Comic-Con 2014

I arrived home safe and footsore from Comic-Con International in San Diego last night. Hard for me to believe, but I haven't attended since 2010. Things have changed a bit, in ways I'm not sure improved the experience for me (I'm trying to say that nicely). By and large, for an event that tries to safely entertain 150,000 people for four days, the organizers pull off a miracle, and they were very kind and helpful to me.

I attended Thursday afternoon and Friday. The best part for me was seeing many friends, and meeting some people who until now have only been Facebook or e-mail acquaintances. Also, a teaser: I know the two nicest people in the world. I'll tell you their names at the end, but just wanted to let you know now that if you've been searching for the two nicest people in the world, call it off because I've found them.

This report is a photo essay, punctuated with bits and bites of notes. IMPORTANT QUALITY CONTROL NOTE: Many of these photos are blurry/hazy because I didn't notice until I got home that my camera lens had a greasy fingerprint smeared across it. Sorry; no do-overs.

Thursday began at the tiny Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport. I didn't catch a plane here; I caught a bus to a bigger airport two hours away. I just wanted to show what your local airport looks like when they name it after a cartoonist. Seemed an appropriate launching point for a trip to Comic-Con.

Approaching the venue. My impression: a bit less street theater than at past Cons, and maybe fewer costumes. I talked later with comics journalist Heidi MacDonald and she thought there was less activity in the blocks around the convention center because people who owned vacant lots and parking lots that in the past had hosted events had raised their rates too high. Could be. But the center itself, and the sidewalks around it, were jammed.

Spiders and Turtles, oh my! I only include this photo because I read today that Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) had attended Comic-Con disguised as Spider-Man, so maybe that's him. Or he could have been one of the 75 other Spider-Men. Hard to say.

Cartoonist Todd Clark ("Lola"), writer/cartoonist Ces Marciuliano ("Sally Forth," "Medium Large"), and comics podcaster/journalist Tom Racine. Tom was one of those Internet friends I'd never met in person, so this was neat. Ces I met once seven years ago, an event he pretended to remember and then mixed me up with someone else and apologized for it every time I saw him. Todd I just met 20 seconds before taking this photo.

My pal Otis Frampton, whose "Oddly Normal" series has just been picked up by Image Comics. Couldn't happen to a nicer, harder-working guy. 

Apparently there's some movie coming out about Hobbits and a dragon?

I loved the get-up of this lady, who was kind enough to let me take her photo. She dressed up her wheelchair as the Star Tours ride at Disneyland! What a concept! One of the best costumes-slash-vehicles I saw the whole time I was there.

My pal Lex Fajardo ("Kid Beowulf" and the Schulz Studio) drew sketches to support the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. People could pay $10 and have an artist draw whatever the customer wanted. I did this for an hour on Friday, and drew a 1940's-style Wonder Woman, the Punisher's skull logo, a mermaid, and Chewbacca playing basketball. Chewbacca is hard to draw. I also had a chance to talk to the museum's Andrew Farago about the joys of new fatherhood. He still seems dazed.

Original comic strip art by cartooning great Bill Watterson and some guy named Pastis, which is currently being auctioned to raise funds for Team Cul de Sac and Parkinson's Disease research. 

The comic book without which none of us would have been there this weekend.

I took this photo for my daughters: a sort of steampunk/superhero mash-up. If there's one theme I noticed emerging in cosplay, it was the mash-up: My Little Pony Hulk and so forth. Anyway, here are some ideas that might inspire someone. 

My editor at Abrams, Charlie Kochman, introduced me to "Family Circus" cartoonist Jeff Keane. We also talked with "Luann" creators Greg Evans and his daughter Karen, standing behind Jeff. Greg pretended to be insulted when I said I thought Karen's contributions had made his comic strip a lot sharper. Or maybe he wasn't pretending.

At the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) booth: Greg Evans and master MAD caricaturist Tom Richmond. 

For the first time at any Comic-Con, I ventured into the Pro Lounge. What wonders awaited within? What sparkling wit, reminiscent of the Algonquin Round Table, would I overhear amid the tables piled high with fine pastries and exotic sliced meats and cheeses? Steeling my courage, I timidly flashed my badge at the door and entered the sanctum sanctorum of comics' elite.

