Robbins’ prose is smart and sparkling — this book is a quick read but also incredibly informative (dazzle your friends with fun facts about how legendary creators like Joe Simon and Jack Kirby wrote and drew many romance comics!). Robbins, of course, also covers women’s contributions to the underground comics scene of the 1960s and ’70s (something that I don’t think gets enough attention) and discusses titles like Love and Rockets and Strangers in Paradise as comics created by men but still featuring prominent female characters and perspectives.

The design of the book is fun — lots of comic images splashed across the pages and phrases highlighted — but it can be a little too much at times. Still, this isn’t mean to be a dull, academic read but rather conversational and playful.

Obviously, I think younger women and girls who are just getting interested in comics will find a lot to like here. But even if you like comics and know quite a bit about them already, you have nothing to lose by seeking out this book and reading it.

(Robbins herself may still have a few copies left for purchase, and there are some available through Amazon resellers. But also check your local library — mine has it on the shelves.)

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.

But you know what? I like Cathy — the strip and the character. I’m sorry to see her go.

I haven’t really read the comic in years, but I’ve enjoyed going back and looking at the archive of strips. In them, I see a woman who has her flaws but nonetheless approaches life with clarity and humor. Yes, she’s obsessed with her weight and gets into small battles with her well-meaning mother, but she’s still capable of taking care of herself.

Is Cathy a role model, someone women should aspire to be? Maybe not, but I don’t think she needs to be. In some ways, she’s better — she’s someone we all know and can relate to. Am I as weight-obsessed as Cathy? No, but I still feel apprehension when I go to try things on in the dressing room. Do I console myself with chocolate? No, but that’s just because I tend to like savory things more as my indulgence.

She’s not me, but I see pieces of myself in Cathy. Certainly, she’s a caricature of some of the less-than-flattering parts of womanhood, but I think that just allows us to laugh at ourselves that much more.

I was talking about Cathy with my mom (I had sent her Shaenon K. Garrity’s Survey of Aacks because I thought she’d get a kick out of it) and she said she always related to Cathy’s experiences. My mom is a smart, independent and capable woman and always has been. If she likes Cathy, that’s a good enough recommendation for me.

The panel included on this entry is from one of our favorite Cathy strips. I actually still have a copy of it from when my mom cut it out of the newspaper for me.

The Comic Riffs interview with Cathy Guisewite is wonderful, and reveals her to be, not surprisingly, witty and charming. I wish her the best of luck.

And I will miss Cathy on the comics pages.

I liked the movie. It had a great, manic energy and it just kept moving forward without any hesitation. There really wasn’t a wasted moment nor was there any time to stop and get bored. Or honestly, really think. Director Edgar Wright did a beautiful job of capturing the giddy spirit of the comic. It’s a pretty seamless, joyful adaptation and the video game and manga-inspired touches are playful. The whole production design is perfect and spot-on.

But I guess my problems with Scott Pilgrim vs. The World are the same problems I have with the comic. Mostly, Scott Pilgrim himself.

I did enjoy Bryan Lee O’Malley’s comic. I think it captures a certain period of life very well. But I think that’s also its flaw. The older I get, the less I’m interested in the drama of young twentysomethings. I did love the final volume of Scott Pligrim and I think O’Malley brought it all together in a very satisfying manner, but I think it took too long to get there.

In some ways, the abbreviated pace of the movie works a bit better for me — it edits down the comic to its essential parts. And as annoying as he can be, I think Michael Cera was perfect for the role of Scott. Mostly because Scott is annoying. When his friends in the movie make fun of his naiveté and idiocy, it’s believable to me whereas it was less so in the comic (I know Scott’s friends in the comic treated him much the same way, but I often felt there was too much implicit approval with regard to Scott’s behavior and we were supposed to be cheering him on. I realize it’s personal, but I’ve known guys who were like Scott at this age, and well, they weren’t people I wanted to celebrate).

In the movie, Scott’s relationship, however chaste it is, with Knives is given a slightly more distasteful overtone. Scott’s too weak to be predatory, but he does come across as more unintentionally opportunistic. Likewise, all the supporting characters, especially Anna Kendrick as Scott’s sister Stacey and Kieran Culkin as Scott’s gay roommate Wallace, provide the voices of reason and are two of the more interesting parts of the movie.

I don’t think the movie quite did Ramona justice, though. Even in the comic, it did take a while for readers to learn much about her, but here, she mostly remains a mystery. Mary Elizabeth Winstead does play her with some pathos, but there’s not much to work with. I can understand what Scott sees in her — she’s cool and cute — but as for what she sees in Scott, I really don’t know (but unlike the comic, the movie only takes place over a handful of days, rather than a year, so it’s still a very young relationship).

