While I Was Out
Also cool…this one was going for almost $60.00 on eBay. How weird is that?
Love and Capes #8 in Previews NOW!
Number eight this month…the trade next month…it's a flurry of Love and Capesishness.
Not Much Farther Now Papa Smurf
There's just one day left to go in my West Coast Swing. It'll have a breakfast at the Farmer's Market, two separate meetings, and dinner with some good friends of mine. It'll be a great way to end the trip.
Well, a safe trip home is a great way to end the trip, but that's just semantics.
If you haven't seen their book, buy it here.
Anyway, it was just awesome. One of the things I miss most about art school is the cameraderie of other artists. There's a level of communication I can't get with other non-artists, and understanding, a commonality if you will. I still talk to a couple of art school buddies, and that's pretty close, but there's a lot to be said for being in the same room, seeing the process and the result.
And the beer, of course.
Then today Bob and I went to visit a friend of mine on the Warner Brothers lot. I've done drive-ons before, and I'm still geeky enough to appreciate it. But today we got to actually drive on the backlot. So we drove in front of County General from ER and past Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. We had a lovely lunch with my friend, and then wandered the lot a bit. Exceedingly cool.
We had dinner with my friend Amy Wolfram, talented writer of Many Things, including the fantastic Teen Titans Year One. Not reading it, well, then I weep for you. Of course, you could just buy the book, too.
Things have been going really well on this trip, aside from getting my first real case of The Con Rot. There's something about shaking hands for four and a half days, breathing recirculated air, and getting by on five hours of sleep that overcomes one's immune system. Right now, my nose is running like Wally West. Still, with two daysish before I touch down in the Buckeye State, I have plenty of time to heal up, I hope.
LA la la
I should have some stories by now, shouldn’t I? Oh, wait, I do.
I’m here in LA, doing the networking and meeting thing post-San Diego. I’ve got one meeting set up for the trip, and a bunch of lunches and dinners. I’m also going to participate in my first Drink and Draw tonight, so Woo and Hoo!
Obviously, the big story is that I went to Amoeba Records and stayed under my limit… oh, wait, no. There was an earthquake.
My first in LA. I’ve noticed two in my time in Ohio. Bob Ingersoll and I were in our car, driving to visit a friend at Warner Brothers and stopped at a stoplight when the car started to bounce, like someone was rocking the bumper. Once I determined it wasn’t Bob’s driving, I looked and saw the streetlights were bouncing too. “Hey, Bob,” I said, “I think it’s an earthquake.”
It was. And the last I heard, it was a 5.4 or something.
It wasn’t bad, and for my first one, I wasn’t scared. I was sorry that I broke my word to my Aunt Bunny who said “Don’t have any earthquakes” before I left. Though how I had one, I haven’t figured out yet. Once I harness that power, I’ll use it for good. Or evil. I have a PhD in Horrible, after all.
The big thing it did was mess up the phone lines. Oddly, I could call out to Ohio (which I did to let some people know I was okay) but I couldn’t call California. So I wasn’t able to make that WB meeting, since a phone call was involved there. We went to a mall and everyone seemed to be lacking cell service. We saw a couple TV reports about the quake, too.
All things being equal, I think I liked the Earthquake ride at Universal Studios better.
Bob and I saw The Dark Knight in Imax, which was quite the experience. A number of scenes were Imaxified, including just about all of the city establishing shots. Whoa, was that cool. The theatre has been sold out of the Imax DK shows by 3:00 or so every day. I love that this movie is getting that kind of traction.
It was a good theatre audience, too. No one with their bright LED phone displays Twittering away (no slight to the Twitter, which I do, but there’s a time and a place), very quiet and just a nice filmgoing bunch. And they clapped during the pencil and truck scenes, as well as at the end. That was just cool.
Oddly, after we left the theatre and were walking back to our car, we passed Tiny Lister, who played the convict in the movie. He was also the President in The Fifth Element. That was a little jarring, but cool nonetheless.
That’s been the big stuff so far. The Drink and Draw is tonight, and I’ll be seeing some friends and colleauges in the next couple of days. And then, back home. I love coming to visit, and I like the opportunities it opens, but I think I’m just about ready to be home, too.
SDCC 2008: Day the Last
The con’s over for another year. I’m writing this as Bob Ingersoll drives us up to LA for a week of meetings and friends and the inevitable trip to Amoeba Records.
The show went well today. Lots of cool things happened, and as usual, I can only tell you about some of them. A couple of comics guys, including comics legends Marv Wolfman and Dan Mishkin came by the booth. It’s just kind of nice to have the people I grew up reading now know me by name, and read my books.
I also got to meet Felicia Day from the oh-so-great “Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog.” Felicia plays Penny, and I met her on the Twitter. I gave her some of my funnybooks since she was in a superhero comedy, and I write one myself. Have I mentioned Love and Capes to you? Lord knows, I mentioned it to everyone else who walked by my booth.
