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“So what do you do at Comic-Con, anyway?” a friend asked me. My con experience is generally quite different from most of my friends’ experiences there, the daytime parts at least. Most of my con pals are writers, artists, and editors who are there to work. They put in time at publishers’ booths, they sign books and do sketches, they speak on panels and meet fans and go to special events. For most pros, it’s a fun week, but a hard one too, often quite exhausting. People are usually pretty wiped out by Sunday afternoon. Even I am exhausted, and I didn’t have to work. As you know, I took a break from fiction writing with the last two babies, so I haven’t had any new books to promote in the past couple of years. (Though I suppose this is as good a time as any to tell you that I did get back to work in January, and I’ve finished a middle-grade novel and a young graphic novel, and they are both in the capable hands of my agent now, so yay for that! I’m feeling my way into the next book now. But that’s a topic for another post…)

At dinner with Babymouse author and utterly lovable person, Jenni Holm, and her delightful husband, video game developer Jonathan Hamel. My crazy gremlin smile is because that is how happy they make me.

Anyway, for me, as a pro who has been on hiatus, SDCC is kind of an ideal convention experience: I get all the fun of spending time with writer and artist friends, many of whom I only see once a year, and I get to explore the vendor hall and scout out interesting new books to read—which you know is pretty much my favorite pastime—but I am also free to attend panels all day long, if I wish. And I love the panels at Comic-Con. I love listening to other creative professionals talk about their work. The folks who speak on SDCC panels are some of the smartest, most talented, most interesting people I’ve ever had the pleasure to listen to. Comic book writers and artists, children’s book writers, science fiction and fantasy authors, cartoonists, editors…a feast for the curious mind.

So: I went to lots of panels, and when I wasn’t tweeting about them, I took copious notes in my notebook—notes I will shortly attempt to write up here, for my own records if nothing else. Here are the panels I attended; I’d love to know which ones you’d be most interested in hearing more about:

• “Once Upon a Time”—panel on high fantasy with authors Brandon Sanderson, Brent Weeks, Lynn Flewelling, Megan Whalen Turner, Christopher Paolini, and Patrick Rothfuss. SUCH A GREAT DISCUSSION! Topics: everyman vs. superhero; role of prophecy/destiny in fiction.

• Digital comics (this one turned about to be more about marketing than the creative and technical processes)

• Webcomics

• The LOST Encyclopedia

• Rick Riordan interviewed by novelist Michael Scott (EXCELLENT panel; I tweeted notes and took many more)

• “Entertaining One’s Inner Child”—panel of children’s graphic novel author/illustrators moderated by Jennifer Holm. The panelists were: Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules), Sina Grace (Among the Ghosts), Matt Holm (Babymouse), Adam Rex (Fat Vampire), David Steinberg (Daniel Boom), and Greg Van Eekhout (Kid Vs. Squid).

• Spotlight on the legendary comic-book writer and Batman editor Dennis O&rs

We’re back! And we have had no dinner and nothing to eat, so this may be very very rocky.

The evening gala starts with the introduction of host Bill Morrison who lets on that “Somewhere there is a very small area that sells comics, look for it search it out and find some of the fantastic projects that have been here tonight.” Good advice, Bill even if we need a microscope and a Foursquare account to find those comics.

Bill introduced the other co-host, voice actor Maurice LaMarche, who comes up and admits he’s a comics book geek who shops at Golden Apple and Earth 2. After running through a vocal medley of his best known characters– like the Brain — he then introduces the “Queen Mother” of the Eisner Awards, Jackie Estrada.

Jackie runs through the history of the award from the great Olbrich/Fantagraphics Kirby Awards rift of the 80s that gave rise to the Harveys and Eisners. She also explains the rules, introduces the judges and explains that this is her 20th year doing the Eisners. Congrats to Jackie!

