San Diego Comic Con 2009 Highlights

Comic Con 2009

Wednesday night-aka Preview Night-

Andy Runton of Owly
Darwyn Cooke signs The Hunter-Bryan Talbot signs The Adventures of Luther Arkwright-Dave McKean and his wonderful manager, Allen Spiegel (thank you, Allen)-Bwana Spoons-you must get his new book, Welcome To Forest Island-Thursday-
In line at Hall H, Hell Hall for the Disney 3D panel for Alice in Wonderland. Saw Tim Burton AND Johnny Depp. LOVEd Patton Oswalt as the moderator. We had to get there bright and early as we were afraid that the Twilight fans would shut us out of the hall.
Adrian Paul-
Tristan meeting Adam West (and West didn't pull a Shitner, I mean Shatner, West was very nice to Tristan)-Seeing the Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (which I can not wait to see)-
Ended the night with John Kricfalusi's spotlight panel.

Friday-

In line early again for the Warner Bros panel and the Disney 3-D panel to see Miyazaki. We also saw 9, which I'm on the fence about-
Meeting Seth and Jason Lutes-The Eisners- People camped out for Hall H the next morning-Saturday-

Tristan meeting Jeff Smith-
Tristan meeting Bill Morrison-The Sheldon Moldoff panel-Tristan meets the cast of Spongebob Squarepants-Tristan and I meeting Richard Thompson (yes, Richard, Comic Con IS sensory overload!)-Spotlight on Seth panel-Tristan having fun-This is only funny to me and the guy in front of me who about bust a gut laughing at this-Live Art Show via Neko Press all weekend long (loved this!)-Sunday morning-

After breakfast, we had to go across the street from the convention center and take pictures of the fake carnival-More costumes (I am still kicking myself for not taking a picture of the woman dressed up as Rainbow Brite)-The line to get in Sunday. We thought it wouldn't be so bad on the floor. Little did we know.More costumes (Love the Planet of the Apes costumes!)-One of the many things we love about Con, is seeing all of the original comics in one spot-the ones that started it all. One thing we don't like is the trend lately to put company names across the covers. Another trend we don't like is showing off color copies only of the books.
Action Comics #1-impressive!Tristan meeting Sergio Aragones-Going to Buenaventura Press and seeing Matt Groening shopping IN the booth. Asking Matt when he was signing in his booth and he said, "In about 5 minutes for about 3 people and you may be one of them!" Then he said, "Who wants something signed?" and I pointed to Tristan. Matt, graciously signed Tristan's book and drew Homer in it, too. Tristan was ecstatic!!!! (As was I, since we had been to Bongo several times looking for Matt, and I am always buying Simpsons comics for Tristan.)Meeting Russ Heath and Jerry Robinson-Tristan meets Nina Matsumoto- (who had one of the best acceptance speeches at the Eisners)-Tristan meets Art Baltazar and Franco-(they colored in CRAYON. How frickin' cool is that?!?!)-Sunday's crowd-Meeting James Jean-
Meeting Stan Freberg-Meeting one of my heroes, writer Peter S. Beagle, whose work I have read since I was a little girl. I didn't have the camera so I couldn't take a picture, but it meant a lot to me to just even shake his hand. You can find out more about Peter and his work here and buy his books here. He also has a wonderful project called 52/50 celebrating his 70 years of life on Earth.

Barron Storey sketching Tristan in the last minutes of the show. Tristan asked him if he could please, "Sketch and sign, please." I'm still floored by it. Thank you, Barron.
Adieu until next year.I promise to do a post on the books that I bought this week.
*****
Great letter regarding the show by Mile High Comics.

San Diego Comic Con 2009 schedule

Here's our print out of what we'll be doing at Comic Con. I've included mine, David and Tristan's stuff.

Bill Koeb at Comic Con!! More here.

Barron Storey at Comic Con!! More here. As well as Dave McKean!!