Anyway, she is delightful and sweet and everything you’d hope she’d be.
I sold more than a few things. Sunday was my best day, but not by much. There’s only a seventy dollar difference between my high and my low, not counting Preview Night. I felt like I sold more on Sunday, but apparently not by too much. Friday was my best day for sketching, but I sold a big chunk of Powerful Women sketchbooks every day.
I didn’t really buy anything at the show. I looked at the Boba Fett USB drives, but for what they were charging for an 8gB drive, it’d better come with the source files for the Star Wars trilogy pre-loaded. It didn’t, so I passed. I tried to get Kyle Baker’s new drawing book, but that sold out. (Way to go, Kyle!) And that was about it.
Boothmates Bill Williams from Lone Star Press and Paul from Toon Tumblers both seemed to do well themselves. Always good to see that.
So now we’re heading up to LA, where I have one for-sure meeting and one probable meeting. I’ll also be seeing some friends that I don’t see very often. Friends are the best part, of course, but a little extra work can’t hurt either, can it?
SDCC 2008: Days Two and Three
Here we go, a moment of quiet contemplation.
I think the Con is getting so big that those random
I didn't post anything before, so here's a mix of what happened Friday and Saturday.
Generally, sales have been good. It's been an odd mix, as one day I'll do a lot of commissions and do a few book sales, the next day I'll sell a ton of books and only do a couple of drawings. It's okay, as I dig the variety. It's just weird how the con breaks. In fact, I've mostly given up on trying to figure it out.
I even made the joke that now I let the con come to me. I just sit behind my booth and let it swirl around me. Honestly, I meant it in jest, but oddly, Dean Haglund came up to my table to say "hi" and introduce me to his lovely girlfriend. Then, another lady came up, and Dean said, "Thom, this is my friend Gigi Edgely."
That's just cool. I loved Chyanna on Farscape.
I got to have dinner with my friends John Gallagher (Buzzboy), Chris Bailey (Alvin and the Chipmunks, Kim Possible) and his friend, Matt Haley and Sandi (oh, I've mentioned them before) and Ray, who does a book called Liberty Mustard. I've been staring at him from across my booth for the whole show, and we've unfortunately barely had a chance to speak. I'll try to fix that tomorrow.
I've met up with Amy Wolfram, Charlotte Fullerton, Dwayne McDuffie, Dan Panosian and others. I'm sure I've missed some people. When I get back up to LA and have some time to clear my head, I'll mention more of them. I'm going to see quite a few of them there.
Saturday, I tried to walk the floor. Crazy, crazy busy. It seems like more
I'm going to try to get my Dad to build one of those Batman wirepoons. Maybe then I can get from point A to point B easier. Heck, I should have one of those anyway just on general principal.
Remember I told you that I had to have a talk with someone? Well, I haven't been able to make that happen, but I've managed to shift the location to LA when I'm up there. It's sad that it's getting easier to meet people after the show than at it.
Heck, I even wound up having gelato with Marv Wolfman and his wife, Craig Miller and his wife, and John Hudgens, where we spoke of many things including Star Trek, Monster Movies, and Indiana Jones.
I have a feeling that I'm rambling, so I'm going to punch out now. Enjoy the photos from the show, and hopefully I'll have some great stories from tomorrow.
Blog the Not
Sorry, things were crazy last night and I was tired when I rolled back in about 1am last night. Sales were good, I did a bunch of commissions and I got to meet Gigi Edgley from Farscape. And hezmollah yes there are pictures. I'll post those as soon as I can.
No promises on today either, but I'll do what I can. It's the big day of the show, so things will be the high side of crazy. Wish me luck.
<>And now, to a Starbucks...!
SDCC 2008: Day One
No pictures today, I'm afraid. I took some, but it's late as I sit here and type this, and really I only took one of the booth that showed more product, so nothing you need to see.
I've mentioned before that the more entrenched I get in the industry, the less I can say. Well, today's very indicative of that. I have to go talk to someone about something tomorrow, and that's all I can say. But it's cool beyond all recognition of coolness should something break. If you've got time to pray to the God of your choice on my behalf, please do so.
The show started slow today. Some of that was due to a huge accident on The Five (as the Cali Kids call the freeway route 5) that blocked off the commuter traffic from LA for the better part of five hours. I can only assume that's why Hollywood didn't beat a path to my door today. But, by the end of the day, things were going pretty swimmingly. Both booth mates, Paul of Toon Tumblers and Bill of Lone Star Press had some assorted coolness happen. Let's hope good things for us all!
Then I went to the IDW party. A nice party, with great food and an open bar (which I dig muchly). A little thick with people, but that's never a bad sign, especially for a company you're doing business with. And then I went to the Boom Studios party and had an equally good time.
Comic companies who employ you/you want to employ you are like kids. They both have to be your favorites.
