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SCBWI asked me to make a video about how I work so I made this short film about my studio and something that I did for the video.
Check it out.

-MC

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Been away for ages, Keeping busy with more exploration and practice with illustrator and photoshop... Lemme know what you think if you have a few minutes to spare.

Hope you dig,
P

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This is Horatio, he likes boats... Schooners, clippers, steamers, and U's... it doesn't matter.. He just gets wild eyed crazy when he's out on the beach with his Boats..
I'm still working on my illustrator chops and applying bits of photoshop where I don't completely understand all of the illustrator functions for shading, gradation, and texture applications. Furthermore I've had a little Bob Staake on the brain with my drawings and recent re-introduction to Illustrator... I love shape based drawing so much..

Hope you dig..
P

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A cute character design.

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Mermiads is my new illustration series, six new works where I do my own interpretation of these popular creatures.

“I like to collect seashells!

I wonder what we have today for lunch, maybe we go down to the darkest depths to looking for something to eat.

Don’t mistake me for my sisters they are all like me, they are the only friends I’ve had, I will never ever leave them, they make me feel so blue and immense.

We like to play between the sea currents, swim beside the young whales, we hide among the corals, go to hunt to the marshes or recover lost treasures.

Tiny traveler,
are we going to appear in your dreams or in your nightmares?”

http://arwassa.com/

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I want to introduce my new Illustration Series called “Psique”. Five new illustrations that will be followed by some custom toys and other works. I’m really happy with the insane look they have :)

All the images in my website: http://arwassa.com

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This is my proposal for the last art pack of the collective Hysterical Minds.

Expression 4.0 : Madness, a total of 42 art works, among which we can find photographs, illustrations or photomanipulations. Please take a look to all participants work here :D

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someone else!

Much like everything else in life, he will find what he’s looking for where he least expects it…

A quick one for this week. I love the film noir era so I wanted to give our little character the same feel. I don’t know what it is but something’s missing…no pun intended..but I didn’t want to add anything else since I don’t want to over complicate it.

P.S. I sooo want an Ipad.

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© Andy Bauer 2010
My Blog - http://artbyandy.blogspot.com/
My Portfolio - http://www.artbyandybauer.com

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What is the difference between vector art  and raster art, and why should a children's illustrator care?

Flash and Adobe Illustrator both create vector line art. One way to describe the value of vector art: If you export your Flash-drawn line art as an AI or EPS file, it is scaleable up or down -- as large or as small as you like -- without losing any quality in the end. Pixel resolution is not a concern when you are in a working vector file. The art in the working file is not dependent on pixel resolution... and if the finished file is also vector-native, such as an .EPS file, then the art in the end file is not either.

Photoshop, for all its wonderful qualities, creates bitmapped /raster art. And I am a die-hard Photoshop-head, for sure. I promise, I am not knocking my dear Photoshop . I'm simply pointing out something that just is not built into Photoshop. Photoshop, by contrast, uses pixels to DEFINE the resolution of the working file. It is not scaleable the way that vector art is. When you create your working Photoshop art, what you "set" is what you "get". What I mean is, what ever you "set" your resolution to - your file size to, is not changeable in the end. It is what it is. If you draw your racecar at 2 inches wide at 300 dpi, you cannot scale it up to 2.5" inches without loss of quality. (You'll get smudgey, dirty pixels around the perimeter of your car.) The one thing you CAN do that is contrary to this, is if you plan to work at a WAY higher resolution, say 600-1000 pixels per inch, you can then place that art into a regular print-res file for printing (300 ppi) and the art WILL be larger by virtue of the pixel-per-inch size differential. (This is not necessarily something I recommend doing, but it is an option for those times when you need to create a truly ginormous piece of artwork such as for a trade show booth, or for an extremely large outdoor advertisement to be used for a wall of a bus stop cover, for instance.)

I like to use Flash to illustrate and do line art because the line has an organic feel. But Flash also has it's drawbacks: you cannot create custom brushes for instance, and the line quality in Flash is not the most detailed. These issues are likely due to the fact that Flash was primarily created as a tool for animation, not for finished illustrations. (Fair enough, but I sure hope they upgrade the drawing capabilities in future releases).  Adobe Illustrator also does a wonderful job creating vector art, and is the industry standard in vector art creation. In the past, I shunned Illustrator for it's lack of natural- looking, natural-feeling brushes. But nowadays, things are different. Illustrator comes with some lovely painterly brushes, and now, you can even craft your very own brushes with ease, right in the program itself! While I've always felt Illustrator also has it's own set of drawbacks, I now feel that, with Illustrator as it is TODAY, my own personal lack of breadth of knowledge of the program is my main liability with the program. It's come an awfully long way - and I will be exploring it in far more depth this year. 


Ever since I myself discovered the value and importance of having a vector line style I can really stand behind, I feel as though I personally have been on a crusade to push vector art to my fellow children's edu illustrators. So much 'black line' art is called for in educational work. It's important for artists to make their own individual discoveries and find a method they enjoy to create this form of art. This serves both the clients' interest as WELL as our own. Specifically with 'black line' art, vector art is the most flexible type of file for clients, and it is becomin

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Step two:  I scan in all the sketches that I think would be good to use for the composition, and bring them into Photoshop, where I organize each of the element into a framework that I like. This step, to me, is a lot like playing with Colorforms. (As a kid, I played with lots of Colorforms. My favorite was the Peanuts.)










I will then bring my sketch into Adobe Flash, place it on a layer, make it into a graphic and lock it in a layer. I wil make it transparent and use my sketch to guide my illustration. There are many similarities and also a lot of differences. I often do a lot of on-the-fly changes to the original sketch, and additional embellishments while I do the drawing part.

When I am satisfied with the ink job, I export it as a vector art (Adobe Illustrator) file. I then open it in Photoshop, crop it to the correct size and then move on to the painting. In general I place the "ink" layer above my painting layers. Once in awhile I will paint in a layer on top of the "ink" but that is much later in the process.

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For a long time I've struggled with finding the perfect method to produce black line work. I wanted a tool that felt as natural using Photoshop does to me, but that also allows me to create vector line art. The truth is, I just don't enjoy working in Adobe Illustrator enough to commit to a line style created in it. It's simply too much of a struggle for me to get a line in Illustrator that is not dictated by the medium in a really forced, unnatural way, so I don't use it. But, I also want my work to be flexible for clients' needs. So, all in all, vector really is the way to go. Up until now, I've just been doing any "black-line" style work in Photoshop, but the no-vector trade-off really limits it's usefulness... and, by extension, the marketability of my work as well.