I found a water cooler and plastic cups. But they were a professional water cooler and plastic cups, with ice, so take that, plebes.

Back in the streets, the Assassin's Creed video game people were letting folks run through an obstacle course. Because swinging from a rope in San Diego is totally the same as jumping across rooftops in Renaissance Florence.

What's nice about San Diego is that the whole city gets into the Comic-Con spirit. Wherever you go, retailers and service people at restaurants, shops and hotels decorate and dress for it. My hotel had a bellhop in a Superman cape. Here's the municipal trolley cars advertising the "Agents of SHIELD" series.

"Excuse me, can you tell me where to find Nickelodeon? I heard it was around here somewhere, but can't seem to find it. They should do something to make themselves more visible."

Well done.

Actual costumes from all the modern Batman movies were on display.

Wandering the aisles, I heard a woman's voice calling out "Free Science Comics!" Those being my three favorite words, I stopped to talk. Turns out she's a cartoonist with a Ph.D. in physics making comic books via the American Physical Society. When I mentioned that I'd majored in physics, her eyes lit up. I'd said the magic word. "Oh, we have something special for people who say they're in physics!" And now I have this pin.

I sought out and introduced myself to Tom Bancroft, who does an online comic I like called "Outnumbered."
That "Comic Code Authority" t-shirt I'm wearing was one of my few con purchases for myself. 

Tom was there with his brother Tony, who among his other accomplishments directed Disney's "Mulan."
They both have terrific-looking books available. Very nice guys, I was happy to meet and talk with them for a few minutes.

A little slice of home at the Peanuts booth, which was popular. Schulz Museum Curator Corry Kanzenberg is mugging for the camera, but I think her expression reflects genuine overwhelmedness as well.

I caught up with Keith Knight and his son, and bought Keith's latest collection. Kid has a lot of energy.

Pal Justin Thompson ("Mythtickle," the Schulz Studio) was at the GoComics.com booth signing nice little prints for passersby. Justin is one of the coolest people I know if only because of his previous jobs: Renaissance Faire jouster and theme-park stunt-show Batman. I envy him his resume. 

This boy had a great Ant Man costume. You probably haven't heard of Ant Man yet, but just wait'll the Marvel movie comes out in a couple of years.

Quicksilver, Hawkgirl, and Magneto mix up their comic book franchises.

In this selfie I reconnected with Eisner-winning cartoonist David Lasky, whom I met at the Baltimore Comics & Medicine Conference several weeks ago. He did a couple of panels, including....

...one on the fairly loose theme of making a living from your passions, or something like that. I didn't understand it and neither did the panelists, but it was a nice conversation. It was moderated by comic book writer Mark Waid, who's standing in this photo. I either saved or nearly ended the life of Mr. Waid, I'm not sure which. After the panel I approached the podium to introduce myself, because I'd been told he'd seen and liked "Last Mechanical Monster." He smiled, extended his hand to shake, and took one step toward me right off the edge of the two-foot high platform. He sort of fell, I sort of caught him, the audience gasped, and he leaped up like a Russian gymnast with a jaunty "I'm all right!" Close call.

I took this photo because five minutes earlier I'd seen the terrifying Klingon on the left sitting at his table with a small make-up mirror applying his eyeliner. Q'aplah!

Batman and the Joker. Honestly, looking at this photo, I don't understand why the Joker doesn't win every time.

Friday night, pre-Eisner Awards, Tom Racine hosted a drop-in "Drink and Doodle" gathering at the hotel bar. That's Justin Thompson, me and Tom.

As part of the "Drink and Doodle," Tom passed out blank sheets and asked everyone to for their take on the theme "75 Years of Batman" (this is his anniversary). This was my contribution.  

Drink and Doodle. Some great people came and went, including cartoonist Rina Piccolo, Ces Marcuiliano (in the back right of this photo), and cartoonist Frank Jordan.The right-most guy in this photo is Disney storyboard artist Jeffrey Ranjo, who shared some stories about "Frozen." Also at the Drink and Doodle, I gave Tom Racine 10-to-1 odds that I was going to lose the Eisner Award. He took my bet, and gave me $1 against $11 I  would owe him if I won. 

Also in the "Drink and Doodle" photo are my sisters, Brenda and Lis, who drove down just to surprise me and show their support at the Eisners. Which is where we are headed here, dressed so nicely.

