In short: It was FUUUUUN.
This was my fourth year attending. Each year has been a different experience, mostly because of the company attending...
2004: Me, Juice and (then) roommate Mike attended our very first Comic-Con. Complete with hangovers, puking and a big wake up call to how big this thing really was. I was too chicken-shit to talk to anyone really, so aside from an awkward moment with a creator or two, we sat in panels: The biggies being the REVENGE OF THE SITH unveiling, as well as the still VERY memorable SERENITY panel where Joss Whedon had the entire cast with him.
2005: Me and the Juice return for Year 2 by ourselves. I remember being surprised and blown away at Darren Aronofsky's trailer to THE FOUNTAIN. They showed it at the tail end of the Vertigo panel, which was a nice surprise considering I was bummed that we didn't get to see it in the Hall H show they had. This was also the year we were treated to the mysterious "KING" at the end of the Cup of Joe panel.
2006: Me and the Girlfriend attend. At the time she had read a lot of my comics so she wasn't in the dark or anything, but she was a huge sport and went along with almost everything I wanted to see. The best thing we probably did was the SNAKES ON A PLANE show. Samuel Jackson still is the best celebrity appearance I've seen at the con. Got my first ever sketch from Stan Sakai and attended the entertaining madness that is the Masquerade.
But enough about past years!
2007:
Me and the Girlfriend go again. With the Juice making his triumphant return, this time with his lovely wife accompanying.
This year was spent much like the previous three: Catching the sites on the floor, attending panels and shopping. In some ways, I feel like I did less of all three, and some how ended up doing a lot more overall. The new thing this year for me was the sketchbook. I had a lot of fun getting one from Stan Sakai last year and more than anything, its a great way to have a conversation with some of my favorite artists. The sketches that I got will come later in the week once I get them uploaded.
FRIDAY PANELS:
I attended Cup of Joe for the fourth year in a row, which is always entertaining. But this one was kind of boring, maybe because in past years something HUGE has been announced. This year it was the exclusivity of Phil Jimenez. Nothing against Phil, but come on. Otherwise, it was okay. But MAN, Joey Q has lost some weight.
I also attended the not-quite-a-panel of Simone Bianchi cutting his hair and being announced as the the new artist of Astonishing X-Men. It was a lot of fun, but I couldn't stick around for the final look since I had to race for a panel.
But man did Marvel sorta screw this up. I saw all of these things advertised for 3:00 at Marvel's stage:- Simone Bianchi has a special announcment about his new series at 3:00.
- Simone Bianchi gets his hair cut at 3:00 in honor of his new series.
- The new creative team to Astonishing X-Men will be announced at 3:00.
Vertigo Panel was good. There was the usual talking of books already out, as well as books coming up. Not too much that fans of Vertigo haven't heard about. But this was just one of the times I saw Brian Azzarello thoroughly annoyed that he was even IN San Diego. He entertained me, as he was off to the side looking angry, and giving short sarcastic answers whenever anyone made reference to him.
One of the surprise panels of the trip, was Scott McCloud and Family. What a blast. For those that don't know, Scott McCloud and his family have been going all around the United States (and more) on a year long adventure, while Scott does various lectures and what not. More on that here. So this panel was basically Scott and the eldest, slightly more precocious daughter narrating a slide show. No questions got to be asked really, because this ran way long to the point where the last 15 minutes was told in super speed, reminding me a little of the Europe segment in Roger Avery's Rules of Attraction. All of the McClouds talked over each other, butting in with high energy and lots of laughing. It was a good time, and you can tell that this year will go down as a memorable one for the family.
SATURDAY PANELS:
I'm a long time David Morrell fan. Not that I think his books are the second coming of Hemingway or anything, but damn if he doesn't do a fun action novel. My first and favorite, is "Brotherhood of the Rose" although he is best known for creating the character of John Rambo in "First Blood." He was there to talk about the upcoming Captain America comic he is doing (which I am all over), but really it was a chance to just hear him talk period. A lot of conversation went into his influences and interests that helped create Rambo, and how growing up without a father and then losing his 15 year-old son influenced his writing over the years. A really good panel.