Well, recently I read a great tutorial about how Flash works as a vector drawing tool by illustrator Bob Flynn. I use Flash at my day job, and, though I illustrate in Flash all the time, I never knew that you could export your work as an .ai file (Adobe Illustrator's native working file) and have absolutely no loss of line quality. Up until now, when I have worked between Illustrator and Flash, I'd always had a loss of quality in the vector art, as I'd move to and fro. Why?? I was cutting and pasting. NOT exporting. An "A-ha" moment, for sure, but I just never expected something as simple (and as useful!) as "Export > Export Image... to Adobe Illustator" to be an option in a product which is primarily used for screen resolution only. Live and learn!

Read the Flash Tutorial here

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A short while back I began doing all my "inking" in Adobe Illustrator, and I have to say I've been really pleased with the results. Here's my rendition of Dylan.

See more at my website.

Mark

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My Chemical Romance front-man Gerard Way.

Visit my website.

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Here's a rapid-fire illustration/logo job I did for a charity event benefiting kids with cancer. This one is a little bit Russell Benfanti, a little Bob Staake, and a whole lot of what you'll get out of me with no pencil sketch or pre-conceived ideas in my head. This whole thing took me about three hours, start to finish.

Visit my website.

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Caricature I did of a family friend for her wedding.

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I'm a huge fan of the newest version of Doctor Who, so I thought it would be cool to illustrate the newest doctor (along with my favorite of his companions, Freema Agyema) as the cover to a classic comic book.

Visit my website.

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Via Colleen Coover the “Comics are not literature” panel from San Diego that was practically the only provocative one, as far as we can tell, is up. We haven’t listened yet, but it’s very high on our catch up list.

Image of Douglas Wolk, Dan Nadel, and Sara Ryan stolen from Coover. Who just got married this weekend to panelist on the above Paul Tobin so big congrats to the happy couple, and here’s a picture of that, taken by Paul Guinan.

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This is it! The trilogy ends! SD07 Report III starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, Mike Myers, Tobey Maguire and Johnny Depp. Third time the charm! Third time bloated and off the track Third time not as good as it used to be. Third time looking old and fat.

Friday night was another madhouse. There was the big 300/Blade Runner thing going on at Petco Park, and even though I had an invite to the party, the sight of young men roaming the streets with their 300 shields made me think I would rather go the other way. I’m sure it was quite the event, and I later got to hear Peter Kuper tell me his story of hanging out with Sean Young (he went to school with her) which was almost as good as being there. Instead I headed to the Zuda party, a smallish affair which included snackables…not having eaten anything substantial all day, that was enough of a lure for me.

Zuda. By now you may have all heard PvP’s Scott Kurtzx’s exhortation “We are not contestants.” I’m not sure anyone knows what Zuda is or will be. I do know the party was a chance to see some folks I never got to see otherwise, like Dan Goldman, Molly Crabapple, Tom Fowler and Tom Spurgeon. I also had the odd but touching experience of having Paul Levitz himself show me the Zuda interface — well, he didn’t do it himself, he had the Man From IBM show me, but the interface is very smooth and impressive. I think it’s made for people who aren’t really into the whole webcomics thing, and it is certainly a good interface to replicate as much as possible the print comic experience online. Paul was genuinely enthusiastic about it and the whole Zuda thing — depending on your viewpoint this is either exciting or terrifying.

After scarfing down some chicken tenders, it was off to the Eisners. In past years I was usually able to snag a seat at a table, but my wifi was working, and I spotted a power outlet over in the corner, so I made the decision on the fly to live blog, with the results you have all seen, typoos and all. For all my bitching and moaning, the Eisners are the only place to see a lot of people in a relatively unstressed atmosphere.

The problem was that the ceremony was just ungodly loooooooooong and that was even with “professional” entertainment. It’s one thing to sit at a table with pals you can make comments to…sitting by myself on the floor and getting colder and colder, it was just not as much fun. People kept texting me from this party or that party. At 10 or so I looked at the program and there were still 14 categories to go. I knew I would never make it and I bailed out.

Since then I’ve read many people say it was the best Eisners ever. The very awesome and smart Pam Noles (left) said so on her blog, so it must be true. I guess for people who made it to the Jonathan Ross boy-on-boy action section, that was true. I can truthfully say that as I was leaving the people who I saw out in the hall were profoundly jealous that I was leaving early. I am very very very glad that it all ended on a high note and people went home happy. At the halfway point, that outcome wasn’t at all clear.

(And I should also add that I saw Jonathan Ross MC an entire Brit Comics Awards about 10 years ago at the very last UKCAC in London. So there…nyah nyah nyah!)

Once freed, my first stop was the Oni/UTA party, which was at some trendy bar. I said hi to Oni prexy Joe Nozemack, Ted Naifeh and Lee Loughridge but there weren’t too many people I recognized there. My group decided to try for the MySpace/William Morris party, another rooftop affair. Unfortunately we arrived just as the Fire Marshals had decided that the roof had just enough people on it, and there was a big line for the elevators. That was a no go, which bummed me out because by all accounts it was a fabulous fete. By then it was almost midnight and people were now texting me from the EISNERS with winners and what not, so I figured I would head back there and see the wrap-up.

Indeed I arrived just in time to hear that I had missed the greatest moment in Eisner history when Ross and Neil Gaiman snogged. While some may think this is true, I got to see Ramona Fradon pick up her Hall of Fame award earlier and that was MY highlight.

I hung out at the Eisner after party for a bit, catching up with Rory Root and apologizing to Whitney Matheson for my picking on her in my live blogging. I made a point of going up to her and telling her how much I liked her and her writing, and she was kind of bemused and embarrassed by the whole thing, I think. For the record, Whitney Matheson is a very good blogger, and a genuine comics fan and a really, really swell person — however, as I told her, she and Paul Pope had just given me too much fodder for snark…especially when the A/V went belly up. So anyway, I hope she forgives me — I hope Jackie forgives me too.

That said, THE EISNERS ARE TOO LONG. I ran into Neil Gaiman the next day and he said only “Four hours.” and held up four fingers. I hear all kinds of rumors that the Eisners will be moved to Thursday because of all the big movie competition — which would make no sense, because there is a ton of competition on Thursday, too! There is no way to make Hollywood respect the Eisner, I fear. The big comic book awards have become another quaint Pictish tradition. The only way to fight fire with fire would be a shorter ceremony, and a kick ass Governor’s ball type soiree afterwards. I don’t know how to make the former a reality, but I do know that when next year’s Eisner judges are announced, everyone needs to write to them and beg them to TAKE OUT SOME CATEGORIES. Or give out some awards earlier in the day or something, so you can have someone say “In a ceremony earlier today, the following Eisners were presented.”

As for the celebrity presenter thing, obviously they are far more professional and entertaining than, say Freddie Freelancer and Eddie Inker. I hope Hollywood doesn’t take over here, too, however, and the presenters stay nerdish comic booky types.

