San Diego Comic-Con: Thursday
If I were to share with you exactly how I spent my Thursday at Comic-Con, you'd likely be bored out of your gourd, because I'm here on behalf of the SCI FI Channel, and so I'm spending almost all of my time working, which means that I'm wandering the exhibit hall researching upcoming movies, games, DVDs, books, toys, and so on, as well as strengthening my relationships with the PR reps and creators who work at those companies. But I did manage to have a few encounters which might be of interest to the friends who drop by here.
I had a chance to chat with legendary EC writer and artist Al Feldstein (there we are below), whom I last met in 1972 (gulp!) at the EC Comics Convention at Manhattan's McAlpin Hotel. But this time I wasn't just an annoying kid asking irritating questions. (Who knows? It might be that my only progress since that time is that I've now become an annoying adult asking irritating questions.) Since I have a story being published in the upcoming issue of Postscripts magazine for which he drew the cover, we were able to connect better than we did 36 (yikes!) years ago.
Another moment worthy of note Thursday is that in the midst of mining the exhibit hall for information on upcoming releases, I did take a break to sneak off to the panel on Golden and Silver Age comics, a photo of which you can see if you click through here. Not to be too maudlin about it, but considering the collective ages of Al Jaffee (87), Russ Heath (81), Larry Lieber (76), Jerry Robinson (86), and Al Feldstein (82), the time we're likely to get to hear these guys spiel about the old days in the comics business is growing short, and I didn't feel I could pass it up without regretting it.
Al Jaffee explained that he'd originally wanted to draw Superman and Batman, but "I could not figure out where the muscles were located." Larry Lieber explained that his choice of drawing hand was based on forcing himself to follow his big brother Stan Lee's example, and so, "I used my left hand and regretted it ever since." Al Feldstein shared that Bill Gaines never wanted to go into the family business, that he hated it because he hated his father, and that, "He didn't want to be a publisher, he wanted to be a chemistry teacher." Interesting guys all, and you'd better track them down to chat while you still have a chance.
After the panel, I made these old guys feel even older by telling Al Jaffee about the time I got him to draw me a sketch in the midst of the 1974 Reuben Awards banquet, and Jerry Robinson about the sketch he drew for me during the famous 1972 Stan Lee at Carnegie Hall event.
At the Random House party later that night, I caught up with the gracious editors who'd invited me, as well as their authors Greg Bear, Connie Willis, David Williams, C. E. Murphy, and others. My last stop of the night was the IGN party at a restaurant in the Hard Rock Hotel, where I remained until my body suddenly remembered the three-hour time difference, and told me to head back to my room.
If you'd like to see photos of any of this, all of yesterday's Comic-Con pics are now online, captioned as well as I'm likely to get them before I return home Sunday night.
I had a chance to chat with legendary EC writer and artist Al Feldstein (there we are below), whom I last met in 1972 (gulp!) at the EC Comics Convention at Manhattan's McAlpin Hotel. But this time I wasn't just an annoying kid asking irritating questions. (Who knows? It might be that my only progress since that time is that I've now become an annoying adult asking irritating questions.) Since I have a story being published in the upcoming issue of Postscripts magazine for which he drew the cover, we were able to connect better than we did 36 (yikes!) years ago.
Another moment worthy of note Thursday is that in the midst of mining the exhibit hall for information on upcoming releases, I did take a break to sneak off to the panel on Golden and Silver Age comics, a photo of which you can see if you click through here. Not to be too maudlin about it, but considering the collective ages of Al Jaffee (87), Russ Heath (81), Larry Lieber (76), Jerry Robinson (86), and Al Feldstein (82), the time we're likely to get to hear these guys spiel about the old days in the comics business is growing short, and I didn't feel I could pass it up without regretting it.
Al Jaffee explained that he'd originally wanted to draw Superman and Batman, but "I could not figure out where the muscles were located." Larry Lieber explained that his choice of drawing hand was based on forcing himself to follow his big brother Stan Lee's example, and so, "I used my left hand and regretted it ever since." Al Feldstein shared that Bill Gaines never wanted to go into the family business, that he hated it because he hated his father, and that, "He didn't want to be a publisher, he wanted to be a chemistry teacher." Interesting guys all, and you'd better track them down to chat while you still have a chance.
After the panel, I made these old guys feel even older by telling Al Jaffee about the time I got him to draw me a sketch in the midst of the 1974 Reuben Awards banquet, and Jerry Robinson about the sketch he drew for me during the famous 1972 Stan Lee at Carnegie Hall event.
At the Random House party later that night, I caught up with the gracious editors who'd invited me, as well as their authors Greg Bear, Connie Willis, David Williams, C. E. Murphy, and others. My last stop of the night was the IGN party at a restaurant in the Hard Rock Hotel, where I remained until my body suddenly remembered the three-hour time difference, and told me to head back to my room.
If you'd like to see photos of any of this, all of yesterday's Comic-Con pics are now online, captioned as well as I'm likely to get them before I return home Sunday night.