Comic-Con -- Second Thoughts

Last time out I reported on all the things I missed on Thursday; it was a long list. What I saw on Thursday was actually a very short list.

This year we were staying at the DoubleTree near the freeway and about a mile from the Convention Center. Except for a couple of strange happenstances with room service, we really liked the hotel and it was a lot less expensive than the W where we stayed last year. We actually got into our room earlier than we expected and headed down and waited about 10 minutes for the shuttle to arrive. We were at the convention center in about 10 minutes and amazingly had our badges about 10 minutes after that. The lack of on-site registration really seemed to streamline the whole process.

As we always do, we headed directly to Room 8, home of most of the Mark Evanier-led panels. As we got there he was interviewing letterer Todd Klein. I found it fascinating, wife wife may have found it boring. We sat through it and moved closer to the front when it ended to get a better seat for the Golden/Silver Age of Comics panel that is a yearly highlight of the con for me, and this year was no different.

Mark presided over a panel of comic greats: Al Jaffee, Russ Heath, Larry Lieber, Jerry Robinson and Al Feldstein. Jaffee was the only one I had never seen before, but I could sit and listen to these guys for hours, though we only had an hour and a half. It flew by. I don't remember right now a thing anyone said during the panel, but I do recall that I was surprised at how much work Jaffee and Feldstein had done pre-EC/Mad.

After that, I wanted to hang around for the Dexter panel, but neither of us felt like standing in the outrageously long line. The whole town was plastered with Dexter billboards declaring "Power-Saw To The People." As an aside, I really dislike the way the con now handles the lines for 6A, 6B and the ginormous 6CDEF. The weave them in and out of the hallways in long narrow lines, that does not seem to be much of an improvement to the old days, when you just walked into any door to the room and took a seat. Now all the rooms have designated entrances and exits and it doesn't improve much, if you ask me; but no one is.

Comic-Con -- First Thoughts

I always have this strange feeling after Comic-Con that I missed most of what I wanted to see. This is usually the result of everything I want to see happening at the same time on Saturday, but that was not the case this time. I think the organizers of this year's Comic-Con spread the goodies out much more evenly over the four days than was done in the past. And yet, I still feel like I missed most of the good stuff.

For the first time that I recall there were lots of "must see" events happening Thursday, like Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly promoting The Day the Earth Stood Still remake, or the entire cast of Torchwood there to promote the best show on BBC America. How about Noel Neill taking about her career and playing Lois Lane on the Superman TV show, or William Katt discussing The Greatest American Hero? Dakota Fanning and Djimon Hounsou discussing Push? Want something more "comic-like?" How about J.G. Jones or Paul Gulacy discussing their artwork? Stan Lee? The Mark (Evanier) and Sergio (Aragones) Show? How about a panel on Modern Masters featuring Frank Cho, Michael Golden and Mark Schultz? All of this happened the first four hours of the convention, before my wife and I even got there. We were still driving down the freeway and checking into our hotel and taking the shuttle to the convention center when all this was going on.

If the Comic-Con organizers have done anything it is make it imperative to arrive on Wednesday for Preview Night, just so you can get your badge and Events Guide and plan out your Thursday morning.

So what did I see? What did I like? I'll tell you next time.

Back From Comic-Con

Got back in this afternoon from Comic-Con International in San Diego. It was an odd sort of con this year; crowded from Thursday on, though it didn't seem as bad on perennial big-day Saturday. I missed most of what I wanted to see, either not really wanting to stand in these enormous lines or just not being on the ball. All in all though I think the "no tickets sold on site" rule left the con with a huge, but manageable crowd. More on my con experiences in the next few days. I have to pack for Florida (leaving on a 6:40 AM flight), pick up my car, drive to my hotel, unpack, get some food and then maybe, maybe I will have some time for blogging.

Maybe.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Falling In Love #99

Falling In Love #99 (On Sale: March 19, 1968) has a very mod cover by Ric Estrada.

A few years ago I shared an elevator in my hotel at the San Diego Comic-Con with Ric and I said something like, "I've always enjoyed your work." Ric responded by making sure his badge was not showing and then saying, "You have no idea who I am." I guess Ric was not used to being recognized. I said, "Ric, you are one of those guys who looks like you were drawn by you; your face looks like a Ric Estrada face."

Inside "Two Faces of Love" is drawn by John Rosenberger, "Stolen Dreams" drawn by Arthur Peddy and Bernard Sachs, and "Slave to Love" drawn by Ric Estrada.

Edited by Jack Miller.

Dave Stevens

Illustrator Dave Stevens, best known for The Rocketeer, died Tuesday following a long, battle with Leukemia. Over the years I saw Dave repeatedly at the San Diego Comic-Con, but never stopped to talk to him, though I admired his work tremendously. That is not to say that I never met Dave.

