a sample:
  "I Mustache you a question." With the image of a moustache.
  "Keep Calm and Kill Zombies"
  "Keep Calm and Kling on"
  "Romulans Eunt Domus"
  "Error 404: sleep not found"
  And one for the D&D crowd: written in small print: "If you can read this, you've just created an attack of opportunity." 
  Yeah, I had forgotten how much of a nerd I am. It's good to be back.

What the Future Holds

Some of you may be wondering where we went. It has been very quiet as of late. Cue epic music here. Beware rabbit hole of awesome.

       Issue 8 is at the printer. If you have heard from us, and consented to us printing your story then you know this is happening. If you haven't heard from us, we apologize for not having gotten back to you yet. We also have stories that are under consideration for number 9. The short of it is that we have an email backlog and we will be working on that over the next couple of weeks. Please hang in there.

        In the preface of issue 8 we address our recent absence and why it happened. Two key people and friends are no longer in Montreal. The elements around that have meant delays. It is also sad because we were all friends even before HBM. There have also been a few other set backs. The good news is that we are still here and we have taken time, and are taking time, to look at our options on how to continue. So we will keep you updated here on the evolution of HBM as that becomes more defined. What is important to know for now is that issue 8 is being printed, there will be a 9 and 10, and we will get back to your emails in the next few weeks.

        Next week, we are attending Fan Expo in Toronto. We'll have a table. Perhaps we will see some of you there. That would be great!