More Comic Con Stuff-
The amazing Barron Storey...
James Jean!!
My Stash! Books from Murphy Design: Oil, Brandon Boyd's first book, Cathie Bleck's book; CJ & Miss Mindy aka Artists Sisters Book; a Tara McPherson figure; Vertigo's Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall; Illlustration Book Pro 1; Dave McKean's Postcard from Vienna and Postcard from Barcelona
Finally got my hands on Eddie Campbell's Black Diamond Detective Agency...unfortunately, the husband squirreled that and From Hell away and wrapped them in plastic.
More Highlights of Comic Con:
From Thursday-
Time in Hell Hall, I mean Hall H where the line snaked out the door, around the side of the building, back into the building for what seemed like miles...
At the Paramount Pictures screening where we were treated to not only freebies (new t-shirts for David-YES!) but also sneak peeks at: Iron Man, Star Trek, STARDUST (!!), Beowulf, Spiderwick Chronicles, Indiana Jones and...and a look at Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd poster featuring Mr Depp looking quite like Mr Burton LOL. I can't wait for that one!
Seeing Mr. Ray Harryhausen not once but in two different panels.
The Spotlight on George Romero with the funny as hell Max Brooks (I've seen the Zombie Survival Guide but now I have to go check out his other book World War Z).
UPA: Mavericks, Magic & Magoo-cartoons, cartoons and more cartoons...
Friday-
Grim Adventures/Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends "Talk"-Yes folks, this was Tristan's "must see" event. Now, I do like Foster's and from Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, I'm a huge Fred Fred Burger fan but that's about it. I think I slept through the panel once I found out that the Fred Fred Burger voice actor, C.H. Greenblatt was NOT on the panel.
Meeting James Jean at the adhouse books booth. There were some very nice people in line in that booth!
Attending the 300 and Blade Runner panel. That was great! I haven't seen 300 yet and am not sure I'm going to but we did get a video greeting from Gerard Butler. Frank Miller, Zach Snyder and company were there. Even better was the Blade Runner panel. Now, I have to confess, I have not seen Blade Runner *yet*. Many an opportunity has been presented to watch it on TV or DVD but the husband insists that it must be seen in the theatre on the big screen. Ripley Scott and several members of the cast were there. James Hong had me rolling.
Seeing Ray Wise walking down the hall.
The Treasures from the ASIFA Vault screening-MORE cartoons!
The Eisners-Oh My God was that fun. We sat in the front (as close as we could). Bill Morrison hosted as Jane Wiedlin assisted in presenting the awards, directing the winners off the stage and giving out hugs and smooches. Morrison was dead on-great great host. It was over 3 hours long, modeled after the Oscars, but it was well worth it. I loved seeing Jill Thompson, Neil Gaiman, James Jean, Jonathan Ross, and more. Watching Jonathan Ross snog Neil Gaiman was frickin' funny as hell (read Gaiman's account here.) It was a ton of fun even though at times I wanted to hog tie my child and put him in the corner. Poor boy. He was tired as the whole trip we got up ridiculously early and went to bed ridiculously late. Next year we are going to see how feasible it is to stay in the Gaslamp area.
Saturday-
HUGE HUGE highlight of the day-THEY OPENED THE EXHIBIT HALL EARLY. That was EFFING AMAZING. I LOVED being let in a full 30 minutes early. Thank you thank you thank you CCI Staff.
The Simpsons Panel in Hell Hall. Now that was funny. The only bad thing is, not being able to get Spider Pig out of my head...
I don't think that I told you that I was practically hanging out at the Allen Spiegel booth Wednesday through Saturday waiting for Barron Storey to show up. Saturday afternoon, I had been by the booth at least 4 times that day to see and we were about to leave as I was getting more tired and cranky by the minute. I didn't see Barron and we started to walk by the booth when who do I see sitting there-OMG! FINALLY! I waited my turn (as he was talking to someone) and went up to him with my copies of Marat/Sade Journals and Life After Black. Now, I'm used to artists saying hi, asking your name and making small talk but was shocked as hell that he actually started talking to me. He was genuinely interested in what I thought of his work, how I found out about his artwork, etc... I was pretty beat and wiped out by Saturday afternoon and was lucky enough to remember even my name so I probably sounded like an idiot (David said "You just sounded like a fan." *sigh* Great...) As I babbled on about loving his work he mentioned that he had some art at the Bert Green Fine Art Gallery in L.A. (FYI, Clive Barker has a show there this Fall.)
