I'm home. Rode back with my chum Paul Dini and his fiancée, the lovely and mystifying Misty Lee. We stopped at a place in Oceanside that has world class fish-and-chips (info here), then took the short cut back from San Diego. For the last few years, a well-kept secret among California motorists has been the 73 freeway, which more or less links Long Beach and San Juan Capistrano in a straight line. If one is going from San Diego to Los Angeles (or vice-versa or even some shorter stretches involving the 405 and the 5), this can shave 20-30 minutes off one's commute. It's less crowded, it's more scenic and it allows you to bypass Irvine and the John Wayne Airport and the fork where the 5 and 405 join up directly. These are all places that can get very crowded. The only downside is that it's a toll road that, depending on the time of day, will run you three or four bucks.
And before some of you write me to complain that I should have told you this before you spent extra hours going to and/or from the convention: Sorry. I didn't know about it 'til Sergio showed me on the way down.
Today at the con, I did three panels that I enjoyed immensely. Yes, I know I've said that about all my panels but, hey, I enjoyed all my panels immensely. That's just how it is.
The con was fast and fun, and I heard others today mutter that it seemed to fly by at record speed. Some of that is due to the way familiar things always seem to take less time than unfamiliar ones. Going to some location always seems to take more time than coming back, since on the way back, you're more familiar with the terrain and where you're going. Comic-Con International, though wonderful in many ways, has a tendency to look and feel the same each year. The crowds all look the same and the exhibit hall doesn't vary much. I didn't need to consult the map to find certain exhibitors. I just went to where they were last year…and maybe the year before and the year before.
What was different for me was the mood, which seemed even more divorced from comic books than ever before. It's like what's in the comic book doesn't matter any more. It's what's in the movie that counts. And if it never becomes a movie…well then, the comic book really doesn't matter. I'll try to write more about this in the coming days.
For now, it's nice to be home. It was also nice to see so many of you there. Oh — and I want to thank several folks who said, "I don't do PayPal" and slipped me cash donations for this site. That included one gent who thrust an envelope at me, told me it was for this weblog, and then disappeared before I could open it and find two hundred bucks. My appreciation…and now I have to go unpack.