My SDCC 2006 - Part Two

For me, the Comic-Con is first about catching up with friends and people I know, and then it's about picking up some cool books, and after that it's trying to fit in some panels with friends and/or people whose work I admire.

Caught Friday's IDW panel with oldish friend Chris Ryall hosting and a smattering of their core talent also on hand. Chris has a nice way of handling these things, with just a bit of self-deprecation about the less cerebral, high concept stuff that is the publisher's bread and butter like Zombies! and the various Transformers series. Speaking of Zombies, at the end of the panel IDW gave away the first issue. I just read it and it's pretty strong, with a prison bus crash leaving a marshal and a couple deputies to try to not only stop zombies but protect the chained, hard-ass prisoners they're transporting. Good premise, good execution so far. Robert Kirkman obviously got there first with The Walking Dead, but this holds its own.

Before I forget, a sincere thanks to David Glanzer, Comic-Con Director, for arranging for my press badge at the last minute due to my lack of organization.

Talked to Eric Reynolds at the Fantagraphics booth. There are many nice people in the comics industry, and a few who are really good at their jobs, but I haven't found anyone combining the two qualities as well as Eric in the six or so years I've been doing this. As far as news, he says the Ignatz line is doing surprisingly well. They had hoped to break even and the second Gipi issue and some others are selling more in their second issues, which is obviously rare in serialized publishing, and especially for this rather new format for comics. I asked about a new one I hadn't heard of from a Marco Corona, and I kidded Eric that he didn't know much about it, and he brought Kim Thompson over, who also didn't know much about the creator except that the second issue of his book will have a lot of pirates in it, I suppose an unconscious bit of good commercial timing. Though I may have ordered it already, I picked up the new, 30th anniversary issue of The Comics Journal, which looks pretty sweet. Eric had already been good enough to send me the "new" (I think it collects old material I'd read before about Sacco's days as a roadie?) Joe Sacco book But I Like It!, which seemed to be a little bit of a buzz book at the Con. At least, a couple different friends mentioned getting it, separately.

Talked to Chris Staros and Brett Warnock at the Top Shelf book, who are always warm, friendly gents. I ordered the deluxe edition of Lost Girls a little while ago, but it won't be out until the end of August, but they were nice enough to send me a pdf version already, so maybe I'll review that one sooner, though honestly I really want to experience it first by holding it in my hand. There was a really cute girl at the booth whom I tried to convince to buy Lost Girls, but she didn't have the money. If there was any "must have" book of this year's Con, that one is probably it in terms of importance and scope, but what knocks it out is the price and the weight--I can't see many people buying it there to lug home on a plane.

I ended up buying a few things at the Top Shelf booth, including the new James Kochalka cd, Spread Your Evil Wings and Fly, which I've heard a couple times already and like a lot. It doesn't have any kid-friendly songs on it, but it's cool. Not cool, unfortunately, are the three minicomics by Kochalka's son Eli. I considered getting them for confirmed Kochalkaholic Alan David Doane, but they really are just page after page of ink smudges. I didn't see a price point on them, so if they were really free, then no harm done. If not, it's not such a cute joke. I tried to pay for the Martin Cendreda comic, but Staros was nice enough to throw that in, along with a couple other new comics, and I did buy Renee French's The Ticking, a lovely object in embossed brown cloth, which Ms. French was nice enough to sign and sketch. I mentioned to her how much Doane raved about it, and she said that he's really a nice guy, and one of the few who really "gets" her work.

One of my biggest thrills of the Con happened just moments later, when I talked to Eddie Campbell, who was at the other end of the Top Shelf booth, though largely pushing his latest, non-TS release, the excellent The Fate of the Artist. I'm not the most gregarious sort, actually--especially with pros--so I really only tend to talk to those whose work I really like and have at least a thing or two to say about it. I really just wanted to ask how the book came together and if he did certain parts in chunks, such as a bunch of "Honeybee" strips at a time or something, but as I asked him he read my badge and told me he's been reading this here blog, and that he likes it, which was really a pleasant surprise to me, very gratifying. He said that while he often doesn't care about the books I review, he likes my no-nonsense, straightforward style, or something. He also noted that he's been waiting for my long-promised review of the book, so I guess the pressure is really on now! I know that I was just tooting my horn here in this paragraph, so I hope readers will forgive me. It's just that if an artist of such a high level of craft, ambition and personal expression tells you he likes what you do, it's tremendously encouraging, you know? I also checked some pages of Eddie's forthcoming, The Black Diamond Detective Agency, a period thriller, and there is some truly jaw-dropping artistry on display there. Look for that next Spring, I think.

Still to Come: Tatsumi. More Spurgeon. Crane. Eisners. Gin. Tonic. Sweat.