Comic-Con Report

We got home from San Diego on Monday evening, following a delayed flight to Cincinnati that nearly caused us to miss our flight home. It was crazy and tiring and usual, but still a lot of fun. Here's the happenings in brief:


Lowlights (because I'm a firm believer in bad news first)

Getting told we had a king size bed after I called three time to make sure we were down for two doubles and was told everything was fine. They couldn't even guarantee us cots. We ended up with a two bed smoking room.

Blarney's Irish Pub, our Thursday night dinner choice, which went far beyond understandable problems with more than the usual number of customers and being short on staff and ended up in sheer incompetence. I thought the last straw was when my salad came with a side of butter instead of dressing. (I tried it, thinking it was dressing. Not good.) But then they brought the bill.

Missing panels I wanted to see. We got in Thursday afternoon, so some had already passed. Some overlapped with other panels, and some happened when we found a spare moment to eat lunch. This happens every year, so I was kind of prepared for it, but it's still frustrating.

People who step in front of you, separating you from the people you're walking around with, only to stand around or shuffle along as slowly as possible without allowing you to pass by them. Again, this happens every year and having been before, I was now more ready for it.


Cool Stuff Outside the Con

Our Hotel - Aside from the bed problem, this was a really pleasant experience. Last year, Andrew and I stayed at a place sneezing distance from the border and had to take the unbelievably pokey trolley to and from the con. This year, our hotel was the one right next to the convention center. SO much nicer. We could just go back to our room any time we wanted to drop off newly acquired stuff, make meal plans, or just chill for a bit. We also sampled the pub, the bar, and the Starbucks. If we go again next year, I'm seriously considering getting a room there again.

Indian Food - Our Friday dinner, a huge step up from Thursday. Terrific food and service made for a very satisfying meal. Of course, I can't remember the name of the place? Jon? Les? Anyone?

Meeting Up with Dave - I knew Dave back in high school and Les and Jon had been in touch with him more recently. We had a tasty dinner at a brewery restaurant (right next to the vats) and caught up while chatting about animation, which is always fun for me.

Our new Cell Phones - Obtained shortly before the trip they hold a charge much better than our old ones. Cell phones are essential for Comic Con; the convention center is huge and you will inevitably need to contact someone who is not currently with you, even if your intention was to be with this person the whole time. Our phones worked beautifully, with a few exceptions due to poor reception, and kept us in touch with everyone we needed to talk to.

Panels

Hellboy Animated - We were treated to a trailer and a full color scene from the upcoming "Hellboy: Sword of Storms". Tad Stones, Mike Mignola, Phil Weinstein, Matt Wayne and Sean Galloway talked about the film, along with Guillermo del Toro, who showed up fashionably late. The movie focuses on Japanese folklore, which Mignola's apparently really jacked about. Some version of "Heads" is included, but it's not the entire story. They pointed out a kappa among the character designs and I'm pretty sure I spotted an one as well. The clip we saw looked really good; the coloring is especially sharp. The movie will premiere on Cartoon Network in October with a DVD release following early next year. Oh, and "Hellboy 2" is search of a new studio since Revolution kind of went under.

Bruce Timm Retrospective/Legion of Super Heroes - I went in really early to get a good seat and ended up catching a good chunk of the panel for Fox's "Bones" with David Boreanaz. Snagged a better seat as the room cleared between panels. Bruce Timm joked about how retrospectives usually denote the end of a career and he's still paying off a mortgage. Timm talked about how "Batman" got off the ground, the particular difficulties of doing "Superman", and what they learned from the first season of "Justice League". (He talked about that being the first time animated shows that weren't done by him and his crew were really setting the standard for TV animation, specifically mentioning "X-Men: Evolution" and "Samurai Jack".) An interesting thing happened during a showing of clips from Timm's DC shows. When "Batman Beyond" came on, people were clapping and cheering and screaming like crazy. After the clips were over, Timm noted that most of the audience was probably livid about the show when they first heard about it. (Guilty as charged.) But to be fair, he said that he and the WB Animation crew weren't to keen on a Kid Batman either when they first heard about it. Q&A started up and Timm gave advice on spotting particular storyboard artists scenes, revealed that the Bat-embargo wasn't much of a problem after the initial annoyance wore off, and expressed sympathy for the directors of "Braniac Attacks", who apparently had a very short time to do their work. There was some mention of that little rumor that was floating around the internet. (Timm claims this was a misunderstanding and he's actually working on a show for Food Network called "The New Fondue". We'll see.) But the big reveal came towards the end as Timm was saying that his current projects were still in the early stages and he really couldn't talk about them...as a dripping red Superman logo on a black background appeared on the screens behind him. Now what could that possibly mean? :) Timm then cleared out to make way for the "Legion of Super Heroes" preview. The show looks pretty good, the cast is solid, and the ideas seem strong. I'm not as sure about it as I am about "Hellboy", but there's a strong chance it could be good. Still, the big thrill for me was getting to see somebody who had such a huge impact on my view of so many DC characters.

Center for Cartoon Studies - James Sturm is one of Andrew, Les, and Jon's favorite professors, a creator of some excellent comics, and the founder of the Center for Cartoon Studies. CCS is located in Vermont and teaches students the art of comics. James and some of the other faculty/comics greats talked about the school, the small town it's located in, and the various programs offered. I'm really impressed with what we heard and glad to see that James is doing well.

The Tick Animated - I was very happy to see that the first season of this terrific series would be coming out on DVD in late August (minus one episode due to legal complications). Creator Ben Edlund, who I had met many moons ago, talked about the pre-cartoon history of the Tick. Voice actor Townsend Coleman favored us with a hearty "Spoon!" and a bit of "Oh! Little Wooden Boy!" (aided by a life sized Little Wooden Boy provided by a fan). We got to see a demo of puppet version of The Tick and Arthur who would have provided content during the credits if the show had been renewed for a fourth season. The Tick was a two liter soda bottle and Arthur was a milk carton. In addition to "The Tick vs. Season One", there are plans for a Tick anniversary's comic which Ben may actually draw a page for.

