The Comic-Con folks have juggled around a few program items so Keith Knight can appear on the Quick Draw! panel…so that problem is solved. I will repost my panel schedule at least once before the con and you'll see that everything is as it was except that some additional panelists have been added to some events.
It's time to start final preps for the gala event…time for me to haul out my annual joke about how I'm trying to arrange for them to postpone the con for a few weeks because I'm not ready. Every time I say it to someone on the convention staff, they reply, "Oh, do you think we can do that?" It is not usually visible to you because they do it so well but those folks really, really work like crazy to pull this thing off every year. My unique position as a constant guest, an attendee of every one of these and the guy who participates in more programming items than anyone else gives me a vantage point to learn a lot about how the con operates. I don't know everything but I see enough to be thoroughly impressed with how they do the impossible each year. The efficiency makes it look effortless but trust me: It's not.
Other sites are sending folks here for tips on how to "do" the convention. I refer you to these I put up a month or so ago and I stress the one about not stressing. Accept that it is going to be crowded, that you won't be able to get into everything you want to see, that parking and traffic will be bad, etc. You may be able to make some of those things less frustrating via some advance planning, especially about what to go see and how to get to and from the convention. Every year, I hear from folks who are genuinely surprised that the freeway to San Diego is crowded on Saturday morning — which I suspect it is even when the con isn't occurring — and that there are somehow no open parking spaces right in front of the Convention Center.
Oh, this might interest you. My partner Sergio Aragonés will be at the convention, probably at his table the entire time except when he's on a panel or off in the Men's Room. I assume he'll be at his usual location, which is space I-7. Hang a right at Scott Shaw! and you can't miss him. His table just consists of him sitting there, doing sketches for money and autographs and selling a few books, and there's usually this odd person named "Gary" hanging around, helping him out.
I am webmaster of his website and any e-mail people send to it comes to me. Lately, because he is technically an exhibitor at the convention, he's been getting ad-type mail from agencies that offer — I guess you'd call them employees to staff one's exhibit. There's one that has photos of cute women you can hire to be at your booth, handing out flyers or dressing in sexy costumes or whatever. I wanted to write back to them and explain that Sergio doesn't have to pay to have cute women around him. He also got one from an agency that represents NBA, NFL and MLB stars — famous pro athletes — offering their services if it will enhance your convention presence. So Sergio could hire a linebacker or a shortstop to be at his table. I think I'd like to see either a model or a sports figure standing next to Sergio as he sits there for 4.5 days drawing Alfred E. Neuman and/or Groo for people. Maybe we could save money and dress Gary up as Princess Leia or Kobe Bryant. Or both.
Have a safe 'n' sane Fourth. And look forward to the YouTube videos of people being maimed for life by stupid fireworks handling. Nothing says "America" like drunks with cherry bombs.