After the Eisners it was the traditional run to the Hyatt for more bombastic schmoozing. I have no memory of this evening at all. I guess I saw another 200 people I knew and said 5 words each to them. I turned n the early side to get some sleep. The traditional day of Conmageddon loomed; Saturday there would be no breakfast.

*****

Saturday I had a panel at 10:30, so there was no time to eat or blog or do anything but grab a big cup of coffee, an apple and a power bar from the hotel. Oh how I wished I had made that trip to Ralph’s. The Comics Journalism panel went pretty well, I think. I said some of the things I say on every one of those panels, Douglas and Spurge and Tom M. said some very intelligent things, Nisha said some very nice things about me, Graeme hardly said anything at all, and it was very painless despite the hour. I guess by now adrenaline and fat reserves had kicked in — I actually felt far more clear headed than I had on Wednesday; I was getting my con legs.

After three days of fighting the vast throngs, a couple of suspicions had begun to form in my head. One was that this couldn’t go on as it had. Comic-Con sold out. It is not big enough. I’ll get back to that final, crushing realization in a bit, but my other suspicion was that maybe it wouldn’t be the con itself that changed…maybe Hollywood would change.

The way things are going, there are two possible paths, I reckoned. Either things can stay the same and 140,000 lucky winners can cram into the hall every year. Or else Movie-Con will go the way of E3.

I’ve mention this theory here before. Back in the days E3 was a loud, garish horrifying video game conference held every year in Los Angeles. Last year, they decided enough was enough and changed the event from giant trade show with booths and porn stars on the floor to a media-only series of presentations and exhibits. Will Hollywood one day decide that spending thousands and thousands of dollars on giving tchotkes to families from Irvine isn’t the best way to spend marketing money? I can’t think of any other event where Hollywood gives things to the general public on such a huge scale.

I ran this idea up a few people’s flag pole, and most seemed to agree that this is a possibility if logistics keep getting harder and harder. While Joel Silver and Gwyneth Paltrow undoubtedly have flunkies to take care of them, for the studio grunts on the floor, it’s still a madhouse. One day they are all going to wake up and decide Comic-Con isn’t cool anymore. One Hollywood type I mentioned this to had a third option: events moved off site, a parallel movie-con.

This is all speculative of course; the Con has signed up with San Diego through 2012. It isn’t going anywhere, despite the rumors.

Despite some of my earlier lessons learned, the thing about Saturday was that everyone had made lots of plans. With Saturday the presumed craziest day, everyone had decided to busy themselves to avoid having to face the unknown. As a result, I was able to get everywhere and do everything I had to do. I can up to see part of the spotlight on Lily Renee Phillips, the famed Fiction House artist of the 40s. (The only two people whose panels I *HAD* to see were Clive Owen and Lily Renee.)

I’d heard Trina say what a sophisticated, elegant lady Lily Renee is, but seeing her made it all so much clearer. The audience had many comics historians in it — Roy Thomas asked many pertinent questions. Phillips truly lived a life few could imagine — training to be a dancer, escaping the Nazis, becoming a comic book artist at age 18. And then….giving it up to get married and raise a family, while remaining active in the highest social circles. Drawing comics had just been something she had done, Phillips explained, a part of her past. She no longer draws, although she thinks about it. Looking at her youthful work with its undeniable talent and verve, it seems like a waste, but like Rose DeWitt in Titanic, Phillips has gone on to live a rich, full life as the elegant, cultured woman she is. But I can’t help wondering what might have been.

After this I did some Hollywood videoblogging with movie creators Charles Vess, Steve Lieber and Scott Morse. It was a real treat to get to talk to Scott about Ratatouille, needless to say! I even managed to get back to the Omni in time for a 2 o’clock interview with Warren Ellis. (Thanks to Avatar’s very hard working David Marks for setting this up.) Jesus, I was being so productive! I got more done in this one day than the rest of the con. Then it was some meetings…by 4 o clock I decided to have all the rest of my meetings at the fish taco place, armed with a pint of Sierra Nevada, and Comic-Con was suddenly looking up.

Actually, it was beginning to wind down. It’s a strange feeling when you know Brigadoon is going back into hiding. You’ve been in training and planning for weeks or months, anticipating the worst…or the best. And now it’s all going to be in the past, just part of another 12,000 word blog entry.

I was supposed to attend the First Second dinner but some personal things came up and I couldn’t get there in time. Instead I headed over the the SciFi/EW party. All week I had been hearing how this was the toughest ticket in town. I had an actual invite, but just to prove that I still had the sangfroid, I managed to get in my +1. I was only going to stay for a little bit and then head over to the Yen Press bash at the site of the previous night’s MySpace bachanale, but in all honesty this was the perfect party. Tons of food and drink, celebrities (although since I don’t watch much TV, I didn’t recognize anyone but Robert Downey Jr. and Stan Lee.) and a great atmosphere. There was only a smattering of comic book type folks, although plenty of my fellow journos. I chatted up the dynamic Comic Foundry duo Tim Leong and Laura Hudson, EW’s Mark Bernardin and Nisha Gopalan, always affable Whitney Matheson, James Sime, Mark Askwith, Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, and later on, Justin Gray, John Cassaday, Dan Didio and Jeremy Atkins of Dark Horse. I am sure I am forgetting someone. Oh yes, I also met screenwriter/comics scribe John Rogers, who is as funny in person as you’d think from reading his blog.

Everyone was super fabulous and special, and the ice cream was delicious. But…I began to undergo a perverse kind of survivors guilt. Why was *I* here and not the people who deserved it? I wished Jack were there. Sure Stan was there — wearing his ever present Members Only jacket– but he has a tv show on SciFi so they couldn’t very well leave him out. I wished Stan Sakai was there. If the Normans all pick up their tents and leave, there will still be Comic-Con. There will still be cartoonists, men and women, boys and girls scratching out their jokes and fantasies. And other people will show up to share those jokes and fantasies. Maybe there will be only 300 people. But they will all enjoy it.

After drinking way too many Seabreezes, it was time for the Walpurgisnacht of Comic-Con, Saturday at the Hyatt. This is hands down the craziest, wildest night of the show. It’s the 616 and Earth-2 and Lemuria and all the rest all rolled into one. As if to assuage my party guilt, about 5 seconds after I arrived I was in a circle chatting with Rob G, Rick Spears, Farel Dalrymple and JIm Rugg, four of the most talented people you will ever meet in your life. THAT is why going to Comic-Con is worth while.

In the bar, the tumult had reached a dull roar that sounded kind of like this.

It felt kind of like it, too. Within 30 seconds I had run into about 20 people I had worked with, feuded with, longed for or dated. It was no different for anyone there, I think. I retreated to the outside “smokers” lounge — I recalled how in past years this was a quiet place to have a real conversation. Now about a hundred people milled around, trying to score drugs, hook up or talk about comics. My local posse tried to crash a room party and were rebuffed, so we ended up in the lobby over by Reddfields.

