Monthly Archives: July 2019

That's me with one of my favorite people on the planet, the lovely/talented Laraine Newman. Laraine agreed to spend her Saturday driving down to San Diego, appearing on our Quick Draw! panel and one of my Cartoon Voices panel…and then after being sensational at both, she drove back to L.A.  Consider this a special thank you to her for doing that.

There won't be a lot of coherence or order to my reports on Comic-Con.  It's always an exhausting (but fun) experience but this year's left me more fatigued than any of its predecessors.  Some of that was because this was San Diego Con #50 and as someone who has now attended all fifty, I was tapped for a lot of press interviews and special historical panels.  I probably answered the "How has it changed?" question fifty times.

Comic-Con starts with a three-hour Preview Night on Wednesday and then it officially ends at 5 PM on Sunday.  But really, it starts when you do your prepping and packing, and it ends when you're home and unpacked and settling into your non-conventional life style.  So for me, it's more like ten days.  Today, I didn't even dress or venture outside, and when I did anything, it was unpacking.  I don't truly feel "home" until the suitcases are emptied.

It's not so much that I needed to sleep.  I needed to not use my body for most of what I used it for in San Diego — scurrying from a panel to a meeting to an interview and to another panel and so on.

Still, apart from the part where the world's stupidest cosplayer knocked me down, I loved every second of it. I couldn't live at that pace for long but I could manage those few days a year. It's fun to never be bored for a second.

I'll write more throughout the week. I'm just too weary at the moment…but I do want to thank the couple I ran into last night. While driving home, I suddenly felt the need to stop, stretch my legs and find a men's room. Since I needed to get some groceries for home, I got off the 5 in Fountain Valley and went to the Ralphs Market on Brookhurst Street there. It was in the bread aisle when a man and a woman spotted me and said, "We really enjoyed Quick Draw! and Cartoon Voices yesterday." I was very pleased by that, though being a humble guy, I gave all the credit to Laraine.

It's been a while since we heard from Emmy-nominee Randy Rainbow but it's worth the wait…

Convention's over. Now, we can concern ourselves with more important matters…like what kind of silly news stories is Trump going to create to divert attention from Robert Mueller's testimony on Wednesday? I'm guessing he starts sending troops to Funkytown to stop the dangerous spread of socialist funk.

Here's a nice article about Mike Friedrich, this year's "alive" recipient of the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. Thanks to John I. Carney for the link and no, I have no idea why I'm blogging at this hour. Do I not know how tired I was after yesterday?

As you've probably figured out from the dearth of postings here, Mark's been busy at the con. I can't recall ever being so exhausted, most of it in a good way. I'm enjoying it but I may take the rest of July and all of August to recover.

I won't even attempt to go in order. Here's a pick from one of my panels. This is That 70's Panel, discussing the comic book field in that turbulent, innovative era…

Okay. Back row, left to right, you have m.e., Tony Isabella, Louise Simonson and Walt Simonson. Front row, moving in the same direction, it's Trina Robbins, Arvell Jones, Lee Marrs and Mike Friedrich. Last night, Mike formally received the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing as did, posthumously, E. Nelson Bridwell. Both were presented by Yours Truly and Mr. Finger's granddaughter, Athena Finger.

The panel was a pretty good one, I thought. We started doing an annual panel on comics in the seventies because that most inevitable of problems in this world — advancing age — had made it impossible to fill a panel with creators from the forties, fifties and even the sixties.

Inevitably now at each con, someone stops me and expresses the wish that we'd bring back the old Golden Age Panels on which I interviewed folks who'd produced comics in that era. I then ask who we'd put on it and I get back blank stares and maybe the names of a few folks who, while still happily alive are not willing and/or able to make the trek to San Diego.

The seventies were an intriguing era because so many new people joined the Talent Pool but — and this is a crucial "but" — we still had plenty of predecessors around. Someone who joins the field today will still work alongside writers and artists whose work they admired as readers but we worked with Jack Kirby and Will Eisner and Joe Kubert and Stan Lee and so many others who actually invented the business. That's a privilege that is unavailable to new generations.

