My Emerald City Comic Con report

After a day of being a lab rat, getting irradiated, various scans and doc appointments — here is my report…

First off, I found that I have dropped my camera a few too many times as every shot I took was more blurry than a shot of Harvey Dent for the upcoming Dark Knight movie so I only have one so-so camera phone shot from the show. If you want to see more more photos of Emerald City Comic Convention (ECCC) there are a few places like…

CBR here
http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16388

or on Pop Culture Zoo here:
http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm170/popculturezoo/ECCC%2008/

Alright, so I popped down on Friday with my wife and mother-in-law to Seattle. Luckily we managed to get in early after a nice drive down from Vancouver, some shopping along the way (nice Fossil Batman watch for me) and a dinner before trying to sleep before Sat, the day of the con. Around 4am, I awoke as I couldn’t sleep due to my foot and I was nervous. This was my first comic con outside Vancouver and even when I went to the big ones in Van (when they used to be downtown and Jim Lee attended before he started working on X-Men), I was nervous as well. So I went for a nice breaky with my wife and mother-in-law… you know… know one cares about this personal crap. Let’s get right into the con…

Sat, Day One

I hooked up with my friend Brock (formerly from Elfsar Comics & Toys) and we did the Con. It was massive and I was told it was easily 3 to 4 times bigger than last year (if not more). TONS of booths with retailers, indy comics, comic companies and various other interests. Brock and I toured the booths, I said hi to Sean O’Reilly from Arcana Comics. It was great to see Sean, shakes hands and review all the books at his booth. Arcana Comics gave me my shot at being published last year and I can never forget that. Sean is great fun. Then it was off to the various retailers for deals. For me, I was looking for only 2 things — Greg Rucka’s newest hardcover book and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier hardcover. We found various trades at 50% so we did some shopping then it was off to the “Artists Alley” where the creators were. This was a big part of the fun for me but man was I nervous. I get like stupid nervous but I got over it. I didn’t bring down any books to get signed as I was happy enough to remember my shoes with all the chaos around me with my foot. So I bought books there to get signed. I got a signing from Eric Trautmann on a copy of Checkmate #23 as I thought I missed that issue. Greg Rucka then came back to his table next to Eric Trautmann and I managed to get the copy of Checkmate signed plus I bought a copy of his book Patriot Acts (WOO HOO!) and got that signed as well. This was great as Greg Rucka is one of my favorite writers in both comics and novels (I have his Queen & Country novels) and was looking forward to getting Patriot Acts this weekend! Then it was off to the DC Nation Panel so we hurried over and listened in. I tried to record on my cellphone voice recorder but it sounded like crap (if I can get it off my cell, I will try to upload the crappy 30 sec mp3 file until the screensaver stopped the recording). The panel was a blast! Lots of news, great fun and I have to say that I really liked Dan Didio. Some say he was like too much coffee man but I enjoyed his enthusiasm and fun. His smile made me remember why I enjoy DC comics over Marvel. It was great to hear from everyone at the panel and all the various things that will be happening like JMS on The Brave & The Bold, Rucka talking Batwoman and Bill Willingham joking that if he never answered a Fables question then he could sit in the front with all the cool kids (as he was seated behind). The DC Panel was informative and quick as they only had an hour to go. I enjoyed the fact that Dan Didio called out everyone who didn’t buy DC Universe #0 as it was only $.50 — to me that was funny. You can check out more about the DC Nation panel here on Newsarama & CBR:

Newsarama DC Nation panel at ECCC
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=156651

CBR DC Nation panel at ECCC
http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16372

So after it was over, I went to snag some DC Comic pins (Robin as saying “I am Batman” and a Batman RIP one. Yes I got one for you, William S and maybe some extra for the Comic Round Table folks) while Brock when to get seating in the Marvel Mondo panel that started next. I raced into the Marvel panel where Brock saved me a seat and at first, it was not as organized while Skottie Young was the only one sitting there to begin. Then Ed Brubaker came in with Robert Kirkman and Jennifer Grunwald. Jeff Parker came in a bit later. Now I am not a Skottie Young fan, I mean I am not one to say I love his work, I don’t anything his work. I think its fine but after that panel, I have more of an appreciation for Skottie Young. Why? Well, let me tell yah that the Marvel Mondo panel was not as organized or planned out as the DC Nation panel. It was very carefree, casual and fun but Skottie was so quick on the jokes and one timers — so funny that I couldn’t stop laughing. Brubaker and Kirkman were very funny but it was Skottie Young who had me in stiches the whole time with his one liners right on que and his whole ramble about why he loved Felicity tv show. The best line was when Skottie Young said to Brubaker and Kirkman to cut it out as one of the fans in line wants to ask a question and look like he’s going to f**king cry! Maybe it was me but I preferred the “taking the piss” attitude of the panel amongst all. Also Jeff Parker was very funny as well, as he played the straight man to the rest of the joking panelists. Jennifer Grunwald did (supposedly) get Bendis! on her cellphone but so much chaos around that, the only bit I got out of it was that he was sorry he left everyone at ECCC in the hands of Brubaker. Again very funny panel, not very informative but my sides hurt from laughing so much. Oh and I tried to get photos of the Skrulls who were at the panel, they kept creeping out the panelists, check them out here. Kudos to the Skrulls at the Con! You can check out more about the Marvel Mondo panel here on Newsarama & CBR