Here, a nebulous group was hanging around that included, in no particular order: Ed Brubaker, Pia Guerra, Ian Boothby, Brian Posehn, Laura Silverman, Jay Johnston (these three from The Sara Silverman Show), Ben McCool, Jah Furry, Zena Tsarfin, Shane McCarthy, Charlie Adlard, Brandon Montclare, Nina Kester, Emmet Furey and some other random types including an agent and probably someone I’m forgetting (God knows how.) I spotted Bill Sienkiewicz and Rob Liefeld in the nearby environs. I have no idea what we were talking about, although I did check with Ed on a rumor I’d heard that he and Thomas Jane has a fist fight. Turned out that it wasn’t true, although Jane had been humorously running around in the bar the previous night yelling “I’m going to kill Ed Brubaker!” That’s how these things get started.

And that’s Comic-con. After all my griping, these random moments are what I love the most. Not that anything constructive is being accomplished, but it’s all so unlikely in the greater scheme of things. It’s a big giant dice roll, the ultimate “random encounter.” Will it be a centipede or a balrog or Steve Leialoha or Gene Simmons?

Back outside, I engaged in some final speculation on the future of the show with a knowledgeable group. The idea of splitting up “studio city” was a popular one, which I’ll get back. And then it was too late and everyone was too incoherent. A random guy from Australia named Matt was recruited by Fanboy Radio’s Scott to make sure I got back to my hotel. The pastel Grendel was finished by now, the Spartans were gone, Stormtrooper Elvis was gone, no one was left but that lone Elite guard stood, watching the Beowulf display into the small dark hours of the night.

*****

Sunday dawned bright, clear and dry. Again. Sunday is the day for goodbyes, which are all too often hellos AND goodbyes. I was sad. I had just figured out how to survive this thing and it was ending. I wished I was younger and full of energy so I could take advantage of everything that was happening. I wished I could focus more so I remember more. I wished summer was just beginning instead of 2/3rds over so I could showoff the tan I was working on. I wished a lot of things.

I was awoken by a call asking if I wanted to interview Rosario Dawson and I said of course, so I rallied the DivX crew for one more video. I hooked up with Ted McKeever who I hadn’t seen the whole show. (Ted is very fit and tan as is his girlfriend, a product of Florida living I suppose, but they looked suspiciously fresh and hyealthy for Comic-con attendees!) I wanted to go through the Pirates of the Caribbean display but there was a line of about 100 people so never mind that. I ran into Ivy McCloud and Nat Gertler and Larry Marder and Leonard Wong, people who I hadn’t seen the entire show. We had one final PW Comics Week meeting, so I hiked out back for my very first trip ever to Joe’s Crab Shack.

Now, I have heard of this fabled Shangri La many many times, but for some reason I always had it in my mind that it was an actual…shack. So I was kind of shocked when I discovered that it was a real restaurant, but after all that had gone before it seemed like a surreal oasis: a laid back seafod bar set on the water. It was like the movie where there hero is hit by a crane and wakes up and thinks he’s gone to heaven.

I had only time for a drink and a debriefing with Calvin Reid, Judy Culkin and Kai Ming Cha. It seemed a ludicrous island of calm after all that had gone before, but I suppose when the Big Hilton opens in back of the Convention Center, this area will become as crowded and busy as any other. Oh well.

Dinner, as I have done for the past 13 or 14 years, was tapas with a few friends. Not counting my fish taco run with Stuart Moore and Michael Gaydos, it was the only hot meal I had with a group for the whole show. Then it was off to the traditional Graphitti Dead Dog party. Everyone was pretty dead, but it is always fun. I said hi to Denis Kitchen as he escorted whiz kid Alexa Kitchen home — even whiz kids have an early bed time, it seems. It was hi and bye to Bob Burden, Jeff Smith, Vijaya Iyer, Bob Schreck and many many others. I had no thoughts left to think and although people were trying to get me to go to the Hyatt for the last hurrah, I was hurrahed out.

But not quite. The next morning, I set off for Disneyland with a doughty crew tghat included, Trish, Ben, Mark Chiarello, and Richard and Tanya Horie. Mark, Richard and I had all worked for Disney at various times, so we had a lot of insider tales to share. This was my first trip to Disneyland in five or six years, and all my favorite rides had been improved a bit. The new bride at the Haunted Mansion was great, and Space Mountain is better than ever. (The little Rocketeer in the popcorn machine is still toiling away in Tomorrowland.) Small World was great, and you still go to hell with Mr. Toad. Indiana Jones is as fabulous as ever.

But then there was Pirates of the Caribbean, my favorite place on earth, now changed to reflect the deeply flawed film series. Would I hate it? I was filled with anxiety.

I could never truly hate Pirates, but the new version saddens me. The great sea battle, once eerily silent save for the splash of cannon balls and a single pirates ranting, is now loud and bombastic. Worst of all is the new ending, with Captain Jack Sparrow living to tell the tale of those who went before him. NO NO NO. Jack does not live. Pirates of the Caribbean is about a dusty pointless death and no one gets out of this thing alive. How could they screw it up like this? YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP! DAMN YOU! GOD DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!

I guess Pirates of the Caribbean marred is as good a metaphor for Comic-Con as anything. We can all long for the Eden-like ideal of the US Grant, but once you’ve eaten from the Tree of Marketing Knowledge you can’t go back. I find the idea of Sam Raimi suggesting that the show be renamed Movie-Con - then guiltily saying he didn’t mean it another perfect metaphor. I don’t think Raimi, he of the Vulture, Sandman and Doc Ock, really wants to rename anything. He just got caught up in the heat of the moment like we all did.

Which leaves the real problem of what to do with all those people? San Diego is now like the World Series. You can’t just walk up and get a ticket. Is that really the correct model for a festival that is supposed to celebrate comics and cartoons?

As I pointed out in my first post, more people go to Comic-Con in a day than go to Disneyland!!! The buzzword for the future is off-site, off-site, off-site. More events at hotels, more events in tents, more events at PetCo Park for all I know.

While I’ve done my share of griping, I don’t mean to suggest that the hard working folks who run Comic-Con don’t share all my concerns and worries. I know they do. And I don’t envy any of them their jobs! Having done a tiny bit of event planning in my day I know how horrible a job it is and how you can never make everybody happy.

And then there are the locals. Last year, the mayor went to the show floor for the first time. This year he was slagging the show on the radio. I’m tempted to say something sweeping like “San Diego is a shitty town!” but that isn’t true, even though I would never live there. I guess I can see why pepople who spend all that money to live there don’t like armies of stormtroopers and pirates running around downtown eating all their food. Bars, and hotel and restaurants LOVE the con, of course, but that seems to be a license to jack up prices and not to make things any easier.

