SDCC 2009 wrap up

A week ago Tuesday I could not believe it was time to go to Comic Con, just as I can't believe it's over already. The event seems to exist in Brigadoon time. Like every year past, this one was fun and overwhelming -- crowds, costumes, excited fans, the usual spectacle. But the real business of Comic Con happens at the dinners and hanging out afterwards. It was one of the more productive conventions I've been to in a long while. (I think that had something to do with making an effort to keep dinners down to less than 20.) Lots of ideas afloat. Some will happen and some are pie-in-the-sky. It'll be fun to figure out which is which over the the next year.

The fun is in the pictures:

Days 1 and 2.
Day 3ish.
Days 4 and beyond

...but for a quick run-down of some run-ins:

The first order of business was to get over the resentment that Greg's luggage got to go to San Diego via Ireland and I didn't.

Brom was showing off an advance copy of his novel The Child Thief, a very dark retelling of Peter Pan. It will include a number of black and white and color illustrations. He had a few originals on hand which were stunning, needles to say. There is a soft luminosity about Brom's work that is so worth making an effort to see in in the flesh.

Stephan Martiniere and Greg Manchess will be collaborating on two Tor.com stories. I can't wait to see what comes of combining their two painterly, yet very different processes. We'll see what comes of it in late fall.

At one point I found myself standing next to Anders from Battlestar Galactica. He may have been the least interesting character on the show but at two feet away, he's not the worst thing you can be looking.

Donato Giancola, Rick Berry, and Greg Manchess all dd demos at the Spectrum booth. Unfortunately my duties at the Tor booth kept me away from most of these but I did grab a few shoots. Demo flickr set here. One minute of Greg video below.

Tor booth duty consisted of saying, "November 3rd, Gathering Storm will be out November 3rd." bout once every 16.5 seconds. At least it was a place to sit down for a while.

Of course my main concern is looking for and catching up with artists. Too many to mention here.

It was also great to meet up with other industry peoples. I quick hello from Claire Howlett at Imagine FX might lead to some fun article possibilities. I met Shawn Speakman from Del Rey/Suvudu, who said "I love you" so convincingly it gave me a badly needed reboot to the evening. Shawn did a much better job at reporting art things than I did, witness: not one, but two, Todd Lockwood interviews. Of course it's always great to meet up with Lou Anders from Pyr, Jeremy Lassen from Night Shade, Alan Lynch from Alan Lynch Artists.

I met Kevin Eastman for a nanosecond - he gave Greg a big hug and seems like a sweetheart.

Meeting my favorite Tor.com blogger, Jason Henninger, was definitely a highlight. He's the kind of blogger that I'll read no matter what the topic -- he's funny, enlightening, and bit mindboggling, usually all at once.

What else?......

Bungee jumping. There was bungee jumping. More like enhanced trampoline-ing, but still.

Lots of late night talking and portfolio reviewing at the Westin. I lasted all of .3 seconds in two arm wrestles with Rebbecca Guay. (That's .3 seconds combined.) I missed most of Charles Vess' lecture, which made me sad, but then we had a lovely bay-side dinner so I can't feel too sorry for myself. For some reason being around Charles is calming amidst all that chaos.

And...and....well, the fun stuff will come out as plans pan out (or don't.) Give me another week to catch up on work and sleep and I'll start looking forward to next year.

In the meantime, he's one minute of Greg painting a big green monster from Princess of Mars: