Comic-Con 2007: (The Actual) Day One

Okay, so where were we? Ah, yes. The actual first day of the Con. Thursday. Seeing as how we were up so late the night before, getting up too early wasn't that big of a consideration. However, Russ and Tony did want to make it to panel where Battlestar Galactica veteran Richard Hatch would be speaking. Richard Hatch became kind of a Con regular thing for us a few years ago. Before this new BG series started on Sci-Fi, there was a big battle going on with two camps trying to bring it back. One was headed by Richard Hatch (whom you may remember, if you're old enough and a bit of a nerd, as Apollo from the original show). The other was series creator Glen Larson. Apparently there was some big legal battle over this, the details of which I can't quite remember. But we ended up going to a Richard Hatch panel a few years back. Richard is one highly motivated SOB. And he was really, really into bringing the show back. He'd gotten together a group of other Galactica people, and some other creative folks he knew, and was moving forward with his vision. He (and these folks) had even made a trailer for a new Galactica series. He got effects people to work on it and everything. His vision picked up quite a few years after the first series left off, and what he filmed wasn't the actual new show, but just something to show others (and networks) what it could be like. He showed this trailer, one that had already been making news on the internet, at this first panel. People went out of their minds. There were seriously like a 5-minute standing "O". And Hatch talking about...man. I should add that he's also a motivational speaker. You could see why. We became converts....and then it became a standard thing every year for us to go to whatever panel Hatch was it. We started using the phrase "What Would Richard Hatch Do?" amongst ourselves the rest of the year. Anyway, as it turns out, someone ELSE got the Galatica rights and did the show a different way...which turned out to be one of the best shows on TV in years. So Richard didn't get to do it himself, but was a gracious "loser" and accepted a recurring role on the show.

So Tony and Russ wanted to hear him again, but A.T. and I had to get in line for badges ourselves, so we wouldn't be going. We took two cars from Tony's place down to the convention center, as A.T. and I would have to split off from them later in the evening (more on that in a bit), and since we learned a long time ago not to bother trying to park anywhere near the center, we took our usual parking spots at a lot across from the baseball stadium (Petco Park, baby! Home of the Padres!) and walked over...which isn't that far of a walk. As I expected, thousands and thousands of people on the streets on foot, making their way to the big event. We got to the door and found out where the pro-reg area would be. As we were talking to the security guy at the door to get directions, someone comes running up to him. And who should it be? Richard Hatch himself. He ran up in a panic asking "Where's 6-A? Where's 6-A? Just tell me, where's 6-A?" "6-A" is one of the panel rooms, obviously where he was headed for the panel that Russ and Tony were headed to...and he was obviously running late. The security guy seemed kind of stumped, but luckily Russ, being in the know, was able to give Mr. Hatch directions. So began our 2007 celeb stories. There's always a number every year, and this year was to be no exception.

So A.T. and I got into line with the pros. Pretty big line. Some years someone spots the wheelchair and comes up and tells me I can just come up to the front, but that's never something I actually ask for (it's something I feel kind of bad about, actually, when it happens), but not this year, so we waited. As we got close to the front, A.T. turned around for something, and he physically bumped into Lou Ferrigno (you might remember him as the Hulk from the TV show). Luckily, A.T. did not make him angry (we wouldn't have liked that...), and he was quite gracious about it.

We got our badges, and finally, we were able to go in. Just before we did, we got a cell call from Russ. He and Tony had finished their panel (we were in line quite a while) and were getting ready to head into the Gaslamp for lunch. We really wanted to get inside, so we bowed out of that and headed in. Immediately, the familiar sights brought back all the memories and made it feel like home. As I might have mentioned, the San Diego Convention Center is HUGE. For you trivia-minded folks, there's over 525,000 square feet of space on the lower floor (where all the booths and tables and such are), and this convention uses ALL of it. Thursday is typically the "slow" day, but even so, it was wall-to-wall people. The bigger companies (bigger comic companies like D.C. and Marvel, video game companies, TV networks, movie studios) all have these really elaborate booths with all kinds of cool displays, and people are moving in out of them all day. There are banners of comic art a couple stories tall. There's giant video screens showing promo stuff. Some of the booths are two levels, and on one I passed, there was a guy up there with a mic rapping (okay...). The Marvel booth had a display of the actual life-sized Mark I Iron Man armor for next summer's big Iron Man movie. There were dazzling sights all over, and I found myself feeling envious of those folks experiencing it all for the first time (me, being a regular for 17 years, I'm just not as blown away anymore) and dealing with the sensory overload. There were vendors selling thousands of tee shirts and posters, companies selling software at their tables, sword and armor dealers, art dealers, toy dealers, memorabilia dealers, comic companies, book publishers, anything you can imagine. Anything you could want as a pop culture fan of any kind.

