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.