We traipsed back to Hell Hall for a few minutes to catch the Disney/Pixar screening for Prince Caspian...didn't stay long though as David and I both wanted to catch Scott Shaw's Oddball Comics Panel. I haven't laughed that hard since I spent some time with Alix and Kathy. THAT was a great panel and I can't wait for that one again next year. Where can I buy a DVD?
The Ray Harryhausen/Ray Bradbury Panel-Now, I have been a huge huge fan of both Rays since I was a teen. Seeing them together was a treat. Now, the huge disappointment of the day was finding out that Ray Bradbury has done a total 180 and is not the same man he used to be.
I won't rant but I'm very sad about this. All I'll say is that I won't ever buy another Bradbury book and if I do want to read his older books (if I don't have them) I will check them out of the library. After his little "rant" at the end of the panel, we all left (as did most in the room) and we were walking to another panel when we heard "Mr. Bradbury is leaving. Make room." Now, Bradbury is in a wheelchair. The next thing I see is a mere foot from me is Bradbury FLYING in his frickin wheelchair TOWARDS TRISTAN. Tristan had slept through the whole thing and was still trying to wake up. I moved Tristan out of the way as Bradbury brushed me with his goddamn wheelchair. David says it's quite ironic that bit and he wished he had it on tape.
Spotlight on Roy Thomas Panel-Now, I have to admit I'm still learning about comics history and I was a wee bit lost on most of what Roy Thomas and Mark Evanier were talking about but it was interesting! We attended a killer panel with Evanier last year talking to Jerry Robinson. I would definitely say for 2008, go out of your way to see an Evanier panel. This man knows his stuff.
This is the first time that we were able to attend Comic Con for more than a day and a half and we loved every minute of it (even when I was a bitch and bitching about how tired I was). People bitch about the crowds...come on, folks it is once a year. People bitch about the movie stuff. People bitch about how some parts of Con are one big advertisement for the movie industry. Yet, where the hell else would you get to walk down the aisles and see other artists and writers in the Comic Book World that you admire? (I saw Jill Thompson at the Greg Spalenka booth buying jewelry!! THAT was a thrill). Where the hell else would you get to see and listen to people like Ray Harryhausen or Jerry Robinson or Neil Gaiman talk? Where the hell else would you get to see vendors with Silver Age and Golden Age Comics treating the books with respect and the actual art that they are. We're already counting the days down til July 2008 for the next Comic Con...now we just have to find a frigging hotel room.
The amazing Barron Storey...
James Jean!!
My Stash! Books from Murphy Design: Oil, Brandon Boyd's first book, Cathie Bleck's book; CJ & Miss Mindy aka Artists Sisters Book; a Tara McPherson figure; Vertigo's Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall; Illlustration Book Pro 1; Dave McKean's Postcard from Vienna and Postcard from Barcelona
Finally got my hands on Eddie Campbell's Black Diamond Detective Agency...unfortunately, the husband squirreled that and From Hell away and wrapped them in plastic.More Highlights of Comic Con:
From Thursday-
Time in Hell Hall, I mean Hall H where the line snaked out the door, around the side of the building, back into the building for what seemed like miles...
At the Paramount Pictures screening where we were treated to not only freebies (new t-shirts for David-YES!) but also sneak peeks at: Iron Man, Star Trek, STARDUST (!!), Beowulf, Spiderwick Chronicles, Indiana Jones and...and a look at Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd poster featuring Mr Depp looking quite like Mr Burton LOL. I can't wait for that one!
Seeing Mr. Ray Harryhausen not once but in two different panels.
The Spotlight on George Romero with the funny as hell Max Brooks (I've seen the Zombie Survival Guide but now I have to go check out his other book World War Z).
UPA: Mavericks, Magic & Magoo-cartoons, cartoons and more cartoons...
Friday-
Grim Adventures/Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends "Talk"-Yes folks, this was Tristan's "must see" event. Now, I do like Foster's and from Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, I'm a huge Fred Fred Burger fan but that's about it. I think I slept through the panel once I found out that the Fred Fred Burger voice actor, C.H. Greenblatt was NOT on the panel.
Meeting James Jean at the adhouse books booth. There were some very nice people in line in that booth!
Attending the 300 and Blade Runner panel. That was great! I haven't seen 300 yet and am not sure I'm going to but we did get a video greeting from Gerard Butler. Frank Miller, Zach Snyder and company were there. Even better was the Blade Runner panel. Now, I have to confess, I have not seen Blade Runner *yet*. Many an opportunity has been presented to watch it on TV or DVD but the husband insists that it must be seen in the theatre on the big screen. Ripley Scott and several members of the cast were there. James Hong had me rolling.
Seeing Ray Wise walking down the hall.
The Treasures from the ASIFA Vault screening-MORE cartoons!
