Johanna's San Diego Con Report
Johanna Draper
in a plane (ugh), but I got to San Diego with plenty of time for a
light seafood lunch, leisurely unpacking, and sunning by the pool.
Unfortunately, I'd forgotten that the California sun is a little, um,
intense, so my normally fair skin was the perfect convertible color
after just an hour outside. By the time I'd changed, though, two of my
roommates, Joanna Sandsmark and Leah Adezio, had arrived. After talking
with them on CompuServe so frequently, it was quite a thrill to meet
them in person.
They introduced me (in a manner of speaking) to Michael Grabois,
another net regular, and the two of us went out to dinner at the nearby
Kansas City Barbecue restaurant. I was tickled to be eating where the
Top Gun "sleazy bar scene" was filmed. (The restaurant boasts a large
sign saying just that, and lots of movie memorabilia.) After grabbing a
quick bite, we headed over to Troy McNemar and Sidne Ward's LSH-L party
at the Embassy Suites. I met David Goldfarb and Tom Galloway, both of
whom I'd never seen before, but since just about everyone had shown up
by that point and I was in an active mood, I encouraged a migration to
the Diamond/DC party at the Hyatt.
Once there, I had the pleasure of meeting Mike Carlin, Neil Gaiman, and
Joey Cavelieri, who'd worked on my all-time favorite character, the
Huntress. Pete Coogan and Jeff Mason, who go to almost as many cons as
I do, were also there, along with just about everyone else I'd seen so
far. Ted Slampyak and I got to scream at each other to be heard over
the steel-drum band, which at the time I noticed them, were playing
Under the Sea. (I guess someone had told them this was a comics party.)
Steve Lieber finally showed up, and I left shortly after the Acclaim
exclusivity announcement; for such big news, I would have expected more
of a reaction, but overall, nobody seemed all that surprised.
If my notes are accurate, then I apparently didn't do anything Thursday
morning. Jet lag must have been catching up with me; or does that
excuse only work going the other way? Anyway, I do recall lunching with
Brian Bailie, who was very considerate in supplying me with aspirin and
advice about my sunburn, which at that point was making me woozy. I
also dropped by the DC booth, where I met Brian Augustyn, Denys Cowan,
and Martha Thomases. Martha was kind enough to tell me how much she
enjoyed my postings, which nicely satisfied my childish urge to be
appreciated; she continued feeding that side of me by giving me a
lovely obscene toy, the Batman Spin Pop. (For those of you who haven't
yet experienced one of these, it's a lollipop for those children too
lazy to lick; you push a button and the candy on top rotates through
battery power.)
The afternoon started with the Legion panel, which consisted of
audience questions. Others have reported much of the news already, so
I'll skip over most of it. It won't be much of a surprise, anyway:
sales are ok, Valor's coming back, Jeff Moy's favorite is Ayla
(pronounced to rhyme with Layla), Invisible Kid is making up for 30
years of being gone, and XS is showing up in Impulse. The other piece
of news from that afternoon did manage to surprise me: Hero magazine is
going completely online at the beginning of September. The afternoon
wrapped up with me being invited to be on Pete's panel about the Comics
Arts Conference and academic comic studies in general. It was a nice
discussion group, and anyone interested in the topic should contact me
about next year's CAC. It promises to be great, with exciting topics
and great speakers! Oh, and I tried to go to the Electronic Fandom
panel, but I couldn't make it through.
Dinner that evening was the LSH-L get-together, with pros Cory Carini,
KC Carlson, Jeff Moy, and Phil Moy and fans Sidne, Troy, Michael,
David, Jim Drew, Eric Sturgeon, Vernon Harmon, Leman Yuan (aka Costume
Boy), and Liz and Ken Bartlett. While the food and company were great,
no one could hear what was going on, so we wound up communicating on a
passed-around sheet of paper (appropriate for a net group, I guess, but
too depressingly postmodern for my taste). Most of the group then
headed off to a bar for more conversation, but after picking up a
fabulous Shrinking Violet sketch from Jeff, I wound up cleaning out the
minibar in our room with my roommates, Steve, and Brian. Truly a great
party, mainly because Joanna's impersonations kept cracking us all up.
