Current mood:

exhausted

Disoriented Con Report
"Daddy, where are the comics?"  --small child on the dealer floor, San Diego Comic Con

Really, they should just change the name to the San Diego Entertainment Expo and be done with it.  Comics are still a part of it, but only inasmuch as they are a piece of the American Entertainment Industry.

The weekend seems more of a blur to me than usual.  I don't know if it's because I drank more heavily than usual, or because my brain is starting to shrivel with age.  Anyway, here are the highlights as I remember them--

This may be the first year that I saw more good costumes than bad ones.  How is that even possible?  Many characters from Avatar, including a nearly perfect Jun the Bounty Hunter; The Baroness from G.I. Joe;  Trapjaw from He-Man.  Yeah, you heard me:  Trapjaw.  Really stupid character; really awesome costume.  (He actually looked more like this.)  There were also a dozen really exceptional steampunk costumes.  Runners-up included Fire Lord Fro-zai, and Boba Fetish.

Wednesday night I had the fastest badge pick-up ever, followed by Preview Night, heavy traffic and, eventually, Shakespeare's Pub with Haidee, Marek, and his in-laws.  =)

Thursday I listened to J. Michael Straczynski answer questions about professional writing in an enlightening fashion, and began my traditional haunting of the Flight table.  I bought most of the books I wanted, to get it over with.  Excellent tapas for supper at Cafe Sevilla in the gaslamp.

On friday I hooked up with my old friend Steve early on and we walked the dealer's floor for most of the day.  The panel for Avatar: the Last Airbender on Friday was worth the wait through the two panels before it.  I only wish some of the voice talent had shown up.  Really good Yakitori for supper at a little place in Hillcrest.  dreamliner kindly gave me some crash space on the floor of his room in the Mariott; I do love being in the convention hotel.

Saturday there was the Futurama panel-- I wish I could make it to every panel with cartoon voice talent.  Later, I discovered that Eric Goldberg has the most beautiful signature in the world.  Seriously!  It looks like it should be on the Declaration of Independence or something.  I had lunch with Tavicat at a grill in Seaport Village, which also gave me the opportunity to get a milkshake at one of the three remaining Ben & Jerry's in San Diego. In the afternoon I watched Sergio Aragones out-draw and out-humor two other artists in the Quick Draw panel.  That night I was in the hotel room again, so I sat in the lobby lounge with a bunch of friends, chatting, enjoying the scenery, and drinking quite a bit more than I should.

Sunday was Wendy Pini's panel, where I had mixed feelings about the news that WB has picked up the Elfquest movie.  But mostly it was winding down:  I spent a lot of time at a table behind a window on the mezzanine that overlooks the dealer's floor, one of my favorite spots at the convention.  I topped off the trip with venison stroganoff at Kaiserhof, an excellent german restaurant in Ocean Beach.

Thanks to Rikki, Tavi, Mike, Chris, Aaron, Amy, Johane, Reagan, Tony, Jeff, Steve, Joe, Dave, Marek, Haidee, Paul, Chandra, Kaylin, Dawn, Wade, Eric, Tommy, and everyone else who helped make my weekend awesome!