The most important thing you can arm yourself with is the program schedule. Aside from telling you when and where panels are happening (almost all of them upstairs...there are two floors of panel rooms up there, but the biggest venue is "Hall H" downstairs, where all the really big celeb things happen), there's a map and a guide to tell you where everything is, so you can find the company or dealer or whatever you're looking for downstairs. There SO much to see, and it's so easy to get lost, that this is a necessity. This is actually available online before the Con ever starts, but I generally don't get around to looking until we actually get there and get the program book in hand, which they hand you when you get your badge. Maybe I just like the tradition. This used to be part of the experience in the early days. We'd all fly in on Wednesday night, go to pre-reg, get our books, and then go back to someone's hotel room and start highlighting and underlining to plan our week. But, this year, didn't have it until right when I went in. The map shows you who's where on the main floor, and also shows that there are certain special areas. One of them is the Small Press area, where small comic creators who generally publish their own stuff get to have their tables. This is where Tim and I were stationed with our Nice Guy table a couple (or was it three?) years back, but I still like to go over there, even if I don't have a table, and check out the other indy guys and be sure to buy something from as many as possible.

Another of the segmented areas is called Artist's Alley (or Artists' Alley, I guess...), a place with rows of tables just for comic artists. The artists range from popular names in the business to lesser-known guys just there to get themselves known and do commissions for people. This is always a big area for me, as I love getting original comic art, and I generally come in with a agenda for some character art I want for one of the web pages I do. There are a couple of regulars I hit, but the list of artists tends to change from year to year, so I like to roam around and see who else is kicking it that I might hit up. As artists doing commissions tend to fill up their art lists quickly, I like to hit the Alley first, so A.T. and I headed over there. I'd come with some art references to hand out, so I wanted to see who might be available for work.

I had two big scores here. First off, veteran Marvel artist Bob Hall was there, something no one else around seemed to be noticing or caring about. But me, I'm an old fan of his. He used to do comics back when I was in high school (I remember him best from West Coasts Avengers). He's now 75 years old and still working it. So I had to introduce myself and chat with him for a bit. Had a great conversation about Ireland, as he'd lived there for a couple of years (whereas I had only spent a week there, back in '03, on a trip with Russ). And I ended up getting some art ordered from him, too. I was heading down another row and spotted an artist named Josh Howard. I first discovered his work about three years before when I picked up a comic he does called "Dead @ 17". I totally loved his art, and have been trying to track him down to do some for me ever since, but he'd never been in the Alley. Now, there he was, and doing commissions cheap, no less! So I got to meet him and put in an order, and he did a couple of really amazing pieces for me. I love not only his art, but his storytelling style, so much that I definitely have plans to work with him one of these days. I'm planning to write a script that really matches his style and pitch it to him down the road. We'll see.

I also ran into a great artist named Otis Frampton (who does a wonderful book called "Oddly Normal") who did some commission work via eBay for me a while back, so it was great to be able to meet him in person. Also tracked down an eBay artist named Marc Wolfe, who actually owed me some art from a commission, and was supposed to be bringing it along. I found him, and he had to apologize, but he'd forgotten to pack it. So he offered to do an additional piece for me on the house for my patience. Excellent. I was supposed to have emailed him about that when I got back, something I just now remembered. Oops. We'll see if I can remember that tonight. I also tracked down Jeff Moy, who I hit up for a piece every year. If you're a comic person, you may know his work from Legion of Super-Heroes. Great guy and amazing artist, and once again, he came through for me this year. Great piece. Finally, I spotted Marvel artist Terry Shoemaker, and got one ordered up from him as well. The way these things work is that you order the commission, pay your money, and then, depending on how many people are on the artist's list ahead of you, you're given a rough idea of when to come back to pick up your art. This is why I like to order my art on Thursday, since I'm there for all four days each year, so I can tell the artists there's no rush and they can take their time with my stuff (and move someone ahead of me if that person is only there for, say, one or two days). I just check back in about once a day and see how it's going. By Sunday, I had it all. So my annual art hunt turned out really well.

