New comic “I choose to see” + Bleeding Hearts got sold out
Dear readers,
Here are a few impressions from Comic Invasion last weekend in Berlin, what a whirlwind of emotions this was!
Crazy thing happened this year with Comic Invasion. In stark contrast to last year’s edition, we had so many people (10,000 in total) that it was hard to keep up! And statistics did its job for us: Me and most artists around me have sold out at least some of their comics. It was truly wild, like we were giving candy for free and not selling serious graphic narratives.🤣
I would leave for a short break only to come back to an empty spot on my table: ADHD comics gone! I had to restock them every hour or so!
And on the last day, 3 hours before closing, Bleeding Hearts got sold out as well. A few weeks prior, I kind of wondered if I should reprint the comic, but I concluded it would be unlikely to sell much more than what I had left in stock, given that last year most of my sales went to my friends (and the total number of sales was 12). This year I sold all of the 17 copies I had to complete strangers!
A great weekend all in all. The only thing that didn’t pan out for me was the Comic Invasion contest “Fact or fiction”. I had submitted a comic on this topic and didn’t win anything.🤷♀️ But at least I can share my comic now, so here it is. People reacted quite well to it at the festival and I even sold a few copies despite of its heavier dose of text.
With so many people passing by my table and interacting with my comics, I had many interesting conversations about ADHD, my research, my grandma’s story, and I noticed how this year I could truly appreciate these small moments instead of wondering if someone will end up buying something.
So many people related to my comics, laughed out loud, or got emotional reading Bleeding Hearts that I felt truly seen through my art the way it had never happened to me before, at least not in person. This will be my reminder for why I create comics: for myself and for others who feel the same. Now I know better than ever that they are out there because I met them.
Thank you to everyone who passed by and to everyone reading online!
Ana