James Jean PR3 Hallowed Last Gasp 1616 signing 2 pm Sunday

James Jean Kindling Chronicle 1506 Signing 1 pm Saturday

Tara McPherson 4922

Bwana Spoons Welcome to Forest Island 4737 Grass Hut

Murphy Art Books 4833

Autographs
Clive Barker Author: Books of Blood Line ticket drawing to be held Saturday 9:15 am in Autograph Area SaturdayAA411:00 am–1:00 pm

Ben 10 Alien Force Glen Murakami, Yuri Lowenthal, Dwayne McDuffieLine ticket drawing to be held 10:45am Saturday in Autograph Area SaturdayAA32:00 pm–3:30 pm

Ben 10: Alien Swarm Ryan Kelley, Galadriel Stineman, Nathan Keyes, Alyssa Diaz Line ticket drawing to be held 11:00 am Saturday in Autograph Area SaturdayAA63:30 pm–5:00 pm

Chowder C. H. Greenblat, Tara Strong Line ticket drawing to be held 9:45 am Thursday in Autograph Area ThursdayAA45:30 pm–6:30 pm

Coraline (Blu-ray release) Henry Selick, Neil Gaiman, Keith David Line ticket drawing to be held 9:15 am Friday in Autograph Area FridayAA212:30 pm–1:30 pm

James Jean Artist: Process Recess, Kindling Item must be purchased at Chronicle Booth (#1506) to be admitted into autograph SaturdayAA82:00 pm–3:00 pm

The Marvelous Misadventures of FlapjackThurop VanOrman, Steve Little Line ticket drawing to be held 10:15 am Thursday in Autograph Area ThursdayAA55:30 pm–6:30 pm

Comic-Con in the ’70s/Secret Origins of Comic-Con Richard Alf, Barry Alfonso, Wendy All, Maeheah Alzmann, Greg Bear, Richard Butner, Dave Clark, Jackie Estrada, Roger Freedman, Vicky Kelso-Goulart, Gene Henderson, William R. Lund, Scott Shaw, Brinke Stevens, Mike Towry Signing Comic-Con: 40 Years of Artists, Writers, Fans, and Friends (available at booth 2515 if you did not preorder) ThursdayAA12:30 pm–3:30 pm

Comic-Con in the ’80s Lance Geeck, Mike Pasqua, David Scroggy, Barry Short, Mark Stadler, Jim Valentino, Janet Tait, Phil Yeh Signing Comic-Con: 40 Years of Artists, Writers, Fans, and Friends (available at booth 2515 if you did not preorder) FridayAA31:00pm-2:00pm

Comic-Con in the ’90s Frank Allison, Ned Cato Jr., Beth Holley, Clydene Nee, Chris Sturhann, Mary Sturhann, Mark Yturralde Signing Comic-Con: 40 Years of Artists, Writers, Fans, and Friends (available at booth 2515 if you did not preorder) SaturdayAA42:00pm-3:00pm

Kids’ Graphic Novels Lewis Trondheim, Gene Yang, Derek Kirk Kim, Eric Wight, Chris Schweizer, Jennifer Holm, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Robin Brenner SundayAA111:00 am–12:00 pm

Adrian Paul, actor (Highlander, The Breed, Charmed, War of the Worlds) ThursdayAA6 3:00 pm–7:00 pm SundayAA611:00 am–2:00 pm

Tristan-

NICKAPPEARANCES & SIGNINGS AT THE NICK BOOTH:

The Fairly OddParents (2:00 - 4:00pm) -- Butch Hartman (Creator), Dave Thomas (Producer), Ray DeLaurentis (Story Editor), George Goodchild (Producer/ Art Director)

Saturday 7/25:

SpongeBob SquarePants (12:00 - 2:00pm) -- Tom Kenny (SpongeBob), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy), Jill Talley, Dee Baker, Mr. Lawrence (Plankton), Paul Tibbitt (Executive Producer), Vince Waller (Creative Director), Steven Banks (Head Writer)

The Penguins of Madagascar (3:30 - 5:30pm)-- John DiMaggio (Rico), Danny Jacobs (Julien), Jeff Bennett (Kowalski), Tom McGrath (Skipper), Bob Schooley (Executive Producer) , Mark McCorkle (Executive Producer), Bret Haaland (Supervising Producer)

Sunday 7/26: 12:15 - 2:00 pm -- Tom Kenny & The High Seas Band Performance at the Marriott Terrace (ticketed event)

Booths-

Top Shelf 1721

Billsienkiewiczart.com 2449

Allen Spiegel Fine Arts 4701

Baby Tattoo Books 601

Bakshi Productions, Inc. 2049

Blick Art Materials 4538

Bongo Comics Group 2519

Bud Plant & Hutchison Books 5015

Bud Plant Comic Art 1500

Buenaventura Press 1732

Comic Relief 1514

Drawn and Quarterly 1529

Every Picture Tells a Story 4713

First Second Books 1323

Jill Thompson/ Brian Wood/ Cliff Chiang 1322

LEGO Systems, Inc 2829

Man of Action LLC 2007

New England Comics, Inc. 1807

Nickelodeon 4113

Peanuts1537

Cartoon network/radical Publishing3735

Sparkplug Comics/ I Will Destroy You1531

Stuart Ng Books5012

Tara McPherson4922

Upper Playground4031

Vanguard1607

THURSDAY

11:00-12:30 Disney: 3D Panel—Disney’s A Christmas Carol, Alice In Wonderland and Tron. Special guests include Robert Zemeckis, Tim Burton, Sean Bailey, Steve Lisberger, and moderator Patton Oswalt. Hall H