Denis Kitchen announces that A CONTRACT WITH GOD will be made into a movie with four stories being adapted by four directors including Alex Rivera, Tse Tung and two others whose names we didn’t get. Among the group of producers is one Bob Schreck! The main producer dude comes up and gives a humble speech about how cool it it is to be doing this.

Morrison and LaMarche introduce the 13 stars of Scott Pilgrim with some awkward schtick — but is there ever any other kind at an awards show? Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ellen Wong introduce The Best Publication for Kids and the winner is…
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz HC, by L. Frank Baum, Eric Shanower, and Skottie Young (Marvel)

Eric Shanower and Skottie Young come up to accept and thank Marvel and everyone. Eric is well dressed.

GIANT BEAUTIFUL HUMAN Brandon Routh comes up to give the award for Best Publication for Teens to 
Beasts of Burden, by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson.

Jill comes up and jokes that she’ll be holding on to Routh — you and everyone else, MEORWWWR. Jill thanks the fans for making this unlikely blend of animal, detectives and the supernatural a success.

Satya Baba is up to present Best Humor Publication. Baba has an awesome accent and delivery and everyone is thrilled to present it to Bryan Lee O’Malley for Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe, a popular win. O’Malley inexplicably calls up Thomas Jane which really makes the night complete. O’Malley is also humble and surprised and says he isn’t funny. We say different.

The beautiful young movie stars leave the stage, taking their innocence and wonder with them and we are left with Jillian Tamaki and James Sturm who bring us back to the warm and familiar world of comics and present Best Cover Artist J. H. Williams III for Detective Comics, a pretty good choice. James Sime accepts with a natty look.

They also present Best Letterer to David Mazzuchelli.  Stephen DeStefano accepts with another natty look. He says David told him to deliver the message “Who is Bryan Lee O’Malley.” De Stefano also lauds Mazzuchelli’s wife Richmond who is a fine artist and inspiration in her own right.

Best Digital Comic goes to Sin Titulo, by Cameron Stewart. Who is thrilled with his win and thanks his other Transmission-X Canadian cohorts.

Jerry Robinson and Mark Evanier come out to present the Finger Award to Gary Friedrich who is very excited and humble and a bit hard to understand.

The Reno 911 guys are up and feign

by special Beat correspondent Bruce Lidl

Late Thursday afternoon, as Comic Con began to really hit its stride, as the shift from panel and show floor to party mode started to occur, the second annual “Digital Comics Now!” panel, hosted by Chip Mosher of Boom! Studios got underway.  In some ways the panel is a barometer for where digital comics stand in 2010.  Many of the same faces from 2009 appeared, including David Steinberger from comiXology and Michael Murphey from iVerse, while new members were Wade Slitkin of Panelfly and Micah Baldwin from Graphic.ly.  Noticeably absent was Rantz Hoseley from Longbox, an ubiquitous presence at the Convention in 2009.

There was breaking news right off the bat, with Slitkin announcing that Panelfly was about to disappear and is merging with some other multimedia properties into a new entity to be called “Syn.”  Details were sparse, but it would appear that at least one of the players in the digital comics space is exiting.  In general, though, the rest of the panelists were cautiously bullish on the prospects for digital comics, particularly based on the growth in availability and sales for comics distributed online (primarily via Apple properties, an element that remains consistent from 2009).  Steinberger was comfortable representing the admitted industry leader, as comiXology has the largest library of available titles, with over 2300 books he claimed.

Micah Baldwin from newcomer Graphic.ly was happy to play the role of the bigger thinker, and to emphasize what he sees as his company’s key differentiator, social and community features.  Murphey from iVerse seemed to be speaking for all in the group in characterizing the necessity of depending so much on Apple to be an acceptable reality and that some of the early problems around the iTunes have been ironed out, and things were “just not that bad” anymore.