Then after an afternoon of shopping and sketches, went and got in line for the Marvel Studios panel in gigantor Hall H. We were so far back in line that I didn't think we were going to get in. I read Ennis' Streets of Glory preview while I melted in the sun. We eventually got in and it was a fun panel. Edward Norton seemed genuinely happy to be playing the Hulk and a bit humble at the size of the audience. Liv Tyler was sweet: at one point a girl steps up to ask her a question dressed like Arwyn and she almost seemed moved. "Oh my gooooodness, its Arwyn! You look beautiful!" Interestingly, both Norton and the Director talked about Bruce Jones' run as inspiration. Which might bug some people, but I really liked the run, especially the first half. I still would prefer if it was a continuation of the movie they just made with Ang Lee, but what can you do. The Iron Man half was better. Mainly because John Favreau had SO much energy and excitement over the project. And he brought footage:
Looks like fun. I actually watched the guy filming this a few rows in front of me. There was security close by too, but I think they were too busy watching it themselves. Robert Downey Jr. was hilarious! He was being a sarcastic asshole and basically never really being serious about anything. Gwyneth Paltrow was laughing at Robert the whole panel and didn't say much. Terrance Howard was also there, and he was outed as a long time Rhody fan and REALLY wants to strap on the War Machine armor in future movies. Good panel. This is the second year in a row that I ventured into Hall H only once. Helps keep my sanity.
Marvel Movie Side Bar: I'm wondering with the start of Marvel Studios, if we are going to see little nods towards continuity in these movies. Perhaps why they started over with the Hulk continuity? They mention the plan to get to an Avengers movie, so I guess we have to get these knocked out first. Will we start to see Marvel characters cameo in each other movies I wonder.
So then it was a race to catch the rest of the Wildstorm panel that had already started. Nothing to note, really. They talked about the upcoming Armageddon mini that Christos is doing and seem to gloss over the fact that Worldstorm appears to not have gone over well. Creative teams changing like crazy as sales dwindle. A brave soul finally asked about Authority and Wildcats. Jim Lee said that Wildcats is coming, he's getting Batman back on track and now that Morrison is returning to the scripts he'll get to them when he can. Authority the same. As soon as Ha gets the scripts, he'll start drawing. Too bad that they didn't have a more concrete announcement about it. Brian Azzarello was here once again, being surly as ever: the final question of the panel was a long winded question about comics vs. movies on the internet or something and would comics be successful first and Brian jumped in with a "No." Cracked me up.
After more shopping, the con proper ended for me. We went to the pub, pigged out and slammed down a few pints of Guinness to get us in the mood for Mr. Warren Ellis. Earlier in the day, my girlfriend and I met him at the annoying ass Avatar booth, where we got her copy of Crooked Little Vein signed. He and the Girlfriend exchange e-mails with odd links in them, so he was happy to finally meet her in person, and put a face to the e-mail name. He was really nice about it all. On to the panel:
This was definitely the HIGHLIGHT of the show for me. Two hours of good Warren Ellis fun. I've been a fan of Warren's since his Excalibur run, and a Fan for Life with Transmetropolitan, which is one my absolute favorite things in this medium. (I should have worn my Warren Ellis Tour shirt from 1997, but I forgot.) Needless to say at this point, but I was really excited. Basically, people got in line and asked questions, and he fired back in the Warren Ellis way: foul mouthed, with hints of alcohol and cigarettes on his breath. Just like his characters. Publisher of Avatar William Christiansen kept interrupting, and although he was an annoying git, it didn't ruin the panel at all. Highlights for me was his Alan Moore story and the fiasco where he was goaded into drinking the Sparks after being called a pussy. I have video of it, but its not very good and its too large to upload to youtube, so until I figure that out, here's a screenshot:
There was so much asked and answered that it is hard to relay it all. This is the best thing I've seen as far as wrap ups go. I wonder if it will be another decade before he returns.And that for me was the panels I attended over two days. I didn't take very many pictures this year (I always seem to be too busy DOING to have time), but here are some that I took:
First, the obligatory shot of the masses:
Then there was of course a couple of big crazy floor items.
Jabba the Hutt:
And then there was Iorek from the upcoming Golden Compass movie:
Then there is also some of your favorites from film.
Old School -- Blade Runner:
New School -- Hot Fuzz:
And I actually got a real star as well, up close and personal. Rosario Dawson, who never mind what Ellis says, DOES have tits even though she is really skinny in person. I just missed the cleavage shot, so no selling of it to websites:
Then there are a couple of the con faithful in all their wacky glory.
Does ANYONE know where these guys are from?
And my personal favorite of the con, what I am calling DARK GALACTUS.Note the skirt, and the big anime shoes. BRAVO MY FRIEND! BRAVO !!
So that's my report. Part 1.
Part 2 will be a reaction to actual real life Comic Book News. There was a ton!
Part 3 will be my Sketches. Gotta get em all scanned in first.
(And I hope I can figure out how to get that Warren Ellis video up.)
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