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We interrupt our regularly scheduled program with a recap of Comic-Con 2011. Warning that this post is a bit long.

For those of you who don't know, Comic-Con is a massive event for lovers of all things comics, books, video games, art, pop culture and other geeky goodness. It is made of awesome and is one of the highlights of my year. There weren't too many big studio panels I was interested in this year, which left me with room to scout out some of the smaller panels as well as wander the exhibit floor more.

Books publisher were there in full force, with a lot of focus on YA and fantasy. On Thursday I went to the No Damsels in Distress Here panel. The panelists were sci-fi and fantasy authors and the discussion was strong female characters -- what it takes to write them and the challenges of doing it. Not necessarily YA but a couple of the authors do have YA books. Panelists included Sherrilyn Kenyon, Seanan McGuire, Carrie Vaughn, Jeanne Stein , Chloe Neill, Merrie deStefano and Marie Lu. I was very impressed by all of them. They all had strong opinions and were very articulate in voicing them. It's clear that, while writing kick ass women still has its challenges, these authors are helping to break down those barriers by continuing to write strong characters.

   

   

We went to San Diego Comic-Con last weekend! While there we met James Kochalka, author and illustrator of Johnny Boo. Here he is showing us Dragon Puncher: Our own Johnny Boo picked just that moment to become shy and overwhelmed, so he hid on the floor while Tintin got the goods--autographed drawings by the Kochalka family and books made by Eli and Oliver

By Nathan Cosby

(PLEASE NOTE: I banged this post out on Tuesday morning at 12:16a.m. after 17 hours of packing to move to Colorado, packing to go in San Diego, prepping for the con, editing a 100-page book, writing 10 pages of script, crafting four solicits, running 7 miles, drinking 3 beers, watching Pardon The Interruption, and giving my bulldog a bath. So the following may make no sense.)

So as you’re reading this, I’m either on Delta flight 547 eating a Clif Bar, or I’ve already landed in beeyootiful San Diego, California. Figured I should get there a few days before SDCC, see some sights, see if San Diego PBR tastes different from New York PBR.

The convention experience has evolved for me throughout the years. I’ve had four cycles:

Cycle A: Baby. I didn’t go to any conventions, because I was a baby.

Cycle B: Child. I didn’t go to any conventions, because I didn’t have any money.

Cycle C: Employee at Marvel Comics. I was forced to go to conventions and hated it, because Tim Dillon (who runs the Marvel booth) would make me stack boxes.

Cycle D: Freelancer. Not so bad, but I get absolutely SICK of talking about myself.

I’m currently in Cycle D (here’s hoping I get to Cycle E, the Freelancer With A Drug Problem stage. I’m told that’s the funnest cycle). Being a freelancer at a convention can be a stressful time, because as you walk around the floor, you are deathly afraid of two things:

1. That someone will recognize you. 2. That no one will recognize you.

I experienced both of these firsthand at San Francisco’s WonderCon back in March. The first day I was stopped a few times (Person: “You’re Nate!” Me: “Are you sure?”) and asked to do sketches, chat about what I’ve been doing since leaving Marvel, etc. It kinda freaked me out. But then the next day, no one stopped me, no one recognized me. My ego was confused.

But I’m getting the hang of it, getting more comfortable meeting strangers that just want to talk about the stuff they like. That’s really what cons are, a chance for like- minded people to smush themselves into a huge-ass room and

basically announce “HEY COMPANIES! I LIKE YOUR SHIT SO MUCH THAT I PAID TO GET IN HERE SO THAT YOU CAN ADVERTISE TO ME!”

The personal advertising/marketing stuff is still pretty new for me. I wrote solicits and did interviews as a Marvel editor, but it’s a whole different deal when you’re writing/producing projects for a bunch of different companies. You’ve gotta be proactive, coordinate your own schedule, set up a lot of your own press, email/re-email/ re-re-re-email bosses and marketing departments to verify what you’re allowed to announce and when…it’s stressful, but balanced by the fact that you finally get to talk about what you’ve been working on so hard on for months.

Can’t wait to talk about the announcements coming up this week! I’ll do my best to give you behind-the-scenes info, how projects came about, why we picked San Diego to announce, etc. Cali-HO!

–Nate

So many great links this week – enjoy!

Twilight at Comic-Con: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Chris Weitz and more introduce New Moon
Twilight fans were in for a treat at last weekend’s Comic-Con in San Diego, as New Moon director Chris Weitz and stars Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart and Ashley Greene participated in a live Q&A. Read part of the conversation using the link above.

Nancy Drew’s Granddaughters
After Nancy Drew was highlighted during Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s Senate confirmation hearings, The New York Times asks the question “Who was your Nancy Drew?”

Sendak & Jonze Talk Wild Things
A featurette starring Maurice Sendak and Spike Jonze, talking about the upcoming Where the Wild Things Are movie.

