Denver Pop Culture Con

I had a nice weekend as a guest of the Denver Pop Culture Con, doing five panels while scouting the sales floor, going to other people's panels, watching good books win pretty trophies, peeking at TV and movie stars, getting lost, and walking around one of my favorite American cities. I reunited with some friends and made some new ones.

Denver Pop Culture Con is produced by the non-profit Pop Culture Classroom, which gives it a different feel than other conventions I've been to. In addition to the usual superhero, video game, and pop culture fol-de-rol, it focuses on being family-friendly with an undercurrent of education: creative workshops for kids, using comics in the classroom, more than the usual share of teachers and librarians.

The Con staff was always friendly and eager to help. The Con itself presented some challenges. Signage was poor; I spent all day Friday looking for something that was listed in the program but gave me no other clues where to find it. People who wanted to attend my panels had to leave the exhibition hall, take an escalator down one floor, walk about 40 yards, take another escalator down, then peek down hallways until they found the right room. I think that kept panel attendance low. My most popular panel was one I did on the enduring popularity of "Peanuts" with Schulz Museum Education Director Jessica Ruskin, Schulz Museum Archivist Sarah Breaux, and comics historian R.C. Harvey, which drew about three dozen people. But another panel I did had six people; a friend moderated a panel that only had one. There was some confusion and miscommunication attributed to key organizers leaving just before the Con, including the person who invited me.

Still, it's a poor, ungrateful guest who criticizes his hosts. Some of my beefs, such as the Convention Center layout, were out of their hands. Overall I had a terrific time with nice people who all seemed very happy to be there. It's a good event with a unique mission and flavor.

Pictures:

The Denver Convention Center is hard to miss: just look for the gigantic blue bear peering in the window.

Thousands of people waited for the doors to open on Saturday, by far the busiest day. Despite crowds that reportedly exceeded 100,000, the space was large enough that there was (usually) room to walk and breathe, and even some quiet corners to sit and rest.

A typical row of the main exhibition floor. This was on Friday; Saturday was more crowded, but the wide spacing between booths kept things mostly navigable.

A connected room the size of an airplane hangar was set aside for celebrity autographs. Lines were sometimes long, but also occasionally astonishingly short, and this vast space never filled up. Sam "Flash Gordon" Jones, George "Sulu" Takei, Cary "Princess Bride" Elwes, Catherine "Dr. Who" Tate, Dave "Drax" Bautista, Claudia "Babylon 5" Christian, and many others took their turns in the boxes. I enjoyed seeing Christopher "Doc Brown" Lloyd and Tom "Biff Tannen" Wilson sitting peaceably next to each other. Photography was forbidden here--I got scolded for taking this one--because that's how the stars make their money. I didn't pay to say Hello to anyone famous but enjoyed breathing the same air.

Unfortunately, the entire nation of Canada was a no-show.

People

Saw some old friends, made some new ones, and just said "Howdy" to a few folks.

The first person I ran into as I walked into the Con was Tom Racine, podcaster extraordinaire, who moderated three or four panels. I went to a couple of them; Tom was about as prepared, professional, and nimble on his feet as a moderator could be. During a break we recorded an interview for a future episode of his Tall Tale Radio podcast, which is the best on the Net.

I met comics critic and historian R.C. Harvey last September in Sacramento, and we reconnected in Denver to sit together on a panel about the enduring popularity of "Peanuts." Bob is a knowledgeable, delightful man who only plays a curmudgeon online. I bought that Accidental Ambassador Gordo book in front of him, which Bob wrote with one of my all-time favorite cartoonists, Gus Arriola.

I found syndicated cartoonist and best-selling author Terri Libenson! Now we’re friends in real life, not just Facebook. She did a charming “workshop” for a couple dozen young fans of her books.

Terri at work, teaching the kids how she draws her characters.