Mosher challenged the panelists to explain how digital comics were going to expand the overall comic book market beyond what his research characterizes as the “300,000 regular weekly shoppers” at the 1800-2000 brick and mortar shops in the U.S.  Here the answers were very similar to a year ago, highlighting the potential benefits of bringing comics to non-traditional readers via technology, and to capitalize on the general pervasiveness of comic IP in the culture generally.  Steinberger claimed that the retailers participating in comiXology’s program had seen sale increases of “20%” but the general feeling was that digital comics were still too new to for much comprehensive data to be collected yet.

To this observer, the most interesting comment from the panel was really more of a question.  Baldwin from Graphic.ly, an admitted “non-comics guy,” talked about the on-going search for that element that will be the tangible answer to the change in revenue streams brought on by digital.  In his view the music industry has forcibly shifted its priorities to live concert sales over individual unit sales.  He wants to know “what will be the live music” of the comic book industry, which is a very interesting question for the CEO of a company that sells digital copies of comic books to ask.  Digital comics are, after all, the mp3 in this analogy, and it is the physical comic books that are the scarce good that can still be charged for, like music performances.  The price pressure on digital copies is likely to increase in a downward direction, as we have seen in other industries, including book publishing.  Because of the intensely collectible and visual nature of comics, far greater than CD’s or books of course, comics sales are likely to remain far more dependent on physical sales than those other media, while the successful price of digital comics are, in my opinion, almost assured

In the recent manga cutbacks, one company has remained conspicuous by their silence — Del Rey’s manga line, mostly licensed from Kodansha, has been quietly downsizing for months, with fewer and fewer titles coming out, and an increased emphasis on their home-made manga-like books, such as their Avatar graphic novels.

In addition, it is confirmed that marketing manager Ali T. Kokmen has been let go. Kokmen worked closely on DEl Rey’s manga line so the lay-off developed from that. (Kokmen is at the con, so if you see him, offer him a gig.)

Kodansha representative are at the show however, including some appearances at the Vertical booth where they are talking up a new English language version of their contributor’s site — perhaps looking to add more English-speaking creators to the established Felipe Smith.

While the scope of all the moves isn’t entirely clear, Random House, the parent company of Del Rey, seems to be cutting back on graphic novels in general, as the manga category softens and a lot of books that were announced with great fanfare over the last few years underperformed, such as the Marvel manga line. They are still in the space with books like the Flight anthologies however, and other licensed titles. And of course, they distribute DC’s graphic novels to the trade.

Developing.

Previously I mentioned I'll be participating on a panel at Comic-Con. I just want to say today that I'll also be signing in the Autograph Area after my panel, and giving away FAT VAMPIRE t-shirts to the first fifteen people in my line (who want one).

The t-shirt graphic looks like the image up left. My signing is in AA1 from 12-1 pm. See you there!

San Diego Comic-Con is next week. Thought I’d warm up with a roundup of previous SDCC posts.

SDCC 2009:

Thursday. Photos, “female power icon” panel, cute father-son moment.

Friday. Photos, Mouse Guard panel.

Saturday. Notes on a variety of topics, including Scott’s karaoke performance.

Sunday. More photos.

Graphic novels for kids panel #1. Gene Yang, Derek Kirk Kim, the fabulous Jenni Holm, Eric Wright, Lewis Trondheim, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Chris Schweizer.

Graphic novels for kids panel #2. I had to slip out early so not many notes, just names.

SDCC 2008:

One big photolicious recap post.

Plus a story about that bag I bought.

This was the panel I had to leave only a few minutes after it began—chatty baby—so I didn’t take notes. But I wanted to share the list of authors and titles with those of you who are looking for recommendations:

Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules!).

Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet). Kazu’s art is crazy beautiful. Couldn’t take my eyes off it. Amulet has a pretty intense opening (car accident, death of a parent) but it gripped me for sure and I am eager to read the rest.

David Petersen (Mouse Guard). Mentioned in this post and others; gets enthusiastic thumbs-up from my gang.

Eric Jones and Landry Walker (Supergirl, Little Gloomy).

