By Bobbi De’Luca

Everyone who attends a comic convention comes away with their “with story,” Whether it’s a chance meeting during “barcon” with their favorite creators, a hysterical moment that happened involving friends, or lamenting about the various ways a flight was delayed on its way to San Diego.

We’ve all heard one, but this year I overheard the hottest con story at the Bayfront that was ever told, a story about two comic book creators and the three-alarm fire that burned down their Air BNB in the Gaslamp. I now bring to you “FIRE IN THE GASLAMP,” the “hottest” with story in comics.

I caught up with Chris Miskiewiczthe writer of “This is Where We Fall” & “Grateful Dead Origins” & Sean Von Gormanthe illustrator of “The Pedestrian” & “Ghost Planet,” the next day after seeing them at the Bayfront bar a few hours after the Eisners, where a group of industry professionals were gathered to listen to the outlandish tale of the thirteen fire engines that closed down the Gaslamp district for most of Friday after afire started inside the kitchen of Rei Do Gado Brazilian Steakhouse, displacing over a hundred people who were staying in an Air BNB that was trying to get around hotel occupancy laws…

Chris Miskiewicz:

What matters most is that Sean and I are fine, and so are the other hundred plus people who were staying at that Air BNB. But, yeah, that was a strange night. I was attending the Eisners alongside my longtime creative partner Vincent Kings who was nominated for his “Time Dog” series, when my phone started exploding with calls from Air BNB, the SDFD, and the SDPD, all of which I ignored until Sean Von Gorman texted a simple message that said; “Our Air BNB is burning down. “Call me.”

So, if you were there, yeah, I was the guy with the phone pressed to his ear pacing in the back. Anyway, the short story is we were locked out for hours until the SDFD allowed us back in just before midnight where they brought us into the dark, wet, wrecked room to get our things with flashlights. Now, I’ve left places in a hurry before, but this was special. As we packed in the dark, we were told by the firefighter that the place was over capacity and breaking San Diego hotel occupancy laws, where they needed a staff member on site 24/7, which wasn’t the case. Things got weird when we were told that the Red Cross was being called in to “provide emergency housing,” to which Sean and I walked off into the night with our bags on our back, threw down a credit card for a room at a price that could feed a family for a week, dumped our stuff there and looked at each other with exhausted grins as one of us said, “The Bayfront bar?” And so, we returned and closed it down with a group of industry friends.

AND I have to say this part, because I feel that this was the most important thing about that night. – 2024 has been a weird year in comics where there’s been more division than unity. On this evening, Sean and I saw the best of what “Comics People” can be, as a few dozen folks came to us as the story went around the bar, offering couches, beds, space in their rooms, and anything that could help two members of the community who fell into a weird spot. And that’s the comics community that I know, love, and am proud to continue to be a member of. – And if I may, a big thank you to Aub Driver & Sean Bryce of IDW for coming to the rescue. You guys have a bucket of favors from me forever if you ever need one. –Thanks everyone. #Makecomics

Sean Von Gorman:

I had spent the day at the Magma Comix booth beside Joey Esposito pushing the SDCC release of our new series, THE PEDESTRIAN, until I left to get ready for the Eisner’s to support our pal Vincent Kings who was nominated, when I turned the corner to see that the street was taped off with a dozen firetrucks outside of our Air BNB. Hours passed until we were able to get back into the unit where the SDFD used flashlights to guide us up the stairs and into the dark, wet, smokey room to collect our things, before we busted out of there, and then made our way back to the Bayfront while laughing down Market Street, mainly from exhaustion.

Thinking about that night, I keep falling back on the idea that it’s easy to turn on one another these days, and how in the exact opposite fashion, I’m humbled by how supportive the comics community was. Everyone offered to help us find a place to crash. I remember my friend Reilly Brown running over with concerned eyes, saying “I just heard. Are you okay? “We’ve got four people in our room, but we’ll figure it out, you can crash with us!” Sometimes you can feel alone in this business, but it was very cool to see firsthand that if you make comics, and if you’re a member of this community, no matter what level of the game you’re at, if something bad happens , you are not alone.