I think the vast majority of people had a good time this year, despite the struggles and lines. Although many folks say they won’t be back, when they announce next year’s Futurama panel or Family Guy panel or Batman panel, you know they will be lining up. They will be there to see Jim Lee and Michael Turner, as well as R. Stevens and Tycho and Gabe.

I do have one VERY MODEST PROPOSAL: Ban people in costume from the show floor. Seriously. When it wasn’t a movie star or a bag giveaway it was some girls in bikinis blocking traffic as scores of drooling fanboys stopped them to take their picture. There should be a costume promenade Under the Sails or something. I know this isn’t likely to happen but the costumed folks are the real traffic stoppers.

I kept saying that the crowding at San Diego was the best ad possible for the New York Comic-con, and indeed, I heard many publishers saying they are saving their announcements and roll outs for that show. As I suspected, Europeans are beginning to choose New York over San Diego — it’s cheaper and all Euros love New York. The people who got turned away are going to spill over to other venues, that’s undeniable.

The hotel problem is going to get worse before it gets better. I’m already hearing rumors that the Hyatt and Marriott are already sold out for next year. Indeed, you can’t book online for those dates now, but that may be some other kind of procedural glitch. I also heard that fewer rooms will be available at the Omni, which saddens me because that is my new favorite hotel. I suspect next year will be even WORSE for getting a hotel room, and paying less than $250 a night for a room is a thing of the past, and $350 is more like it. This will eventually correct itself as those who can’t afford it stop going to the show.

In the end, we’ll all adapt. I’ll pack food and water and bring it with me on the plane. Press lists will be widened. Parties will ebb and flow. Publishers will be happy just to sell literal tons of books and not worry about what’s going on in some other hall. The Picts and the Tuatha and the Saxons and the Normans will all enjoy their own little rituals and customs. And once a year all the tribes will get together for a big bonfire. And something will happen. Something big.

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SUNDAY! And we’re outta here… Above, some times the wrong side of photos are the best.

Jen Gruenwald at the ultra-rare Marvel booth.

Giant BOOM! Banner loomed. can you say RAMPING UP?

Legendary Steve Purcell, who works at Pixar and is currently working on a movie with Brenda Cook.

Hype alert: Buy all these books.

Meanwhile, giant Alex Ross superheroes ascended to the heavens.

I made it all the way to the far wall and took a picture with Eddy Choi to prove it!

Ghost Rider Cycle so 2006.

Lionsgate was showing off the Spirit movie poster.

“The Black Pearl means freedom…”

Tokyopop holds all its panels at its booth. This one seemed to be well attended.

Even the Lost Ark of the Covenant was found for the show! It was THAT BIG!

Modest indie anthology TRAILER PARK OF TERROR has a movie in the works and a fine display of special effects. See? Even a modest indie anthology can get in on the Hollywood game.

Charles Brownstein, The Beat and Larry Marder briefly reunite.

After going to the Crab Shack, my exhibitor badge allowed me to see all the cool behind-the-scenes of how the con breaks down.

Bob Burden actually was surrounded my more parts of the Girl with the Bumpy Crotch, but the Sideshow people didn’t want me to take a picture and I will abide by their wishes.

The show was over, but a few Space Troopers now faced the biggest adventure of all: Getting home!

Dinner impressions. And then we woke up.

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San Diego Comic-Con spokesperson David Glanzer sent a response to my epic post yesterday. I’m happy to post the whole thing — I think it is very informative and some of it clarified some things I’d long wondered about. In fact on one very important point, it directly contradicts what I wrote yesterday — and I’ve removed that part of my post. I’m not going to rebut any of it…it doesn’t really need any rebuttal. I hope I made it clear that I am well aware that no one is actively trying to keep people out of panel rooms…it is the way it is, but some changes in procedures may need to be made. Glanzer writes:

I’m sorry to say that there were, indeed, some issues with registration this year. Not just with Professionals, but Attendee Registration and Press as well. Obviously, no one should have to wait in a line for two hours and we honestly do take great strides in trying to avoid scenarios like that. My understanding is the issues that caused those problems were addressed and should not arise next year.

Regarding the “one person out, one person in” scenario. That was implemented because the room had reached capacity and the Fire Marshall closed the room.

As you know safety is one of the primary issues of concern for us, and we work very closely with city officials and particularly the Fire Marshal on site. Once the Fire Marshal makes the call to close a room, it is closed. It is up to her when, or whether or not, to allow people to begin entering again.

With regard to a press list, there actually is no press list. Each studio is given an allotment of seats for use ONLY during their presentation. Those seats can be given to family members of those on the panel, executives, or press. But there is no press list at the front of the hall for special access.

And because of this the studio certainly does NOT have control over who enters Hall H. As mentioned above, the presenting studio is given an allotment of tickets for specified seating and it is up to them how they disburse them.

I certainly agree that something must be done to address the issue of press for those big rooms. And it is something we are discussing now, and as you can imagine with close to 3,000 press in attendance it is a daunting task. I might also point out that for us “legitimate” press includes online bloggers and such.

We know that the bigger publications and news outlets will write about our show once a year, but it is online press who write about us throughout the year, and they pay particular attention to our gusts. Guests like; Sergio Aragonés, Kyle Baker, Alison Bechdel, Allen Bellman, Ray Bradbury, Dan Brereton, Daryl Cagle, Cecil Castellucci, Darwyn Cooke, Guy Delisle, Paul Dini, Roman Dirge, Cory Doctorow, Ann Eisner, Warren Ellis, Mark Evanier, Renée French, Gary Friedrich, Christos N. Gage, Neil Gaiman, Rick Geary, George Gladir, Laurell K. Hamilton, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Adam Hughes, Joe Jusko, Miriam Katin, Mel Keefer, Scott Kurtz, Joseph Michael Linsner, Joe Matt, David Morrell, Karen Palinko, Lily Renee Phillips, Mike Ploog, Paul Pope, George A. Romero, Rowena, Dave Stevens, J. Michael Straczynski, Ben Templesmith, Roy Thomas, Morrie Turner, Mark Verheiden, Matt Wagner, J. H. Williams III, Kent Williams, F. Paul Wilson, and Brian Wood.

I should point out that no one wants to deny anyone entrance to a panel. We really don’t. And something must be done to address the issues raised this year with press. And I promise you, this is something we’re working on currently.

Your suggestion that more than one person may be needed to cover the show is a good one. Just in terms of specific panels, we had over 350 hours of programming, and I would imagine it is nearly impossible for one person to cover it all by themselves.

Obviously someone of the stature of Trina not being able to get into a panel is troubling for us. And I trust that we will have a solution to this very soon. Again, we’re still in the process of unpacking and trying to answer loads of emails, but we’ve already begun the process of discussing what went wrong and trying to come up with solutions to ensure that things like this don’t occur again.