If nothing else, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is incredibly entertaining. All in all, I think this movie is fated to play in dorm rooms for the next decade or so, and definitely shows what it feels like to be young in the early part of the 21st century. And it does have something to say about relationships and their baggage (although I think the movie does sacrifice a lot of the deeper issues of the comic for the sake of fun, which is understandable, but doesn’t make it as meaningful as it could’ve been).

It’s also wonderful in that it reveals what else comics have to offer other than “superheroes” or “serious autobiographical.” Whether or not that will have a lasting impact, I don’t know. Ultimately, I like this movie for what it is, and what it represents. I had fun, even if, in the end, I still feel a little ambivalent about the plot overall.

A Drunken Dream
and Other Stories
Buy at Amazon.com

I didn’t buy that much while I was at Comic-Con. Yes, a good portion of that was because I lost my wallet on Saturday (and it never turned up, by the way. I’m going to assume it’s in a landfill somewhere now) but I really didn’t have that much money to spend in the first place.

But it was a privilege to purchase Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream and Other Stories (Fantagraphics, 2010, with translation by Matt Thorn). It should go without saying that if you’re at all interested in women’s comics or manga, you should buy this book. But in all honesty, I think even if you just like comics and beautifully-told stories, this should be a part of your bookshelf.

Most of the stories here revolve around loss. Sometimes the loss is a physical death or departure. Sometimes it is more psychological as characters try to come to grips with who they are or aren’t. Often, it’s quite a bit of both. “Angel Mimic” has a young woman coming to terms with her choices and “The Child Who Comes Home” has a family facing pain they’d rather forget. Hagio treats her characters with affection and sympathy and rarely is anyone ever completely right or completely wrong. Through their anguish, she show tenderness for the human spirit.

Hagio does deal quite a bit with what it’s like to be a girl or woman in a changing world. The earlier “Girl on the Porch with a Puppy” focuses on a little girl who does not behave in the way her family expects, with a disturbing ending. “Hanshin: Half-God” focuses on conjoined sisters. One is beautiful but empty-headed and the other is ugly but intelligent. Told from the perspective of the “ugly” sister, it deals with how she perceives her own worth in the world, especially once she and her sister are separated and she is the one to survive.

The centerpiece of the book is Hagio’s “Iguana Girl” about a girl, Rika, whose mother can only see her as an iguana and subsequently shuns her. As Rika grows up, she has to find her own self-worth (even she believes she’s an iguana) and make peace with who she is and her relationship with her mother. It’s a powerful story — Rika is strong and funny despite her mistreatment and Hagio makes the wise choice of drawing Rika-as-iguana as cute rather than realistic. It gives the story a lightness and humor that balances the thoughtful tone.

Hagio’s art is, of course, constantly gorgeous. This is evident throughout the collection, but very much so in the title story, “A Drunken Dream.” The lush scenes of this romantic tragedy are shaded in white, black, gray and red and transition from space to ancient Rome. Her talent for expressive faces and small, every-day details from the interiors of homes to clothing make all these stories feel like they’re populated by real people.

Thorn’s translation definitely seems to be true to Hagio’s stories. He is obviously a great admirer of her and he does her justice.

Also included is an overview of the manga scene Hagio was a part of, “The Magnificient Forty-Niners,” and an extensive interview with Hagio. Both are by Thorn and originally appeared in the July 2005 issue of The Comics Journal.

This is a beautiful book by an incredible creator. Whether or not you knew of Hagio before or this is going to be your introduction to her, it’s a book you need to have.

Tamara Drewe
Buy at Amazon.com

Ooops. OK, it’s not so much that I forgot to do this yesterday. Well, I mean, I did forget, but it’s more that right now, you’re lucky I know what month it is. To expect me to know what day of the week or what date is it is kind of beyond my abilities at the moment.

Written and drawn by Posy Simmonds, Tamara Drewe follows the interconnected lives of various characters who all encounter the titular character, a former small-town girl turned beautiful scenster journalist. (Link goes to the Guardian page where you can read the whole thing online.) It’s probably not what you expect it to be. Simmonds explores plenty of ideas, from the male gaze to the power of women’s beauty to society’s obsession with the media, in a fun combination of prose and comics. It’s a great one to hand to your friends who are ambivalent about comics but it’s also a great one to read yourself. I found myself engrossed and surprised by this one.

The upcoming movie seems to take a little bit different approach the material, but I’m still looking forward to it.

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.

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

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.

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.