The other day here, we had an item that said Comic-Con International's current contract to convene in San Diego — which runs through next year's con — might be the last one for that city. That is, unless something changes about the sky-high costs of lodging at some local hotels. Today, we have the news that that contract has been extended an additional year…which I gather means the bartering and bickering about the con's long-term residence in S.D. may continue for a while.

I continue to think that wiser heads in San Diego will prevail and that a satisfactory multi-year contract will keep Comic-Con in its home for a long time…like forever. It would be foolish indeed to let that con go anywhere else.

(And I see people keep mentioning Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Las Vegas. There are about eighty reasons why that would be a disaster but I'll just allude to one. Anyone who thinks Vegas would be a great place for a convention in July oughta be forced to go there this week and cosplay in the streets in an Iron Man suit. Eighty reasons, by the way, is only two less than there are for not moving to the Los Angeles Convention Center.)

Meanwhile, another Con-related disaster has been averted…

The threat of a strike during Comic-Con was averted Friday when the union representing workers at the San Diego Convention Center secured a lucrative deal that will give them a pay raise of 55 percent or more over four years. Just two days ago, food and beverage workers at the convention center voted overwhelmingly to walk off their jobs in the event their wage and benefit demands could not be met.

I am very pro-labor so I'll end this post here. I'm trying to resist the temptation to remark about the quality of the food and beverages at the convention center. That isn't the fault of the folks who prepare and serve it.

This one is from the 2017 revival at the Stratford Festival — a theatre fest which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. I hope those of you who stop in at this blog daily are enjoying these because we've got a lot of them coming up here…

Here's a late-breaking news item…

A judge dismissed a case against Alec Baldwin, ruling that prosecutors had made crucial missteps amid their prosecution of the actor for involuntary manslaughter after a 2021 accident left cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead.

A couple folks wrote to ask what I thought about this and I think what I think about this is that I don't need to think about this. I'm often reminded of a lady who was on the staff of a TV show I worked in back in the eighties. She was one of those people who seemed to feel that every single thing on this planet was put here so she could offer her opinion of it. If you worked with her, she would — clear outta-the-blue — assault you with her critique of whatever you were wearing that day and of your haircut and any accessories in view.

Nobody ever asked her for these opinions. You didn't have to. She'd offer them freely and generally without malice… though often with a soupçon of snark. She did not notice your "Who asked you?" expression nor did she hear your eyes roll. She just acted like it was her assignment to tell you that those shoes didn't go with that blouse or that you looked so much better with your hair that color. Finally one day, I told her, "You know, it's not required that you have an opinion on everything!"

And she responded with her opinion of me saying that. Of course.

I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to the whole Alec Baldwin matter. If I were a member of the jury or a reporter covering the trial, I'd have to. But I heard enough about it to feel that both sides had a point and that I didn't care enough to devote a lot of attention to the case. Yes, we all have an interest in seeing that the Justice System is fair and does its job well…but we leave it to courtrooms and juries all the time to do that. The fact that this case involves a movie star (about whom I also have no opinion) doesn't change that for me.

I hope the judge made the right call. But I don't know enough about what happened to say…and from what I could tell, neither did most of the people following the trial.

Friday, July 26 — 10:30 AM to 10:30 AM in Room 10
THAT 70'S PANEL
It was a time of major change in the comic book business; of new talent coming in and the industry being rebuilt to come with a changing world and marketplace. Hear all about it from people who were in the middle of it: Gerry Conway (Amazing Spider-Man, The Punisher), Jo Duffy (Power Man and Iron Fist, Catwoman), Marv Wolfman (Tomb of Dracula, The New Teen Titans), Paul Levitz (The Legion of Super-Heroes, Stalker), and your moderator, Mark Evanier (Scooby Doo, Blackhawk).

Friday, July 26 — 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Room 10
THE GROO PANEL
Since 1982, fans have followed the bumbling, almost tragi-comic exploits of easily the stupidest, most destructive character in all of comics, Sergio Aragonés’ Groo the Wanderer. So here’s your opportunity to hear all about this unique, long-running comic book character from Carrie Strachan (colorist of Groo), Jo Duffy (one-time editor of Groo), and Mark Evanier (who has something to do with this comic and maybe he’ll even tell everyone just what it is).

