So yesterday, I'm speed-limping to my first panel of the day, the annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel, which is at 10 AM. A combination of my healing-slowly knee, pedestrian gridlock and a tardy shuttle bus has made me worried I will not be there to moderate on time. This, of course, is when I have my also-annual confrontation with a convention security person who can't think any farther than a literal, impractical interpretation of his or her orders. One of these once inspired a story in Groo the Wanderer where Groo, who has the I.Q. of a sea urchin, is told to guard a bridge and he guards it so half-mindedly that he will not let anyone ever cross it again, including the folks who hired him.
I'm verging on late. There's a huge line waiting to get into the convention center near where I need to get into the convention center. If I get in that line, I will miss this year's annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel and maybe the 2014 one, as well. I decide it is not unfair of me to bypass that line since all those folks are filing into Hall H and I'll be going somewhere else.
There is no one using the adjoining exit door but there is a youngish gent who has been ordered to not let anyone pass in through it. I go up to him and ask rather politely, for I am nothing if not polite, "Could you let me in here? I'll be late for a panel I'm moderating."
"I'm sorry," he says. "But this is an exit only." Which might make sense if anyone is trying to exit but no one is.
I flash my badge and say, "I'm a guest of honor." It actually just says GUEST on my badge but I toss in the "of honor" part to ramp up the seriousness of denying me entrance.
He says, "No, sorry. Exit only."
So I resort to sympathy. "Come on," I say. "I had knee surgery three weeks ago. I can't walk to the next door and I can't wait in that line." He says no again. I glance at the time. It's 9:49 and I have a good ten minutes of hobbling to reach Room 5AB. I say, "Look, there's a whole room of Jack Kirby fans waiting for a panel I'm moderating…"
He says, "Jack Kirby? Come on in."
True story…and the reason I got to the panel on time. I started the proceedings with that tale, then introduced panelists Tony Isabella, Neil Gaiman and Kirby family attorney Paul S. Levine. It went quite well as you'll see when the transcript turns up in The Jack Kirby Collector.
Photo by Bruce Guthrie
Then it was over to 6A and our second Cartoon Voices Panel with the folks named in the above caption. As usual, the voice actors were brilliant, I did nothing and got a lot of credit. That's the way to do it. I later moderated Art of the Cover (with Jerry Ordway, Chris Samnee, Gary Frank and Dan Jurgens) and The Business of Cartoon Voices (with voice actors Candi Milo and Gregg Berger, and voice agents Pat Brady and Heather Vergo.) I'll write more about many of my panels in the coming days.
I didn't get into the main hall at all yesterday but folks told me it was a little less jammed. Someone said, "I like Sunday because it's not elbow-to-elbow but people are a little less friendly. I guess it's due to lack of sleep and maybe sadness that the convention is ending." I always do feel a little sense of loss as Brigadoon begins to disappear for another year and the pace winds down.
I hope you were there and had anywhere near as good a time as I did. So many great friends to see and new people to meet. So many new things to see. Even a knee that felt at times like The Lord of the Dance was doing a Flamenco number on it didn't kill my enjoyment of the event. I just had to look about and see what a good time everyone seemed to be having and it took most of the pain away. Well, that and a megadose of Ibuprofen.