Odds & Ends

A few things I wanted to clear off my plate here. Meet me below the fold.


1. San Diego Comic-Con: I pretty much flew solo this year. Pal Rob couldn't get the time off work, and the Epsteins were slow enough on the trigger that I had to make alternate arrangements for shelter (in Chula Vista). Transportation was an interesting problem. The trolley into town worked for me most of the time (but I don't EVEN want to talk about Thursday night). Got a lot of sketches in the book this year, including Amanda Connor, who was just charming as all get out. She was a real sweetie, and I'll stand in line for her again anytime. Also managed to get pieces from John McCrea, Darrick Robertson, Paul Chadwick, and several others. I'll start posting the sketchbook as soon as I get around to scanning everything in.

I know everyone complains about how crowded the place is, and this year was no exception. What really surprises me is the fact that this seems to surprise everyone each year. I expect the place to be packed, so it doesn't really bother me when people are swinging from the rafters every year.

BTW, a HUGE thanks to Scott Hudlow and his booth monkeys for giving me a little patch of earth to park my junk at during the con. Since I wasn't along one of the shuttle routes, getting back & forth to my hotel to drop stuff off would have been a pain in the ass. Scott was kind enough to allow me to use his booth as a staging area.

2. Wonder-Con: I get to go to Wonder-Con this year! Yay me!

3. Carla Speed McNeil's Finder is one of the best books around right now. If you like good comics, you need to be reading this. Talisman in particular (her Eisner-winning/nominated storyline) is amazing. She's created a fully-formed society that's similar enough to ours to be somewhat familiar, but different enough to be unpredictable. I find the clan system in her society to be extremely interesting. And the best thing? The trades are annotated! Seriously, this is the best book being made today. You owe it to yourself to check it out. If you're the linear type, Sin-Eater, Volume 1 is the first collection. You can find her here.

4. Completely unrelated to comics: Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin died on Sunday after taking a poisonous ray sting to the chest. The thing that bugs me about the news reports is that almost every one focuses almost exclusively on that incident a few years ago when he had his newborn son with him in the croc enclosure at his zoo. The thing that's bugging me is how much his life has been boiled down to that one event. Not much mention of his conservational efforts, or his educational endeavors. It just makes me sad.

5. Among the things I've read in the last few weeks are Greg Rucka's Wonder Woman: Mission's End and Gotham Central: Half a Life, along with 52 (which isn't exclusively by Rucka, but he's a major player on the creative team). He's really good. I enjoyed his run on Wonder Woman thoroughly, and I'm beginning to see why Gotham Central was so acclaimed. Just wanted to point out that he does good work.

6. I really want to learn to play the mandolin. Just wanted to share.

I think that's about it. I'm sure I'll think of something else after I call it a night, and if I do, I'll post it tomorrow.

Peace