Jeff Smith (Bone). Scott and my three oldest have read and greatly enjoyed many of the Bone books. They passed Scott’s OK for 8-Year-Olds test. I’ve not read any of them yet. I know! I’m a slacker!

Alexis Fajardo (Kid Beowulf). Sounds very intriguing, does it not?

My post on the first “comics and graphic novels for kids” panel is here. Lots of notes on that one. For the sake of convenience, here’s a quick list of the authors and some of their books:

Lewis Trondheim (Tiny Tyrant).

Gene Yang (American Born Chinese).

Derek Kirk Kim (The Eternal Smile).

Eric Wight (Frankie Pickle and The Closet of Doom).

Chris Schweizer (Crogan’s Vengeance).

Jennifer Holm (Babymouse).

Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Lunch Lady).

(Note: this is one of those uberlinky posts that takes forever to write. I’m going to eschew linking for now, for the most part, and add them later when I have time.)

There were two Graphic Novels for Kids panels on Sunday at San Diego Comic-Con 2009. I attended the first panel in its entirety, but I had to leave about 15 minutes into the afternoon session. The baby was feeling chatty again.

Both panels—the parts I attended—were excellent. Terrific lineups of writers and artists. I must have added a dozen new titles to my TBR pile, at least. I took scribbly notes while attempting to keep the pen out of the baby’s grasp—note-taking is tricky when you’re standing in the back of the room, bouncing an infant in a sling to keep him happy, trying not to poke the tip of your pen through the folded paper you’re balancing on your hand because you decided at the last minute that your beloved notebook was one object too many for a shoulder already overtaxed with convention survival supplies and a 21-pound six-month-old.

You’ll have to forgive, then, the sketchiness of my notes in some instances. I think my best bet here is to list the panelists and their books along with any remarks I happened to jot down, rather than making any attempt to chronicle the Q and A in order. Fair enough? Of the books I’m about to list, I have only read Jennifer Holm’s Babymouse series and David Petersen’s Mouse Guard: Fall 1152. I wholeheartedly recommend the former for young readers and the latter for all ages. And I’d venture to say that even non-fantasy-fans and non-comics-fans will be blown away by Petersen’s gorgeous full-color artwork. (Edited to add: David Petersen was on the second panel, which I’ll talk about in a subsequent post.)

All righty, then. My notes:

Comics and Graphic Novels for Kids Panel #1, SDCC 2009

First: a hearty note of appreciation for the work of the moderator, Robin Brenner of NoFlyingNoTights.com and author of Understanding Manga and Anime. Her questions were insightful and her handout was packed with information. (I’d love to see it online!) Fabulous resource and it’s clear Brenner knows the topic well.

The panelists:

Gene Yang, author and illustrator of American Born Chinese (winner of Eisner and Printz Awards—the Eisner is the most prestigious award in comics, says the proud wife of an Eisner nominee) and writer of The Eternal Smile, illustrated by Derek Kirk Kim, who was also on the panel. (Many of my readers may also recognize Gene as the creator of The Rosary Comic Book, published by Pauline Books and Media, about which Gene wrote: “I’ve always struggled with how to incorporate my faith into my comics in an authentic way. One Lent, I decided to do a comic adaptation of the Rosary Prayer, rather than giving up chocolate or soda. The Rosary Comic Book is the result.)

Notes:

—Is a teacher, has young children, started writing comics because of dearth of kid-appropriate comic books in stores. Mentioned reading a Batman comic (years ago) in which the villain disguised himself with the skin of a victim’s face, found that image terribly disturbing, it lingered, was not at all appropriate for children.

—During discussion of the responsibility of writing for kids, told funny story (at Derek Kirk Kim’s urging) about a reader who tracked him down by calling the school where he works & left scolding message about a grammatical error in one of his books, and actually asked him to call back to discuss the matter. He didn’t return the call, of course.

