Mangled Stare was definately felt at the first ever, CAPE- Comic and Pop-Culture Expo! My family and I thought we'd attend and we really had an absolute blast.

It was ALSO the first ever, Mighty Chipotle Chowdown! Galan and I would pit our appetites against one another in an attempt to see WHO could actually put away the MOST Chipotle burritos without tossing it back up.

Wow! What a full day we had ahead of ourselves... here you see me giving some inking pointers to my oldest.

He loves to watch me draw. I had no idea that for the rest of the day... there'd be one of my children attached to me at ALL times.

 

No complaints, though.
This is the tent that housed the majority of the event. What a turn out we saw! The wind wasn't too kind to all the paper and sketches at the tables.. but lemme tell you.. it was very comfortable. For a May event, it could've been ALOT more humid!
The illustrious Scott Hinze, of Fanboy Radio, looking over some of the work being produced at CAPE.
The two most BEAUTIFUL ladies in my life. My wife and our daughter.
A shot of some of our fellow artists around our table.
Scott Hinze and Dave Hopkins setting up to MC the day's events.
Lea Hernandez was eager to haul around one of my children and opted for the quietest one... the sleeper. He stayed sleeping on poor Lea for a good 15 minutes before Lea brought him back to me. He looks so comfortable, doesn't he?
Then it was time... that's right.... the Chowdown... WAS ON!!!
Our predictions... We hold our quarry in our talons... ready to utterly demolish the burritos we'd been abstaining from for a little more than a month! Galan and I were not only eager to see who the champion'd be.. but just exstatic to finally be eating some frikkin burritos! Yeah!
We both went in like machines... but I have to say: Galan is an animal! WOW! He was halfway through his first burrito before I'd even taken my 3rd bite! Unbelievable... I thought for sure he had this battle in the bag!
He was well onto his second burrito by the time I'd finished my first.
Then he stopped to make sure everything was sitting right... and continued to plow through that burrito...
He looked so confident as he proudly displayed how many burritos he'd planned to destroy.
I, too, had begun the second burrito.

My son, not interested that his father's reputation as a top eater was on the line, decided to move on to more interesting things... the little girl next to us.

 

There were no phone numbers exchanged, John... I swear.
Then there was a whimper from my opponent... and a quivering bottom lip. He was through... another bite and he'd erupt like Vesuvius. He'd come SO far, too... I think that empty bottle of Gatorade was partly to blame.
"Are you sure you can't finish those last two bites, dude?"
" Hang on... lemme check..."
"Mmmmm.... the Krew doesn't know what they're missing!"

Like the true sportsman... Galan took his defeat in stride.

 

...and tossed in some free advertising for the site, ta boot.
I went on ahead, and polished off the last of my second burrito. There was no need to continue... Galan was through.. and I really wanted to save a burrito for my wife. She hadn't eaten, yet and I didn't want to leave her with only some meager tacos to munch on.

"Victory... is MINE!"
"Dang... I feel pregnant... I really can't move."

The winna... in TWO burritos eaten in JUST under 15 minutes... The MIGHTY MANGLER!!!

 

Galan was an AWESOME guy and we really had alot of fun hanging out. Luke, a reader and equally cool dude, filmed the entire event and promised me a quick movie of the Chowdown for posterity. Thanks, Luke!

Luke also brought his family by to meet mine- You've an adorable child, dude! Congrats on your entry to fatherhood!

Galan... there's still next year, man! Your rematch request has been accepted!

After a fantastic show, we took the family to a little shindig for the guests of CAPE. Here, my sons are meeting Scott and Britta Hinze' new addition to the family... a puppy in a pouch!

Scott wanted to see my little girl smile...

...so I took her out of her seat and obliged. She really does have a fun smile. That's daddy's girl!

I got a chance to meet some GREAT people.. Jason Salsbury, of Pet Professional, was one of em. We sat and talked for I don't know HOW long... about fatherhood, webcomics, and the women that put up with our obsession to both.

We definately need to hang out when he visits Austin.
If you haven't noticed by now, I've had a child asleep on me in a good portion of these pics. That's because there WAS a child on me at EVERY point in the day... a fact Robert Kirkman waisted NO time in poking fun about. He promptly decided to find out JUST how comfortable my shoulders WERE.

He also didn't think that two burritos was much to brag about. Kirk-MAN... I'm calling you OUT! Next burrito challenge I expect you to sit in and eat up.

 

Seriously, he was a funny cat and his wife was playing with my oldest son as much as Angela Kurtz was! Sonia and Angela made it possible for Lori and I to hold conversations with folks without worrying about what Guillermo was getting in to.

I was so exhausted, I just crashed on Scott... who agreed that it was a good idea and did the same on me. He really did have a comfortable shoulder... now I know why my kids prefer to fall asleep on a shoulder versus a pillow.

 

I'm moving to Dallas next week JUST so I can start getting a decent night's sleep on Scott's shoulder EVERY night.

 

kidding... always kidding....

Lea is, by far, one of the most PLAYFUL folks I've ever met. My kids remember her everytime we see her and eagerly leap into her arms. She seems to enjoy carting my kids around, anyway... and I have no issues with that.

 

She and Lori got to recreate the cover to Mangled Stare #2.
Britta, Lori... and their first borns.
Scott and I agreed that it was time to call it a night. He and my son both had rosey red cheeks. Although he may not look it... Scott Hinze had ALSO just awakened from a long nap on my shoulder.

CAPE was over and I had a LONG drive ahead of me. Lea wasn't happy that we were leaving JUST as she was arriving. Honestly, if there hadn't been any smoking in the building, Lori and I would've stayed longer... but we didn't want the kids second hand smoking.

Thanks to Richard at Zeus Comics and his WONDERFUL staff for providing such a fantastic experience and the AWESOME folks at HeroRealm.com for making even us small press fellas feel like stars, and a HUGE thanks to Scott and Angie Kurtz for having so much fun with my kids.

(Guillermo will be talking about his "Jedi Game" with Angie for MONTHS)