Peter Bagge is an independent comics great, coming out of an underground tradition to today focus on biographies of people other writer/artist/publishers might not touch. I bought Credo, his bio of Rose Wilder Lane, the daughter-editor of Laura Ingalls Wilder and a fine writer, editor, and social agitator in her own right, and joked that he and I might be the only two people in the building who knew who she was. Peter and I did a panel together, followed by a long, quality conversation that I really enjoyed. The next morning we happened to hit our hotel's breakfast buffet at the same time and had another short talk. He's a very nice and gracious guy. I'm still a bit dazzled.

Brigid Alverson is a respected comics journalist who moderated one of the panels I was on. We've corresponded and spoken by phone several times over the past 15 years or so, including a recent interview about A Fire Story, but never met in person until now. Turns out we're kind of kindred souls, about the same age with backgrounds in physics and journalism. Love her.

I first met Nathan Hale, best-selling author of historical comics for kids, a few years ago. We reconnected in Denver for two panels, the second on "Comics in the Curriculum." He's a dynamic, polished, entertaining speaker who took charge of the panel in the very best way, since it was my fifth panel and I was kinda out of gas anyway. Happy to let him take the lead.

A selfie of that panel underway, moderated by Schulz Museum Education Director Jessica Ruskin. One of my favorite moments of the Con happened here: Jessica was introducing us, and when she said, "To my left is Nathan Hale--" there was an audible gasp in the audience from a teacher who didn't know he'd be there, had no idea what he looked like, but was thrilled to be in the room with him. In some circles, he's a superstar.

My brief encounter with Neal Adams gets its own paragraph. Mr. Adams is an all-time great artist in both superhero comic books and newspaper comic strips. I've loved his work all my life. He’s been at every con I’ve attended, manning his giant expensive end-cap booth, and I’ve always been too intimidated to approach him. Mr. Adams has a reputation for not suffering fools, and I was certain that if we ever met, I'd prove myself a perfect fool. But this time I figured What the Hell.

That's Mr. Adams in the tan jacket, dwarfed by his enormous booth.

"Mr. Adams," I said, "I just wanted to say thanks. Your work was important to me and has been a big inspiration."

"How?" he asked.

"Well . . . you set a very high standard and showed me just how good comic art could be."

Mr. Adams leveled his gaze. "But what did I inspire you to do?"

Ah. This was a test.

"Well," I said, "I've published three graphic novels and won an Eisner Award . . ."

Mr. Adams's eyes lit up and he smiled.

"Well then," he said, "thank you!"

Handshake, and I was out of there so fast I left little cartoon dust clouds in my wake.

Cosplay

Some comics purists don't like people who dress up as characters and go to conventions. They think it detracts from the "true meaning" of the event, and clogs the aisles with people who are there to be seen rather than buy their stuff. I think those purists should lighten up. Cosplayers add creativity, fun and color to a convention. Their fandom is just as pure and true as anyone else's, and comics aren't a zero-sum game. It's a big pie; there's plenty for everyone.

Some of these costume references are pretty obscure. The deeper the dive the better. Not everyone will get it, but if someone does, you've made their day.

I did have fun storming the castle.

Queen Amidala braving a dangerous mission. Truly! Would you risk an escalator in that dress?

Avengers Assemble! The fellow on the left exemplifies the most popular cosplay I saw at the Con, as every guy with a beard, belly, and ratty bathrobe--honestly, not a trivial proportion of comics fans--realized he could be Thor in "Avengers: Endgame."

Loved this groovy gang.

My favorite of the Con, and maybe my favorite cosplay of all time. Somebody close that door.

A Note About Originality

I don't know if it was just Denver or a general trend in comics conventions, but I saw a lot of something I really dislike: giant walls of prints published by people who have no right to the intellectual property they're ripping off.

Not to pick on this guy, but, like, this guy. He's a good enough artist--his technique is fine and the character likenesses are good--but if he got permission from Marvel, DC, Paramount, the CW, the BBC, etc. to sell prints of these characters, I'll eat them all.

