San Diego Comic-Con 2004 – Friday

Is it hot in here, or is it just all of you?

Another San Diego has come and gone, and while this year the majority of the iFanboy team took a pass on the festivities, I went down there with my girlfriend Lindsay for three days. It was, as always a great time. The main difference this year was the size of the crowd. It was huge, and the air conditioning system could barely keep up with them. Even with the floor expanded to the outer limit of the convention center’s size, it could barely contain the swarming hordes of pop culture fiends. But thank god they’re there, and they’re keeping the industry alive.

Since it wasn’t the same kind of experience I would have had with the iFanboys, I spend a lot less time going to news panels and comics discussion. Truth be told, the panels were a little lacking in my opinion. There were very few things that stood out to me when reading over the schedule. Not only was I unenthused about the comics panels, which is probably an indication of my shifting tastes in comics, but there weren’t any really exciting movie panels either. Well, Sin City may have been great, but good luck getting through that mob. Because of the amount of people, I mostly just didn’t bother.

Instead I focused on what I always like to do, which is to really just wander the aisles and nooks and crannies, and sweaty allies of the convention. I start off with a general wander, getting the feel of bigger more impressive booths, and some of the cooler toys the year has coming up. Then I start out going through the individual rows, first at a wander, then checking out prices, and finally, starting to sift through things to find bargains. Also, this year, I really got to follow my mandate to pick up some new stuff by indy and small press creators, and buy stuff directly from them, giving them the largest profit. Hopefully in the near future I’ll get some reviews up and hip some folks to some great reads, and spread the gospel as it were.

If you’re out there, and you gave me something to read and review, I’ll get to it soon. I promise.

DAY 1 – FRIDAY

My first goal for Friday was to get there by 12:30, in time to see the Batman Begins panel with screenwriter David Goyer and co-star Cillian Murphy. It took a long time to get my press badges and get entry into the room, and it was about 1pm by the time we made our way down to the giant Hall H, where the panel was held, and there was still a line outside. Now my only reason for going to this was to catch a glimpse of some footage, which sadly wasn’t shown. You can read the details of that elsewhere. Just after, they showed some trailers and a 17 minute compilation of Constantine, the Keanu starring Hellblazer movie. I watched about 5 minutes. Had I not ever read or liked the comic, it might have even looked good. But he’s supposed to be British, and for some reason, that detail seems really important to me. Kevin Costner didn’t listen either.

Later that afternoon, Lindsay and I went to the Strangers in Paradise panel with Terry Moore. This year Terry had an outline of things he would talk about rather than shooting off the cuff. A little formatted, but Terry was affable and open and funny as ever. Basically, there’s no movie or TV coming any time soon, and he’s taken them off the table for the option in the first place for a while. As far as other comics work, he’s thinking about it. There was almost a new Power Girl series, but talks fell through when it came to money. But now there’s a whole proposal and series idea sitting in his drawer for a female superhero book just waiting to be cracked. Terry said all he really wants out of any of the deals is a red Mini Cooper, and as soon as Marvel or DC or whoever come up with it, he’s theirs. As of yet, there are no takers. Terry also hates SUVs. He spent some time taking questions, and as always refers to his characters as if they are real, and to him they are, and what will happen with them. He just loves his work, and it shows. I think I could listen to Terry talk for a good long while just about any time. And there’s a DVD being worked on right now by a documentary film maker to give you just that in the privacy of your home. Look for it in the direct market before the end of the year. And most importantly, Terry had the new SiP pocket book. This novel sized collection has the first 3 trades, goes for around 17 bucks and makes just about the best gift ever. There are 4 volumes planned. They’ll be in the direct market, one each month for the rest of the year, and then in book stores in January. If you’ve never gotten into Strangers in Paradise, this is about the best way to start, or to get someone else started. And they were selling like hotcakes.

And that was about the flavor of the day. Some more floor walking and just taking it in. Things seemed more overwhelming than usual, perhaps because I was with a San Diego virgin, and we were off to grill our own steaks at the Gaslamp Strip Club. If you’re in San Diego, and you want steak, eat there.

Stay tuned for Day 2’s adventures coming soon, as well as pictures and reviews, but there were a lot of books bought, and it will take some time to get through them.

Comments

  1. What is that a picture of?

  2. That would be the convention floor.

    I wondered how long before someone asked.

  3. i thought it might be the mighty DC carpet.
    no one mentioned it yet. did you stop by the carpet?
    was it all i remember it to be?

  4. Please see the report for Saturday regarding carpet.