My worst Comic-Con fear was realized this morning when I went outside, after returning home in the dark last night. Comic-Con always seems to come around at the same time that the monsoon really kicks in. When I looked around this morning, I saw weeds that hadn't existed before we left on Tuesday that are knee-high now. The grass is ankle-high and will need to be cut back with a weedwhacker before it can be mowed. The fire break is just gone. Things were tending that way before we left, but the couple of inches of rain that fell while we were away did the job. Now that I've been gone for a week, of course, I have lots of work to do at my desk, plus new projects that came up during the con, plus follow-up on meetings, etc.--meanwhile, the vegetation outside threatens to overwhelm the house. I think Comic-Con should shift to spring or fall, during the dry seasons, so I don't have to leave home at the height of the monsoon.
Oh, the con itself? It was crowded, busy, and crowded. Wednesday night used to be called Preview Night, and it's only open to people who bought four-day passes. This year, the alloted number of four-day passes sold out well in advance of the con, and so did all the single-day passes, so no one could decide at the last minute that they wanted to go (I saw a family of four turned away from the door on Sunday afternoon, kids with disappointed looks on their faces because their parents apparently hadn't been religiously checking the website and just assumed that they could attend a major event in their own city. No such luck). So Preview Night was jam-packed. A friend of a friend broke her toe in one of the mob scenes, during which it's hard to move in any direction but you're still shoved and jostled by others who can't really move either. Another friend, Tor editor Jim Frenkel, was almost swallowed by the crow rushing for Warner Bros. bags, but fortunately survived to tell the tale. That's mostly what was accomplished Preview Night--people swarmed the big movie and publisher booths for free loot, or the toy booths to line up to buy overpriced "con exclusives." I'm sure if you look on eBay today you can find such exclusives offered in hopes of claiming even more ridiculous prices, but the whole idea of standing in line to buy something for too much money is somewhat offensive to me, and I won't do it.
Thursday was the first "real" day of the con. After a nice breakfast with my friend Brian Haberlin (currently the artist on Spawn, but not for much longer) we wandered into a convention center that already looked like Saturday afternoon. The crowds thinned occasionally after that, but for the rest of the weekend it was easy to find an intersection (usually the one between you and where you needed to be) that was completely impassable, either just because of the sheer number of people or because there was someone in costume having his or her (usually her) photo taken by dozens of other con-goers.
I had some publisher meetings Thursday, and spent some time at the IDW and DC booths as well as Artist's Alley, a little time trying to look at other booths, and a lot of time dodging crowds.
The name of the con is still Comic-Con International: San Diego, but its focus is no longer on comics. There used to be comic book characters on the banners the con puts up around downtown San Diego, but no longer. The giant dealer's room seems to emphasize movies and TV, with the biggest comic book publishers in the same general vicinity. There were fewer than 100 comic book dealers in the room this year--expensive Golden Age comics were easy to find, as were the hot titles of the moment, but it's a bad place to look for comics from the past few months or even years. Artist's Alley was smaller than ever, its artists crowded into smaller spaces and only allowed a single chair.
Friday I had my first signing, as well as some more meetings and the Scribe Awards panel, which I mostly missed. Nonetheless, the awards are here, and heartiest congratulations to the winners:
BEST GENERAL FICTION ORIGINAL
MR. MONK AND THE TWO ASSISTANTS by Lee Goldberg
BEST GENERAL FICTION ADAPTED
AMERICAN GANGSTER by Max Allan Collins
BEST SPECULATIVE ORIGINAL
STARGATE ATLANTIS: CASUALTIES OF WAR by Elizabeth Christensen
BEST GAME-RELATED ORIGINAL (SPECIAL SCRIBE AWARD)
EBERRON: NIGHT OF THE LONG SHADOWS by Paul Crilley
BEST SPECULATIVE ADAPTED
30 DAYS OF NIGHT by Tim Lebbon
BEST YOUNG ADULT ORIGINAL
NANCY DREW AND THE CLUE CREW #10: TICKET TROUBLE by Stacia Deutsch & Rhody Cohon
BEST YOUNG ADULT ADAPTED
THE 12 DOGS OF CHRISTMAS by Steven Paul Leiva
Friday night the Eisner Awards were announced, and those results are here.
Saturday is traditionally the day that strikes fear into the hearts of people who have to make it from one end of the convention center to the other. This year it was so packed on every day that Saturday didn't seem much different. One of the convention's high points was the panel I was on, "Things That Go Bump," at which I finally got to meet horror superstar-in-the-making Joe Hill, Zombie-meister Max Brooks, and lovely actress Adrienne Barbeau, as well as Chris Marie Green and Natasha Rhodes. Don't tell, but I got to kiss Adrienne, and had to pose for multiple pictures with her--a true hardship, as you can imagine.
Sunday was a little more low-key--not a lot, but some. I got to spend some time outside the convention center, on the Comic Book Resources boat, which was a pleasant diversion. I also had a signing with Steve Niles for 30 Days of Night: Eternal Damnation, and we both signed some extra stock so if you want a signed copy you can still get it from Mysterious Galaxy (just follow the book link).
Other pleasant interludes including visiting with friends, playing bad pool at the Del Rey party, a pleasant lunch with Pocket Books editor Ed Schlesinger and a very nice dinner with the aforementioned Jim Frenkel and a fine breakfast with buddies and writers J. C. Vaughn and Mark Haynes. I didn't make it to any panels except the one-and-a-half I've mentioned, and didn't buy anything at all in the convention center except a couple of overpriced meals.
As always, Monday I was beat and bedraggled, barely able to sustain a conversation. Tuesday was much the same except I had to pretend to be awake for CNN. Today is really decompression day, and then it's back to work and trying to tame the high desert jungle that's growing outside.
Here are a few pictures of some of the cooler things I saw at the show...
The Adam West/Burt Ward TV series Batcycle
Iron Monger armor at the Marvel booth
Adrienne Barbeau et moi
And this was just an odd sight--Shrek, standing on the wall looking toward the marina.