With Jason Walz and Kathy Bottarini. Jason wrote a great Eisner-nominated book called "Homesick" and we've corresponded; one of the highlights of Comic-Con was finally meeting him and his wife Emily. Kathy was one of this year's Eisner judges and also runs a comic shop not too far from my town. Jason and I were grateful to her.

The Nicest People in the World
I promised to divulge the names of the two nicest people in the world, and now it can be told. For nearly 40 years, Richard and Wendy Pini have created and nurtured the universe of "Elfquest," a pioneering work of fantasy comics and literature. Aside from "Lord of the Rings," I'm hard-pressed to think of any body of work that's had a bigger influence in that field. Anyone attempting to make a comic touching on the lore of elves has to deal with the groundwork already long laid by Tolkien and the Pinis.

Richard is an astronomy buff who contacted me when Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow came out. We've corresponded, and he's kept up with (and often commented on) The Last Mechanical Monster. On Friday he told me he'd just caught up with Mom's Cancer, and we talked a bit about our families.

And then he pulled out a big box, and said nice things and something like: you may not leave here with an Eisner Award, but I had to make sure you didn't go home empty-handed, and unwrapped this:

The placard reads: "Illudium 2014 Award.
Best Webcomic: The Last Mechanical Monster.
Accept No Substitutes."

Richard built me a trophy himself, from a tapered silvery base topped by an actual gold-tinted radio vacuum tube, exactly like those that power the Robot in my webcomic. Wendy had tears in her eyes; mine may have moistened a bit too. This is the most unexpected, thoughtful, nicest thing anybody's done for me in a long time. I just have such respect for them and their work, and to turn around now and have them do something like this for me.... Holy Moley!

Wendy, Richard, me, and my Major Award.

My Major Award at home atop my drawing desk.

I think I'm pretty good with words, but I can't even tell you what that means to me.

Later this happened:



I just want it on the record that I picked it. I also got to keep Tom Racine's dollar, so that eased the sting.

Next morning I got up very early and flew back to the Bay Area for another important engagement. That's the topic of my next blog post.

Bookmaking

I wrote this post eight days ago but embargoed it until certain announcements could be made today at Comic-Con International in San Diego (where last night I either won or lost an Eisner Award, I didn't know which when I was composing this last Friday and I think I just blew my mind).

Last week my editor at Abrams, Charlie Kochman, spent several days in my hometown with photographer Geoff Spear, who did a little shooting for my book Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow, and designer/editor/writer Chip Kidd. They didn't come to see me, but rather a humble little museum down the street dedicated to the work of "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. As was just announced at Comic-Con, Abrams is doing a new book on Schulz's art. I got to tag along while they worked on it.

(Some of this I hinted at on Facebook at the time. I probably shouldn't have done that.)

All these photos are by my wife Karen unless she's in them.

BBQ chicken dinner at my house. That's me, Chip, Geoff and Charlie. I don't know why the latter two drank Cokes, I offered them the good stuff.

Chip found one of his books on my shelves and graciously offered to sign it, but pouted when he saw the sticker indicating I'd bought it on clearance. After peeling off the sticker, he signed it anyway. 

Backstage at the Schulz Museum, Geoff lines up a shot of the original art for a "Peanuts" Sunday strip. At the table behind him is Maggie from the museum's staff. They treat original Schulzes like Fort Knox treats gold bars (as well they should). Generally, only museum staff touched the artwork, and there were two or three of them on hand at all times. 

Geoff snapping a photo, digital of course. Geoff is well-known and well-regarded for capturing all the lumps, bumps and texture of the objects he photographs. They look real on the page. Tactile. He achieves that by using a single bright light source at a low angle and shooting a range of time exposures, which he combines in Photoshop to even out their brightness. It's clever yet simple; elegant.

Geoff, Chip and Charlie discussing the size of a piece of art and how it might be reproduced. It was interesting to watch them work and construct the book. Chip and Charlie came in basically knowing what they were looking for, but every newly opened box turned up Schulz treasures that'd never been seen before. Many decisions were made on the fly.

Maggie at left, wearing her nitrile gloves. Chip and Charlie are taking reference snapshots of a particularly good piece that Geoff is getting ready to shoot.

