I had a great time at the Comic-Con International in San Diego but there were, of course, a few unpleasant moments. There was an encounter with an inebriated person that I wish had not occurred. I also had a painful chat with an Industry Legend who is, to put it nicely, not as sharp as he once was, either mentally or in his auditory capabilities. He engaged me in one of those awkward conversations we sometimes have with the elderly where we have to pretend they're making more sense than they are. I was hurrying off to a panel and it was quite uncomfy to terminate the discussion in a polite manner, especially when I had to say everything about ten times in order for him to hear what I was saying.
One of my jobs as a panel moderator — perhaps the most important — is to get the panel started. This is sometimes difficult because when a panel ends, fans rush the dais to get autographs from the panelists. We usually allow as much of this as time permits but at some point, I have to declare an end to it and shoo the fans away so the panelists can depart and make way for the next panel. Then the members of the next panel enter and begin to take their seats, whereupon autograph-seekers pounce on them to get signatures in the interval before that event begins. So again, I have to play Bad Guy and call a halt to the signing so I can start the program.
Five or six times during the con, this meant getting strict with folks who seemed to feel that the phrase, "No more autographs now" did not apply to them. I stopped one lady from getting a Spider-Man comic signed by John Romita and she launched into a sob story; something about how she had to leave but her little brother who was very ill had his heart set on a Romita autograph and it might even instill in him the will to live. I was going to tell her I promised my grandmother on her death bed that I would never make 400 people wait around longer than necessary for a Johnny Romita panel to start…but before I could, the woman said something nasty to me and stormed out.
John thanked me for being the villain and said, "I never know how to say no to these people. I'm grateful they care enough to ask for my autograph but sometimes, they make things so inconvenient for everyone else. And as he was saying this, someone ran up with a stack of Daredevil comics they wanted signed and said, "While you're just sitting there talking…"