Photograph of Sacramento-based artist and cartoonist Jesse Baggs and his daughter at their table for CrockerCon 2026 at the Crocker Art Museum. Various prints, comics, stickers, and original art cover the table and hang from a rack behind them. Baggs’s daughter wears a Marceline / Princess Bubblegum shirt and handmade candy jewelry. Baggs wears a black button-up shirt and a black baseball cap featuring two dancing skeletons in gold and text that reads, “Let’s get weird.”

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Another year, another wonderful time at CrockerCon! Things got busy and I didn’t have a chance to look around as much as I would have liked, but I did have some great conversations. At the pre-show mixer, Chris Wisnia and I talked about teaching art and his amazing CrockerTron poster, while Perry Crowe and I talked about writing comics. At the show itself, I got to meet Shaun Barbour of Instinked Comics and his wonderful children, while also getting reacquainted with Nooligan and seeing the work of his daughter, Soleigh Saulque!

Having a busy table is a lucky problem to have; thank you so much to everyone who stopped by to make a purchase, say hello, or talk art for a minute; it means more than I can say. Thanks also to the friends and family who showed up, like Tommy, Dean, Shilen, and my parents. Thanks also to Shandelle for being a patron. Of course, biggest thanks of all the Crocker Art Museum and our fearless organizers Eben Burgoon, Kyrun Silva, and Lily Rushing for hosting and putting together such a wonderful event.

My daughter was a big help at my table this year and she’ll probably have her own merchandise to sell next year. I’ll support whatever she wants to do, but it would be a treat to see her with her own table at CrockerCon someday. I felt very connected to the local scene at this year’s event: while I was in the courtyard downstairs, Suzanne Adan, the wife of my high school art teacher, Michael Stevens, had a big beautiful show going on upstairs.

Speaking of feeling connected to the arts in Sacramento, here’s one last photo of me at World’s Best Comics in 1993 getting my copy of The Maxx #1 signed by Sam Keith.

Photograph of Sacramento-based artist and cartoonist Jesse Baggs at age 14 in Sacramento comic-book store World’s Best Comics. Baggs stands at a table wearing a purple-and-black hoodie and looks to his right at someone out of frame. On the other side of the table, comic-book artist Sam Keith smiles at Baggs while holding up a copy of “The Maxx” #1 that he just signed. In the background is a large Barney Rubble toy and various comic books, including issues of “Superman,” “The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers,” “Motor City Comics,” and “Betty Page in 3-D.”

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