It was a helluva show, folks!
Comic-Con International 2012, aka San Diego Comic-Con, was a raucous success this year. By far the best SDCC I’ve ever attended. Not only was it a very encouraging show—seems every comic person I talked to was selling a lot of stuff and having a great time, so the air of enthusiasm was very high—but it was a show without any real problems. (So, far as my experience went… a rarity for such a huge convention.) In short, I had way too much fucking fun and also managed to get some work done. Success!
But, as that summary would make for a pretty boring blog post, here are some of the highlights that made this year’s Comic-Con so memorable.
-Drank beers and ate chipotle meatloaf alongside Comics Alliance‘s Caleb Goellner and Andy Khouri.
-Talked to Orchid writer and rock star Tom Morello about our hometown carnival Libertyville Days.
-Explained my “porn ‘stache” to Francesco Francavilla and his wife Lisa, then hassled him about his Black Beetle deadlines as payback.
-Compared mustaches with fellow tall guy, Battlepug creator Mike Norton.
-Chatted about Midwestern sensibilities with cover artist extraordinaire Jenny Frison.
-Got a shout out from Marvel.com‘s Ryan Penagos and Ben Morse during their live Comic-Con feed as I walked by while they were filming.
-Met Concrete Park creator Tony Puryear and his co-writer and wife Erika Alexander and helped them hand out free posters for their signing.
-Chanted “Bros! Bros! BROS!” in a bar with CBR’s Steve Sunu, IDW’s John Schork, DC’s Kevin Mahadeo, and writer-to-look-out-for Justin Aclin. Some of the truest bros I know!
-Briefly discussed Deep Space Nine with CBR’s Kiel Phegley.
-Shared late night drinks with uber-active comics writer Joshua Williamson.
-Received an awesome shout out from Mike Richardson for my work on Dark Horse Presents when it won the Eisner for Best Anthology. (And then he handed me one of the trophies, saying I’d earned it. —> Mind = Blown!)
-Caused Usagi Yojimbo creator and 2012 Eisner Award-winning letterer Stan Sakai to burst into laughter when he saw my panicked face as Richardson announced we might—might—do a 160-page issue of Dark Horse Presents.
-Successfully led the CBLDF’s Alex Cox and The Massive letterer Jared Fletcher to a less crowded bar.
-Partook of the Yucca with ComicBookResources.com‘s Jonah Weiland, Steve Gerding, Shaun Manning, Remy Minnick, and the rest of the CBR crew on the yacht.
-Ate delivery pizza at the Hyatt bar with colorist Ryan Hill.
-Discussed kids comics with The Only Living Boy writer David Gallaher.
-Talked about Lando Calrissian, Syfy, and comics with Highwaymen and Static Shock writer Marc Bernardin.
-Conversed about creator-owned work and all-ages comics with Star Wars writer Tom Taylor and met his Aussie cohort, writer/artist Tristan Jones.
-Caught up with the extremely generous Alex Segura and got to briefly nerd out about all the awesome stuff happening at Archie Comics!
-Witnessed the eternal smile plastered on Ulises Farinas‘s face!
-And shared pineapple with Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro as we talked comics.
And that’s just the stuff I can remember off hand after a week’s gone by! I’m sure I am forgetting some truly rad stuff that also happened, but absorbing all the info you do during the week of Comic-Con definitely affects one’s recall. Apologies to those rad folks and moments I left out here, it is due only to how fried my brain still is from that insane week.
Special shout outs to my roommates Patrick Thorpe and Cheyenne Allott for being totally awesome (as always), as well as long lost NYC buddy Josh Wigler—who may have received more hugs at this show from me than any two other people combined. Also, high fives to the entire Dark Horse crew for general awesomeness and for having a truly great show. Seriously, I left San Diego so full of love and inspiration thanks to to all the folks mentioned above (Not to mention many others like Tim Wiesch, Scott Allie, Sierra Hahn, Daniel Chabon, the Things from Another World crew, and more I should remember—so sorry!) and that’s really the best kind of convention experience you can have—one that makes you grateful and happy to work in such an excellent industry with so many truly wonderful people.
Similar Posts:
- San Diego Comic-Con 2012: The Photos
- San Diego Comic-Con 2012: The Booty
- San Diego Comic-Con 2011: The Memories