Getting back to last night's award ceremony — I told you I was going to jump around — let me insert this photo from backstage at the Eisner Awards…

That's me on the left and I was a lot happier than I appear to be with two of my favorite voice actors. Grey Griffin (aka Grey DeLisle) is the voice of Daphne on Scooby Doo, Catwoman, Captain Marvel and so many others. Phil LaMarr has been heard on Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Futurama, Samurai Jack, Static Shock and just about everything else. They were among the presenters and I'll leave it to Samantha Puc to tell you what got presented and to whom.

I almost didn't make it to the Eisners. I was rushing to get there on time when, outside Hall H, I walked what should have been a safe distance from a large gent (about my size) who was cosplaying as Conan, leaping about and waving his sword in some sort of demented victory dance.

Like too many cosplayers, I'm afraid, he was completely oblivious to the safety and proximity of others and he slammed right into me, knocking me down. The new knee I got less than four years ago took the greatest impact and my semi-fancy award-presenting clothes sustained some minor (cleanable) damage.

I was limping but okay, I guess. The main harm was to my love for cosplayers. I still think most of 'em are great but there's still a small contingent of them who act like morons and give the majority a bad image. The fellow was, of course, minimally apologetic. I think in a way he was mad at me for ruining his all-important, nothing-else-matters performance.

Lots more has happened the last few days but I need to go make more of it happen. Look forward to a lot of Comic-Con stories in this space during the following week.

They'll be posted on those rare occasions when I'm not sleeping or wondering whether it's worth the effort to unpack my luggage or maybe I should just leave it ready for the 51st Comic-Con International. It will take place July 23-26, 2020 and the way time is speeding up these days, that oughta feel like three months from now.

Here's a quick item on the local news here in San Diego all about me.

In many ways, this feels like any Comic-Con of the last few years — so many of the same exhibitors in the same places and only the prices have changed. And yet, the fact that it's #50 is already making things feel special, even for folks who missed the first 49.

I'd elaborate that but I have a breakfast meeting and then a panel and then another panel and then an interview about it being Comic-Con #50 and then a lunch meeting and then a business meeting and then another panel…and that's the kind of day it's going to be and it might be a good idea if I get dressed before embarking on it.

I will be doing all this with a bit of a handicap. Last night, I took my friend Jewel Shepard to the big gala party at the new Comic-Con Museum celebrating its impending opening and the induction of Batman into some sort of Hall of Heroes I don't quite understand. If you live within the continental United States or Mexico, you probably heard it. At one point, I used this app to measure the decibel level and it gave me back a reading of "What? I can't hear you over the noise!" After a fitful night of sleep with the "Batman" theme still pounding in my brain, I'm still hearing it. I love the museum but come on, disc jockeys of the world. Some of us might have to hear again…

That's my one complaint so far. Everything else is peachy here at Comic-Con, U.S.A.

…that while some of us are living in the closed environment of Comic-Con, Donald Trump is still doing Trump-like things in the outside (and somewhat less real) world.

By "Trump-like," I mean things that if they'd been done by Bill Clinton or Barack Obama would cause current Trump supporters to say, "That shows the man is unfit for the presidency." But when Trump says or does something like this, they look the other way or applaud him for his candor.

Thursday, July 18 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 32AB
SPOTLIGHT ON MAGGIE THOMPSON: BEING CELEBRITY ADJACENT
Maggie Thompson (30-year co-editor of Comics Buyer's Guide) is joined by Mark Evanier (writer, editor, entertainment expert, and News from ME blogger) and Leonard Maltin (film critic, author, and host of the Maltin on Movies podcast) who consider the challenges, anecdotes, and delights of interactions with a variety of celebrities.

Thursday, July 18 — 11:00 AM to Noon in Room 5AB
COMIC-CON IN THE 1970's
What was it like at this convention during its first decade? Hear all about it from these folks who were there for it: Barry Alfonso, Wendy All, Maeheah Alzmann, Richard Butner, Roger Freedman, Eric Hoffman, Scott Shaw!, Brinke Stevens, William Stout, Phil Yeh, and your moderator, Mark Evanier.