Friday, July 26 — 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Room 10
WALT KELLY AND POGO
Walt Kelly’s Pogo was one of the greatest newspaper comic strips of all time and is now being reprinted in an award-winning series of volumes from Fantagraphics Books. What made the world fall in love with Pogo Possum, Albert Alligator, Howland Owl, Churchy LaFemme, Ma’m’selle Hepzibah, and the other denizens of Mr. Kelly’s corner of the Okefenokee Swamp? That’s the topic under discussion by cartoonists Patrick McDonnell (Mutts) and Rick Parker (Beavis and Butthead), historian Maggie Thompson, Walt Kelly archivist Jane Plunkett, and your moderator (and co-editor of the Complete Pogo), Mark Evanier.

Everything on the schedule is subject to change as are most things in life including the Democratic nominee for President. The complete programming schedule is being unveiled on a day-to-day basis on this page with more to come. I choose not to sit behind a table and sign things on an official basis but if you sit through one or more of my panels, I'll happily sign a few things before or after one of them assuming I have the time and a Sharpie.

Here's a really good rendition of "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" from the 1992 Tony Awards. I saw this revival of Guys and Dolls back in New York…and I do know the guy playing Nicely-Nicely was Walter Bobbie and that there's a very young Nathan Lane in there (playing Nathan Detroit) and you can see a then-largely-unknown J.K. Simmons in there, too. A fine production…

Praveena Somasundaram — who may not even have been born when it happened — reminds us of that day when America was shocked by President Lyndon Johnson announcing he would not seek re-election.

I was sixteen that night and did not hear it live. He kind of buried the lede in a long speech about the Vietnam War. I was watching something else in my room when my mother came in and told me I might want to switch over to what the three major networks were carrying. It was just post-speech and I recall a couple of unprepared-for-this news anchors babbling on, gasping 'n' grasping for something to say about L.B.J.'s utterly-unexpected announcement. The phrase "It's a brand-new ball game" was heard a couple of times.

Gee, I wonder why The Washington Post ran an article about this now.

Thursday, July 25 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 9
MEET MICHAEL HIRSH
Business Chief magazine called Michael Hirsh "The Father of Canadian Animation." He co-founded Nelvana, the firm responsible for animating such famous cartoon franchises as, among so many others, The Care Bears, Babar, Barbie, Max and Ruby, The Magic School Bus, Beetlejuice, The Adventures of Tintin, Franklin, Cyberchase, and The Berenstain Bears, along with such larger-than-life personalities as Roseanne Barr, Mr. T., Deborah Harry, and Tim Burton. How did he do it? That's the question your moderator Mark Evanier will be asking in this rare one-on-one interview.

Thursday, July 25 — 11:00 AM to NOON in Room 4
SPOTLIGHT ON JACK C. HARRIS
Jack C. Harris began writing and editing DC Comics in 1977; among the many comics he wrote and/or edited were Kamandi, Wonder Woman, House of Mystery, Sgt. Rock, Isis, Green Lantern, The Superman Family, The Unexpected, Weird War Tales, and Detective Comics. His work appeared later in Marvel Comics and Heavy Metal, among other publications. In short, he's been active in comics for decades, has worked with a wide range of editors, writers, and artists, and is a Comic-Con special guest. Here's your chance to hear him tell his experiences as he's interviewed by Mark Evanier.

Thursday, July 25 — 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM in Room 4
SPOTLIGHT ON KEN STEACY
Ken Steacy's visual storytelling career spans a half-century, as a writer, artist, art director, editor, and publisher. He has chronicled the exploits of Astro Boy, Iron Man, Harry Potter, and the Star Wars gang; and, in addition to producing his own IP, he has collaborated with Margaret Atwood, Harlan Ellison, and Trina Robbins. The recipient of an Eisner Award and an Inkpot Award, in 2009 Ken was inducted into the Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Hall of Fame, a lifetime achievement award for contributions to the industry. He’ll be talking about all this and more in this spotlight when he is ruthlessly interrogated by Mark Evanier.

Thursday, July 25 — 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM in Room 4
SPOTLIGHT ON JO DUFFY
Jo Duffy has written comics including Power Man and Iron Fist, Catwoman, Batman, Wolverine, Fallen Angels, Nestrobber, Glory, Crystar, Elvira, Defenders, Punisher, and Star Wars, as well as the English-language edition of Akira. She has written short stories, essays, the comic book biography of Saint Francis, and an adaptation of Kipling's Jungle Book, and is the co-writer of two Puppet Master movies. She was the managing editor of Epic magazine and an editor at Marvel Comics, handling such titles as Elektra, Daredevil, Dreadstar, Groo, Doctor Strange, Hulk, and ROM. Hear about all this and more when she is interviewed in this spotlight by Mark Evanier.

Everything above is subject to change. The entire programming schedule will eventually be online and you can commit it to memory on this page. I will not be sitting anywhere signing stuff during the convention but will gladly write my name on a few things for anyone who attends any of the above panels, time permitting.