Fine-tuning my outrage: I think true fan art is terrific. A kid who loves Iron Man and draws up little pictures, stickers and stuff to sell for a buck a piece is technically violating copyright but should be left alone. They're expressing their passion for the character. I like passion.

Likewise, comics professionals who've made a living drawing these characters should get a pass. Neal Adams defined the look of Batman in the 1970s and for generations to follow. As far as I'm concerned, Mr. Adams can draw and sell all the Batmen he wants.

That's not what's going on here. These print peddlers are big commercial operations. They're not in it for the love of characters or stories, they're in it because the prints sell. And unlike fandom, booth space at conventions is a zero-sum game. There's only so much real estate. These big guys crowd out others doing original art with characters and stories they actually created.

It's hard to feel sorry for giant corporations that own Superman and Indiana Jones. That doesn't make violating their copyright OK. I don't think these print emporiums are good for comics, conventions, creators or fans, and I'd really like to see cons crack down on them, maybe with a little encouragement from the true copyright holders and their scary lawyers. Make room for new creative voices producing original material. That's the real life-blood of the industry and art form.

Off my soap box now . . .

Denver

Denver is my platonic ideal of a medium-large American city. It's walkable, clean, artsy, vital. Beautiful surroundings. My only complaint is that the airport is about 45 minutes away--seems like it's halfway to Kansas. Otherwise, it's a terrific town. I spent quite a few hours just walking around downtown, and only wish I'd had more time.

This great Midwestern bookstore had a few copies of A Fire Story, and was happy to have me sign them.

Thanks to Pop Culture Classroom, Denver Pop Culture Con, all the organizers and volunteers who were nice to me and got me to where I needed to go, my old and new friends, and everyone who made it a great weekend and event for me. I'd go back anytime.

I Can See My House From Here!

I'm home from a good weekend at the Denver Pop Culture Con, where I did five (!) panels, spent time with friends, met some cool people, and had a great time. As soon as I upload some photos, I'll share here.

Meanwhile, I have a much better story that needs a little wind-up.

Ross Franquemont became a friend via other Facebook friends in the way we do these days, which is to say I've never met any of these people in real life but still feel close. Until he recently retired from a 20-year USAF career, Ross flew the U-2 spy plane, which is still in service and I believe still holds some flight records despite being developed in 1957.

This weekend Ross was in Denver training for his new job as a commercial airline pilot, saw that I was in town for Pop Culture Con, and messaged me asking if we could meet. Then he sent me some photos. And I figured that if a guy likes your book enough to take it up 68,000 feet (not quite the edge of space, but high enough to see the horizon curve) on his very last U-2 flight, and has the thoughtfulness to photograph it while flying over your actual house on the distant planet below, the least you can do is buy him a beer.

So I did.

When Ross said he shot the photo while flying over my house, I thought maybe he meant somewhere in the general vicinity. That would have been neat enough. But when we met, Ross pointed out some ground features in the photo above and told me what he thought they were....

...and after checking with Google Earth, I confirmed that he was absolutely right. My house is actually in this photo! If my mind weren't completely blown right now, it still wouldn't be able to come up with words to express how cool I think this is or much this means to me.

This is the closest I will ever get to being an astronaut.

Thanks Ross, for a gift that will look AMAZING on my new studio wall!

For more of Ross's beautiful U-2 photos, visit Extreme Ross Photography, especially the Gallery labeled "U-2 High Flight Photos."

Ross with spacesuit and helmet...

...and without. 

BoingBoing

In addition to being a leading author, editor and cultural idea-person, Cory Doctorow is a good egg. I'm not saying that just because he's posted a terrific review of "A Fire Story" to boingboing.net, which included phrases like "a deeply moving, beautiful book" and "a touchstone book," but because he's a man of his word.