Thursday, July 18 — 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 8
THE MARK, SERGIO AND STAN SHOW
It's most of the crew that brings you the bumbling adventures of Groo the Wanderer, talking about what they do and why they do it. See the award-winning team of Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier along with Stan Sakai (the creator of Usagi Yojimbo). They'll be discussing the latest Groo miniseries, many upcoming projects, and why Mark doesn't get paid for the work he does on their comic. Then again, he's not getting paid for writing this panel description either.

Friday, July 19 — 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM in Room 8
THAT 70's PANEL
It was a time of change in comics, with a new generation intermingling with the old and taking command. Hear what the comics industry was like in the 1970s from Mike Friedrich (Iron Man, Justice League of America), Tony Isabella (Black Lightning, The Champions), Trina Robbins (Wimmen's Comix, Wonder Woman), Arvell Jones (Marvel Two-in-One, Iron Man), Louise Simonson (Creepy, Power Pack), Walt Simonson (Manhunter, Thor), and moderator Mark Evanier (Groo the Wanderer, Blackhawk).

Friday, July 19 — 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 8
JACK KIRBY AND THE SAN DIEGO 5-STRING MOB
They may not have been Jack Kirby's greatest creation but they were sure important to some of the folks who started this convention. Come hear how the King of the Comics turned six kids involved in the con's early days – Scott Shaw!, Barry Alfonso, Roger Freedman, Mike Towry, John Pound, and Will Lund – into comic book stars for some brief, shining moments. Moderator Mark Evanier is the one who gets the band back together!

Saturday, July 20 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 28DE
MEMORIES OF THE FIRST COMIC-CON
The first San Diego Comic-Con (a.k.a. Golden State Comic-Con) was held in the summer of 1970 in the basement of the U.S. Grant Hotel. Hear all about it from several of the original committee members (Dave Clark, Roger Freedman, Scott Shaw!, Mike Towry), three of the guests (Mark Evanier, Mike Royer, Bill Stout), a dealer (Bud Plant), and some attendees (including Gene Henderson, Phil Yeh, and moderator Jackie Estrada).

Saturday, July 20 — 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM in Room 6BCF
QUICK DRAW!
It's the fastest, funniest panel in the whole convention! Once again, your Quick Draw quizmaster Mark Evanier pits three super-speedy cartoonists against one another with dueling Sharpies as they create great cartoon art right before your very eyes. Competing this year are (as usual) Sergio Aragonés (MAD magazine, Groo the Wanderer) and Scott Shaw! (The Flintstones), joined this year by Disney legend Floyd Norman plus a couple of highly surprising surprises!

Saturday, July 20 — 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in Room 6BCF
CARTOON VOICES I
Each year, moderator Mark Evanier gathers a bevy of the most talented cartoon voice actors working today and invites them to explain and demonstrate their artistry. This year's lineup includes Marieve Herington (Big City Greens, Disney Junior), Adam McArthur (Star vs. the Forces of Evil, The Adventures of Puss in Boots), Laraine Newman (The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz), Lex Lang (Star Wars Resistance, Curious George), Eric Lopez (Young Justice, The Spectacular Spider-Man), Fred Tatasciore (Family Guy, The Incredible Hulk), and maybe a few other members of the vocal majority.

Saturday, July 20 — 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE AWARDS OF COMIC-CON
Over the years, Comic-Con has developed and given out its own awards as well as serving as the home for other awards presentations. Get the background on the Inkpot Awards (Meg Mardian), the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award (Ruth Clampett), the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award (Gene Henderson), the Bill Finger Excellence in Comic Book Writing Award (Mark Evanier), the Icon Award (David Glanzer), the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award (Joe Ferrara), and the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards (Carl Gropper and Jackie Estrada, who is also moderating).

