Fanatic Wednesday of Comic-Con 2013

Wednesday Preview Night of Comic-Con 2013 is in the rearview mirror.

Miscellaneous notes.
1. We arrived later than usual on the trolley that drops us off in front of the convention center. The good news that San Diego had changed its trolley route was pointed out to us by an employee of the trolley system working at the trolley stop (thanks for that San Diego). In past years, unless you were riding the “convention special,” you had to change trains if you were going from Old Town to Comic-Con. Not any more, all trains go direct. Hooray!

2. The definition of “professional” at Comic-Con sometimes seems to include nearly everyone. Yes, I know that is a gross exaggeration, but when we arrived the line from professional pro badges went from Hall E to Hall A outside on the sidewalk … about 2/3 the length of the entire convention center. But the organizers get a round of applause because despite the VERY long line, the wait was short and the pro-reg volunteers handled an enormous number of pros quite efficiently.

3. While standing in line (with my daughter Maggie and long time buddy Tom Mason) we met Space Goat Productions’ head honcho Shon Bury and we also saw actress Molly C. Quinn (she plays the daughter on Castle) who had stopped on the sidewalk to take pictures with a fan.

4. Kudos to the Warner Bros. Marketing department, the bag given to pros (and I assume everyone else) at registration is a well-designed … the adjustable straps allow you to carry it like a bag or throw it over your shoulders like a back-pack …very nice indeed.

People I saw and talked to:
1. First stop was the booth of artists Aaron Lopresti & Terry Dodson, who we plan to have dinner with Saturday night.
2. Next we coordinated (via text) a meet with writer Gerry Jones, who I first published in 1987. Maggie wanted to get her copy of Jones’s book Killing Monsters signed. Mission accomplished. Always good to see Gerry and his traveling comapnion Joe Felice.
3. DC’s Comic-Con booth is a favorite pro meeting spot. Marvel’s booth seems openly hostile to the kind of socializing that goes on at DC. Met Shon Bury again, plus …
* Space Goat artist Attila Futaki
* DC’s Jack Mahon
* DC Editors Bobbie Chase and Jim Chadwick (friend and former Malibu-ite)
* Space Goat artist Fernando Argosino
* Silo (animation) head honcho Sean Hart
* and I’m sure I’m forgetting something.
4. Former Malibu marketing dude and current Exec at IDW Alan Payne spent some time catching on with Maggie and me at the IDW booth. While we were standing there, we saw a girl (Lauren) that we had seen on the TV show Catfish the night before. And as we were leaving the booth, we saw someone in a purple wig who looked EXACTLY like Maggie Gyllenhaal.
5. Fellow So. Cal. comics business pro Chip Mosher gave me an invite to Thursday Comixology Party. It helps that he works there.
6. After walking through my second favorite section of the convention hall … where they sell old comcis and graphic novels, Maggie and I re-united with Tom Mason and headed over to FUNKY GARCIA’S for drinks and food with a bunch of the Space Goat crowd before calling it a night.

dwo
from a secret location just outside San Diego

The Avengers Conquer the World

It is already late as I write this. And it is days after every entertainment news organization has declared Marvel’s The Avengers movie the all-time box office champ.

I honestly wish I had the time at the moment to pontificate at length about my thoughts about The Avengers. Trust me, I will someday. I will someday soon. But for now I simply want to share the following piece of video with the fans of this blog. As we stood in line to enter the theatre for the Marvel Movie Marathon, at approximately 8am on Thursday May 3rd, a man approached us with a microphone and tiny camera.

He asked us some questions and then said the video would be on-line sometime in the next 24 hours or so. Below is the result of his work. Maggie (my daughter) and I appear at about the 20 second mark or so. Also with us former Malibu Editor-in-Chief Chris Ulm and his daughter. And if you watch closely, we appear twice more later on in the video. Enjoy.

If you want a really nice recap of the day, written by a friend (Paul O’Connor) that sat just a few seats away from me.

Check out his blog: Longbox Graveyard.

That’s my version of the story … for now.

Maggie’s sorta little, so here’s a little Maggie

Look … I’m a proud Dad. No apologies here.

This is my daughter, Maggie. She’s a beautiful, funny, opinionated, energetic girl and she’s just not very tall (5 foot 3 inches). Despite what Jaime Hernandez thinks, my daughter isn’t named after the character that he created for his truly AMAZING comic accomplishment LOVE & ROCKETS.

She’s also got a wonderful movie-oriented blog that she updates as often as she can, what with her full-time job, social life and bowling commitments. I highly recommend it. So after you watch the video below, go read her blog HERE.

I don’t know who those other people are in the video. Enjoy.

Misc. Wednesday: February 4, 2009

First, the important stuff … HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAGGIE! My daughter turns 23 years young today. Click on the picture of Maggie and Roxy below to see a picture of them together in 1994.

Two things I love (10 years later) Maggie & Roxy from 2004

Yep, my obsession with the National Football League got in the way of my fanaticism for comics, causing this modest blog to be delayed by a day or two. The last two years have featured incredibly exciting and competitive Super Bowls. Definitely a cause for celebration given how often the championship has turned into a lopsided affair. But now I’m back and Miscellaneous Monday has morphed into Miscellaneous Wednesday and if you deal with change as well as I do, you’ll probably find this a little disturbing, but I encourage you to soldier on.