I ran into Cory a few weeks ago at the L.A. Times Book Festival and began a nice, brief conversation by thanking him for one of the most thoughtful reviews my book "Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow" ever got. As I left, I handed him a postcard advertising "A Fire Story," and he said he'd check it out. I wouldn't have blamed him if he hadn't. "I'll check it out" is social grease for slipping away on friendly terms; I don't check out everything I say I will, and don't expect anyone else to either. But Cory did, then followed up with a review he knew would direct a lot of eyeballs to my book. It means a lot.

At the L.A. Times Book Festival with Cory Doctorow.

Popzara!

Here's a 41-minute podcast I did with Nathan Evans for Popzara, which is "a bazaar of pop culture and commentary spanning the worlds of entertainment and technology." Some of our discussion will sound familiar to those who've been paying close attention (and why would you?), but he also covered some territory I've never been asked about before.

Thanks, Popzara!

L.A. Times Festival of Books

I got home from the L.A. Times Festival of Books very late last night. It was a good, successful event and weekend, helped considerably by my sisters Elisabeth and Brenda, who pointed me to Los Angeles gems I never would have found on my own. The festival itself is huge; mid-Sunday I was still discovering new nooks I hadn't visited. They say 100,000 people attend but it never felt that crowded. Beautiful weather. Lots of good conversations with people who love books.

Nice theming throughout.

A representative stretch of the L.A. Times Festival of Books. There were a dozen boulevards like this lined with tents--mostly small publishers or even self-published authors, but also a few big companies. Not a bad showing by comics folks: DC, Marvel, and Oni Press sent small delegations and, again, there were a lot of small-press comics.

The L.A. Times printed a 28-page program that listed speakers, events, schedules, maps. I took up a big chunk of page 16.

The band showed up Sunday morning. Very entertaining.

Weekend highlight: I met writer Cory Doctorow! Cory wrote a really nice review of "Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?" a few years ago, and his love of retro-futurism is right up my alley. I'd planned to attend a talk he was giving Sunday afternoon in hopes of just getting a chance to say "Hi." Instead, I found him doing a spontaneous, unannounced booksigning Sunday morning, and we got to have a real conversation. And then I bought his latest book.

The panel I was there to do, "Earth, Air, Fire, Water--the Environment in Crisis" (I was "fire"), went great. The other panelists and I got on very well, and I think we hit a good balance of dread and hope. When I scouted out our panel's venue on Saturday, I was worried because it was a long distance from the rest of the festival action. I thought we'd be lucky to draw a dozen people. Instead we got about 150! The booksigning after was fine; they sold all their copies of "A Fire Story," which wasn't many--maybe 15 or 20?--but I was happy with that.

The lecture hall where my panel was held. This was early, when people were still trickling in. We got about 150 (that's what I do while other panelists are talking--count heads).

Before we began: our moderator Alan Zarembo of the L.A. Times and panelists, each of whose books represented one quarter of earth, air, fire and water. (NOT Earth, Wind and Fire--they're totally different people.)

All of the panelists' books for sale near the booksigning tent. A lot of the "Fire Story" copies were already gone.

Probably the best time I've ever had in L.A.! (Anaheim is arguably not L.A.)
.

KQED Forum with Michael Krasny

Here's 52 minutes of me with host Michael Krasny on KQED Forum this morning. Originally scheduled for half an hour, I was asked to do a full hour after Mr. Krasny read my book. He was very prepared, and a good listener. We took listener calls and emails, some pretty intense. KQED staff seemed very happy with the program. An hour went incredibly fast!

Preparing to go on the air with Michael Krasny. Blurry; I only had a few seconds until we were live.

KQED's Green Room has years of autographs and doodles covering its walls, including those of several cartoonists. I added mine next to Keith Knight's; figured he wouldn't mind.

KQED's Green Room.

Alison Bechdel was here.

So was Pixar's Pete Docter.

So was cartoonist Joe Sacco.

I found a little open spot between Keith Knight, Gentleman Cartoonist, and physicist Michio Kaku. Seemed appropriate.

