San Diego Comic-Con 2009 Con Report: Part I

Hangin' at SDCC: Me, my boy Haden, Juan (Re-Evolution),
Dan (Azure), and Gus (Re-Evolution).

San Diego Comic-Con is finally over, and I'm sure tons of exhausted industry pros and fans are glad to be home and no longer surrounded by the incredible sea of pop culture stimulus that is the "big one". I used to be a regular at SDCC in my self-publishing days in the mid-nineties, back when it was a relatively quaint little gathering of comic fans, before the Hollywood blockbusters and video game tie-ins made their way into the heart of the beast.

I had mixed feelings as I prepared for the trip, since this time I'm going with my wife Melissa and two baby boys in tow, driving all the way from Texas to the coast. Melissa had decided that we should rent a condo by the beach and it was a very nice move on her part, as we enjoyed the ocean breeze and our toddler Haden loved playing in a virtually-limitless sandbox. Growing up as a pasty nerd who didn't know how to swim, I always had a healthy fear of all those perfectly tanned Baywatch bodies on the beach. However, staying by the beach this time, I realized that life is short and there are certainly much worse ways to live your life than out by the ocean, baking in the sun and forgetting your troubles.

Wednesday: One of the problems of staying out on the beach is that getting down to the con can be a pain in the ass. I decided to stop by Preview Night quickly just so I could get my badge and take a peek around. After taking care of the kids, I got down there a little late and the convention floor was already jam-packed. The exhibitor booths by the major companies looked even more massive than the last time, like huge monoliths with multiple eye-screens blaring at you. I was suffering sensory overload pretty quickly so I scuttled my butt out of there, hoping to save my energy for the upcoming days.

Thursday: The Zuda crew has a nice setup in the DC mega-tent, and it was cool to finally meet people in person. I was scheduled to sit alongside Juan and Gus from Re-Evolution and they are really awesome guys. We were immediately bombarded by people looking for sketches so we went to work. One little girl wanted a sketch of Edward from Twilight so I obliged, even though I had to look at her Twilight photo book in order to capture Robert Pattinson's sparkly vampire goodness. I knew Twilight and TrueBlood are popular but it was quite something to see it in person at the con. I guess you can never underestimate the power of pretty vampire boys and girls. I've always wanted to do a vampire story also but somehow I think my take on it would be a lot darker than what the tweens would be into. After my time at the Zuda booth was up, I caught up with my friend Dave that I had worked together with on Scanner and we had lunch. He's been coming to SDCC regularly the last few years, and hopefully will have some cool stuff coming out soon from Image and other companies. We ended up bumming around the con the rest of the afternoon, catching up with other friends and acquaintances in the small press pavilion which was a little less insane than the majors area at the center of the storm. I've always been surprised by how quiet some of the small corner booths can be while the big booths had people packed in like sardines. It really is a game of survival of the fittest and SDCC mercilessly illuminates that principle in its harsh fluorescent lights.