Thanks for the kind words about the Comic-Con staff, and I would agree, you should not have to call for something as simple as getting into a panel. And I honestly believe we will have a solution to this issue for the next show. We just have to kick it around a bit and make sure it works.

I might point out that wrist bands were NOT for special entrance to Hall H. I’m not sure how that got around, but many people were under that assumption and that assumption was incorrect.

As for people not being able to enter Hall H. Again, when the Fire Marshall closes a room, there is no way for anyone to get in, it becomes an issue of safety and we must defer to her completely.

Our press room is very spartan. Hopefully we can get a sponsor for this room in the future.

Thanks for the opportunity to comment on your post.

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Where was I? Thursday dawned bright and sunny. I blogged a bit and then sat down in a cafe for a healthy, nutritious breakfast with Laurenn McCubbin. It was to be my only vaguely healthy, nutritious breakfast for many days. As I walked to that most excellent breakfast place on Island, everyone else was heading towards the show, and many people I knew on the street told me I was going the wrong way. Little did they know I had breakfast on my mind.

Once I got to the show I experienced LESSON LEARNED #4: Even if you have a schedule. no one else does. I have no idea what I did all day. Everything got behind schedule and nothing ever turned out quite the way I expected. I stopped by the Fox Atomic booth for a while, but its locale at the nexus of Paramount and the Warner Bros. Smallville bag giveaway corner made it only slightly less insane than the fall of Saigon. While I was hanging out there I was interviewed by a writer for the local paper and got quoted the next day, which someone even texted me to alert me to.

Then some friends of mine who are “not in the business” as they say needed help getting into the show, so I had to do that. I had planned to do some video blogging, but I didn’t make it over to that side of the hall in time. I did make it to a meeting or two, and managed to get outside for a bit.

Thursday was — and here’s the mind boggling thing — the only day on which you could walk up to the show and get in if you didn’t already have a ticket. It was already mad crowded. To tell the truth, I couldn’t see any difference between this day and any other, crowd-wise. Every time I walked by the WB booth I heard announcements that there would be more bags and more shields LATER. Despite their scarcity those bags were everywhere. Some people would drag their bag behind them, filled with swag, the way a lion drags a wildebeest carcass.

As time passed, people kept texting me with their whereabouts and activities. One of my friends went to get his pro badge and ended up standing in line for OVER TWO HOURS. (That was bad luck, it seems. Although there was lot of confusion over having your bar code letter or not, registration seemed to go smoothly most of the time.) Towards the end of the day, there was a signing for THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY, the most truly awesome graphic novel I edited for Fox Atomic Comics. I got to say hi to Joe Harris, Ben Templesmith, Stuart Moore and Michael Gaydos, as well as my FA fearless leader Eric Lieb, who in addition to being the EIC of Fox Atomic Comics, also ran the booth, which means he is made of sterner stuff than most people.

After the signing I realized I hadn’t eaten since that healthy, nutritious breakfast, so I managed to get Stuart and Michael to come EAT with me. That was awesome! We went to the fish taco place outside the Omni…we got there early enough so it wasn’t crowded, and the fish tacos were top notch. That was definitely a highlight of the show.

I would say that Thursday was a busy night of socializing except that every night was a choice between at least half a dozen parties. I missed the CBLDF party and the IDW party, both of which I heard were excellent. Instead, I went back to the convention center for the Friends of Lulu awards, only to arrive after everything had already happened! I was bummed, but I did get to eat a brownie and drink some lemonade. That’s what Friends of Lulu is all about! MK Reed told me the winners, and John Green and Shannon Crane gave me their hellish airline travel stories — John’s was by far the most hellish, involving a detour to Atlanta, a ride on a golf cart and other things even more alarming.

Then I decided to hit the Avatar party since it was right across from the convention center. I always wondered what went on at that round building right across from Hall B and now I know. This was a laid back and pleasant outdoor affair. In addition to his nibs, Warren Ellis, I spotted Robert Englund hanging out, and a bunch of people from Marvel and Top Cow. My NYC homegirl Nina Kester of Cartoon Allies managed to find her way to the party, and as a first time attendee I enjoyed hearing all her impressions of the show. I also ran into my old time homies Rantz Hosely and Derek McCulloch, and then, in one of those weird things that only happens at Comic-Con I heard someone shouting my name and it was Jula Bell, punk rock goddess and my one time assistant at Disney Adventures. Jula — who is one of the coolest people on earth — was accompanied by her beaux, who happened to be Thom Ang, who I knew back in the day from Disney. Thom had worked with Rantz there as well, and I even have a Polaroid of Rantz and Jula sitting together at my going away party in LA in 1994…but we had never all been together in the same spot before, if that makes any sense. This is definitely one of those moments that only means something to the people involved, but it is one of the dimensional warps of Comic-con — at any given moment ANYONE from your past can appear and suddenly become part of your present or even your future, and after a few episodes of this, your mind starts to melt just like a Dali print, and anything seems possible.

Then more of my present and future pals showed up and we decided to hike back to the Hyatt. People urged me to go to the excellent CBLDF party or the excellent IDW party, but they were clear on the other side of town, and there was no way I was going back.

At the Hyatt all possibly realities were colliding. I mean, “tumult” doesn’t even describe it. With the high ceilings and lack of padding, the roar of voices was deafening. In about 10 minutes I ran into about 100 people I knew, and by the time I got to the bar, at 1:15, they had called last call. I couldn’t even get a glass of water, but as if by fate, Jim Lee happened to show up, and worked his magic and got me a glass of water. God bless Jim Lee.

By then I was zoinked, already having had as much activity as a normal human would experience in a week, and I was only a day and a half in.

FRIDAYdawned with a few cups of Vietnamese coffee and a bagel. No more healthy nutritious breakfasts for THIS blogger.

From my vantage point at the Omni, I could see the lines gathering outside Hall H. By now it was 10 am. Early, but not early enough. I struggled to get some posts up, but couldn’t help looking out the window every few minutes. The Warner Bros presentation including Watchmen was at 10:30 and was sure to be crowded, so I had to decide fast: blog or stand in line?

Finally I dashed out of the hotel room and across the tracks. The line was long but moving, which was good because the early morning sunlight was strong. I heard someone call my name, and it turned out to be my pals Joanne Starer and her man Marc Letzmann so I cut in line with them. The line had suddenly begun moving in fits and starts. I was already suffering from general morning crankiness, and the line not moving wasn’t doing my mood any good.

Plus, and here I must throw myself on the mercy of Nat Gertler, I began to resent the fact that I had to stand in line at all. If 23 years of covering Comic-Con doesn’t get you a pass, what does? We got inside and out of the sun, near the concession stand for people who don’t want to leave Hall H. Hall H is its own little ecosystem…it has its own food and bathrooms for people who don’t want to leave. If you really want to cover the goings on there you need to get in in the morning and camp out. But I didn’t have time for that.