I ran into all sorts of Con Friends and made some new ones, too. It was a hard, long day, with much walking and then more walking, but it was verra productive. Bring on tomorrow!
SDCC 2008: Day Zero
So we've had the first day of the con. And I survived. That is all.
No, wait, there's more. Bob and I slept in today,because we know this will be the last day we get to do that for a while. We bought some supplies at Ralph's, went to Mission Beach for lunch, and picked up our friend Sandi at the airport. And then, before we knew it. It was Con Time.
So it's a lot of seeing people for the first time this weekend. It's a lot of quick meetings, just a "Hi, we have to get together later" stuff. Even so, I did manage to find Andy Cosby from Boom Studios, who I met last year and talk to him for a bit. You may have heard that they've announced that they will be doing Muppets and Pixar comics. That's just phenomenal.
Sales at the booth were pretty good. It's the first day of the show, and everyopne's still getting a feel for where everything is. I had several people come up and buy specific issues because they started reading last year and were now hooked. Someone even came up and raved about the book and, when I asked him if he needed anything, he said "No, I've already got them all." That's the best non-sale I ever made.
I saw Charlotte Fullerton, Dwayne McDuffie, Eugene Son and his entire lovely family, which was a nice surprise. I didn't know they were all coming even for Day Zero, and given that they were kind enough to house me during the Meetings last year, I have an especially warm place in my heart for them. And they're just nive people, too.
When the show wrapped, Bill Williams, Randy Lander
Then Chip Moser from Boom, as well as Matt and Ian, whose last names I didn't catch, joined us. They're all stellar specimens of humanity. Intellegent, witty, and if I may say, handsome each and every one. Not that any of them check blogs for mentions of their names. No, such gods among men would never do such a thing.
At midnight, I came back to the room, feeling like it was 2am. I have to get up in six hours or so to start this all over again. The show is fun, and even based on today's brief encounters, could spiral into more stuff. That's what keeps me going.
Well, that and coffee, of which there will be much tomorrow.
SDCC 2008: T-minus 2 days
I'm officially out in California for Comic-Con. I've Twittered some of it, and from now until I return, my tweets and my blog posts will probably overlap. Can't really help that, but if you've been following the Twitter feed, I can promise improved spelling and capitalization when they're retold here.
Then my 8:45 flight became a 9:15 flight and then a 9:45 flight. By the time we left, around 10:00pm, I figure I was making $50 an hour. Still not bad, but not what I hoped for. I managed to sleep on the flight and catch the last Disney shuttle bus to the Disneyland Hotel where I'm typing this from.
I slept in far less than I expected to. Between sleeping on the flight and the bus, and the time zone change, I had about eight hours by the time 7:30 rolled around, so I headed over to Disneyland.
I haven't been here since 2002, the year of the first Raider trade. This time I scored a parkhopper, so I could check out California Adventure, Disney's other park. And I was doing it with Bob Ingersoll and his son, who'd been here for a couple of days already. They went over earlier than I got up.
Oddly enough, I ran into Gail Simone, writer of Wonder Woman (and man, or should I say WOman, is she doing some great stuff on that title) who was also doing the pre-Comic-Con Disney trip. She also had some kind things to say about Love and Capes, which I appreciate all to pieces.
Even at Disney, I'm networking. Makes the whole thing deductible, I figure. Right?
I rode a bunch of rides, some of which have been tweaked since the last time I was here. Jack Sparrow is now part of Pirates of the Carribbean. Space Mountain has a new track and new cars.
Which isn't to say that it doesn't have it's moments. The coaster is a lot of fun. It's got a cool looking Ferris Wheel. And the Toy Story shooting gallery is a ton of fun. I beat Bob and his son handily in that one.
Unfortunately, when we did the similar Buzz Lightyear ride, the smaller Ingersoll did beat me by 10,000 points. We both beat Bob by something like a billion, though, so that was good. They take your photo and then e-mail it to you. You can see my oh-so-intense shooting face here.
We stayed a little past midnight, catching both Fantasmic, which wisely eliminated the show-stopping (in a bad way) Pocahontas number, as well as the main fireworks show. I even got to watch Tinkerbell fly to the castle, which I swear I've never seen before. I remember my first trip to Disney and the winds were too high or something and she didn't fly that day. I think I've missed it for the thirty years since, too. It's a little thing, I know, but still brought a smile to my face.
Doubly-oddly, I was called by ABC News which wanted me to record a video message about who I thought McCain's running mate should be. I don't know if I have the time, and I don't know if I can get my iSight to do that. It could be kind of fun, so we'll see how I feel in the morning.
Of course, I really don't know who he should pick, either.
Okay, so I've had my day of play. Tomorrow, Bob's son will head back to Ohio, and Bob and I will head to San Diego to set up the Love and Capes booth and get ready for the fun and frivolity that is Comic-Con.