12:00-1:00 Spotlight on Bryan Lee O'Malley—Scott McCloudRoom 5AB

12:00-1:00 Bongo Comics Sneak Peek—Terry Delegeane Bill Morrison Sammy Harkham Ben Jones Sergio Aragonés Room 10

12:00-2:00 CBLDF Master Session: The Painter's Process with Jill Thompson and Charles Vess—Room 30CDE

12:00-1:00 Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes—Don Hahn, Glen Keane, Eric Goldberg, Tom Sito, Ruben Procopio Room 32AB

12:45-1:45 Disney: Stan Lee's Time Jumper—Stan Lee Natasha Henstridge (one of Omar PonceAnthony Diecidue. Room 6BCF

12:45-1:30 3D Showcase: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, The Hole, The Final Destination Joe Dante Hall H

1:30-2:30 Spotlight on Jerry Robinson—Mark Waid Room 4

2:00-3:00 Spotlight on Bill Sienkiewicz—Room 2

2:00-3:00 A Darker Shade of Ink: Crime and Noir in Comics—Darwyn Cooke Greg Rucka Steve Lieber Max Allan Collins Room 5AB

2:00-3:30 Animation on a ShoestringLarry Loc, Room 30CDE

2:30-3:30 USA Network's Burn Notice— Bruce Campbell Ballroom 20

3:00-4:15 20th Century Fox and James Cameron present Avatar Jon Landau, Hall H

3:30-5:00 Golden and Silver Age of Comics—Mark Evanier—Murphy Anderson Gene ColanRamona Fradon Russ Heath Jack Jerry Robinson (Batman), and Leonard Starr Room 8

4:00-5:00 Spotlight on Richard Thompson—Room 2

4:15-5:15 Cartoon Network: Chowder! The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack! Adventure Time with Finn and Jake! C. H. Greenblatt Tara Strong Thurop Van Orman Steve Little Pendelton Ward. Room 6A

4:30-5:15 Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus—Hall H

5:45-6:30 Kick-Ass—Matthew Vaughn Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse John Romita Jr., Hall H

5:45-6:45 Spotlight on John Kricfalusi—Room 6BCF

FRIDAY

10:00-11:00 Spotlight on Charles Vess—. Room 2

10:00-11:00 Batman: The Brave and the Bold Screening and Q&A—Diedrich Bader John DiMaggio Register James Tucker Jelenic Andrea Romano Room 6DE

10:00-12:30 Warner Bros.— Where The Wild Things Are, The Book of Eli, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Box, Jonah Hex, and Sherlock Holmes. Hall H

10:30-11:30 Coraline—Henry Selick Neil Gaiman Room 6A

11:00-12:00 Spotlight on Gene Colan—Gene Colan Mark Evanier Marv Wolfman. Room 8

11:30-12:30 Disney Press: Comics and Graphic Novels— Jordan Mechner Todd McFarlaneCameron Stewart Bernard Chang Tommy Lee Edwards. Room 3

11:30-12:30 Image Comics Show—Robert Kirkman Todd McFarlane Rob Liefeld Frank Cho, Tyrese Gibson, and Ben Templesmith Room 5AB

12:00-1:00 Radical Publishing Creators Panel—Barry Levine. Jim Steranko Arthur Suydam Steve Niles Jimmy Palmiotti David Hine Rick Remender Nick Simmons Mark Long, Nick Sagan M. Zachary Sherman Sam Sarkar, Steve Pugh,Room 4

12:30-1:30 Nickelodeon's The Fairly OddParents: More Magical Mayhem!— Room 5AB

1:30 PM - 3:00 PM / Room 8
LEGENDS OF THE BATMAN
SHELDON MOLDOFF, JERRY ROBINSON and LEW SAYRE SCHWARTZ

12:45-2:15 DisDisney: Animation Panel—Toy Story & Toy Story 2 – Double Feature, Beauty And The Beast, Toy Story 3, Prep & Landing, The Princess and the Frog and Ponyo. Lee Unkrich, Kirk Wise, Ron Clements, John Musker, and Hayao Miyazaki. John Lasseter Patton Oswalt Hall H

