The idea was simple enough. The concept is very close to the root of Sypher. Adam Gastelum (my partner) and I would be sitting there, working out our next book, missing our next deadline. Somewhere in the caffeine haze and afterglow of our work, we  would talk about things we would want to do in the future. During one of these conversations, Adam drew a prismacolor piece depicting an Italian character in a fantasy mask. The idea began. An image instantly came to mind. A favorite scene from the movie "Labyrinth" (by Jim Henson, George Lucas, David Bowie). I wanted to have a masquerade ball, someday. . .

     1997 was a strange year in general. We were taking our losses in stride. "Dark Seasons" was the basic undertone for the year. It seemed all of us were having a rough time. Love and friendship fell to the scales as tempests raged around us. Our blades chipped, (but never broke) and daggers seem to come in hordes behind us. Wartorn, but standing, we did what we could to turn things around. Plans and backup plans collapsed, UPS went on strike, (sending our biggest shipment of new books to LIMBO for a nice loss... We're still in court on that one.). Regardless, the core of Sypher endured as always.

     After the 1997 San Diego Comic Convention in July, this humble Strider was running ragged. I took a month off to lick my wounds. Things moved slowly until September, when the idea of the ball came back to me. Without a lack of limitations, (for finances and morale were at an all time low), I decided to make it happen. A few phone calls was all it took to get it started. If we were going to create something like this, Sypher was going to put everything into it. It had to be diverse and artistic. A true homage to Labyrinth and a new challenge for Sypher.

     We didn't have much time or money. I wanted to make this happen before the end of the year. So promotion and setup had to be arranged within 2 months. Sypher never threw an event like this before and we only had two months to learn about clubs, lighting, sound, catering, costumes, decoration. Can we say, Hell? Lucky for me, it is a place I am familiar with. Friends came to my aid, a promotion staff was hired on and we set the date at DECEMBER 19th, 1997.

     There were tons of things to be ironed out. Originally, if 50 people showed up, I would have been happy. The initial response and presale in the first 5 weeks, 108... I dealt with all Email and voicemail personally, (which jumped from Sypher's daily normal of 20-50 to 100-300+). Our catering skyrocketed with the lowest projected attendance of 300. Internally, there was a lot of tension between certain factions of the event staff and time was running out. Our venue was an building downtown that we spent 2 weeks repainting, repairing the walls, sanding and finishing at least a section of the wooden floor.

     December 19th, I had spent all night on cleanup/construction detail at the building and the soundcrew tested their equipment. I left the building at 6am to get the rest of my costume together and to handle a barrage of errands. I thought everything was going to be all right. Well, the day was still young.

     I came back from my errands to find that we had 4 hours before the show, our lighting crew did not show up at 10am, like they were supposed to. The sound equipment was no longer working properly and it didn't look like I was going to make it to get my hair fixed. Bloody Hell.

     Have you ever had one of those days where everything that could go wrong went wrong? Like any battle, we drew our swords and everyone pulled together to make it happen. The lighting crew finally showed up, our security took on positions with lighting and catering staff to settle final details. Thom, Liz, Virgil, Gustav and Mika kept me from killing everyone in a fit of Aries rage and they repaired problems as quickly as problems arrived. Amanda made sure that my costume was set. . . and the doors opened.

     The attendance count rolled into 232+ and the night rocked. The webs of fatigue ravaged this humble Strider, (who was even more humble when he saw the great costumes people had!), and I took what few moments I could just to look around. Despite the difficulties and all the little problems, everyone seemed to have a blast. For many, it was the first REAL costume ball they attened. The night was a success and that's all that mattered to me. Aye, I was a bit jaded from being behind the scenes more than I would have liked, but I wouldn't have it any other way. . .

Not for the first one.