Sunday, July 21 — 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM in Room 5AB
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL
This is the annual panel about Comic-Con's first superstar guest, the man they call "The King of Comics," Jack Kirby. Jack left us in 1994, but his influence on comics, film, and this convention has never been greater. Discussing the man and his work this year are Kurt Busiek (Astro City, Marvels), Buzz Dixon (Thundarr the Barbarian, Destroyer Duck), Mike Royer (Kirby's favorite inker), attorney Paul S. Levine, and maybe a few surprise guests. Naturally, it's moderated by former Kirby assistant Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 21 — 11:45 AM to 1:15 PM in Room 6A
CARTOON VOICES II
With the smash-hit success of yesterday's Cartoon Voices I panel, there's no choice but to do another one-with different but equally talented actors from the world of animation voicing. Once again, moderator Mark Evanier has assembled an all-star dais that will include Jim Meskimen (The Adventures of Puss in Boots, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Robin Atkin Downes (Ben 10, Star Wars Rebels), Secunda Wood (Boss Baby, Days Gone), Dee Bradley Baker (American Dad, Looney Tunes), Candi Milo (Fanboy & Chum Chum, Jimmy Neutron), and probably someone else.

Sunday, July 21 — 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM in Room 25ABC
COVER STORY: THE ART OF THE COVER
What does it take to make a great cover for a comic book? Let's ask four of the top artists…all folks who've created some of the best. Come hear the "shop talk" of Billy Tucci (Shi, Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion), Charles Vess (Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess' Stardust, Heavy Metal), Alitha Evelyn Martinez (Iron Man, Batgirl), and Jae Lee (Hellshock, The Inhumans). Moderated by Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 21 — 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 25ABC
THE BUSINESS OF CARTOON VOICES
Interested in a career doing voices for animation and videogames? There are plenty of people around who'll take your money and tell you how to go about it, but here's 90 minutes of absolutely free advice from folks who work actively in the field. Hear from cartoon voice actors Jon Bailey and Candi Milo, talent agent Julie Thompson (SBV Talent) and your moderator, voice director Mark Evanier (The Garfield Show).

Every danged thing above is subject to change for the silliest of reasons, including the convention wising up after all these years and kicking me the hell out. Throughout the con, I will be exercising my constitutional right to not sit behind a table in the exhibit hall so if you wanna find me, this is how you find me. I am usually not as busy as I appear except before and after Quick Draw!

Here's our friend Jackie Estrada — one of the folks who labored long and hard to make Comic-Con what it is today — discussing what it was…

Thinking of taking Amtrak to Comic-Con? My pal Dana Gabbard let me know (so I could let you know) that they're adding extra trains. How many other events do they do that for?

I haven't had time to listen to all of it but SyFy Wire has posted Part One of a podcast of the history of Comic-Con. I think I'm in there somewhere.

Today, as many of us gather in San Diego for the fiftieth Comic-Con in this town, my thoughts lean towards a man I was privileged to know named Jack Kirby. It is a privilege of the ongoing variety since I continually realize it was an even greater privilege than I previously thought.

I really hope that when I write about him, as I so often do, it comes across as me wanting to share my good fortune with you, not me bragging that I knew him and you didn't, nyah nyah. If you'd had extraordinary access to any of the great thinkers of the century (any century), you'd feel an obligation to share with the world, everything they said and everything you'd observed. Well, I did and do.

He was a true visionary in every sense of that overused label — not always right, not always prescient…but right and prescient enough to set him way ahead of all the bogus visionaries who are right and prescient about as often as one of those Magic 8-Ball toys.

And one of the things Jack was right and prescient about was this convention. In its earliest days — 1971, 1972…around in there — he said something about it which I was there to hear. I remember it vividly and I also remember how we around him nodded in concurrence even though we thought it was kinda looney at the time.

Lots of things Jack said seemed looney when he said them. When in the sixties he told the folks running Marvel that Thor, X-Men, Hulk, Fantastic Four and all those properties he co-birthed would someday be the basis for smash-hit motion pictures, they thought he was outta his friggin' mind.