1:45-2:45 Robert Rodriguez—Room 6DE

2:00-3:00 IDW: Darwyn Cooke—Darwyn Cooke Scott Dunbier Room 4

2:00-3:00 A Chalk Talk with Jack Katz—Charlie Novinskie. Room 30CDE

3:30-4:30 Two Funny Frebergs— Hunter Freberg and Stan Freberg Mark Evanier. Room 6A

3:45-5:00 Sony Pictures Entertainment: Legion and District 9—

District 9—Peter Jackson

4:00-5:00 Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment: Iron Man 2— Paramount. Hall H

4:00-5:00 Graphic Novels— Moderator Tom Spurgeon Lewis Trondheim Bryan Lee O'Malley SethGene Yang Jason Lutes Derek Kirk Kim Room 8

4:30-5:30 DC: Wednesday Comics—Mark Chiarello Room 5AB

4:30-5:30 Underground Comix—Dennis Kitchen- James Danky Trina Robbins and William StoutRoom 10

6:30-7:30 Horror Comics into Film—Mark L. Miller Kevin Grevioux Marv Wolfman Tim SeelyWhitley Strieber Todd Lincoln Jeff Katz Steven C.Miller Adam Wingard Ryan SchifrinRoom 30AB

6:30-7:30 Entertainment Weekly: The Visionaries—James Cameron Peter Jackson Hall H

8:30-11:00 Darksiders Presents: The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards— The 21st annual Eisner Awards, the "Oscars" of the comics industry, will be given out at a gala ceremony at a brand-new location: the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront. This year's special them is "Comics and All That Jazz." Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant Jeff Smith and Terry Moore, Patton Oswalt, Bill Mumy, Jane Wiedlin, Blair Butler, The master of ceremonies is Bongo Comics' Bill Morrison.Indigo Ballroom / Hilton Bayfront Admission to the Eisners is free to all Comic-Con attendees—just be sure to bring your badge. Doors open for pro and VIP seating at 7:30 and for attendees at 8:15.

9:00-10:00 Worst Cartoons Ever—Jerry Beck Room 6BCF

10:00-12:00 Spike and Mike Double Feature—. Room 6BCF

SATURDAY

10:00-11:00 Spotlight on Lewis Trondheim—Mark Siegel (First Second Books). Room 8

10:30-11:30 Nickelodeon: Are You Ready Kids? Ten Years of Spongebob SquarePants!—Room 6DE

11:00 – 12:00 Room 2 DARK HORSE

11:15-12:00 Family Guy— Seth MacFarlane Ballroom 20

11:30-12:30 The Stories of DC Universe Online featuring Jim Lee and Marv Wolfman—Room 5AB

11:30-12:30 Spotlight on Sheldon Moldoff—Sheldon "Shelly" Moldoff Mark Waid Room 10

11:45-12:45 Ben 10—Room 6DE

12:00 BZ Power signing

12:00-1:00 The Cleveland Show!— Seth MacFarlane, Mike Henry, and Rich Appel and voice castmembers Sana'a Lathan and Kevin Michael Richardson Ballroom 20

12:30-1:30 Spotlight on Gary Gianni— Geof Darrow Mike Mignola Room 4

1:00-2:00 Spotlight on James Jean—. Room 7AB

1:00-2:00 Will Eisner's New York—Charles Kochman Paul Levitz, Diana Schutz Dennis KitchenCarl Gropper Room 8 and

1:00-1:45 Futurama: Life or Death?!— producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, and stars Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, and Maurice LaMarche Ballroom 20

1:30-2:30 The One-Panel Panel—Charles Vess Hope Larson Michael Allred Larry Marder Douglas Wolk Room 4

1:45-2:30 The Simpsons—Matt Groening, Al Jean, Matt Selman, Mike Anderson. Ballroom 20

2:00-3:00 Spotlight on Dennis Kitchen—Alexa Kitchen Room 3

2:00-3:00 Nickelodeon's The Penguins of Madagascar: Making a Splash— .Room 7AB

2:30-3:30 Spotlight on June Foray—. Mark Evanier and Earl Kress Room 5AB

3:00-4:00 Spotlight on Doug Moench—Doug Moench Len Wein Room 3

3:00-4:30 Scott Shaw!: Oddball Comics— room 7AB

3:00-4:00 Spotlight on Seth—Room 8

3:30-4:30 Spotlight on Ray Bradbury—Ray Bradbury Arnold Kunert, Sam Weller. Room 6BCF