Wine Country dinner Thursday night. There's Karen! We tried to make our guests feel at home.

This was neat. I think the guys got more than they expected and everything they needed to produce an exceptional book of Schulz art. I got to spend some time with my pals. We ate well. Good days.

Look for the book, title to be determined, next year.

Chalk Talk

I posted this on Facebook yesterday, but wanted to give it a more permanent home here (the attention span of Facebook being about 5 hours...).

A couple of days ago I did something very cool and new for me: a comics "chalk talk" at our county children's home arranged by my wife Karen. We had about a dozen kids ranging from 7 to 17: foster youth, youth taken from their homes for one reason or another, but not bad kids. This place is a refuge, not juvenile hall.

Starting a page of faces, showing the wide variety of expressions you can convey with just two eyes, eyebrows and a mouth.

The little redheaded boy in front loved the fact that the Cosmic Kid was a redhead, too.

I don't have much experience drawing and talking at the same time, and none doing so with kids, but they were great and it went well. A highlight for me was making two comics with them in which I drew something and asked them, "And then what happened?" and drew that, and whatever happened after that, and after that. They got into it and created two pretty good comics. 

Another nice moment: as we were leaving after the talk, a too-cool-for-school teenage girl came up and shyly asked me if I could draw Iron Man for her. I sent that off with Karen the next morning.

Ol' Shellhead, with the girl's name cropped.

Given their circumstances, I also talked about comics as a good way to tell their own personal stories, using "Mom's Cancer" as an example (I left my books for the facility's library). It was a special evening.

The Ridiculous Wondrous Diversity of Online Comics

I've been waiting for this: today's announcement of the 2014 Harvey Award nominees for Best Online Comics Work.

No, I'm not one of them, and didn't submit for it, and I'll explain why below. Just let me list the webcomic titles nominated for major U.S. comics awards--the Harveys, Eisners, and National Cartoonist Society (NCS) Division Awards--then I'll make my point:

Harvey for Best Online Comics Work:
Battlepug
The Dreamer
Gunnerkrigg Court
JL8
Table Titans

Eisner for Best Digital/Webcomic
As the Crow Flies
Failing Sky
High Crimes
The Oatmeal
The Last Mechanical Monster

NCS for Online Comics-Long Form
Dicebox
Family Man
Red's Planet
Tuki (the winner)

NCS for Online Comics-Short Form
Watson
Buni (the winner)
New Yorker Online

See a pattern? Because I sure don't. There isn't one comic title that appears more than once! Unlike any medium I can think of (TV, movies, books), there seems to be no public or critical consensus on what constitutes the best work. Even in print comics and graphic novels, there are typically a few 800-pound gorillas that everyone agrees are good and which win all the awards. Not so in webcomics.

That's kind of astonishing, yet I also kind of expected it. What's it mean?

Primarily, I think it means there are a lot of webcomics, and a lot of good webcomics, out there. There's a wealth to choose from.

I think the webcomic audience is more specialized and fragmented. Whatever you're into, there's a webcomic for it, and you may think it's the best webcomic in the world. And it may be, even if nobody else knows about it. Webcomics are like cable TV with 300,000 channels. Even a well-read webcomics lover would probably look at that list and say, "I've never heard of half of those."

I think different awards have different tones and philosophies. Different judges have different tastes. Similarly, judges can only consider what's in front of them, and different cartoonists may only focus on certain opportunities (for example, I think many webcartoonists overlook the NCS Awards).

My story:

I submitted my webcomic for Eisner Award consideration. Nominees were chosen by a panel of judges with a broad comics, academic and critical background, and mine was selected.

I also submitted my webcomic for NCS Division Award consideration. Nominees were chosen by a panel of NCS working cartoonists (who in contrast to the Eisner judges only focus on their one award, not ALL of them), and mine was not selected. I've got no beef with that, especially looking at the very strong ones that were.

I did not submit my webcomic for Harvey Award consideration, because the nominees are chosen by popular vote rather than judges. Whichever five comics get the most votes go on the list. Nominations favor those able to rally their troops. I've seen my visitor stats (who knew they could register negative numbers?) and knew my obscure little webcomic had no chance.

I don't spend a lot of time thinking about this, and don't want to make too much of it. As long-time Friend O' The Blog Mike Peterson says, "plaques are for hacks," and I almost believe him.

