Phoenix Fan Fusion 2025
- mackpduncan
- Jun 11
- 3 min read
Seems like an annual tradition now. Every year after exhibiting at Phoenix Fan Fusion, I come over here to write a blog. I don't have to wait until PFF to do an update. Stuff happens year round. But for some reason, this is my moment to check in.
There are a couple of big changes that happened with this year's event. The first is the new book I put out. SIDE HUSTLE Book 1 is the first book I produced to be 100% my work. The story, script, and art are all mine. This is a labor of love and the fulfillment of a life long dream. When I was eight, I wanted to be a cartoonist. I held onto this dream until I was about 18 and just stopped. Then, I couple years back, I was reminded of something a friend of mine said. He had seen me draw a picture of Donald Duck. I only vaguely remember this drawing, but he later said he hoped I would do more stuff like that. That one note of encouragement stuck with me and lived inside a quiet room in my head for many years. It eventually grew louder than the voice of a so-called "friend" from the 5th grade he said to me, "I will always be a better artist than you." My artistic style is still growing, but I have definitely seen improvement from when I started to book over a year ago to having it ready to print back in April. I'm going to continue the work and I have to believe it will just continue to improve.
The other big change came with the location of my booth. I moved from Artist Alley to the Authors section, primarily because I was teaming up with my brother, Matt.
He and I pooled our money to get adjoining tables, essentially creating a double wide booth. He sold his series of sci-fi novels (he's not 7 books deep), and I continued with my comics. We were very fortunate with the space. We were initially mapped to be back to back, each with an end table. Given the allotted space, we were able to shift our presentations 90 degrees to appear side by side. We were also next to an enormous open space. This was where the "big name" authors had their scheduled signings.
There were a couple of hours throughout the weekend where the signings had deep lines, but most of the time, the space was open and we were very visible. The most important thing, though, was that it was opportunity to have a shared experience with my brother. This is something we don't get to do enough of, and it was a unique environment for to happen. Any time I had a lull, I could look to his space and see him engaging with a fan. Whenever his engagement was down, I he could look my way and see someone talking to me. It was an opportunity to give each other support and encouragement without stepping on each other's space (also, allowed for more frequent bathroom breaks). We will most likely continue this collaboration in the future. When I look back on this weekend, I won't remember how many books I sold. I'll remember my brother was there and he had my back.
And yes, I got my annual MiniFigs.
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