[Each year we try to find a newcomer to the amazements of Comic-Con to report on their adventures; it's a nice way of seeing the very real enthusiasm for what is truly a one-of-a-kind experience. This year's con virgin is cartoonist Matthew Petz who offered to both write and sketch some of his experiences at the con, starting with not even having a badge... Take it away, Matt.]
My First Comic Con
For most of my adult geek life I’ve know about the San Diego Comic Convention. It’ s essentially the Superbowl for comic fans. So whether it was money or just being an east coaster all my life, I’ve always done this from a far…but not this year…Oh no…this year, I’m actually going.
God help me.
I suppose I should introduce myself, my name’s Matthew Petz. I write and draw a comic called War of the Woods. In olden times it was going to come out through Zuda, then that imprint was killed off I got my rights back. Since then I’ve released it myself through ComiXology. Heres a quick link and some shameless promotion, www.warofthewoodscomic.com. You’re gonna’ love it. It has an otter with a turtle on his head, fightin’ aliens!
Anyway…
Working on a digital creator owned book is fantastic. The most common comment I hear at conventions is “when’s it going to come out in print ?” So I started testing the waters by doing some small print runs. This is all a long way to say that with from print copies on hand, I found myself invited to have some books at this years Tr!ckster event. All I heard last year from reviews of the show and fellow creators was that
Tr!ckster was the place to be. That my book was gonna’ be there is awesome.
This then immediately demanded real thought as to whether or not I should actually go to San Diego. Very quickly I realized I kinda had to. As a professional you can’t really not go. Way too many possibilities for networking and such. Plus I had good friends already going, so I probably had at least a hotel room floor to crash on. As a comic geek It’s finally a chance to experience comic book super bowl first hand. I eventually priclined a flight and here I am.
As San Diego looms, I’ll be reporting back to you as a first time SDCC virgin. I will admit I have high expectations. I’ve decided to try and do some “touristy” things this first time.
They include getting a SDCC exclusive, and attending something in Hall H.
For the exclusive I’m gonna’ try for a Bane flash drive from Mimoco, though I’ve just learned it’s limited to 500 pieces. So yeah…already not looking good.
For hall H I’m gonna’ try and see if I can attend the WB/Legendary panel. Between the Hobbit, Man of Steel, and Pacific Rim It hits my nerd solar plexus hard. The real reason though, is the rumor that Legendary will present stuff from the new Godzilla movie. THAT has me slightly woozy. I am a gigantic Godzilla fan and being at SDCC and seeing new big budget Godzilla stuff…could be awesome…if it actually even happen
If you’re trying for an exclusive, you might want to visit:
Bluefin (Bandai Collectors and Hobby)
Booth #3545
S.H. Monsterarts Godzilla “Comic-Con Explosion”
“…professionally crafted by the renowned monster maker Yuji Sakai to meticulously replicate Godzilla’s form as seen in the 1994 Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla (commonly referred to as “MogeGoji”).”
S.H. MonsterArts Little Godzilla & Crystal Set
(sooooo kuh-YUTE!)
“Little Godzilla’s figure design was overseen by the actual Little Godzilla suite designer, Shinichi Wakasa.”
$55 and $43, respectively.
Good luck, Petz!
Of course this weekend is also G-Fest, a Godzilla/Japanese monster con over in the Chicago area where the guests are actor Akira Takarada who was in the original 1954 film as well as other Godzilla films and Bin Furuya, the original suit actor for Ultraman.
If I wasn’t going to SDCC, I would have gone to G-Fest…. but living in Los Angeles, it is cheaper to drive to San Diego than to fly to Chicago !