As we waited, someone came out and seemed to be saying that the hall was full and now it would be one person out, one person in. I decided to ditch this line and, perhaps only out of perverse curiosity, see what was going on at “SE”…the special entrance.

As poorly marked as the door to Disneyland’s legendary Club 33, this is where the people who have passes to Hall H can get in without standing in line. The entrance was manned by some Elite guards and a Comic-con staffer. Alex Romanelli of TV Week was also trying to get in.

“Where is the press list? Who has access to it?” I asked, probably not in the most polite tone of voice.

“There is no press list,” said the Elite guy. And I admit, this really pissed me off. I am a grown up and you don’t need to lie to me. And in fact, the nice lady from Comic-Con said that if you were on the WB press list you would already have your wrist band and your pass. I guess this pissed me off even further, and flashed me back to LESSON LEARNED #2: If you don’t have it planned months in advance it isn’t going to happen. Poor Alex wasn’t getting any further than I was, and there was no way I was going to the back of the line to get in, as we were told to do. Rather childishly, I thought, well if I can’t get into some dumb panel, I guess I’ll go call Alan Moore or Dave Gibbons instead. And so I gave up. I would just have to read about the panel on ComingSoon, and IGN, and about 100 other websites that were on the proper lists.

There I was, a poor Saxon in a rude tunic trampled beneath Norman hooves. It wasn’t like I was asking for a limo or dinner, or lox and bagel or a free cup of coffee. I just wanted to cover an event at Comic-con. Judging by the number of complaints I heard from other members of the “legitimate” press, I was not the only person who couldn’t get into some panel they wanted to see. The reality is that the studios have all the control over who gets into Hall H. That means I need to call each and every studio publicity person and try to convince them that I want to cover their panels, which, I know, isn’t like invading Normandy or anything, but its 20 other things to do. UPDATE: I’ve since been informed that this isn’t exactly the case.

I realize that thousands and thousands of people get “press passes” to Comic-Con and some of them are little dinky bloggers, and some of them are EW and the New York Times. And not all of them deserve equal access. And I’m not kidding myself — I have access to people and places that regular folks don’t have. I know that. But I don’t want to be a prima donna. After all my whining, someone from Comic-Con walked me into the SHOOT’EM UP panel, and I appreciate that, but I wish there were a system in place where I didn’t HAVE to call in favors like that. My immediate suggestion would be that Comic-Con just have its OWN press list for Hall H events — but I’m guessing the studios would not allow such a thing, because they have their own feuds and tiffs and rules and regulations.

The new sold-out paradigm means that there need to be new ways of doing things. This year, judging from the online reports I read, it wasn’t just Hall H that was impossible to get into. Ballroom 20 was also limited access, as was room 6. Everywhere I went I saw giant lines for the media panels. The press should certainly NOT take up all the seats at these panels (although ironically, the studios probably wouldn’t mind that, since the main reason they put on all these dog and pony shows is to get internet chatter started.) But the system as it worked this year seems to have left a lot of people frustrated and pissed off. The result: a series of movies-only events, and comic book working stiffs like me left out in the cold.

A lot of this goes back to LESSON LEARNED #3: You cannot do it alone. To get into Hall H you need that ground crew to help with the calls and the credentials. I generally go it alone, because I work best alone, just like the Rangers of Arnor. But that isn’t practical any more.

After being rebuffed at Hall H (and by the way Joanne and Marc got in a few minutes after I left, but I don’t regret what I did.) I went upstairs looking for the press room. On the way I ran into Trina Robbins, who was as fed up and tuckered out as I was. Now, it is safe to say that Trina Robbins is not a person who keeps her opinion secret, and her opinion of San Diego was that she would never come back. As we swapped gripes, it dawned on me that here I was with one of the ORIGINAL Comic-conners, one of the valiant 300 who had sat around the pool at the US Grant and the Pickwick with Milton Caniff and Kirby and all of that.

UPDATE: In the comments, it has been revealed that though Trina was NOT one of the Noble 300 at the US Grant, she did begin attending in 1975. I think my comments should make it clear that it is not who was or wasn’t sitting around that legendary pool that I am talking about, but rather, that entire era, and by any definition, Trina qualifies as an original Comic-Con-er.

“Didn’t you win an Inkpot?” I asked her. (The Inkpot is an award given to meritorious folks by the Convention.) As a matter of fact she had…in 1977. That’s before most of you reading this were born, I’m guessing. When you win an Inkpot you also get a Golden Pass that gets you into the show for free for life. I suggested that the Con should have special entrances for people with Golden Passes.

“But I lost it a long time ago,” said Trina. Indeed, who could imagine holding onto a piece of cardboard for 30 years.

I began to feel a sense of pride for people like Trina, the originals who had made the con what it would become…for REAL. Hollywood people like Sam Raimi and Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Uslan and James Cameron used to come to the San Diego Comic-Con to meet their favorite cartoonists, not the other way around. In the beginning it was Sergio and Jack and Gil, Scott Shaw, Stan Sakai.

I am not for one INSTANT suggesting that the folks who run Comic-Con do ANYTHING to disrespect these people. Far from it. I want to stress that everyone from Comic-Con I dealt with was incredibly patient and helpful, and I heard no different. That is not my point. But with a crowd the size of Disneyland now surging around the halls, it’s not too much to ask that the originals should be treated with some of the perks the movie stars get. I truly believe they are the real stars. I believe that with all my heart. The Spurge talked about “wily veterans” who have survival strategies. Indeed, we all have our secret taco stand or unknown Starbucks or surreptitious sushi chef. But at one point I talked to a hardened Comic-con vet exhibitor who said that he was tired of making plans to go to Ralph’s at either 7:30 in the morning or 10:30 at night. YOU CANNOT GO IT ALONE.

One day the exhibit hall was opened a half hour early by complete surprise, and some people weren’t even at their booths. If people are going to be asked to man their booths for even longer hours, they need their OWN coffee stand, dammit. No one has time to stand in line for half an hour for a cup of coffee all the time. By Saturday there was a half hour wait for the SUBWAY sandwich shop. It’s ridiculous.

I imagine that to some of you reading this it is all coming off as privileged whining. I’m sure I’ll be castigated at various blogs for my sense of “fangirl entitlement.” I’m as wily a veteran as anyone. but this time all my secret routes were blocked off and my usual getaways were packed with roving gangs. New crowds, new survival strategies. If I have to hire someone to go to Ralph’s for carrots, and get me coffee and stand in line, well I guess that’s the way it has to be.

