So what did you do last weekend? For me it was the juggernaut that is Comic-Con International. I’ve famously gotten philisophical about the experience. If the worst part of my professional year is going to San Diego for a week to talk about the thing I love doing most in the world, it’s not that bad. I have friends who wear ties.
There’s a lot of logistics to it, and some pressure on the front end. Gotta get a hotel, gotta ship out my books, gotta set up my booth. And its always a game of inches. You slowly get better at laying out your booth and getting your gear into the convention center. I live in fear of expansion and redesign of the show floor because I’m so comfortable with the current setup.
The show was pretty good. I did what I needed to do and had a lot of good conversations with friends, fans and people with whom I might do some business. Here are some highlights:
Most embarrassing moment: Mark Shepard often wanders by my booth, and I love talking to him. He’s a great guy, and we’re both fans of his dad. Recently he’s lost some weight and we were talking about that… just as my friend Christopher came by with a brownie for me. Awk. Ward.
Most moments: This year, I set up with Steve Conley of Bloop and Astounding Space Thrills fame. Ben Thompson, my previous boothmate, made the business decision not to come back, so I found a new partner in Steve. It’s always a question how well you’re going to spend five solid days with someone, even if you’re friends beforehand. But I had such fun with Steve that I’d almost pay his half of the booth to get him to come back. Almost.
Moments of potential: That time the guy who worked on that show you liked said about Love and Capes: “Hey! This would make a great sitcom.” Yeah, I know.
Best moment: This one is a little hard to lock down, but I think I have it. On Sunday, someone from Konami (I think) wandered by. It was his first Comic-Con and he’d been working the booth all weekend and now had Sunday free to wander. He was giddy with all there was to see. That’s so cool to see. At worst, I’m jaded and at best I’ve lost my sense of taste for Comic-Con. I have no idea how it is for people anymore. I don’t know how fun it would be for fans. But here this guy comes and it’s all new for him and he’s loving it. It’s so good to see that.
It was another good time. I didn’t take enough photos, especially with my friends. (Fortunately my friend Eugene took care of some of that, as evidenced by our photo above.) But I can take care of that next year. I’ve already signed up to come back.