The Eisners-Oh My God was that fun. We sat in the front (as close as we could). Bill Morrison hosted as Jane Wiedlin assisted in presenting the awards, directing the winners off the stage and giving out hugs and smooches. Morrison was dead on-great great host. It was over 3 hours long, modeled after the Oscars, but it was well worth it. I loved seeing Jill Thompson, Neil Gaiman, James Jean, Jonathan Ross, and more. Watching Jonathan Ross snog Neil Gaiman was frickin' funny as hell (read Gaiman's account here.) It was a ton of fun even though at times I wanted to hog tie my child and put him in the corner. Poor boy. He was tired as the whole trip we got up ridiculously early and went to bed ridiculously late. Next year we are going to see how feasible it is to stay in the Gaslamp area.
Saturday-
HUGE HUGE highlight of the day-THEY OPENED THE EXHIBIT HALL EARLY. That was EFFING AMAZING. I LOVED being let in a full 30 minutes early. Thank you thank you thank you CCI Staff.
The Simpsons Panel in Hell Hall. Now that was funny. The only bad thing is, not being able to get Spider Pig out of my head...
I don't think that I told you that I was practically hanging out at the Allen Spiegel booth Wednesday through Saturday waiting for Barron Storey to show up. Saturday afternoon, I had been by the booth at least 4 times that day to see and we were about to leave as I was getting more tired and cranky by the minute. I didn't see Barron and we started to walk by the booth when who do I see sitting there-OMG! FINALLY! I waited my turn (as he was talking to someone) and went up to him with my copies of Marat/Sade Journals and Life After Black. Now, I'm used to artists saying hi, asking your name and making small talk but was shocked as hell that he actually started talking to me. He was genuinely interested in what I thought of his work, how I found out about his artwork, etc... I was pretty beat and wiped out by Saturday afternoon and was lucky enough to remember even my name so I probably sounded like an idiot (David said "You just sounded like a fan." *sigh* Great...) As I babbled on about loving his work he mentioned that he had some art at the Bert Green Fine Art Gallery in L.A. (FYI, Clive Barker has a show there this Fall.)
We traipsed back to Hell Hall for a few minutes to catch the Disney/Pixar screening for Prince Caspian...didn't stay long though as David and I both wanted to catch Scott Shaw's Oddball Comics Panel. I haven't laughed that hard since I spent some time with Alix and Kathy. THAT was a great panel and I can't wait for that one again next year. Where can I buy a DVD?
The Ray Harryhausen/Ray Bradbury Panel-Now, I have been a huge huge fan of both Rays since I was a teen. Seeing them together was a treat. Now, the huge disappointment of the day was finding out that Ray Bradbury has done a total 180 and is not the same man he used to be.
I won't rant but I'm very sad about this. All I'll say is that I won't ever buy another Bradbury book and if I do want to read his older books (if I don't have them) I will check them out of the library. After his little "rant" at the end of the panel, we all left (as did most in the room) and we were walking to another panel when we heard "Mr. Bradbury is leaving. Make room." Now, Bradbury is in a wheelchair. The next thing I see is a mere foot from me is Bradbury FLYING in his frickin wheelchair TOWARDS TRISTAN. Tristan had slept through the whole thing and was still trying to wake up. I moved Tristan out of the way as Bradbury brushed me with his goddamn wheelchair. David says it's quite ironic that bit and he wished he had it on tape.
Spotlight on Roy Thomas Panel-Now, I have to admit I'm still learning about comics history and I was a wee bit lost on most of what Roy Thomas and Mark Evanier were talking about but it was interesting! We attended a killer panel with Evanier last year talking to Jerry Robinson. I would definitely say for 2008, go out of your way to see an Evanier panel. This man knows his stuff.
This is the first time that we were able to attend Comic Con for more than a day and a half and we loved every minute of it (even when I was a bitch and bitching about how tired I was). People bitch about the crowds...come on, folks it is once a year. People bitch about the movie stuff. People bitch about how some parts of Con are one big advertisement for the movie industry. Yet, where the hell else would you get to walk down the aisles and see other artists and writers in the Comic Book World that you admire? (I saw Jill Thompson at the Greg Spalenka booth buying jewelry!! THAT was a thrill). Where the hell else would you get to see and listen to people like Ray Harryhausen or Jerry Robinson or Neil Gaiman talk? Where the hell else would you get to see vendors with Silver Age and Golden Age Comics treating the books with respect and the actual art that they are. We're already counting the days down til July 2008 for the next Comic Con...now we just have to find a frigging hotel room.
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Carl Wyckaert
www.graphicnovelart.com