Cartoon Voices II - I missed "Cartoon Voices I", so I made certain to catch this as my last panel of the con. Boy, was it ever a great way to end things. The participants included Billy West (Fry, Prof. Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, and Zap Brannigan on "Futurama"), April Stewart (most of the female cast of "South Park"), Bob Bergen (the current Porky Pig), Kimberly Brooks (Buena Girl on "Mucha Lucha"), and Wally Wingert (a lot of voices on "Family Guy"), with perennial panel host Mark Evanier playing MC. Everyone had tons of fun stories and did voices on request. The bulk of the panel consisted of the actors performing a script from the "Flash Gordon" radio show which they hadn't seen before. When Mark Evanier said "Change!", whoever was reading had to go back and redo the last line with a different voice. The audience, myself included, completely cracked up as heroic Flash Gordon acquired a Porky Pig stutter, a seductive space princess became a valley girl, our narrator morphed into Butthead, and a crazed German scientist turned into George W. Bush. Improvisation abounded and the whole event was a huge success. If they have this panel again next year, I will definitely make a point to catch both.


People who Drew in my Sketchbook Last year, I started a convention sketchbook for drawings from the pros. It kind of became a rabbit themed sketchbook, though I honestly didn't intend it to at first. I'm happy to say my sketchbook doubled in size this year, thanks to these kind people.

Linda Medley - The creator of "Castle Waiting", one of my favorite comics ever, was doing signings at the Fantagraphics booth. I bought a new copy of the collected hardcover and got it signed, then came back the following day for the new issue. In return, I got a drawing of a rabbit guy in an Elizabethan collar.

Takeshi Miyazawa - Artist on "Sidekicks" and currently "Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane", Takeshi Miyazawa was somebody I HAD to have a sketch from. It ended up being the only sketch I paid for, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat! Like everyone I spoke to, Mr. Miyazawa was extremely nice. I also had the first "Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane" trade with me and got it signed. Turned out he hadn't seen it yet, so of course I let him check it out.

Want to see the sketch that I got done? Do ya? Do ya? Well lucky for you, it's already online! Just go to Takeshi Miyazawa's Gallery Page, click "Con Sketches 2" and check it out. Which one is it? Well, I think you can figure that out yourself. Just remember the theme. (And remember that there's a second page of sketches.) I may well put the rest of them up myself at some point, but I"m stupidly afraid of scanning them.

Los Bros Hernandez - The team behind "Love and Rockets" was doing sketches while I was looking for Roger Langridge. Two awesome artists, free quick sketches, virtually no line? I'll take it! I got a quick cartoony bunny each from Gilbert and Jaime.

Roger Langridge - The creator of "Fred the Clown" was another person I really wanted to see. We chatted a bit while he was drawing and I found out that he did an upcoming Marvel Christmas story. Sweet! Mr. Langridge finished out my sketchbook for ComicCon '06 with a Groucho Marx rabbit in color.


Other Cool People

Paul Chadwick - I didn't get a sketch from the creator of "Concrete" because I already had one; the first one I got for the sketchbook, in fact. Still, I stopped by to say hi and pick up a Concrete trade I didn't have, which is now personalized with a signature and sketch.

Rick Geary - The artist on the new "Gumby" comic signed a copy for me and gave me two promo posters for free!

Geof Darrow The guy behind "Big Guy and Rusty" and "Shaolin Cowboy" was at a remarkably uncrowded table. I called Jon to let him know and Jon talked with him for a bit about living in France. Were I not drowning in stuff to hang on my wall and afraid of shipping large posters home, I would likely have one of his prints.

Mike Mignola - Hellboy's creator didn't have enough time to do sketches, but he did have time to sign a book of his sketches and hear my positive opinions on the aforementioned "Sword of Storms".

Craig McCracken - I didn't see the father of "The Powerpuff Girls" and "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" at a booth. He was just hanging out on the exhibit hall floor talking to some people. Craig McCracken is one of a very few artists I admire who I can also recognize on sight. Unfortunately, he was engaged in conversation and I didn't want to be rude and bug him while he was "off-duty". So the opportunity to meet one of my animation heroes passed me by. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Greg Weisman - I made a point of tracking down the chief architect of the "Gargoyles" universe at the Slave Labor Graphics booth. I got a promo poster signed by him, artist David Hedgecock, and colorist Will Terrell. I'm pleased and amazed to say that Greg remembered me from the Station 8 comment room. He wrote "Welcome to the clan" on my poster, which I assume he does for everyone, but it still made me happy/

Andy Runton - I really would have liked a sketch from Andy Runton, but my sketchbook was with Takeshi Miyazawa when I saw him and I would have felt bad going back and asking for a sketch after he already signed a book for me. But I still got a cute little drawing in the latest "Owly" trade.

Billy West - Before I saw him bring the house done at the voice actor panel, I strolled by his booth and saw that he was there. I waited around for a while. listened to him talking to other people, and finally got to speak with him a bit. We chatted about politics (we're on the same page there) and I bought a photo which he signed for Andrew and me. He wrote "Greetings from the Year 3000! It still sucks!", which I can only imagine being said in a Zoidberg voice.

Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Les McClaine - Les drew in my sketchbook last year. They are nice. Buy their book.

Well, that is not remotely everything I saw and did and bought at the con. But that's the main stuff. It was a lot of fun and even better than last year. Thanks for reading though my mammoth recap. Hope you enjoyed it.