SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON 2003 – DAY TWO

The second day of the con brought more people to make it even more difficult to walk around the con floor. It also brought more opportunites to take pictures.

We went to a few more panels as the schedule got more interesting, click “continue” to read all about it.

The population must have tripled on the convention floor today, in what is sure to be a windup for the cattle call of the con on Saturday. Once again, the panel attendance was somewhat minimum, since after a while, they all seem to be saying basically the same thing. At that point, you pretty much only attend the panels you know are going to be entertaining.

Today we started the day with the “Geoff Johns/Judd Winick One on One” panel. It was an early start but a good sized crowd was present to listen to the writers who have carved a corner of the DC universe with their new books The Outsiders and Teen Titans. The tone of the panel was lighthearted as they told how the books came about mainly last year in San Diego. They didn’t give away any spoilers of any kind, rather urging everyone to read the books and enjoy some of the twists they have planned.

Later on, we stopped by the “Strangers in Paradise 10 Year Anniversary” discussion, where the always amiable Terry Moore pleased the crowd with his warm sense of humor, full disclosure and finally free chocolate bars in SIP wrappers.

We took a stop at the “Cup ‘O Joe” panel where Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada said absolutely nothing interesting that we hadn’t heard before. Since Marvel is apparently in bed with Wizard, all announcements will be saved for WizardWorld Chicago, hence the lack of even a Marvel table this year in San Diego. They’re clearly missing the chance to market to tons of kids who wait all year to meet their favorite Marvel artists and writers. Bad PR move we say. New Marvel is looking less shiny all the time. If it wasn’t for Brian Michael Bendis, the house of ideas would be in flames. We hate to admit it, but Marvel’s lack of a presence here this year might be contributing to the lack of energy at the con.

Finally we stopped by the “Gays In Comics: Crossfire”panel, which always proves for some good debate and discussion by the industry’s leading gay creators. Most notable present at the panel was Phil Jimenez, Marc Andreyko, and moderated by Joan Hilty from DC. The discussion was lively and positive as some tough questions were raised and discussed in a serious, yet lighthearted manner including comparisons to other media forms and how they handle gay and lesbian representation. The long cancelled Ellen was brought up as an example of questioning how a gay character can affect a series, which brought the question of what was the Ellen of comics. All in all, the panel was interesting for the second year in a row.

Tomorrow’s the big day. Get the cattle prods ready.