I know...you've all been so damn concerned about where I've been (I know who all THREE of you are). From last Thursday to Monday I was out in California to see the San Diego Comic Con. I really hate using the term "Con" for anything, but it's a widely used term out there. Say "Comic Con" and all the locals know what you're talking about.
If you've been reading Da' Board, you might have read some of my ramblings. I threw some pictures and stuff up there, but here's some more for you lazy clickers:
--If you ever go to Comic Con, don't try to act "normal" or "cool". The Convention Center is about six square city blocks of geeks and all things geeky. Don't worry about being embarrassed by going. You're there. Enjoy it. I'm pretty sure that the shirtless scrawny guy dressed up like a video game character is feeling more vulnerable than you.
--It's the one weekend of the year where comic professionals get to feel like rockstars. Imagine the broads who leaked in their pants over the Beatles, circa 1962 and you'll get the vibe. I don't follow creators, just characters.... so the idea of waiting in line for an hour to get a shitty promo poster signed by the writer of Teen Titans didn't appeal to me.
--I got three custom sketches of Green Arrow by 3 different artists. Didn't wait more than 5 minutes for each. My first choice of subject was, obviously, Ace the Bat-Hound, the namesake of my pooch. But they all had no idea who I was talking about. So I went with GA....but they still weren't sure how to draw him. One guy (I think he was Rod Reis) seemed to have a real struggle with Green Arrow. So he drew a basic character head, scribbled a goatee and some backpack arrows on it. Weak. I haven't seriously attempted any figure or superhero drawing since about 1996, but watching them up-close inspired me a little bit.
--I was a little disappointed that most seminars/ presentations /dog n' pony shows would run small trailers for their movie. Stuff like that I could've waited to watch on YouTube in a week. Example: I was in line for Rob Zombie's new "Halloween" movie, but became bummed when it was just a trailer. Zombie himself came out and babbled for a little bit, afterwards. In that regard, it was kinda' cool to think "Hey, I just saw Rob Zombie pump up his new movie".
--However, I did manage to see full showings of the new "Doctor Strange" animated movie and the new "Bionic Woman" pilot. I enjoyed "Strange", but "Bionic Woman" was a little tough for me to digest. It's apparently done by the crew of the "Battlestar Galactica" remake and featured several cast members from that show. I don't know the actors' names, so I called them: "Chick Who Plays Starbuck", "Guy Who Plays Chief" and "Guy Who Plays Baltar's Lawyer". Whenever one would show up on screen, fans in the audience would immediately whooping and holler.
--Coincedentally, I saw "Guy Who Plays Chief" in some booth on the main floor. He was wearing an Anthrax "I am the Law" Judge Dredd shirt, so I thought I'd drop in and maybe get his autograph for my big bro. But...he would only sign autographs on crappy action figures being sold by that company. Oh well. Overall, the autograph thing was creepy. A lot of c-level "celebrities" selling stuff. I felt bad for some of them. Mostly Virgil (yes, THAT Virgil) and someone named Crystal Allen, who apparently played a Green Chick on a Star Trek episode. Marc Singer (Beastmaster) was there and he was hella' creepy.
--Best seminar I attended was "Quick Draw", hosted by Mark Evanier. It was a bit like "Whose Line is it Anyway" with three artists: Sergio Aragones (GROO), Scott Shaw (Capt. Carrot and POST cereal) and some other guy who I forget (stuff I forget). Evanier would present a question or gag and each of the artists would draw their answer to it, on a big screen. Funny stuff. Final gag was "smarter than George W. Bush". The other guys drew a dunce and Alfred E. Neuman. Sergio drew a simple two-celled amoeba. Anything Evanier hosts is worth checking out. He's very knowledgeable about pop culture and comics and is quite witty.
--If you do, don't expect to find good deals on comics. Last time I attended Comic Con was in 1995. It was about 85% comics. Now it's maybe 25% comics. You can still find dealers, but the majority of the crowd is there for the Hollywood, video game and TV stuff. Spike TV, Best Buy, Paramount, Capcom and Sony kinda' crowd out "Joe's Comic Barn". I bought maybe 8 comics, total.
--Nothing's really "free" anymore. At Marvel's booth, you had to fill out a survey, sign up for their mailing list and get your badge punched to receive ONE promo comic. I don't want to sound like an Old Man, but in '95 I could walk into any booth and come away with 10 free comics. This year, everybody was selling stuff. 25 bucks seemed to be the going rate for anything. Even promo posters were for sale, or else you'd get one free after a long wait in line. I get tons of free promo crap every week for all kinds of stuff (t-shirts, posters, hats, preview DVDs, you name it). So I guess I was numb at the chance to get some "free" advertising material.
-- Cool purchase: bought Usagi Yojimbo #1 from Stan Sakai himself, for the very reasonable price of five bucks. Also found Avengers #66 for the over-priced tag of 14 bucks. I took it over to Roy Thomas, who was signing stuff at the Alter Ego booth. Thomas seemed like he could ramble on all day about old comics. Good for him.
--LOTS of tourists go for the Hollywood stuff and to get free crap. That's good, since it spreads awareness of comic crap to the public.... but rather sad because nobody knows who Clint Barton or Piotr Rasputin are. They're there to see Gwyneth Paltrow or Robert Downey Jr (by the way, I was jazzed about Marvel Studios' "Iron Man" and "Incredible Hulk" preview session)
--You know what the best part was? The people. I'd be waiting for something and start talking to the people around me. Think of the "single serving friend" from Fight Club. Met all kinds of interesting peeps. Just bullshittin', cracking jokes and telling stories. I'm usually a rather shy guy, but the entire trip I was talking to everyone. I met a graphic designer from New Zealand, a psychic medium, an MST junkie from Minneapolis, a wrestling fan from LA...all sorts of people. When I think back on this trip, that's what I'll remember most.
--All in all, it's a good time to be a nerd.
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