Almost an hour prior to the closing of the Dealers’ Room at Intervention ’11, Phil Kahn and T. Campbell officially sold out of “Guilded Age: Volume 1.”  The first collection of their popular webcomic “Guilded Age,” all 45 copies brought to the convention sold more quickly than would bacon-covered bacon.

As you can see, the “sold out” status was quite welcome by the team:

Look for a future post later on today by Intervention blogger Kristyn Souder that explores the background of “Guilded Age” and the respective projects of Kahn and Campbell.

“A lot of people around me said that they needed a coffee IV drip. So, I figured that I would name it Intravenous Caffeine.”

Meet Greg Uchrin: artist, editor, and squirrel wrangler (as per his business card) of Intravenous Caffeine.  His portfolio of one-shot stories, a “Bleach” parody, and a horror story currently in the works began as little more than a weekly political cartoon in 2003.

“At the time, I got a little upset at Mr. Bush, so I started a political cartoon,” Uchrin says.  “I didn’t know how to draw at first, but after about three years, I became pretty good at the whole creation of everything.”  Among his treasured pieces are a global warming cartoon that was shown to students throughout a Wisconsin school district and a parody of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” that allegedly earned him a death threat thanks to its inclusion of Osama bin Laden.

“OK, it wasn’t really a death threat, but more of a warning,” he admits.  “They mistook Osama for Mohammed.”

An interesting side project of Uchrin’s is “fantasy casting,” in which his artistry imagines a favorite anime were it to be live-action and starring IRL stars.  He pointed out an illustration as evidence of this, which imagined Tom Cruise filling the role of Col. Mustang from “FullMetal Alchemist,’ with Cameron Diaz as his Hawkeye.

The Alexandria, Virginia residents counts “Flash Gordon” artist Alex Raymond and the early days of MAD Magazine as sources of inspiration.  Appearing for the second time at Intervention, he has also traveled to Otakon, Katsucon, and Anime Mid-Atlantic.  He would like to someday host a panel that discusses various drawing techniques and computer assistance to hand-drawn art.

As for the favorite coffee of the owner/operator of Intravenous Caffeine?

“Eight O’Clock brand coffee,” he answers.  “Lots of cream and sugar.”

Individual art pieces and collections of his political cartoons are available at his table.  He proudly boasts that he is one of very few artists who seals poster purchases in an actual mailing tube so as to prevent damage during transport home from the convention.

Cat Lee is one of the newer artists in the Artist Alley, and is selling prints and buttons at Intervention.

She enjoys drawing fan art of video game characters, although her current favorite subject is The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra.

She says she always enjoyed drawing since she was little, with art being her favorite class. She has progressed from using paints and copic markers to doing mainly digital painting now.

One of her prime influences is Katsura Masakazu, the artist of Video Girl Ai.

As far as plans for the future, Cat says she would like to work with Karl Custer to make a webcomic about politics.

Her advice for artists just starting out is to always keep drawing. Draw what you like, but also be sure to challenge yourself.

Be sure to stop by and see Cat in the  Alley, and visit her at ametto.deviantart.com.

While wandering the Artist Alley, Monica Marier of Tangent Artists was gracious enough to chat with me about her work.

She tells me that Tangent Artists was started by a bunch of artists and writers (including Monica), who were all friends in college and decided to make comics.

Tangent Artists produces several webcomics including CRIT!, a fantasy comedy, Skeleton Crew, a horror comic, and Donuts for Looking, a celebration of geekdom. (The current plot of Donuts is a convention murder mystery, in which the Donuts have to determine who killed the MC with a kunai.)

The crew also published the Handbook for Saucy Bards – a book based on CRIT! which contains a lexicon of jokes, insults and songs for the budding minstrel.

While chatting, Monica was happy to give me a postcard for Madame Bluestockings PennyHorrid – her Steampunk book which will be coming out this winter. The book is self-described by Monica as a buddy-comedy-style fantasy about an elvin showman and his inept wizard companion.

At Intervention, Tangent Artists will be promoting and selling their comics, books, and prints. They hope you will stop by and check them out!

You can learn more about Tangent Artists at www.tangentartists.com

You can also follow Monica on Twitter @lil_monmon.

A convention-goer since the 2000 Katsucon, webcomic creator Kara Dennison opted to spend the first ten years of the 2000s producing a comic taking place at…where else?…anime conventions.

“I started Con Screw basically to force myself to start drawing.”

Kara Dennison holds up a copy of one of her latest projects, Seraph Shell.

Dennison is the mind behind Con Screw, which ran from April Fool’s Day 2001 to March 2010. While its online publication has ceased, two volumes of “Con Screw” are available for purchase both online and from her table at Intervention.

“When I first started out, the main character [in Con Screw] was based on me,” she begins. “That was when it was a gag-a-day comic. When it began to develop, each character kind of went their own way. And, to be honest, I’m kind of glad she’s not like me anymore!” Dennison goes on to say that, while she has attended numerous conventions, the convention which inspired “Con Screw’s” background was her hometown convention Nekkocon. “But all conventions have the same types of people, the same atmosphere, so it can be anywhere, really.”

Since its termination, her latest projects include Blacklight, Sticky Wicket, and Seraph Shell, which she premiered at Intervention 2010. Outside of her own projects, she also blogs for geekingoutabout.com and serves as the mascot designer at animeradio.net.

Dennison is noted for her preference of British culture, notably British comedy. “I grew up on Monty Python and have been to England twice (once in 2007 and again in 2011), so I think my readers can see a lot of that influence in my work. A lot of people come up to me and say that they see the references I make.”

Her expertise on one of the greatest exports of the Mother Country will be displayed this evening at the panel “How to Find the Doctor Throughout Time and Space,” taking place in Panels Room 2 tonight at 8PM.

Dennison will spend Sunday selling and signing hard copies of her work, including “Blacklight,” “Sticky Wicket,” and both volumes of “Con Screw.”