Andrew Pepoy is a comic writer and artist who has worked on The Simpsons comics, Archie titles, Sonic the Hedgehog, and his Simone & Ajax series. During his appearance at Heroes Con, Pepoy talked to Scoop about meeting comic readers at cons, his upcoming projects, and more.

Scoop: Good afternoon, Andrew, how’s Heroes Con been for you?
Andrew Pepoy (AP): I’ve been coming to the show… this year makes 30 years. I always come to the show. It’s a great time.

Scoop: What do you like about Heroes Con?
AP: It’s just one of the absolute best shows. It really focuses on comics. The show is about comics and the fans who come to the show love comics. People come from all over the world to this show because they know and they love the comics. They want to meet the creators and actually be able to chat with them. This is one of the rare shows where you can do that.

Scoop: What are you working on now?
AP: I am working on two things. I’m working on an archival collection of all the black and white Simone & Ajax comics from the ‘90s being collected into one hardcover volume, which I’m going to be self-publishing. I’m also drawing a miniseries called Phantastes based on the early 19th century fantasy novel by George MacDonald. I’m still doing the odds and ends and I’m doing some Archie covers and covers for other people.

Scoop: What does it mean to you to connect with comic readers at cons like this?
AP: It’s real, real nice, you know, sort of a boost to the spirits. A lot of times, most of us are working at home all by ourselves, just wondering – does anybody actually paying attention to this stuff? So, you come to these shows and when people tell you how they love this stuff and they grew up on it. I had a little kid come who bought my The Adventures of Simone & Ajax book. He came up to me and was like, “Oh, I love you. I love you.” You just love to hear that stuff. And it just makes it just great to meet the people who actually read this stuff.

Scoop: What are readers most excited to talk to you about?
AP: A little bit of everything. I’ve had people you know crazy about my work on The Simpsons, have had Fables cosplayers coming up to me. I had someone who said that the era I was working on Sonic the Hedgehog inspired him to become an artist. It’s always especially gratifying when I have someone coming up and telling me that they love my Simone & Ajax stuff, because that’s my own creation. I’m publishing for the first time myself, so it’s especially nice when somebody comes up and tells me that they, they really enjoyed that.

Scoop: What cons are you going to in the next few months?
AP: I will be at San Diego at small press M13. I will be at Fan Expo Chicago, Baltimore Comic-Con and, fingers crossed, New York.