Comicsgirl

After a false start yesterday (I didn’t wake up in time, OK? And I was meeting a friend at 5 so it would’ve been too tight), I did make it to Baltimore today for Baltimore Comic-Con. (I didn’t get lost or anything! I drove around the block a few times trying to pick a parking garage, but that was it! I am always much too impressed with myself when I don’t get lost.)

My press badge was easily and quickly acquired (I do have to compliment the staff and volunteers — all very nice and helpful) and I went to say hi to my friend Timothy Lantz (who said the show had been good to him) and I picked up his beautiful postcard set (you should too!) and saw a sneak preview of his secret project.

No sooner had I turned from Tim’s table, I immediately ran into my friends Joe and Rusty of Full Sanction so I spent the rest of the time hanging out with them.

We talked to a few people, dug through some $1 comic boxes and $5 graphic novel boxes. From the former, I picked up the second Mary Jane volume (I don’t have the first one, but it was a $1! A dollar! Here is where I point out that after parking, buying Tim’s postcard set, I had exactly $9 left to spend) and from the latter, I bought The Essential Dazzler. As Joe said, “That’s a lot of Dazzler.” But I like Dazzler — she’s utterly ridiculous and was a character made a couple years too late by committee, but I think that’s what makes her fun. And hey, $5.

That pretty much took the majority of my money, so we wandered and looked at overpriced action figures and lamented the lack of light-up swords. All three of us purchased a copy of Adam Dembicki’s (as in, son of Matt) Ant Army! I am already very much for adorable children making comics, but Adam told us he was going to use his money to buy more Legos. That’s a completely worthy cause.

The overall vibe of the show was fun and relaxed. All the exhibitors seemed very happy to be there and happy to welcome fans, old and new. The artist alley/small press section drew a lot of interest and I did see plenty of original stuff and much less of the “I will draw Joker for you” sort. Even the sellers of the comics/action figures/etc. seemed to be enjoying themselves and doing well. I’ve always been much less interested in that side of cons before, but this time, it just felt right to me.

People have been making comparisons between the Baltimore and San Diego cons (notably in this Washington Post article). I had fun at San Diego and I look forward to the New York con in October, and while it’s neither good nor bad, I just know they’re different sorts of cons — comics is just the jumping off point and not the focus.

Baltimore is a true comic con. It’s about comics. There’s no big media companies vying for your attention, no loud obnoxious movie clips playing, nothing that falls too far outside “comics” (T-shirts and action figures, sure, but not much beyond that). And that’s great. It makes it a show to go to and hang out and have fun. It doesn’t feel like I am being sold to as much. It’s a place to go and hang out with like-minded people. People go to Baltimore because they like comics. It feels like it’s put on by people who like comics. And that’s a really cool thing.

If I had more money, I would’ve stayed longer (and I was somewhat saving some purchases for Small Press Expo in a couple of weeks) but I had plenty of fun while I was there.

If you haven’t been to Baltimore Comic-Con, you need to go.

If you’re like me, the last thing you want to think about right now is going to another con-like event. Otakon this weekend, and had it been any other weekend, I may have considered it. Next weekend is Philadelphia Alternative Comic Con and I’ll see what I feel like on Sunday. At the end of August is Baltimore Comic-Con. And I feel like there are a few things I’m missing. Are you feeling exhausted yet?

But on Sept. 11-12 is one of the highlights of my year — Small Press Expo. And this is my call to encourage you to volunteer if you’re going to be in town. You only have to commit to four hours and you’ll get free admission. You’ll have the opportunity to do awesome things like direct your favorite creator to the bathroom or the 7-Eleven across the street. You’ll make friends and have fun. And while I’m not saying the two things are at all related, Nate Powell was a volunteer one year and he now has an Eisner.

You’ll also get to hang out with me. And we’ll have removable tattoos.

I am not being asked to do this. I just really like volunteering at SPX and I definitely recommend it to everyone.

After tomorrow, no one will care.

I did make it home just fine — the TSA just asked a few questions and it wasn’t that big of a deal (my bags weren’t even searched, but I’ve read that’s the case sometimes). It sounded like I wasn’t the first person who’d lost his or her wallet (in fact, while I was waiting, a man came up and said he’d lost his ID, but he had other things with him). It seems like it’s a pretty common occurrence during Comic-Con.

While I was waiting for my plane, I overheard a conversation where one guy was complaining that it was “too crowded” this year and he didn’t go to any panels because the lines were too long. He didn’t specifically say what he wanted to go to, though. But I do kind of get the feeling that a lot of the “big” announcements that come out of Comic-Con don’t really need fans to be there to be announced. I do think the debate of “Is Comic-Con too big?” will be one that will never be solved.

(And just as a point of reference: Most people don’t care about Comic-Con. The TSA agents said they’ve never been and didn’t even know it went on until a couple of years ago. My hairstylist today asked me what it was.)