Though most people remember Dave for his Rocketeer character, I was a fan of Dave's long before the Rocketeer ever came on to the scene. Dave used to do these amazing strips and illustrations for the San Diego Comic-Con program every year which were so brilliantly illustrated that you had to take notice. At least I did.

In 1980 my comic book partner Baron Mrkva and I were invited to the Filmation offices to interview for some storyboarding work on the Saturday morning Flash Gordon cartoon. We were so swamped with the stuff we were doing at the time to make ends meet, that we never had the opportunity to actually work at Filmation (and boy don't I think how my life would be different had that not been the case), but I was very pleased to meet a few people I admired while at the offices.

Before settling down in the amazing Bob Kline's office, we were shown around by Will Meugniot who I remembered from a Marvel Tigra strip that Tony Isabella was writing. The first person we met was Dave. He was hunched over a board animating the face of the Lone Ranger. Baron had no idea who he was, but I told Dave how much I loved the stuff he had done over the years for the SDCC program. He seemed surprised that anyone would know him from that work. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy, very humble with regards to his work and I was really pleased a few years later with the success he garnered with the Rocketeer. And nobody drew sexy women like Dave.

Reservation Hesitation

I spent the better part of two hours today dealing with the on-line hotel reservation system for the San Diego Comic-Con. What a nightmare! Nothing like 100,000 people trying to get a room at the same time to slow a system to a crawl. But if that was the only issue I could have lived with it. But after taking twenty minutes to just pull up the freakin' page and another ten minutes to select my hotel and verify that there were rooms available, the system repeatedly blew me off with a "Page Not Found" error.

Eventually I got through on the phone line. It only took an hour and 45 minutes of solid dialing, hanging up and redialing to get through. By then the room I should of had booked an hour and twenty minutes earlier was gone and I had to settle for hotel I have not stayed at before.

Not that there were not alternatives to the Con-promoted system. I did find a site that listed all the hotels in the area and if they were sold out or not. They all were except for the U.S. Grant. You could book a room at the Grant immediately, outside of the Con system at only $760 a night, or basically four-times the cost of a room at the Holiday Inn through the system. The people who run the Grant ought to be ashamed of themselves. I stayed at the Grant a few years ago, but after seeing their outrageous pricing today I will never stay there again.

Comic-Con Thoughts

It is too big.

No really. The crowd, that for the past few years has shown up on Saturday, showed up on Thursday. Even though we had preregistered months in advance, my wife and I stood in a line in the hot sun for an hour and a half on Thursday to pick up our badges. It would have been longer if at some point during our wait they had not opened up the empty "on-site registration" line for preregistration as well. Piss-poor planning, piss-poor planning, piss-poor planning.

In years past they would mail out your badges to you and you could just walk in when you got there. My wife said they may have to look at ID now for security reasons. OK, anyone who did not go this year and wants to go next year will have to stand in line and show their ID, but people who have been going for years have shown their IDs enough times to warrant just sending their badges to them in the mail.

On Friday our shuttle driver had no idea where she was going. She was from San Bernardino, not San Diego and was only there for the convention, but she did not know the city at all. So, when she found it difficult to move into the correct turn lane near the convention center she instead drove us straight into the Marriott parking lot. Unfortunately for us, you cannot make the extremely sharp right turn from the Marriott to the convention center and so she had to take us back into the city, where we encountered a train and two trolleys. Our nine minute ride from our hotel to the convention center took 45 minutes.

Our hotel, the W, was very nice, but since I did not get on-line to book it till 15 minutes after the convention hotels opened, it was the only hotel still available. To get a reasonably-priced room you had to get onto the system within the first ten minutes. So my con hotel cost $400 a night. That sets me back $1,200 before we even set foot at the con. Gee, I wonder why I didn't spend a shitload on books this year?

Did I mention it was crowded?

Well, it was, every damn day. Except Saturday. For some reason, even though Saturday is historically the most congested day of the con, this year it was one of the lightest days, despite being just as sold out as every other day. Maybe people stayed away on Saturday to avoid the crowds.

Next time out I'll tell you what I liked this year (it's a small list).

I'm Back

I thought I would be checking in each night from my hotel room, but the $10 a day to do so was so outrageous that I declined. You know, when you are paying, with tax, $400 a night for a room, they ought to throw in the fucking broadband connection. The W should be ashamed of itself.

Off To Comic Con International: San Diego!

Since I won't be home my posting for the next few days may be rather sparse! If you get a chance to go to the SDCC, you can find me most often in one of these panels hosted by Mark Evanier.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Teen Titans #11

Teen Titans #11 (On Sale: July 18, 1967) has a nice Nick Cardy cover. Missing are the Go-Go Checks and ugly logos that marred Nick's previous TT covers. Robin is pushed to the back to spotlight Speedy's return. Note how in just a few issues the TT's have gone from looking 12 or 13 to looking 17 or 18.

Inside we have "Monster Bait" by Bob Haney and Nick Cardy. Speedy returns to help the Teen Titans when they go to the aid of boy genius Willie Gregson, whose summer job is that of assistant to famed scientist Dr. Simon Finley. A criminal gang tries to blackmail Wille, whose father, now a respected businessman, is an ex-convict, forcing Willie to steal Dr. Finley's secret nerve gas formulae for them. The Titans tangle with scuba divers and a fake sea monster in this book-length story. Reprinted in DC Super Stars #1.

Edited by George Kashdan.

Stan Lee, Man of Action! Go Figure!

Hasbro will introduce a Stan Lee action figure at next month's San Diego Comic-Convention. The six-inch tall toy will retail for $14.99. If they want to do a series on all the creators at Marvel that would be cool.

The Jack Kirby figure would have to have a cigar in his mouth and be surgically attached to his drawing board. The reclusive Mr. Steve Ditko might be missing a face, since photos of Mr. D. are pretty rare. The John Byrne figure would cost more than the others as it would have the biggest box; the extra room needed to hold John's ego. Of course the background would be erased from the box containing the Vinnie Colletta figure.

Evanier on Drake

Mark Evanier has a wonderful piece on his blog about the late Arnold Drake. Read it and get a feel for the genuine human being we lost last week. But also see what insight you get about Mark. I go to the San Diego Comic-Con every year to mostly sit in Room 8 and watch Mark Evanier bring out the best in the folks who created the comics of my youth. He does it with much style and wit and a whole mess of love.

Mark Evainer: the reason you should go to Comic-Con.

Drake Improving

Mark Evanier is reporting that Ken Gale is reporting that Arnold Drake's condition "is much improved." That is truly great news.

I met Arnold a few years ago at the San Diego Comic-Con, first when he was on a panel that Mark Evanier was hosting and later in the Artist's Alley, where Arnold had a table. What a great man, so full of life and real joy! He was wearing a "I'm Deadman's Father" t-shirt and had a large reproduction of the cover to Strange Adventures #205 on the table beside him. The cover was hand water-colored and I remarked that I thought it was one of the best covers in the history of comics, not so much for the Carmine Infantino/George Rousso artwork (which is pretty damn cool!), but because the caption was pure magic. Arnold agreed, saying, "Yeah, that caption is the single best thing I ever wrote." For those too lazy to click on the artwork and see a larger copy, it reads

This man who was just murdered is our hero!

His story begins one minute later--

Introducing... DEADMAN

Pure magic Arnold, pure magic! Get well soon my man!

You Snooze, You Lose!

So I'm working at home today, minding my own business, finalizing some detail design specifications for a boatload of new functionality for some of the websites at work, when I suddenly remember that today is the day that you can begin making hotel reservations for the San Diego Comic-Con.

I look at the clock and realize that I'm not a complete buffoon, they only opened up the hotel reservation system fifty-five minutes ago. What harm can being fifty-five minutes late be?

Well, as the saying goes, "You snooze, you lose!" In the world of Comic-Con hotel reservations, fifty-five minutes is a lifetime. We have stayed at the same hotel, The Holiday Inn on the Bay, for the past 10 to 15 years. We like it because it is on the water, across the street from Anthony's Fish Grotto. has a Ruth's Chris Steak House attached and is a nice walk to the convention center in the mornings or a short shuttle ride. Well, in 55 minutes it can sell out. So can all the other hotels in town.

The few that are miles away from the convention center were still available, but who wants to be way out there? Nobody, which is why they were still available.

Doing a thorough search however, I found that one hotel seven blocks from the convention center did have rooms, though not the normal rooms. The available rooms are called the "Wonderful Rooms" and they come at a not so wonderful price.

You snooze, you lose a lot more money on hotel rooms than you anticipated.

Getting Ready for the Con!

I have been going to the San Diego Comic-Con since 1976. I haven't made it every year, but I've made it most years. Every year I see the Souvenir Program Guide and I go, "Dammit! I didn't do a piece of art for it again!" Many a year I have sketched ideas for the Program Guide and not gone any farther. This year I said, "To hell with that! I'm doing it!"

And this year I actually did.

The above illustration is my entry for the Guide. This is the 50th anniversary of The Flash and of Gumby and of me, so we are all together arm-in-arm. Yeah, I could have put a background on it, and I could have improved all of the figures, and yeah, this picture proves once again that I can't ink worth a damn, but I had fun doing it anyway. And I feel good about completing something for once.

I wonder what the picture I do for next year's Comic-Con will look like?