Meant to post yesterday and even the day before but the WonderCon, here in soggy San Francisco, hasn't allowed me a lot of time. The place is packed, the panels are fun, and there are way too many people to see and stuff to look at.
Friday panels went well. "The Art of the Cover" featured Neal Adams, William Stout, Alex Ross and Adam Hughes, all talking about what it takes to design a right and proper cover for a comic book…or even a record album, CD or DVD. I got Neal to speak a bit about the problems and personalities of working at DC Comics, back when he was doing so many fine covers. He made some interesting points — if anyone there recorded the panel, drop me a note so I can quote some here — about how at the time he came to Batman, he felt it was being drawn by too many people for whom the character was just a guy in a costume and just another assignment. (These are my words, not his.) What made his interpretation of the character different, and the covers he drew special, was that he came to it all with some love of the hero and appreciation of why it would be neat to be that guy. Neal was effusive in his praise of the other panelists, especially Adam Hughes, who he said is doing covers where you want to buy the book and throw away the insides. And that's about all I can remember at this late hour.
Later that day, I got to interview Arnold Drake, one of the great writers of comics' Silver Age and one of the most articulate, candid gents it's ever been my pleasure to know. Arnold co-created The Doom Patrol, Deadman and Stanley and His Monster, to name but a few, and wrote dozens of other comics for DC, including Batman, Challengers of the Unknown, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis and one of my favorites, Tommy Tomorrow. Actually, they were all among my favorites. Back in the days before comics carried writing credits, I became a Drake fan without knowing who he was or that he'd written so many of the stories I liked.
Saturday morn's Tribute Panel for the great Will Eisner was well-attended, with friends and fans gathering to hear Sergio Aragonés, Jeff Smith, Scott Dunbier and Charles Brownstein remember the man. Then we had to cancel the Golden/Silver Age Panel due to a certain paucity of guests who worked in comics in those eras. Two who'd been announced for the panel were unable to be there, and there was no one else on the premises to take their places. Reminds you how the creators of comics' first and even second generation are becoming an endangered species, and that we need to preserve and protect the few we have left.
Later, I was on a panel of Animation Writers, then I got to play Drew Carey (at a considerably lower salary but with a better haircut) for our "Quick Draw!" game, where Sergio, Jeff Smith, Scott Shaw! and Steve Leialoha battled it out, sketching as fast as humanly possible. If you've never seen us do this at a convention, ask someone who has and they'll tell you you have to see it. The room was absolutely packed with folks, some of whom could actually see the drawings being done.
Not much else to report at the moment. I'm waaaaay behind on e-mail (note the five "a's") so please bear with me. More regular posting will resume here shortly.