Newsarama Marvel Mondo panel at ECCC
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=156652

CBR Marvel Mondo panel at ECCC
http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16371

I didn’t go to any other panels although I should have. I found after going to the two panels that was enough for me, I didn’t want to spend the entire time going to panels while at the Con. Brock and I split up for a bit and each did our own wander. Brock was going through all the bins for bargain buys and me, well I am stupid and don’t care for filling in gaps as I believe one day everything will be traded so I can catch up that way. I wandered about, got some more signatures and books like Mark Sable’s HAZED (great book!), Rick Rememder’s FEAR AGENT (another great book but he seemed busy with a sketch) and then I just people watched, cosplay watched (Great Lobster Johnston costume!!), took a pee with Storm Troopers and Cobra milita, bumped into this one person many times who later I realized was Tim Sale (another nice guy) along with looking for a deal on LoEG: Black Dossier. I did wander over to see Will Wheton, the kid who played kid Boba Fett, Julia Bentz looking very bored and I bumped into this Apollo fella from the new Battlestar Galatica show. I was also wandering and stalking two cosplay people who I wanted photos from — Doctor Girlfriend and Triana from The Ventrue Bros but each time I tried to get photos, they were doing photos with other cosplay people, it was kinda annoying but I wasn’t being all aggressive enough to push over and get the photo, I was waiting for the right time which never happened. I then hooked up with Brock again and we wandered through Artist Alley then over to Arcana Comics booth where we hooked up with Ethan from Elfsar Comics & Toys. We then wandered for some final signatures and artwork from Artists Alley after getting prints from the Heroes Initiative. I managed to talk to Kurt Busiek who is one of the comic gods in my books. I bought a copy of Avengers Forever signed and flipped through Kurt’s early copy of Trinity #3 — I am buying this new DC series just from that version. Great artwork and good solid story of course. Then Brock and I shook hands with Mike Grell and heard of the chance of an upcoming Warlord series by Grell for DC since its the 20 yr anniversary coming up. Afterwards I went for pints with Ethan, Sarina and Brock before going back to my hotel for dinner with my wife and mother-in-law. At dinner I saw lots of people from the Con both artists and fans, was good food at the Elephant & Castle.

Sunday, Day Two

I decided to go to the Con for a bit on Sunday. I wanted to make the Sunday DC “For The Love of Comics / Sunday Conversation” panel. Sorry CrackerBob but after I got to the Con, I completely forgot your comment about questioning Dan Didio about the name of the panel. I did some early shopping for an hour before the panel, got some more books from the Comic Book Relief Fund and then a Alex Ross golden age Flash t-shirt. I bought lots of t-shirts at the Con as I didn’t have any comic tees anymore. I made it to the panel, actually I made it early but I was reading some new comics I bought (can you believe that only 1 booth had new comics? I was surprised) then I stopped when I saw Dan Didio, Busiek and Willingham all waiting to go in and talking to the crowd. Busiek gave a great sports update if you liked baseball on the events of the day before. The doors opened and the Web Comics panel was done and everyone piled in. Dan Didio asked everyone to sit up close so I moved up front and just enjoyed the panel… I mean discussion about why you love comics. Lots of fan interaction with everyone from Busiek, Willingham and Ian Sattler. I really enjoyed the panel although I didn’t speak up, I just listened and laughed. It was good fun. Afterwards I had the chance to hear Dan Didio talk about an upcoming Black Adam storyline for Justice Society of America after the current “Kingdom Come” story arc then shook Dan Didio’s hand as I really wanted to say thanks for all the great comics DC has been doing (okay, I was on a high and forgot about Countdown but I am trying to forget about that). I wandered about for a bit and bought a few more bits and pieces then I made my way downstairs to hookup with my wife for a ride back home to Vancouver.

You can check out more on the DC Sunday Conversation panel on CBR:
http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16380

SO that is my report. I am sure I am missing bits and pieces here, I did realize that I missed a great deal of people I wanted to see, lots of people were working on sketches (like Matt Clark) while others I never got a chance to see when I went around (Matt Wagner) so next time I will put more effort into seeing more of those who attend. I did have a blast and I will try to make it again next year! I look forward to San Diego Comic Con this year now.

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