4:00-5:00 Spotlight on Leonard Starr— Batton Lash and Joe Jusko Room 2

4:30-5:30 Mike Mignola: Hellboy—Scott Allie! Room 4

5:00-6:00 What Is an Animated Film?— Stephen Worth,. Room 3

5:00-6:00 Graphic Novels: Sense of History—Randy Duncan Rick Geary David Petersen Stan SakaiJason Lutes Chris Schweizer and Eric Shanower Room 8

6:00-7:00 Harvey Kurtzman/MAD—Mark Evanier Dennis Kitchen; Paul Levitz William Stout Charles Kochman Room 3

8:30-12:15 Watchmen: Director's Cut—Live with Zack Snyder! Plus Sneak Peek of Batman: Arkham Asylum with Mark Hamill & Kevin Conroy—Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill Paul DiniZack Snyder, Dave Gibbons Jackie Earle Haley Room 6BCF

8:45-1:30 Masquerade Party—Sails Pavilion

SUNDAY

10:00-11:00 Comic-Con in the 2000s—Fae Desmond Robin Donlan David Glanzer), Eddie Ibrahim Martin Jaquish Bill Pittman John Rogers Gary Sassaman 2

10:00-11:00 The Annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel—Mark Evanier (author, Kirby: Bill Mumy, Mike Royer, Steve Saffel, Barry Alfonso, Roger Freedman, William R. Lund, Scott Shaw!, and Mike Towry. Room 4

11:15-12:15 Nickelodeon Presents: SpongeBob, Fairly OddParents, and The Penguins of Madagascar—Room 6DE

1:00-2:00 It Was 30 Years Ago Today: The Kicks and Kitsch of the Year Sci-Fi Struck Back (or: It Was No 1982)— Jeff Bond Robert Meyer Burnett Steve Melching Dr. Theopolis, Mark A. Altman Room 4

1:30-2:30 Master of Monsters—August Ragone Room 8

“Grandville and the Art of Anthropomorphic Comic Tradition”
A presentation by Bryan Talbot
3:30 – 4:30 Room 3

another June 30, 2009 page

No news to report yet. We're all kind of in limbo now waiting to hear from the doctors. Thanks for the kind words and prayers. They are very much appreciated.

*****
Going to Comic Con for the first time?

Read this.

Some of my favorite tips-
1. Bring a water bottle which you can refill at any of the water bubblers. Saves you at least $4 a bottle.
2. Bring some cash, credit cards and a debit card. Remember, not all vendors take credit cards.
3. Use a backpack. Makes life so much easier. Those damn messenger bags SUCK for this event if you are buying books and STUFF and your back will hurt like hell by the end of the day. Trust me. I know.
4. Leave now if you want to find a parking space. No, seriously.
5. Better yet, take public transportation if you can.
6. Ralphs. Ralphs. Ralphs. Much cheaper then eating out every day.
7. Bring or buy a notebook to have your favorite artists to draw in. Note-some do charge.
8. Make a wish list of things you'd are looking for.
9. Scope out the panels, autographs and more in advance. Make a list. Go through the guide book, too and note any changes.
10. Wear good walking shoes. Con is NOT the time to break in a new pair of shoes nor is it the time to wear high heels. I don't care how good you look in 'em. You will be reduced to a whimpering mass by the end of the day.
11. Don't forget your camera.
12. Bring something small and easy to do while you're in line. A sketchbook. The guide book. A magazine. Something to keep you occupied.
13. Shower. Brush your teeth. Wash. Wear Deodorant. DAILY. please.
14. Some of the panel rooms can get downright frigid so bring a light sweater or sweatshirt.
15. Smile. Smile. Smile. Laugh. Have fun. You're there to have FUN, folks. Pass it on.

FYI, some people are selling badges on ebay. BE VERY WARY OF THIS. Personally, it pisses me off. Professionals SELLING badges that they got for free?!?!?! WTF? IF you do not have a ticket, follow Comic Con ON TWITTER HERE where they are still selling badges. ONLY buy badges through SDCCI. NO ONE ELSE. They are selling them for face value. Any other way of buying a badge may result in you not being able to get in the door!

***
For those of you in L.A., Cinefamily a.k.a. The Silent Movie Theatre has TWO film events coming up that every artiste should know about. Click here for more info.

7/12 @ 8pm
Family Books and Aaron Rose present:
3 Films About Sister Corita

8/15 (12pm & 7pm) & 8/16 (3pm, 5pm, 7pm & 9pm)
Handmade Nation