Still having a great time. Still don't have any hot gossip or juicy anecdotes. I have now completed twelve of my seventeen panels and am readying myself to hike to the convention center and do the remaining five. I hope someone else will post how hilarious Chuck McCann was…how funny all the participants were, actually, on yesterday's Cartoon Voices panel. If I tell you, it will just seem like Moderator Bias. We have another panel of such actors today at 1:15 (Room 6B, I think) and today's assemblage is going to have a pretty high bar over which they must vault.
I enjoy the heck out of this convention. Yes, I know there are long lines and crowded aisles. That's because it's a great place to be and everyone knows it. It's often hard to get a table at the best restaurant, too. One of the things I enjoy about Comic-Con International is that I can't take five steps in any direction without running into a friend…including some I hadn't known before. I'm sure the pace would grow maddening in longer stretches but to function in it for four or five days at a time is quite exhilarating. So much to do, so much to see.
Sundays are always a little bittersweet at these things. There's as much to enjoy as there ever is but there's also the underscore that things are winding down, that it's all coming to an end. People are thinking about return trips and packing and making that last purchase that may not fit into their suitcases. Later this afternoon, for those who stick around for it, there will come that amazing (to me) moment when the convention ends and if you linger in the exhibit hall, you can watch the ritual of implosion. You can see exhibitors start breaking down their booths and watch as this vast room goes into retreat…and the mighty convention slowly disappears before your eyes. (Those of you who think dealers overcharge for their wares ought to see this once and also witness the set-up. The sheer physical labor involved in getting in and getting out…well, I didn't mind as much, paying what I was paying for old comics, once I'd witnessed the merchants hauling their boxes around.)
Okay, I have to get over to the Convention Center, where there are fascinating people, wonderful things to see and hear, and $8.00 mini-pizzas made of a harder substance than Wolverine's claws. I'll try to write something here tonight when it's all sadly over…but only, we remind ourselves, 'til next year.