Kevin Drum — a blogger I've lunched with and trust a lot, especially on statistics — says that inflation hit zero in June. It seems to be part of the pro-Trump messaging that it's wildly outta control and killing us but…well, look at Kevin's chart and tell me why he's wrong. Because I don't think he is.

Kevin also notes that Trump is now lying about the price of bacon…

Why would anyone make up lies as frivolous as this? Because Trump lives in a fantasy world where everything has to be the worst ever in history unless he was personally involved with it. His brain is so badly beyond repair that I suspect he literally can't help himself, and he's surrounded by sycophants who will never confront him with the truth. This is not a man fit to be president of the United States.

So at the moment, we have a choice of two guys. One gets some things (mostly trivial) wrong because he's old. One gets everything wrong because he lies. I don't think either one oughta be President of the United States next year but one of them has a support team to correct him.

In the previous post, I attempted to identify two of the performers in this post. This morning, I have a slew of e-mails on this, some telling me I'm right, some telling me I'm wrong…and the ones telling me I'm wrong do not agree on who those performers really are. So I hereby retract (and have deleted) my identifications. If you think you know for sure, please tell me why I should trust your identifications or how I can verify them online. Thank you.

Speaking of the number "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" in Guys and Dolls, here's the way they did it in a 2015 London revival in which Richard Kind — you'll see him for a few seconds — played Nathan Detroit. I did a mess o' Googling and was unable to ascertain the name of the gent playing Nicely-Nicely Johnson.

We were talking about Guys and Dolls and about the show-stopper of a number, "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat." The wonderful Shelly Goldstein sent me this link to that number as it's currently being performed in a rousing revival of that show at the Bridge Theatre located near Tower Bridge in London — just in case you're in the area. If I were there, I'd go just to see and hear this in person…

And before they got to that number, I'd enjoy this one…

This year, I'm delighted that we'll be having Piotr Michael on the Saturday Cartoon Voice Panel. Wanna hear a small (very small) sample of who this guy can sound like? Watch this…

Piotr and five other talented folks will be on the Saturday Cartoon Voices Panel. It's on Saturday, July 27 in room 6BCF and it starts at 1 PM, right after the Quick Draw! Come for one, stay for both.

A lot of Liberal-type folks are angry at The New York Times for urging Joe Biden to step down for the good of the country. A lot of them are saying "That paper never urged Donald Trump to step aside for the good of the country," as if Donald Trump would ever forego fame, power, money and not going to prison for the good of anyone or anything. Now, some are mad because of a guest opinion piece by George Clooney called "I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee." He makes a damned good case.

I've been saying on this blog and to friends for some time that it wouldn't surprise me if the November election wasn't between Biden and Trump. That's looking a little more likely now than it once did. It also wouldn't surprise me if Biden has decided to withdraw but has reasons for doing it when he does it. I'm not predicting that will happen; just saying it wouldn't surprise me.

I have a flurry of e-mails asking me about this article which basically says that Comic-Con International is threatening to move out of San Diego if certain local hotels near the S.D. Convention Center don't cease rate-gouging. I have no inside info on the negotiations or discussions but I'll stick with my long-time prediction that Comic-Con will not in our lifetimes — well, mine at least — move out of San Diego County.

I base that on my belief that the hoteliers, merchants and officials in S.D. could not possibly be brain-dead foolish enough to let it go. Comic-Con is what put the city on the map as a convention destination and it brings in way more cash than any other event that could possibly occupy the convention center on those dates. They'll make the necessary financial accommodations to keep their accommodations accommodating Comic-Congoers for a week every July.

The wonderful Debi Derryberry has been heard on a staggering number of cartoon shows, voicing an array of the most interesting young ladies (and sometimes young men) in animation. Here are some samples of her work…

And you can see and hear her in person at Comic-Con International this year, particularly on Sunday, July 28, when she joins five other sensational voice actors on the Sunday Cartoon Voices Panel at 11:45 AM in Room 6A. She'll also be a part of the Business of Cartoon Voices where actors, agents and I advise wanna-be cartoon voice actors on how to get into the business and how to not get swindled on the way in. That's in Room 7AB at 3 PM, again on Sunday.

Plus: Debi will also be signing in the Sails Pavillion at the con on Thursday (2:30 PM – 5:30 PM), on Friday (10 AM to 2:30 PM), on Saturday (10 AM to 2:30 PM) and on Sunday (1 PM until 2:30 PM). So you have many chances to meet and hear this extraordinary lady.