Then on the way out I found Kelly Whalen waiting in the lobby for me! Kelly produced our animated Fire Story for KQED TV and I hadn't seen her since Emmy night, so that was a very nice reunion.

Kelly Whalen heard me on the air and intercepted me in the lobby. As I joked in my earlier posts with Farrin Abbott, everybody in this photo has an Emmy Award. Except Kelly has a flock of them. She's the best.

Thanks to KQED and Mr. Krasny for the airtime and a special morning.

An Evening With Brian Fies?!

I had a tremendous time last night talking at the Cartoon Art Museum (CAM) in San Francisco, which everyone should visit often.

I had no idea who would show up for "An Evening With Brian Fies." Turns out about 20 folks, including comics greats Trina Robbins and Steve Leialoha; cartoonist, professor, and my friend Nick Sousanis; Association of American Editorial Cartoonist stalwart Scott Burns; and the person who animated my Fire Story webcomic for KQED and won us both Emmy Awards, Farrin Abbott.

Looking over the notebook in which I drew the original Fire Story webcomic, which I don't usually bring along but CAM seemed the right time and place do it. I signed all those books on the table, and more. CAM seemed to think they'd sell them sooner or later.

With the AAEC's Scott Burns.

Nick Sousanis took time out from drawing his next mind-blowing super-intelligent comic to spend an evening with me. He also impressed my daughters, to whom he talked for quite a while without knowing they were related to me, which I thought was great. He's a natural teacher.

Everyone in this photo has an Inkpot Award from Comic Con International. I'd never met Steve Leialoha and Trina Robbins before but admired both for decades. Both have done standout work in comics and it meant a LOT to me that they came. I'm more stunned than I may appear.

Everyone in this photo has an Emmy Award. I was so happy to see Farrin Abbott again. Last time, we were both wearing tuxedos.

My daughters Laura and Robin were there. CAM's Summerlea Kashar treated us to dinner. Curator Andrew Farago graciously introduced me and came with his wife, cartoonist Shaenon K. Garrity, and their son Robin (who enjoyed meeting my Robin). CAM's Nina Taylor Kester cracked the door open for me (that's a private joke) and made me feel at home. The audience was not necessarily huge in quantity, but Wow what QUALITY!

Andrew Farago introduced me. In the foreground, Nina Taylor Kester livestreamed it on Facebook.

CAM is a great institution and it's a career highlight to have my work on display there. Visit!

Door Closes, Door Opens

Today Karen and I moved into our new house, rebuilt on the exact site of our old house. It's been 535 days since our house and thousands of others were destroyed in the Tubbs Fire.

We're happy, exhausted, numb, more happy, and can't quite believe it.  It's keen.

Out of 170 destroyed in our neighborhood, we're the fourth to come back. The nights are very dark and quiet. Construction's going on all around us. There's a guy digging up pipe in my front yard right now. We don't care. We're home.

Updated Tour Schedule

Here's an updated schedule of places I'll be talking about A Fire Story. Two additions:

March 30, I'll be at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco for a talk and signing to go with an exhibition of original art from A Fire Story. Wow! That exhibition is actually on the walls already, we just couldn't schedule the party until the 30th. I haven't seen it in person, but the photos look fantastic! Thanks to Andrew Farago and CAM for the honor.

April 10 I'll be at Moe's Books in Berkeley, Calif., one of the Bay Area's most venerable heroic local independent booksellers. Looking forward to it!

For local folks, I hope to see you this Friday at Copperfield's in Sebastopol, another fine heroic local independent bookseller who's been very supportive of my work over the years.

Thanks for everyone who has come out or plans to come out. I've never really book-toured before; what I'm learning now is that every person who shows up, and every book sold, really makes a difference in how the bookstore and even my publisher feel about the book.

Wow. Now in 3-D!