Friday morning was very informational. Trisha Mulvihill, the person
whose room we were all staying in, gave Joanna and I lessons on what a
colorist did while she finished up the pages for the next issue of
Green Lantern. The most significant part of what I remember involves
the Flash's butt highlights, but that's not due to any deficiency in
Trisha's lessons. I then got to read Joanna's sample scripts (including
"Kitty Titty, Showgirl Detective"), made more entertaining by seeing
parts of them acted out. I didn't want to leave, but all those stacks
of books waiting to be bought were calling me. Shopping took up most of
my morning (with great hints as to the best booths provided by Joanna)
until my time at the Friends of Lulu booth came up at 1:00. I'd
forgotten how tiring buttonholing complete strangers could be, but it
was for a good cause, so I grinned and did my best. I also picked up
one of their t-shirts, featuring Lulu and the motto "here to save
comics!" I've since gotten several compliments on the shirt from
non-comics readers, which provides yet another chance to spread the
word, so I'd have to say it's a great design.
The rest of the afternoon was spent, first, in a lovely shopping
village next to the Hyatt where Steve and I escaped for more seafood,
and then at the DC booth, where I met Paul Kupperberg and got to see
Kevin Dooley marking up Trisha's work from that morning. Oh, and I was
also drooling over an absolutely gorgeous sketch Steve did for Joanna
of Wonder Woman and Superman kissing.
That evening was the Eisners. I'd dressed up for the occasion, mainly
because I wanted to; I think I was the most dressed up person there,
but it was worth it when I bumped into Mark Waid in the lobby. I knew I
was speaking to a fellow Southerner when he told me, "You clean up
nice." At the ceremony, Neil Gaiman's address had some great comments
about the purpose of awards and why anyone should do comics, but my
favorite part was the party afterwards. I love any chance I get to do
that much dancing.
Saturday morning, I gave Bob Ingersoll a backrub (and got a great
quote: "Wookies have hair like Shaun Cassidy" from Steve) before
heading off to the Underworld Unleashed panel. Brian Augustyn, Mark
Waid, Howard Porter, and Mike Carlin had an hour and a half to fill,
but there were only so many questions from the audience they could
answer. The project sounds interesting, but I'm leery of anything that
involves more power, Satanic overtones, and more villainy. Still, there
was something Mark said, about heroes looking lighter and brighter by
being put into greater relief against greater evil, that sounds very
encouraging.
Joanna, Chris Kemple (an artist with Artamus Studios, and a truly nice
guy), and I broke for ice cream instead of lunch. (Hey, it's a con!)
before more shopping and the net/pro trivia contest. Before the contest
started, I wound up collecting more goodies; Tom gave me a Suicide
Squid shirt to fit my role as net.cheerleader, and Brian gave me a NASA
hat and a great Wonder Woman pin. Pete showed up long enough to
announce that it was his birthday and give me that night's party
rundown.
I had to leave the contest early to make it to the DC coffee table book
preview. After hearing about Valeria and Joanna winning books on
Friday, I couldn't pass up the slight possibility that I might know the
answer to one of Mark Waid's questions. Unfortunately, others had heard
about yesterday's session as well, so I found myself in a room full of
trivia buffs from CompuServe, at which point I gave up and just watched
the slides. However, the first question (who created Vandal Savage?)
stumped everyone, so when Mark added to it (and wrote the Green Lantern
oath?), I remembered discussions we'd had on the net and was the first
person he called on. So, in October when the books are released, I will
be the proud owner of a signed copy. I was bouncing with happiness the
rest of the day.
That evening, after braving the restaurant strip of San Diego for some
truly excellent paella, I wound up in the Hyatt bar, which was just
about my first time all weekend to have a drink with Trisha. After a
close encounter with Scott Lobdell and the bar closed, we headed back
to the room, where a dramatic reading of the "Plan L" Lois Lane story
resulted in security busting us for laughing too loudly.
Sunday began with yet more shopping before the Friends of Lulu annual
meeting. After a half hour of chaos while people voted and waited for
beverage service, the meeting got started, only to be interrupted by
the group getting kicked out of the room in favor of a Simon Bisley
signing. Alex Amado (a writer from San Francisco who designed the Lulu
bookmarks -- collect all four!) was kind enough to loan me his jacket
after the room we moved to turned out to be a freezer masquerading as a
conference room, and he and I managed to make it through the
organizational stuff with only a few whispered wisecracks.
After dinner at Horton Plaza (my first chance to see the place, and I
still say the colors were all wrong for Escher), the party continued
back at the Top of the Hyatt. Alex, Brian, Michael, and I were
eventually joined by Steve, Trisha, Howard Porter, Rich Faber, KC
Carlson, Stuart Immomen, and Shea Anton Pensa. For some reason, the
talk turned to music, and I found out that KC was a Banana Splits fan
and Brian and Michael were Parrotheads. Soon after the three of us were
singing Jimmy Buffett songs (I blame it on the tequila), I called it a
night, bringing the best con yet to a wonderful close, one that left me
wanting more.
Johanna
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Next year for sure!
- Elayne
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