And hello from the Comic-Con International, where rumors abound that attendance figures are exceeding all expectations. One can also hear many a horror story of local hotel room pricing. At my hotel last night, as I was checking in, a gent who arrived sans reservation, was trying to convince the next desk clerk over that he was so important and such a good customer of the chain that they simply had to find a room for him. The clerk was trying in his best, polite Front Desk manner to tell the guy that his chances of securing lodging there this weekend were about the same as Linda Ronstadt's of playing the Aladdin. I'm not too happy with the room I did get but when I think of friends who are paying thrice these fees at Super 8 Motels, I can't complain too much.
So what's to report besides the very size of this convention? The last few years, that's generally been the Big Story, dwarfing all others. I did a signing this morning, had two swift business-type conferences, then it was up to Room 8 to host three panels in a row, all well-attended.
The first was a delightful chat with my friend of ~37 years, veteran comic book artist Mike Royer. And boy, does it feel odd, though not incorrect, to refer to Mike as a veteran. When we met, he had only been assisting Russ Manning on Tarzan for a year or two, and he'd recently started drawing stories for Creepy and Eerie. Soon after, he became Jack Kirby's inker and later went on to a tidy career with Disney where, among other duties, he was the main designer of Winnie the Pooh stuff for the Disney Stores. It was a good conversation — even I learned things — and when I find out who's going to print it, I'll direct you to the transcript.
Then we had the Golden/Silver Age Panel with, from left to right, Tom Gill, Sid Jacobson, Gene Colan, Jack Adler, Frank Springer, Frank Bolle and Harry Harrison. There were many highlights but few in attendance will forget Harrison telling of the time he and his then-partner, Wally Wood, decided to play a little joke on their editor. It was a common prank for artists to finish a page normally and then to do a little pasteover to change a drawing or two into something outrageously filthy. Once the editor and the staff had been properly shocked and/or amused, the pasteover could be peeled off and the art would be suitable for publication. That's what Harrison and Wood figured would happen once when, drawing a western scene of a horse rearing up, they added in an enormous, diseased phallus. Everyone at the office laughed but somehow, no one remembered to peel off the offending member before sending the book off to the printer. It was on the presses, seconds from seeing print, when someone caught it.
[NOTE TO SELF: If I ever host another of these Golden/Silver Age panels, we have got to keep the dais down to six, preferably fewer. These guys have too many good stories to need seven of them up there.]
Then my third panel of the day was the Sergio and Mark Panel…where, among other revelations, we announced two upcoming mini-series projects we've agreed to do for Dark Horse. Not sure of the exact titles yet but one will basically be Groo Meets Conan and the other will be Groo Meets Tarzan. No, I am not kidding.
Didn't get to talk to as many people as I'd have liked, today. If you were one of the folks to whom I said a fast, insufficient hello while racing past you to a panel or meeting, my apologies. And with four panels scheduled for tomorrow (Friday), it'll probably be more of the same.