Back to our thrilling narrative. After showing Trina the secret elevator to the floor, I went to the press registration desk and asked if there was a “Schedule of events.” No there was not. There was a very nice guy there whose name I do not, unfortunately, remember, and he knew who I was (I didn’t mention my affiliation) and listened very patiently while I ranted and raved for a while. I later got a very nice call from David Glanzer, which, again, I very much appreciated. I have always had a very good relationship with David, and he has always been available to me for all my press needs. That is not the problem. The problem, as I told David, was that there should be a better system so I don’t HAVE to call him when I need him. After this whole thing, I heard about how Kate Beckinsale was late for the WHITEOUT panel and Steve Lieber and the producer of the movie couldn’t even get past the people at the Special Entrance, which is wristband ONLY. When the co-creator of the damned comic book can’t even talk his way into a panel, something is seriously odd.

I went back to the press room, which is Spartan and not in a good way. The San Diego Comic-Con press room is by far the most meager press room for any event I have ever seen. At Toy Fair there are computers and ethernet lines and press kits and coffee, donuts, and tea. (The food does go very very fast.) In the San Diego press room there are tables and chairs and a water cooler.

The only reason I’m going into this at some length is because everybody sits around talking about how big the show has gotten, but I don’t think everybody is ready to come to grips with changing procedures to solve the new problems that come with that popularity.

Or maybe I am just a crank. U decide.

ANYWAY back to the show. As my regular readers know, Clive Owen has been a running gag here on the Beat since the very beginning! I could have called up the New Line people and odds are that I could have gotten into the press roundtables with Mr. Clive. But I didn’t do that. I didn’t because…well I guess it would have been anticlimactic. Plus, I probably would have embarrassed myself. As one of my fellow journos told me. “I choked. He’s too handsome to talk to. It was awful.”

No, no I didn’t want to risk that and lose my cool cred forever.

Instead I sat in a row midway in the hall and did a little blogging. I was completely unaware of the contents or history of SHOOT ‘EM UP, but when they showed about 10 minutes of footage I thought “Jeez, this looks just like a cartoon!” Then director Michael Davis came out and explained that he used to do storyboards for TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES and other cartoons and had made an animatic of 20 minutes of the movie. Which they showed. And which looked just like the movie. Then the Clivester came out. I went into the photo pit by the side of the stage and took a few pics. I noticed a bunch of photogs were in front of the stage, so I went up there and got a nice close picture. Only AFTER I had my shot, a guard came up and said, very politely, “Ma’am you can’t stand here.” So THEN I went and crouched among some other Clive Owen groupies in the front of the hall and took some MORE pictures. The guard there kept saying, very quietly and without much conviction, “No more pictures,” but once again he waited until everyone had quite a few shots and then made us stop. So how do you like that, even the security was polite. And Clive Owen is very funny and handsome, apparently. But he should wear a suit that actually FITS him next time.

Well, THAT saga was over. It was time for some meetings! At four o’clock or so, I found myself escorting Paul Pope across the hall. Paul hadn’t been to San Diego in 10 YEARS and was amused by the madness. Just getting across a few halls now took a minimum of 10-15 minutes. Somewhere south of the big Jabba the Hut set-up there was a huge commotion, and a logjam near the G4 booth.

“What’s going on?” Paul wondered.

“They must be giving something away,” I guessed. “No hold on, they’re interviewing some handsome guy…wait, it’s Clive Owen!”

While Paul’s steady hand kept me on course, I found the idea of the toy-eschewing, classical actor Owen actually walking the floors of Comic-Con the most amusing notion of all.

That said, when Jessica Alba and Dane Cook got on the floor, or Kevin Bacon, they caused similar logjams. I’m not sure having movie stars on the floor is a very good idea.

Friday would be a day without food or pity. Since that lonely bagel I ate only…a pretzel and a Rockstar energy drink I think. I don’t remember. I made sure to leave the hall before the 7 pm mass exodus, dropped my shit off at the room, and started on the longest night of the con.

WOW! I’ve written nearly 4000 words and I’m still only halfway done.

Okay. One more day. I crave your indulgence.

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Of all the panels at San Diego the one we most wanted to see podcast or transcribed or whatever was COMICS ARE NOT LITERATURE and now Newsarama has a report by Zack Smith, although two of the participants have already said it isn’t entirely accurate. Dammit, we should have been there.

Wolk criticized comics written by Joss Whedon, saying that, “the artists can’t create great actors on the page,” that is, people who bring extra layers to the characters the way a flesh-and-blood actor could. “You’re just reading a script with a bunch of crappy pictures on it – but it’s a great script,” Wolk said.

Wolk asked Grossman, who had brought some prepared statements, about whether there was anything in the definition of “sophistication” that could be useful to comics.

“One of the downsides of thinking of comics as a ‘low art,’ is that it makes you lazy,” Grossman said. “Let’s raise the game.”

Castellucci and Ryan agreed. “It’s about having a set of critical tools, and what you use the tools on is wherever people are making good stories,” Ryan said.

“Why don’t we just call it art?” Nadel said. “Sometimes cinema is art, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes a Bjork record is art, sometimes it’s not…” Castellucci and Ryan interjected that a Bjork album is always art.

Nadel went on to propose that he didn’t consider comics reading. “Why is that a big deal?” he asked. “Comics is about looking and reading. It’s not just about reading – it’s a dual process. It’s different from reading a novel, and it’s different from watching a movie.”

Douglas tells us he didn’t mention Joss Whedon specifically, and Cecil has her own footnotes.

BONUS: DO NOT MISS COMMENTS AFTER REPORT!

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Just a few more…we’ve made it all the way to Saturday and we’re still alive! Here are two of the many Blade Runner characters running around the show. Apparently they were hired by WB home video to promote the new DVD set which we are getting the second it comes out.

Trina Robbins and Golden Age great Lily Renee Phillips.

At one point we somehow wandered in back of the Convention center and found out where all the real action was as limos lined up to deliver stars.

The new HIlton under construction, which will be the hot place to stay come ‘09. (They say it is opening in ‘08 but we’re guessing not in time for next year’s show.)

Some other mysterious place where people’s feet were visible under a curtain and paparrazzi were hanging around.

When we first took this photo, we thought this was a line for the porta-potty outside Hall H, but it was just part of the line itself. No line for porta-potty!

The 3D Beowulf display outside the Omni. You had to peep through spyglasses to get the entire effect.

The scene at the SciFi/EW party.

Comic Foundry’s Tim Leong and Laura Hudson.

Whitney and The Beat. Photo by James Sime.

Cool building lighting effects via projection and Luna.

When you get right down to it, this is why San Diego is the new Cannes.

Mothership landing.

More “atmosphere.”

Floating pool decor.

Back at the Hyatt it was a free for all. Much of the cast of the Sarah Silverman show.

DC’s Brandon Montclare and Shane McCarthy.

Ed Brubaker, Pia Guerra and someone else.

Jah Furry…the rest I don’t remember. Not Pictured: Charlie Adlard, Zena Tsarfin, Ben McCool, Ian Boothby, etc etc etc.

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