I just think it's an interesting insight into the webcomics field at this early time in its development. I was waiting for today's announcement of Harvey nominations almost giddily hoping they'd be totally different from the others.

They did not disappoint.

The nice thing about a lack of 800-pound gorillas is that it gives a few macaques a chance to bask in the sun. Congratulations to the nominees, best of luck to you all.

2014 Comic-Con: How It's Gonna Go Down

Comic-Con International returns to San Diego in two weeks, and my Internet haunts are roiling up to a frenzy. I'll be there Thursday afternoon (July 24) and Friday (July 25), attend Friday night's Eisner Awards where my Last Mechanical Monster is nominated for Best Digital Comic, then jet back to the Bay Area for another commitment first thing Saturday.

I'm looking forward to seeing friends, catching panels, maybe even buying some comics or art. I'll be supporting the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum (and new parents Shaenon Garrity and Andrew Farago, huzzah!) by sketching commissions at their table Friday from 2 to 3 p.m. I may also get to talk a little business.

Based on past cons, I expect to have warm reunions with 10 or 15 people I haven't seen in a while, meet 5 or 10 people who until now have only been Web bylines or e-mail addresses to me, and be introduced to at least one venerable comics veteran who will leave me tongue-tied until the next day, when I'll remember a project of theirs I loved and always wanted to ask them about but by then it'll be too late.

What I won't be doing is expecting to win an Eisner Award.

That's not false modesty. I have a very good record for predicting the outcome of awards for which I'm nominated, calculating the odds with the cold, steely, unsentimental squint of an insurance actuary. Here's how it's gonna go down:

Besides me, the Best Digital Comic nominees are As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman, Failing Sky by Dax Tran-Caffee, High Crimes by Christopher Sebela and Ibrahim Moustafa, and The Oatmeal by Matthew Inman.

The Oatmeal gets 6 or 7 million visitors per month. More people visit The Oatmeal each day than will see my webcomic in a year. Everybody on Facebook has read an Oatmeal comic, probably the one about the dog. It's a simple numbers game. Even if only a tiny percentage of Oatmeal fans are Eisner voters, a tiny percentage of a very big number is still a big number. The Oatmeal is going to win.

However, I see a sliver of an opportunity here, in that I sense The Oatmeal isn't universally respected and beloved among comics professionals. The public, sure, by the millions. But Eisner votes are cast by pros, and I've seen enough critical posts and articles, including some arguing that The Oatmeal doesn't meet the Eisners' own eligibility criteria (primarily that it be a long-form comic that tells a continuing story rather than individual gags), that I've deluded myself into thinking I may have a chance.

Making no quality or value judgments about the other nominees, with which I'm not deeply familiar, if The Oatmeal doesn't win I think I have a shot.

However, The Oatmeal is totally going to win.

But it might not.

Saying "the nomination's the honor" is usually a platitude, but in this case I'm sincere. The nomination is fantastic! What it means to me is that six experts in comics and literature judged that my Last Mechanical Monster was one of the five best webcomics they saw among the candidates in front of them on that particular day. I don't know why mine was chosen while others were passed over. I was surprised by some omissions, too. Not my department. Don't blame me.

Those people liked these comics on that day.

That's all it means. But that's a lot!

For those of you laying down Vegas money on the outcome, I peg my odds of winning at 11%--a long shot paying out about 9 to 1. Wager accordingly.

I have no Comic-Con booth or table. If someone really wants to connect with me, I'd suggest finding me at the CAM table (#1930) between 2 and 3 p.m. on Friday or leaving a note at the Abrams booth (#1216), which I'll strafe from time to time.

Comic-Con will be a wild, worthwhile experience regardless of Friday night's results. I'm looking forward to it. Photos and stories will follow!

Happy Independence Eve

I'm really enjoying this series of Web commercials for Newcastle Brown Ale, asking us to imagine how great America would be if the British had won. I've been known to reassure Brits that I bear no hard feelings about "that whole Revolutionary War thing," so this is right up my alley.

Clearly the ad makers are hoping the videos will go viral. I don't know if they have, but they worked for me. Maybe I'll even try their beer. A few of my favorites:






Happy Independence Eve, which is totally not a holiday they made up to try to sell more beer.