I'm trying to not be too loquacious with my recap this year, but you know how that goes. You'll hear all of this in the podcast as well up later! Enjoy.
Weird not having a table this year but less responsibility and more freedom. Whee! Arrived Thursday around 4 and did the complete run-through to see the whole floor and finished it by 7! Basically just setting my plan of attack for the weekend. I skipped Friday due to work but went to the Image party late after to hang. Mad props to CB of Marvel for the drinks and good to see/catch up with some of my Brit cartoonist pals like Jamie McKelvie, Antony Johnston and Kieron Gillen. Hung with Ben Hennessy all weekend too. Good guy. Look out for his work. Cab got rear-ended on way home causing neck strife for a couple of days. GREAT WAY TO END EVENING AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.
Saturday started later and I got some great floor interviews. Ran around artist alley to say hi to a bunch of friends. Ran over to the Archie booth to interview Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Could have chatted for hours. Got into the Powers press room thanks to Mike Oeming. Thanks Mike! Meanwhile, correspondent Keka was doing the Mike Tyson Mysteries room. Rushed out of Powers to do the unorganized Constantine press room. Saw UK journalist pal Joel Meadows and we agreed about the annoying/pushy girl who rudely asked me to take pictures for her while the talent was talking. Back home for disco nap and then hit the CBLDF party for a bit where I hung w/ pals Dean Haspiel and Paul Pope before heading off to Marvel party where I drank w/ so many like my buddy Cass, Jen G, Frank, etc. I called it early around 2:30.
Sunday started later as well. Ran late to Gotham/The Following room and almost didnt get in. Missed a couple of folks but still got some good stuff. Then it was the Sleepy Hollow room and back on the floor for final interviews. I took the last hour to walk the main floor just to see all the nooks/crannies I may have missed. Which I'm glad I did as I found a few spots I missed! Found a great booth called Super Sox Shop and I will be ordering all of their products. Didn't take many pictures as I was always rushing off to interviews but got some good stuff.
Separate artist alley was once again a big hit and felt like it's own con. It's where I spent most of the con since that was where most of my friends were located and it wasn't as maddening as the main floor. Everyone seemed to do well in sales and all said it was busier than previous years which we found out later was true. Glad to see people coming to a Comic Con for COMICS! They still matter!
Overall, it was a ridiculously crowded show. Apparently 150k attended making it bigger than SDCC. Which means some of the TV/film stuff will start paying more attention and not blow it off. Which means I'll be even busier w/ it next year! Lots of fun and exhausting as usual. Saw many friends yet still managed to miss quite a few due to schedules.
Sunday evening ended with the now annual Dead Dog Bash that I throw. Think it's the 3rd or 4th year I've been doing it now and always a great turnout. The UK crowd say it's their favorite party! Take that other parties! So many awesome peeps came like Jen Grunwald, Robbi Rodriguez, Jamie McKelvie, Kieron Gillen, Al Ewing, John Cassaday, Katelan Foisy, Enrica Jang, Heidi MacDonald, Rafael Kayanan and many others. Cute moment when a group of French people came in and I asked if they were here for the party. The one girl said "Yes" and then asked if Dan Didio was there! Ha! Don't even think he knows I exist but who knows?
Anyway, the idea of the party is for it to be a chill spot to hang out after a long and exhausting weekend. Unfortunately, this year...it got a bit crazy but in a good way. The cast of the Broadway musical Motown showed up. At first I was annnoyed but their energy was so infectious and fun. Plus, recent Emmy award winner Uzo Aduba ("Crazy Eyes" from ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK) showed up as well and I bought her a drink. I'll make sure next year it's either in a quieter spot or check to see if any other parties are showing up. Quite a few folks didn't show that previously said they were gonna make it and many of them hit me up with apologies. True to the party name, they were already dead dogs and went out to dinner and back to their hotels or homes to rest. Totally understand but next time go take that disco nap and come to the party later!
Want to give some shoutouts to folks I met and to whom gave me books to check out: Enrica Jang (Killer Queen), Greg Pak (Make Comics Like the Pros), Ramon Gil (Scifies), Heather Antos/Zakk Saam (Unlawful Good), Fred Van Lente (The Complete Silencers), Trepidation Comics (The Bible 2), Amy Chu (Girls Night Out), Bobby Timony (vampire lady print), and others. And just a quick shout to old interviewees/friends that I chatted with and whom's work you should check out including Erica Schultz, Sarah Wilkinson, Alice (Destiny Blue), Paige Pumphrey, Anthony del Col, Becky Cloonan, Vera Greentea, Gary Erskine, Andy Belanger, Matt Miner, Robbi Rodriguez, Agnes Garbowska, Heidi MacDonald, Al Ewing, Nick Abadzis and more. Sorry to leave anyone out. Not intentional! Exhausted...now sleep for a week if I could! See you all next year!
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