That's obviously an old subject line because I'm not at Comic-Con International right now. No one is…physically. A lot of folks though are probably "there" in the online sense, enjoying Comic-Con@Home, a festival of online programming. They'll enjoy it even more in the coming days if they tune in for these three panels of mine…
GROO MEETS TARZAN – Saturday, July 24 at 12 PM
me discussing the soon-to-be-released Groo Meets Tarzan mini-series with Sergio Aragonés and Thomas Yeates.CARTOON VOICES – Saturday, July 24 at 6 PM
me interviewing four great Cartoon Voice Artists: Candi Milo (Space Jam: A New Legacy), Wally Wingert (Arkham Asylum), Jenny Yokibori (The Simpsons) and Zeno Robinson (Pokémon).THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL – Sunday, July 25 at 12 PM
me discussing Jack with artist Walt Simonson and writer-publisher Paul Levitz.
Me, I'm in my native habitat writing something that's due. If I was down in San Diego for the con right now, I'd have an excuse for not having this assignment finished next week but since I'm not, I guess I have to finish the thing. I am however glad they're not having it in-person this year. It saved me from deciding if I was going to go at a time when "The Delta Variant" is giving us a worry we wouldn't have if more people had gotten vaccinated. Maybe they'll all wise up now and we won't have to deal with "The Epsilon Variant," "The Zeta Variant," "The Eta Variant," etc. I'm thinking we could avoid "The Kappa Variant" if we got all the fraternities vaccinated.
The rest of this post is a replay of what I wrote here 7/24/09 the day after that year's Comic-Con. If I were writing it today, I'd say all the same things but I'd avoid the "geek" and "nerd" words which I've come to really dislike when applied to people I like. Also, sad to say, I can no longer host programming events with Stan Freberg and June Foray…
A couple times yesterday, I found myself trying to articulate just why it is I enjoy this convention so much. Me trying to articulate anything is always dicey but it goes something like this: It's invigorating to be in an environment where so much is happening, where so many people are having such a good time, and there's so much raw creative energy filling the space. Yeah, it's loud and if you hit the wrong aisle, it can take upwards up a month to traverse ten feet…but you're not a prisoner of any of that. You're in it because you love it and I'm a little weary of folks who bitch 'n' moan about it year after year after year. This is what Comic-Con is, people. No one brought you here at gunpoint.
I wouldn't/couldn't live in this environment all the time…but four days per year is invigorating. Look left and there's someone you want to meet or haven't seen in way too long. Look right and there's something you want to buy. Behind you is a kid in a brilliant homemade costume. And up ahead of you, just down that row you can barely squeeze through, there just may be an exciting career opportunity. (Or not. I think the surest way to let yourself down, and maybe even to make it not happen, is to come here expecting to land a job. If it does occur, great, but you need to let it be one of those unexpected bonuses in life.)
Years ago, I wrote a piece about Guilty Pleasures and why I think they're emotionally dishonest. There's some really stupid movie that you know is stupid but you love to watch it again and again. You're afraid to just admit that…afraid someone else will say, "Oh, you like that kind of crap?" So you call it a Guilty Pleasure and somehow you're supposed to be able to enjoy it without it counting against you. That's trying to have it both ways, which is how too many people want to have their Comic-Con. They can't wait to be here and when they leave, they can't wait for the next one. But to cut themselves away from the herd, to pretend they're somehow above what some see as geekery of the highest order, they belittle the con and join the throngs who dismiss it all as the Grand Festival of Nerd-dom. (I tried typing that with one "d" and no hyphen and it didn't look right.)
This is the 40th one of these and it's my fortieth…a fact which some seem to envy. It means I got a larger piece of cake than they did, or maybe that I found this wonderful mystical land before them. I've had my gripes with the convention and there were years there I didn't enjoy it as much as I felt I should. Those years were all before I came to realize that my problems were mostly with me; that I was approaching it with the idea that the con was there to entertain me and enrich my collection and career. When I figured out it was just a place I could have a good time — that's when I began to really have good times at these things. And I became unafraid to admit that I love this convention.
Gotta run. Four panels to do today, one of them the Stan & Hunter Freberg Spotlight, plus there's the award ceremony tonight and I'm presenting. Also, June Foray's autobiography makes its debut (and June arrives to sign it) and I have two meetings and one interview and don't you think I'd better stop blogging and get over there? If you're around, say hello. I'm easy to spot in the hall. I'm the one with the badge and the big smile.