In my last post from my Corte Madera signing, I teased a story about receiving "an amazing gift that knocked my socks off." It's not much of a story because I still don't know much about the gift's provenance except it was handed to me by a man named Steve. Steve made these:

Daffodils from A Fire Story. This is Karen's favorite drawing from the book; she may claim this one for herself. Again, photos don't really do these justice, partly because of reflections in the glass.

The climax of The Last Mechanical Monster. This is at least five separate layers of precision-cut paper, all stacked and spaced to give a stunning 3-D effect.

Photos don't do them justice. They're multi-layered cutouts of my art in shadowboxes that gives them an astounding three-dimensional effect. The thoughtfulness Steve dedicated to these, deciding which parts of the picture should be at which level, particularly on the Last Mechanical Monster pic, is very impressive. I have no idea how he cut out the art; I can only imagine him hunched over a board with a scalpel and magnifying glass.

In person, they're breathtaking! Both will have places of honor on my studio wall, as soon as I have a wall.

I don't know Steve. All I could do is stammer out my deepest thanks before he was gone. I hope he sees this and knows how much I love them, not just for what they are but for the time and care he obviously took to make them.

We Have Lift-Off

A whirlwind weekend! Saturday night: a spectacular book launch at the Charles M. Schulz Museum. More than 200 people showed up, overflowing the museum's little auditorium and packing the Education Room upstairs, where my talk was simulcast. So many friends, covering every stage of my life: high school, early jobs, cartoonists, new and old neighbors! My family came, including my daughter Robin, who I didn't think would be able to make it and surprised me.

Local independent bookseller Copperfield's brought about 75 copies of A Fire Story and sold out. They also carried Mom's Cancer and Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow, which I really appreciated, so I signed a few of those. Other people brought books they'd bought elsewhere. I signed my custom bookplates for people who couldn't get a book but promised they would later.

I spoke for about half an hour, then signed books for more than an hour. Best part was introducing several of the people who appear in the book, who had seats of honor up front. I asked for a show of hands of people who'd lost their homes, then those who had close friends or relatives who'd lost their homes; nearly every hand was raised. It was a hometown crowd of people who'd been through an extraordinary disaster together, very powerful. We cried, we laughed, we cried some more.

People lined up to buy books from Copperfield's before my talk began.

Possibly the coolest I've ever looked in any photo in my life.

Nice view from about halfway back in the auditorium. Photo from Raina, thanks!

Some of the folks in the Schulz Museum's auditorium. The hall filled to standing room only. I see many good friends in this photo!

The line for my book signing in the museum's Great Hall after the talk. I'm sitting off screen to the lower left. The Schulz Museum provided a very nice snack spread for folks to nibble on while they waited. The museum really went all out for this--after-hours, snacks, staff and volunteers on duty. I'm touched.

Man at work.

So cool to have Raina Telegemeier and her father Denis at the launch. I've known Raina since before Smile, and her dad has become a real friend as well. They had to drive a ways to get here; it meant a lot to me.

With Cartoonist Maia Kobabe, whose graphic novel Gender Queer comes out in May. I'm looking forward to it, I know it'll be good!

Sunday was mellower: a signing at Book Passage, one of the Bay Area's great bookstores, in Corte Madera, Calif. About two dozen people, only a few of whom had direct experience with the fire, with a very different energy, but it was really nice. I like talking to smaller groups (and I've talked to much smaller, like groups of two or three). You can have a conversation.

Heading into Book Passage on Sunday afternoon.

Book Passage set up a nice display at the entrance. Notice the book standing on the counter by the register, and the giant cover on the back wall!

A nice-sized crowd of nice people--including one fan who gave me an amazing gift that knocked my socks off. But that's a topic for a future post.

Two different experiences, both great, that gave my book a spectacular launch. But I've got to say, my night at the Schulz Museum was a special once-in-a-lifetime thrill. Thanks to Jessica Ruskin, Karen Johnson, and Jeannie Schulz for making that happen.

Photos from many sources, including my daughter Laura and sister-in-law Cathy. Thanks again to everybody who helped make this weekend so special!