Oogie,
Heh, not a superfan. :D Although I did love comics growing up, and I still enjoy them nowadays (but man are they expensive. No more 10 cent comics :P ) I had never been to a comic convention until my wife started exhibiting at them. She's a writer/artist (
http://www.realgonegirl.com ) and does her ongoing autobio series called jobnik! , as well as some drawn essay pieces, some illustration work, and she designs and hand screen prints t-shirts. She also enjoyed comics growing up, and while going to art school, she turned some of her projects into comic books and drawn essays. (She calls them drawn essays, they're fully illustrated essays.)
2005 was when she first started exhibiting, and we've been going to more and more conventions ever since. It's actually been alot of fun. Nearly every artist we've met has been awesome. And the fans have been equally as nice in most cases.
So, yeah, we don't have a shop, but we do exhibit at these shows where she sells her comics, essays and t-shirts.
Rick,
Hey, just because some of the fans are ugly,,,,,,,,, :P
Actually, Calgary is a neat show because it's an entertainment expo. There is actors and other stuff at the show. There's been some pretty kewl looking costumes in the past there as well.
Mike