Derek Kirk Kim, author and illustrator of Same Difference and Other Stories (won Eisner and Harvey), a graphic novel (not for kids). As mentioned above, he illustrated The Eternal Smile, a collection of fantastical stories (fantastical, not necessarily fantasy).

Jennifer Holm, author of the Babymouse books (illustrated by her brother, Matthew Holm), and Newbery Honor-winning author of Our Only May Amelia.

—Grew up the only girl with four brothers, comics were everywhere, but she didn’t connect with Wonder Woman and other female superheroes who seemed nothing like her. Babymouse springs from her desire to create a comic book character other young girls can relate to. (It tickled me to see Jennifer up there on the panel, the only female surrounded by half a dozen men, talking about growing up with a pack of brothers.)

—Went with traditional children’s book publisher rather than comics publisher for Babymouse because the book publishers know how to get books into schools and libraries. Comic book shops are not places frequented by mothers of small children (as she knows from experience, as the mother of small children).

—Fun connection: during conversation before the panel began, we discovered a mutual affection for Ginee Seo, who was Jennifer’s editor at one point, and my boss for a short while years earlier.

Gene Yang and Jennifer Holm.

Eric Wright, author and illustrator of Frankie Pickle (illustrated chapter book series for young kids), My Dead Girlfriend (teen graphic novel), and Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (comic book adaptation). Former animator at Disney, Warner Bros., Cartoon Network.

—Eric spoke earnestly about the need for kid-appropriate comics and graphic novels. (A drum I’ve been pounding for years.) Described becoming a father, having to shield his child’s eyes in the comic shops.

—Told a great story about a library(?) signing for very young children. One child in the autograph line seemed a good bit older than the rest, turned out to be a first-grader who’d skipped school for the event. The boy’s mother told Eric, “Meeting you was more important to him than going to school.”

Jennifer Holm, Jarrett K. Krosoczka, Eric Wright, and Chris Schweitzer.

Lewis Trondheim, French comics superstar. Spoke about differences in France, where all ages read comics and prose with equal enthusiasm. Funny, wry; I wish I’d taken better notes about his contributions to the discussion. Blame my infant son.

Jarrett K. Krosoczka, prolific children’s book writer and illustrator (Punk Farm, Bubble Bath Pirates, Annie Was Warned, and many others) and writer/illustrator of a graphic novel series called Lunch Lady, which I am eager to check out.

Chris Schweizer, author and illustrator of The Crogan Adventures, teen graphic novels about “an honest sailor who, through unfortunate circumstance, finds himself thrust into a life of piracy” (description taken from the author’s website). You pretty much always have me at “finds himself thrust into a life of piracy,” so I can’t wait to take a look at Crogan.

Jarrett K. Krosoczka, Eric Wright, Chris Schweitzer, and Derek Kirk Kim.

I’ll have to write about the second panel in another post—this one is bursting at the seams as it is. But there are a lot of promising prospects for the TBR pile here. If you check any of them out, or your kids do, I would love to hear what you and they think!

Group photo with moderator Robin Brenner. That’s Lewis Trondheim on the left. I loved that Gene and Jennifer had their families with them, and I absolutely adore this photo of Jennifer with her two beautiful children making a rush for mommy during the photo shoot. I can’t begin to count the number of times I have found myself in exactly the same position, with one child clinging to my neck and the another on my back threatening to topple all three of us over. Just fills your heart with warmth, doesn’t it?

The first kids’ graphic novel panel post is almost finished. First, though, a few more Comic-Con sights. On Saturday and Sunday, I took few pictures—too busy!

But I saw a lot of good stuff. A small sampling:

Where’s Waldo?

Hey, there’s Lt. Uhura!

I rounded a corner and there she was: the lovely and gracious Nichelle Nichols, who autographed a photo for my father (he was tickled when I presented it back at home).

Ordinary Joes.

Talented comic-book writer and all-around sweetheart Mike Costa (The Secret History of The Authority: Hawksmoor) with his youngest fan.

View from the DC Comics green room.