Audience Picks: 100 Best Beach Books Ever
Just in time for the lazy, hazy August days, NPR announces the results of its 100 Best Beach Books Ever poll, which received 136,000 votes from 16,000 listeners. How many on this list have you read?

Eric Carle, Eric Carle and
Book Trailers
Two great posts this week from Elizabeth at PW’s ShelfTalker blog. She shares a great post about “book trailers,” videos that promote books as well as her memories of her encounter with the author in a private tour of his studio and video interview featuring Eric Carle.

The magical, mystical path linking book and reader
The Chicago Tribune’s Julia Keller writes on the paths books take to find their readers.

I'm a huge fan of How-To Books, so for those of you interested in graphic novels, author Anastasia Suen has recommendations on her blog that she found at comic-con. For those of us unable to attend, it's great that authors like Anastasia share this information.

Find out more about Comic-Con.

We're back from the Comic-Con and just as I thought, my camera is definitely broken. I just off-loaded the few salvageable shots. Strangely, the only pictures that turned out were shots my husband took from the ninth floor balcony of our hotel. I shot only a few at the convention so, I didn't actually lose very much. I had a feeling this would happen, so I didn't bother to take may since I was pretty sure they wouldn't turn out anyway. So, sadly, no pictures of men in colorful spandex to post. Based on our very critical assessment of cosplayers, what's hot this year seems to be Naruto, Bleach, pirates, and Star Wars, (well, Star Wars is always hot with this crowd). There will probably be some photos at the official website though, www.comic-con.org and elsewhere online.

The convention was fun as usual. After attending four prior years, we've gotten pretty efficient when it comes to scouring the exhibit hall. We kind of know what we're looking for and more or less where to find what we want. I bought a couple Charles Vess illustrated books which are very cool, but I have to say my purchasing highlight this year was three French import books that we found at Stuart Ng's booth: A La Recherche de Feerie, Tomes 1 & 2 by Jean-Baptiste Monge and Erle Ferronniere and Carnet de Croquis (more of a sketchbook) by Jean-Baptiste Monge.

They are absolutely beautiful books. The two Feerie books are essentially the French answer to Faeries by Brian Froud & Alan Lee - very similar. Import books = $$! I think they may be the most expensive books I've ever bought for myself. I wouldn't normally do something like this, but I thought it's possible that I'd never find these books again and if/when I do they could be even more expensive. So, I broke down and bought them and I'm so happy I did! They're arguably one of my best Comic-con finds so far - like uncovering buried treasure! After this purchase though, I forbade myself to buy anything else. I saw a very tempting copy of Golem by Trina Schart Hyman and an old unicorn picture book by Michael Hague, but I resisted.

The art and used booksellers are definitely my favorite stops in the exhibit hall. I usually send Chris off on his own while I'm browsing because I meticulously comb through the shelves and this can take some time. My favorites sellers - Stuart Ng, Anne Hutchison who appears to sell through www.abebooks.com, Bud Plant Comic Art (a lot more than just comics), and Margaret Mannatt Fine Books to whose website I can't seem to find any working links. I always strike gold at one or more of these booths every year.

Comic-con has grown so much and so quickly over the last couple years that it seems like the massive convention center in downtown San Diego can barely manage it any more - although I can't imagine a facility any larger than this convention center. I heard last year there were 100,000 attendees. So I would guess that this year was similar especially since tickets were sold out so quickly. With such huge attendance come problems - namely, lines. Last year was the first year we ever had to wait in a line to see a panel, but we did manage to get in. This year was all about waiting in lines for panels we never got to see (and we were in line an hour before the panels were set to start!). I had really wanted to see the panels for Heroes, Joss Whedon, and Supernatural, but we couldn't get in - very disappointing. We did get to go to some panels featuring various comic artists and those are always interesting, so that was good. I'm hoping the good people who put together the Comic-con can come up with some sort of solution to all of the line issues - perhaps a ticket system... I'm not the sort to wait in a long line just to buy or watch something. It just seems a shame to sit around for an hour or two for nothing when there are so many other things to do. Frustrating...

Frustration aside, we did learn our lesson from past experience and now we make dinner reservations in advance and we've had some truly memorable meals in San Diego. They have really great restaurants in the Gas Lamp Quarter right near the convention center. This year the highlight was Confidential which had kind of a Vegas atmosphere - way over-the-top dramatic setting. Sometimes the atmosphere of these kinds of places overpowers the food or serves to disguise that it's not really that great, but the food was really good. Small plates. Very eclectic. Just a really good experience all around. Last year, it was Chopahn which serves Afghani cuisine which, of course, I'd never had before. It was quiet, kind of off-the-beaten-path with really good food too.

I should get paid for all the advertising I just did! Or at least a store discount or something, don't you think?!

So now, we're back in the real world and back to work. I love taking this little mini-vacation. Seeing all of these working artists really helps to energize and motivate me. They make me want to work faster and be more productive. Hope to have some art to post later this week...