A.T. and I had to grab some food, so we took part in another annual Con tradition...which is going upstairs to the Mezzanine level and paying way too much for overpriced on-site Con food. They mainly have sandwiches and pizza up there, and it costs way too much, but it does save you from having to take the walk across the street to the Gaslamp. We were in line for food when Russ called, and he had just had lunch with our old friend Jo, who recently moved back to San Diego from L.A. and was living downtown. She had never done the Con thing, so while Tony was at her place doing something on her computer (I can't recall what...), he loaned her his badge and she came back with Russ. They met up with us and we got a table and chatted while A.T. and I scarfed. It's always fun hanging out with someone who's experiencing it for the first time...particularly someone as wonderfully sarcastic and snarky as Jo. Had a great time catching up with her, but soon, she was off to get back to the real world.

Let's see...I think at this point Russ and I went outside to one of our favorite spots to have a couple of cigars, while A.T. headed off to check out another panel. It was the Lion's Gate studio panel, and it was in the big Hall H, so I wasn't convinced he was going to get in. Well, turns out he did, and he got to see folks at the panel like Jessica Alba (d'oh!), Dane Cook, Peter Fonda and Clive Barker. Me and Russ, we were waiting for Tony to return, as we wanted to check out the panel for Lost, which is always a popular thing. As I recall, it was during this sit that Russ pointed out to me that Nick Frost (co-star of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) was standing right nearby having a cigarette. We wandered over there, and he was talking with someone. I'm really not much of a guy for approaching celebs, generally, and I'm really not into autographs, so most of my celeb stories at these things end up standing next to someone famous or riding the elevator with them or something. But I thought since my friend Ken back home was such a fan, I'd maybe get a picture of me and Nick. ALMOST did, but some other guy walked up and did so while I was digging for my camera, and Nick went in right after that. Ah, well. Still three days left for that sort of thing...

I also had to make a phone call around this time. Our friends Ben and Kaye, who live in Orange County and usually drive down for the Saturday of the Con only, were making use of Ben's family's timeshare in La Jolla and were going to be in town for Wednesday and Thursday nights only. They'd wanted to do a barbecue, and A.T. and I had arranged to hook up with them for that Thursday night. I hadn't heard from them, and it suddenly occurred to me that that might not have still had my cell number. Turns out I was right! They were just leaving the convention and heading to La Jolla, and I got directions from them and let them know we'd hook up with them after our panel (and after fighting the traffic out of downtown).

So Tony and Russ and I got lucky with the wheelchair thing getting into the Lost panel, a room which, no surprise, filled up quite nicely. Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse showed up for this one, but without any cast members like the year before. They showed some cool promo stuff, but then when right into questions from the audience. This is actually my least favorite parts of panels...people asking dumb questions and guys like these producers having to give very vague answers (as not to lay out any spoilers). So after a few minutes of this, I told Russ and Tony I'd be taking off so I could get out to La Jolla early. Turns out I missed a special guest on stage that gives away something from this upcoming season, but I won't tell you about that, because it's LOST, man! No spoilers allowed! At least not from me...

I hooked up with A.T. and we made our way to our car and headed to La Jolla. And we had a great evening hanging out and chatting with our old pals Ben and Kaye! We so rarely get to see them. It's usually just one a year, at the Con, and then it's only for a few minutes between panels and such. There's really no time to have a real conversation. So, while their two boys ran about and talked a lot of Harry Potter, we got to have some great chow out there on the patio, overlooking the ocean, and catch up on old times, talk about TV shows and books and all manner of stuff, and find out what's been up with their family. Hell of a treat. I miss those guys!! Hope we get a chance to try that method again next year, depending on their schedule.

So we finally wrapped things up there (didn't want to make it TOO late, as their family had to hit the road early and head home the next day), and A.T. and I headed back to Casa Del Tony to hook up with the boys and try for some shut-eye before preparing for the first of the two BIG days of the Con. Friday. New adventures and experiences awaited!