Scott and Huck with brilliant artist Fiona Staples (Hawksmoor, North 40). Aw, is the con over already?

OK, back to work on the graphic novel post.

(But not tonight. Still not caught up—on rest, on reading, on housework, on cuddles.)

Graphic Novels for Kids Panel #1, featuring a stellar array of authors including the delightful Jennifer Holm, author of the Babymouse books my Beanie so adores. The baby napped during that panel, so I got to hear the whole thing, took copious notes, have much good stuff to share and many new books to check out.

Graphic Novels for Kids Panel #2, another awesome author lineup, many more titles to investigate—but Huck grew suddenly chatty quite early on and I had to make a hurried exit. Fortunately, prolific children’s book author and blogger (and wonderfully warm person whom it was a delight to finally meet face to face) Anastasia Suen was there and I’m hoping to hear more from her about the rest of that discussion.

How fond I am of Mark Buckingham. We only see him once a year at this con, and it’s always one of my favorite parts.

Ditto Kelley Puckett, who really needs to come to San Diego more often.

How Kristen Rutherford is the most gorgeous pregnant woman ever, and I’m not just saying that because she got invited to Skywalker Ranch and I’m hoping she’ll bring me along.

How charming was the karaoke duet of “If I Had a Million Dollars” sung by my hubby and Mike Costa at the WildStorm party. Scott really would buy me a green dress, you know. (But not a real green dress; that’s cruel.)

How the primary flaw of the San Diego Comic-Con is its absence of vast displays of candy like those at the Barcelona con. Props to Mike Costa, though, for hooking me up with a fistful of Red Vines from the DC booth stash.

How I may finally have found a sport at which I excel. It even involves an actual ball and hoops.

How much I love hanging out with my husband. The best, the very best, the best-by-far thing about any con is spending all that extra time with him.

Well, day two turned into a lot of waiting in line for events I wound up missing. The baby and I dropped Scott off at the WildStorm booth for his morning shift and headed up to Ballroom 20, where the Caprica/BSG line was already hundreds deep. We joined the throng, but before long, word came that too few people were leaving the previous panel, and the Caprica panel was already at maximum capacity.

Ah, well. The baby was hungry anyway, so we found a nice bench and people-watched for a while—which really is one of the best parts of a con.

Think that backpack is full of Wonka bars?

Then we spent some time wandering the main exhibit hall. The display of Mouse Guard books at the Archaia booth reminded me I wanted to hit the Archaia panel—

—so we headed back upstairs and joined that line, which was nice and short because we were early. Alas, we had to slip out of the panel after only fifteen minutes because the baby was feeling chatty. Actually I had kind of a mortifying moment. I was standing in the back of the room with the baby in the sling, bouncing him a bit to keep him happy while simultaneously typing one-handed notes on the presentation into my Blackberry. And now and then the baby would make a little happy noise, but it really wasn’t loud enough to disturb anyone (yet). But suddenly I realized Mouse Guard author David Petersen was looking at me and what he saw would have been a woman with a wiggly baby, a woman staring intently at her cell phone, appearing not to be paying attention. Horrible. Probably looked like I was texting someone. How could he know that I was faithfully chronicling his own words? It was right about then that Sean’s soft-happy became edging-toward-loud happy, so I slipped out the side door.

But we were there long enough to hear from David Petersen about the publication, at last, of the second volume of his beautifully illustrated graphic novel series. My kids (especially Beanie) are big fans of the first Mouse Guard book, Fall 1152, and I’m looking forward to reading Winter 1152. Also full of promise: the Mouse Guard roleplaying game, the discovery of which inspired a couple of excited tweets yesterday. The rules are published in a gorgeous hardcover book. It’s thick. Possibly complicated? Might be fun to find out.

Mouse Guard author David Petersen (left) and Archaia Studios Press editorial director Stephen Christy

We had to leave before I got to hear about Archaia’s recently announced partnership with the Jim Henson Company, but I gather there are plans to publish comics based on such Henson classics as (oh boy oh boy!!) Fraggle Rock and The Dark Crystal. (Unabashed Fraggle Rock fan here.)

