Comic Con Wrap Up

In past years I complained that ComicCon lasts about a day an half too long, this year I needed at least another day and half to see everything I wanted to. Everything is still a blur and so, a rather disjointed and sure-to-overlook-too-much recap:

The demos were a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. Particularly when a number of people told me that they were worth the price of admission, all on their own. It was gratifying to see as many established pros attending them as there were emerging artists.

I had the pleasure of introducing Tobias Buckell to his cover artists, Todd Lockwood. They stared at each other for half a beat and then broke into a manly bear hug.

I was reunited with a number of the Illustration Master Class alumni -- great to know that those bonds are strong.

Tor.com gave away a handful of t-shirts, many books, and tens of thousands of buttons. It turns out, giving stuff away is fun! Special thanks to Deirdra for being our A#1 giveawayer.

I met John Howe and had a lovely conversation about the pricelessness of original paintings. I was also excited to meet Christian Alzmann and Robh Ruppel - both lovely guys and great artists. All on my wish-list.

I had a great dinner with Spectrum. The Fenners are truly dedicated to helping advance illustration, they always have many interesting ideas and insights into the field.

The good folks at io9 invited us out for a fun meeting of minds meal.

I had breakfast with David Apatoff and his charming wife Nell. David writes the always insightful Illustration Art. One of my must-read blogs.

Lunches consisted of way too many chips, and pizzas, and other horrible convention "food" items. This part I will not miss.

The final night, Team Tor.com got together for a small bonding dinner and ran through our first impressions of the convention. I swear, more good comes from co-worker meals than any kind of office meeting.

Now I am sitting at home with a pile of promising portfolios and postcards to go through. I'll use them to reference the artists website and see who I want to put in my wish-list, who I want to invite into the Tor galleries, and who looks like they have enough promise that I should keep tabs on.

I wish I had kept up the blog as I went and reported more cohesively, but I'm sure I’ll keep referring back to things I saw as the weeks go by. All in all -- I can't wait for next year!

PHOTOS: FIRST SET: Tor.com: Deirdra, Carey Tse, and a Storm Trooper. SECOND SET: Mark Winters looking at Rick Berry's portfolio. Eric Fortune showing off his wares. Todd Lockwood giving Scott Murphy some pointers. THIRD SET: Spectrum dinner. Patrick Nielsen Hayden at Io9 dinner. Rebecca Guay at her booth. FOURTH SET: Costumes FIFTH SET: Eric Fortune v. Dave Palumbo. (I forgot who won.) BELOW: Tobias Buckell and Todd Lockwood. Rick Berry and I. John Howe and Donato Giancola.