Comicsgirl

I had all kinds of fun today, although it was exhausting.

Moto Hagio rocks my world. I loved being near her during her spotlight today, and I was overjoyed to meet her, however briefly, during the signing at the Fantagraphics booth. She’s so amazing. There are only a few creators I can think of that are like her — just so open and incredible. I love that I got to see her and I’m enjoying what I’ve read of Drunken Dreams and Other Stories so far (she and Matt Thorn laughed at my name because the girl in front of me was named Heaven and I was named Eden. Good times). It’s kind of hard to put into words quite what someone like Hagio means to comics, but she’s why I read comics. I adore that Fantagraphics is putting her into print in English.

Most of the rest of the day involved wandering about, ducking in and out of panels (I still have a couple from yesterday I need to write up). I saw the Very Famous Helicopter attached to this post (apparently, it’s been in Black Hawk Down and Iron Man and Terminator: Salvation).

I did stop at the Uglydolls booth and bought a bag (much classier than the big huge giveaway bag for my grocery shopping) and a clip-on Ninja Batty Shogun. Of course, I then promptly lost my Ninja Batty Shogun (I probably could’ve gone back and tried to look for it, but it was so crowded I figured it was long gone).

I did buy two tiny cute paintings from Lark Pien and I told her how much I loved Long Tail Kitty

The evening was spent at the Geek Girls Tweetup, which was all kinds of fun. We even have celebrities of the Mythbusters sort (Grant and Kari). I met some people and made some new friends. Everyone was wonderful and it was a very good time.

But I still have two more days of this? Should be fun.

OK, so yeah, we’re in Day 2, sure, but yesterday was a long one.

My flights were fine. Getting to where I was staying and to the con were likewise. My press pass was quickly acquired and then it was off to see the exhibit hall.

In some ways, it’s what I expected, but it’s still huge, of course. I probably wandered the floor several time and I still kept seeing new things.

I’m pretty sure people just get in lines to be in them. Look! Viz is giving out bags! Let’s get in line! There’s some random poster for a show that’s going to be canceled in two weeks! Let’s get in line! I don’t know what this line is for, but since other people are in it, let’s get in it!

Maybe that’s part of the experience. I don’t know. I like free stuff, too, of course, but I only need so many shopping bags. (I think I’m going to take my huge giveaway one to the grocery store with me. It would be hilarious.)

Then it was some expensive coffee (not good coffee — just expensive. People weren’t kidding about the convention center prices. I also noticed there didn’t seem to be any drinking fountains and the water in the bathrooms ran hot, making filling water bottles nearly impossible) and a couple of panels, which I’ll write up later.

By the way, you’re in a nearly empty room for a panel. Everyone’s pretty spread out. Where would you sit? Somewhere where you’re not blocking someone else’s sight (since, you know, you have plenty of choices) or directly in front of someone? Guess what two people at one panel picked? Guess who got up to go sit somewhere else?

Then it was drinking and food with the creators of Kill Shakespeare, who are totally awesome. They weren’t really amused when I burst into laughter when it was mentioned that they had the whole Alpha Flight team one Halloween (I was laughing out of love. I was impressed). You should read their comic (Bully wanted me to tell them that he likes their comic. As you should too).

Then bed. And now, today, it’s finding some cheaper coffee and more panels (I’m excited for the Moto Hagio one) and whatever else.

At the end of yesterday, I was kind of exhausted at the thought that there was still three more days of this. But after a night of sleep, I’m feeling OK. We’ll see what today brings, though.

It’s doubtful you’ll hear from me during the first half of this week due to final Comic-Con prep. I’m driving down to Richmond after work Wednesday because early Thursday morning (7 a.m.!), I will board a plane to San Diego (well, a plane to Dallas-Fort Worth, where I will then board a plane to San Diego) so I can go spend a four-day weekend inside a convention center with 100,000 of my friends.

I expect to be overwhelmed and exhausted by the end of it. Or you know, from the very beginning. In any case, “Going to San Diego for Comic-Con” is something I can mark off my checklist.

I am there for Geek Girl on the Street so expect more “newsy” stuff to be there — interviews, panel reports, etc. I will try to post here, too, though, but probably more of in a “journal” style. We’ll see, though. At the very least, expect a roundup sometime on Monday morning if I don’t post throughout the con.

You can always keep up with me on Twitter, of course, and I’ve set up a Flickr account for this very purpose (there’s nothing there yet, though).

It should be fun. Or at the very least, it will be interesting.

As a slight plea: This trip has actually come at a bad time for me financially and no, I’m not trying to whine too much because I’m going to Comic-Con, after all and I know I’m much more fortunate than a lot of people, but money’s been tight. If you want to take some pity on me, consider buying from Amazon through my affiliate link. There’s also a Paypal donation button on my About page, if you’re inclined to go that way.

If you don’t do these things, I’m still going to like you but I figure it’s worth a shot. It’s something I try to do for bloggers and other sites I like.

Around the time San Diego Comic-Con was gearing up some annoying life things started to take hold so I wasn’t really following the news all that closely. But here’s the most random roundup ever.

New Bone is always awesome. Annoying sexist contests are not (thanks, Electronic Arts for not wanting my money. I don’t have a lot of it so it’s always nice when someone tells me “Yeah, don’t spend it with us”).

I am pro TRON Legacy (I am, of course, pro-Moebius, pro-Syd Mead and very much pro-Daft Punk).

I know Comic-Con hasn’t been completely about comics for a while now, but really, why was Glee there? That’s not even a genre show.

Nothing else really excited me, but like I said, I really didn’t follow any of the news all that closely. Give it a couple of days to sink in and maybe I’ll realize all the awesome things that happened.

I’ve met both John and Bully and they’re both good people (well, one’s more of a good stuffed little bull, but you get my point). But this would be important anyway. He recounts a few instances of harassment at San Diego Comic-Con and was shocked to discover there’s no policy in dealing with such instances:

So, according to published con policy, there is no tolerance for smoking, drawn weapons, personal pages or selling bootleg videos on the floor, and these rules are written down in black and white in the con booklet. There is not a word in the written rules about harassment or the like. I would like to see something like “Comic-Con has zero tolerance for harassment or violence against any of our attendees or exhibitors. Please report instances to a security guard or the Con Office in room XXX.”

I think it goes without saying that people need to not behave this way to begin with. But since there’s always going to be a few that do, it is the responsibility of a con like this to provide some sort of disciplinary action against them. Without it, it does come across as being a “boys’ club.”

Don’t the girls who were there for Stephanie Meyers and Twilight deserve the same respect as the boys who were there for, say, X-Men Origins: Wolverine (although I dare say there were some girls there for that, too)?

I like how John finishes up his piece:

Comics oughta be fun. Comic book conventions ought to, as well. But as long as harassment goes on and there is no clear-cut official written rules on convention behavior and what to do in circumstances or physical or mental assault, our hobby runs the risk of alienating and endangering those within it.

Comics should be for everybody. Let’s start acting like they are.