Loads more to tell, of course (for starters, there’s the smashing karaoke performance of “If I Had a Million Dollars” by writer Mike Costa and my very own husband), but the kids are waking up and it’s about to be busy-Saturday-morning around here. Friday summary is:

Having a ball—

Wish you were here.

Convention center.

Crowd.

Color.

Zombie.

Panel: Wonder Women—Female Power Icons in Pop Culture.

“They say there aren’t enough good roles for women. That’s because Eliza Dushku is playing them all.” (On Dollhouse.)

Sigourney Weaver: “Ripley could take Clint Eastwood in a fight.”

Will Juliet return to LOST this season? Says Elizabeth Mitchell: “That depends on whether or not Jack’s plan worked.”

Zoë Saldana (Avatar, Star Trek) on women in action roles: “We fight against a room full of men over why we can’t wear pants for all the running, the fighting…They think I can do it in a skirt and Gucci boots.”

Missed the end of the panel because the baby, who’d been an angel up to that point, had had enough. Had strategically placed myself on an aisle seat next to an exit just in case I needed to slip out. Slipped out. Headed down to the mad crush of the main hall and found—our favorite superhero of all.

Hannah makes a good point. San Diego Comic-Con is just a week away, and I’ve been poring over the schedule. The LOST panel, oh I’m there. And there’s a Dollhouse thing I plan to attend, baby permitting. The “Female Power Icons in Pop Culture” panel with Sigourney Weaver and Elizabeth Mitchell (that’s Juliet to you LOST fans) sounds interesting, but it’s early on, before my parents arrive to take over the child-wrangling.

Here are the schedules. Anything here strike your fancy, O Bonny Glen friends? Any events you’d especially like to hear more about? Any particular comic-book-or-pop-culture-related topics you’d like to discuss? You know how I suffer from option paralysis…

And I was only there for half of it.

Whew. As has always been my comic book convention experience, the weekend was exhausting but sooo much fun. That it fell on this particular weekend was a bummer, though, because a bunch of my girlfriends were at an entirely different conference on the other side of the country, and I (sob) could not be in two places at once.

Looking at all the beautiful pictures from the FCL Conference gave me such a smile, because talk about a study in contrasts! Here’s what their weekend looked like.

Here’s what mine looked like.

Scott had to work at the con Wednesday night, Thursday, Friday, and through the weekend. My mother arrived bright and early Saturday morning, and I brought her home from the airport, gave her a hug, and abandoned her with the children for the next two days. More or less.

On Saturday, while Scott worked at the WildStorm booth and did portfolio review and all that editor stuff they pay him for, I strolled up and down the convention center taking in the sights. There is always a lot to take in.

View from the DC Comics green room.

Saw eye to eye, Yoda and I did.

After a while, you’ve seen so much it all becomes a blur.

Sometimes you just need to sit down and take a little breather.

Fortunately, Scott got a late lunch break just in time for us to hook up with our beloved (and gorgeous) college friend Kristen, her husband Vinny, and Vinny’s Attack of the Show co-producer, Joshua. We survived the cattle crossing that is the big intersection right outside the convention center

and wandered into the Gaslamp District in search of a good place to eat.

Speaking of cattle crossings, we passed these characters just hanging out on a streetcorner.

Rumor has it they were a promo for the TV show Fringe.

The restaurant that boasted of having award-winning meatloaf had a 45-minute wait, so hmph to them. We found ourselves at Fred’s Mexican Cafe, and oh my goodness. The complimentary chips and salsa were so good they nearly made us weep.

Kristen took this picture of me basking in post-salsa contentment.

She also got much better Comic-Con pix than I did.