What he said about Comic-Con is being quoted a lot this week because, as things turned out, it wasn't looney at all. Not the least bit looney. He may have said this in other forms to other people but I think all the ones I see quoting it are quoting me quoting him and a few are getting the words wrong. Here is exactly how I remember it. Referring to the city of San Diego, Jack Kirby said…

The day is going to come when we're going to take over this town every year. This will be where Hollywood comes to sell the movies they made last year and to find out what they're going to make next year.

End of quote. That's either precisely what he said that day or very, very close. It's certainly very, very true.

This is one of those police chase videos but it's not what you'd expect. I watched this live and it didn't seem like any of the others. The pursuing CHP officers were treating the "suspect" with great care and once he was stopped, they were not afraid to approach his vehicle. Watch and you'll see why…

Given much of what's in the news this week, it seems appropriate for me to rerun this post from March of 2016. If you object, you must hate America…

A phrase I keep seeing in political discourse is that So-and-So "hates America." It's a great thing to accuse someone of because it sounds awful, it's vague enough to apply to anyone and there's no way they can disprove it. Is it a cheap shot? Of course. That's the whole point of it. And unless you have a video of them saying "I hate America" (which you probably don't), it's grossly unfair.

Donald Trump keeps saying "Islam hates America." There's no mention of America in the Qur'an, and plenty of folks who practice Islam have worked long and hard to get to this country and sure act happy to be here. But it's probably a good thing to say if you want to whip up a real, not an imagined hate in retaliation to that premise.

Googling, you'll find a lot of bloggers saying that Hillary Clinton hates America or Ted Cruz hates America or Bernie Sanders hates America or Marco Rubio hates America. Apparently, you have to really hate America to want to run it.

Columnist Ben Stein keeps saying Barack Obama hates America. The other day, Stein said, "I don't think that there's much question he doesn't wish America well. He has a real strong hatred of America." What is the evidence of this? Near as I can tell, it's that Obama does things that Ben Stein doesn't like, though other Americans do…things like lowering unemployment or causing more people to have health insurance. If that doesn't demonstrate hatred of America, what does?

Right-wingers like to say the Left hates America. Since to them, "the Left" is probably anyone who votes Democratic, that's sometimes a majority of Americans who hate America. Maybe, like Mr. Stein, they mean that anyone who doesn't agree with their political agenda must hate America. I suspect they just aren't fond of the idea that there is an opposition party, which I always thought was the basic premise of America.

I've decided to try and promote the concept that anyone who accuses someone else of hating America must hate America. I don't have a real strong explanation as to how that tracks but no one seems to need one to hurl the "hates America" charge. Also, people who don't read the books I write or watch the TV shows I write must hate America. That seems pretty obvious.

You may not agree with my view on this. If so, don't complain to me about it. Instead, do a little soul-searching. Ask yourself why it is you hate America.

That's the weather forecast this week for San Diego.  Doesn't get much better than that, does it? And for those of you who still think Comic-Con oughta move to Las Vegas, it'll be 34° hotter there on the same days.

I feel like I should say something comforting to the folks who want to attend Comic-Con but can't get tickets. And if I knew what the hell that was, I'd certainly say it. You know there's a numerical problem here: The convention center can accommodate about 130,000 people. My guess is that if they had unlimited room, they could sell 400,000+ tickets. There will never be space for everyone who wants to attend. The building may be expanded in the next few years but I have a feeling the number of people who want to attend will expand at an even higher pace.

All I can tell you is to keep trying. Each year, there are plenty of folks who get in for the first time…or the first time in many years.  And a guy I know who's never been told me, "When I do get to go, I hope I have a miserable time.  That way, I won't resent it when I can't get a badge the following year.  I'll even be happy!"

The forecast for this blog in the coming week is Light Posting with an 80% chance of reruns.  My schedule is insane with 61 panels, interviews, parties, social dinners, business meetings and at some point, I may squeeze in a little sleeping.  It's as exhilarating as it is exhausting to live at that pace and I certainly couldn't do it very often…but 4-5 days a year, I can handle.  Maybe I'll get so fatigued that I'll sleep through next year's Comic-Con, thereby freeing up space for someone else to attend in my stead.  I hope he or she knows how to run Quick Draw!