I do think it’s a problem that Comic-Con sells out months in advance, though, sure. It means people really have to plan ahead, even before knowing if there’s going to be anything they want to see there. I don’t know if there’s an answer to that, though, without radically changing the structure of the show.

As for me, next year, I will plan ahead a bit more, not lose my wallet and bring more than one pair of shoes. And not make ridiculous trip-home plans that involve late-night flights and then hanging out in O’Hare for three hours in the early morning. I have no clue as to why I picked that itinerary.

And just for fun, these are the celebrities I saw just hanging around:

• Kristin Schaal and Eugene Mirman
• Grant Imahara and Kari Byron
• Daniel Dae Kim (2/3 of the way down the page — in the Guy Fawkes mask. I saw him at the Giant Robot booth and I knew it was him. I knew this because I read the Internet and knew he’d done this before. So this is possibly my nerdiest celebrity sighting. And I do remember seeing Grace Park, too, but I didn’t know it was her at the time.)
• Mark Hamill

I’m sure I’ll have more to say.

No, my wallet is still gone. I hope it turns up, but it looks unlikely I’ll get it before I leave. My mom got some money to me and all in all, it’s not a big deal (I had no money anyway, you see) so really, it’s just an annoyance at this point. Cross your fingers they let me on the plane tonight, though (which they should).

I would like to thank everyone who showed sympathy and support about my missing wallet — everyone from good friends to people I barely know. I know most of you couldn’t do anything, but I feel like people are looking out for me and that’s great.

So I really haven’t done anything today and I probably won’t, since we’re basically in the last hour (I did wander the exhibition hall a bit). It’s funny because I feel like I’m just now getting used to the experience. I said to a friend that if I had another week here, I’d get all kinds of things done. But maybe next year (and yeah, I’m already thinking about next year).

Honestly, in a lot of ways, this wasn’t what I expected. That is actually a good thing. I knew it was big and loud and crowded (three things I typically don’t like) and yeah, at times, it was a bit much for me. But there’s enough going on that it’s the sort of show you want it to be. Like the TV/movies stuff? You can do that. Like waiting in really long lines to watch video clips that will almost instantly end up on the Internet? You can do that. Want to wear your lovingly-assembled Dazzler costume (although I didn’t actually see a Dazzler costume)? You can do that. Or if you’re like me, you can just spent a lot of your time bouncing from panel/presentation to panel/presentation (and luckily, my tastes aren’t popular so those are easy to get into).

You can just hang around the big publishers or check out the small press area. You can buy toys or original art or jewelry. Is the con too big? Maybe. But on the other hand, I think it’s size is actually its strength. It’s a cliché, but yeah, there’s something for everyone here (and everyone does seem to show up).

I know there was the stabbing and the typical “Free Hugs” kids (maybe I’m old, but I find them pretty sad) but I really didn’t see any bad or questionable behavior. I’m sure it went on, yeah, but I’m glad it didn’t seem like a big creep fest to me. I wouldn’t say the attendee split was 50/50 in terms of male/female, but I think it was pretty close (more men, obviously, though).

I know I have more to say and I’ll probably think of it, but my thoughts keep wandering and I keep spacing out a bit. My shoulders are sore (I packed light! But carrying around bags for four days will do that) and as much as I love my Macbeth shoes for their comfort, my blisters have developed blisters of their own. I would’ve loved to have done more today and tried to talk to a few people, but the wallet thing derailed that and left me a little out of it to function.

The con has an hour left and then I’ll head to the airport (my flight leaves at 10:45 p.m. — it’s an overnight one — so while I want to be there early to deal with my situation, there’s no point in being there too early). I’m actually sad it’s ending.

But yeah, the wallet thing still kind of sucks. But not enough to ruin the experience.

Today was fun until about 5 p.m. when I realized my wallet was missing. I started digging through my backpack. No wallet. I found a corner and pulled everything out methodically. No wallet. I went through everything again. That’s right, no wallet. As this point, I’d be wandering the very crowded exhibition hall for about an hour. Panicky crazed text messages sent to various people (mostly for information). I went to Lost & Found. No wallet.

I called my mom, mostly to let her know what was going on.

I periodically checked back in with Lost & Found and still, no wallet. I checked one last time at 7:15 and it wasn’t there yet, but I know they clean the exhibition hall floor each night. Or I think whoever picked it up just hadn’t had time to turn it in before I left.

None of my credit cards have been used so no one picked it up and went on a shopping spree (but the joke would be on them, right? Because I have no money). I just have my fingers crossed that it will be at Lost & Found tomorrow. (I know I lost it in the convention center so that’s better than if I lost it on the streets of San Diego.) Friends and family are rallying to my aid (I just hope I don’t need it).

But yeah, seriously. Other than that, it was a pretty good day. I didn’t hear about the “stabbing” until much later and I managed to do some shopping before my wallet disappeared. I did start getting a little braindead toward the end of the day (hence the wallet-losing).

OK, I know I didn’t put any photos up on Flickr. I’ll do that once I’m home. If I make it there.

My flight’s not until late tomorrow so I have all day to figure this out.