After stuffing ourselves with cajun shrimp tacos (oh. my. goodness.) and carnitas burritos, we waddled back down the street toward the Con. OK, I waddled. Scott had to dash ahead to get back for booth duty. Kristen and I took our time. We passed Joss Whedon on the street. Kristen greeted him with what is now my favorite greeting ever. He grinned. Then we reached Kristen’s hotel and said a weepy goodbye. L.A. is just too dang far away. At least, as the car drives.

Back to the Con for me, where I visited artist friends until Scott was finished at the booth. Tim Sale shook his head in amazement at the news that we are expecting again. I told him we figure there won’t be any Social Security by the time we’re old enough to draw it, so we’re making sure we have plenty of children around to take care of us. He said, “Good point. It’ll be an agrarian society by then anyway, so you’ll need all those kids to work the farm.” Ha.

It was around that time that I had a little bag crisis. The bag I’d brought with me (this delicious creation by Beauty That Moves) turned out to be just a leetle too small for the event. My camera was perched too near the top, just begging to be snatched. What choice did I have? There was this booth full of big ole bags with zippers, and one of them was lime green. Seriously, what choice did I have. OK. I admit it. I have a little problem when it comes to bags. In fact, just minutes later when my husband was introducing me to one of his favorite writers in the comics industry (Kelley Puckett, whom I’ve been hearing about—and reading—for fifteen years, but somehow had never met until this weekend!), he broke off in mid-sentence and said, “Hey, is that a new bag?” I said, “Hmm? What?” And he turned to Kelley and said, “My wife has only two flaws.” (He’s wrong about that, but it was sweet.) “Number one: her ridiculous affection for me. Number two: her compulsion for bags.” I can’t deny it. I am so thrifty and purchase-cautious when it comes to clothes and furniture and household items and pretty much everything except books and handbags. I mean, it’s not like I buy a bag a month or anything like that. But three or four a year, yeah, maybe. It’s a quest, see, for the perfect bag. As pretty as this one but with lots of pockets and a sturdy bottom and some kind of inherent magic that will make me always be able to locate my keys when I need to. That kind of bag.

But I digress.

Our Saturday evening wrapped up with what is for me the best part of a comic book convention. We wound up in the Hyatt bar eating appetizers and drinking beer (ginger ale for me) with a group of writers and artists. I love this, the jovial camaraderie and stimulating discussion of a community of creative colleagues. Our Barcelona pal Andy Diggle was there (but no Jock, alas), and Kelley Puckett joined us, and Fiona Staples (Scott’s artist on Jack Hawksmoor), and a bunch of WildStorm people, and assorted other folks wandering in and out. We stayed up talking too late and dragged ourselves home well past midnight.

And then poor Scott had to start all over at 9 a.m. on Sunday. I lingered at home, took the girls to Mass, played with my little ones. I didn’t want to take a second car into the convention-center madness, so I parked at the trolley station near our house and took the orange line downtown. And what an interesting trolley ride that was. I Twittered the experience (scroll down to “waiting for the trolley” and read upwards) and was probably lucky the Loud Girl didn’t know I was recording her rantings for all the internet to see. I told Scott you know it’s been a freaky train ride when it’s a relief to get back to all the nice, sane people at Comic-Con.

Like these guys.

I am proud to say I bought no bags on Sunday (although the blue soldier guy’s messenger bag up there is kind of cute, isn’t it). I took in the sights and drank free DC Comics cranberry juice and met more nice artists and attended the WildStorm panel. And then it was back to the Hyatt for more food & fun with Fiona and Andy (but no Kelley this time) and Mike Costa and Neil Googe and other engaging, talented folks. Scott, Mike, Andy, and I spent a good three hours talking about the nature of story. That, my friends, is why I go to comic conventions.

Later we stopped by a party hosted by Mark Buckingham, Bill Willingham, and Matt Sturges, but I was too tired to stay long. My obliging hubby took me home where I snuggled up next to my baby who is no longer a baby and dreamed about absolutely nothing, because I was that wiped out.