A couple quick things, first–
–Augie De Blieck’s Pipeline this week is really good. He makes a good point about the Manchester Hyatt thing– most things are owned by complete and total jerkoffs. The trick is to find your limits, embrace them, and don’t be afraid to speak up when things go past them. He also has a fun review of Mini-Marvels.

–Tor.com is the new sci-fi blog from, er, Tor. This post on piracy is dead on. Comics should take note. In a nice bit of synergy, Augie has tips on that in the link up top, too.

And the main event– the extremely rough copy of my first video podcast. I left off the URL like a genius (holla), and the editing is kind of an accidental bite of IllDoctrine, but I’m getting my legs under me. Enjoy the rough, and look for more polished joints later this week.

And if you see me at SDCC, holler at me.

I’m out, I’ve got exactly five minutes before my shuttle gets here. Peace!

There’s a lot of stuff at San Diego Comic-con. This’ll be my first, but I’m comfortable putting on my boss cap and telling you what you should go see.

Scroll down below to see which panel I’m on, too. Surprise!

10:45-11:45 Reinventing the Page: Stan Lee and Grant Morrison Talk Virgin Comics— Two of the most important creators in the history of comic books team up to discuss the bold new frontiers being explored in the art of storytelling. Legendary creator Stan Lee (Spider-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, X-Men) shares his insights on the world of comics and presents never-before-revealed hints of his new superhero universe with Virgin Comics. Joining Stan is prolific creator Grant Morrison (New X-Men, All Star Superman, Final Crisis), contemporary comics’ most active mind, who will discuss his new Virgin Comics animated online series MBX while offering his own insights on comics and engaging with Stan in a once-in-a-lifetime conversation about the long history and boundless future of their beloved medium. Ballroom 20
Categories: Animation | Comic Books | Webcomics | Writers & Writing

C’mon, it’s Stan the Man and GMoz. I don’t have a chance of seeing this one for a number of reasons. One: it’s gonna be packed. Two: my flight lands at 9:45. I bet it’ll be interesting, though.

1:00-2:00 Modern Masters: Live!— Modern Masters editor Eric Nolen-Weathington brings together three of the greatest artists in comics—Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows, Mighty Avengers), Michael Golden (Micronauts, The ‘Nam), and Mark Schultz (Xenozoic Tales, Superman: Man of Steel)—for a conversation about art, comics, and beyond! Room 5AB
Categories: Art and Illustration | Comic Books

I figure by this point, I’ll be at the convention, checked in, and ready to see something cool. I love the Modern Masters books, so this sounds like the bomb.

1:00-2:00 Mark and Sergio— The world’s fastest cartoonist joins forces with the Comic-Con 2008 weekend record holder for panel moderation! Yes, it’s Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragonés together again. Expect lots of talk on Groo and anything else these two whirlwinds are conspiring to bring us in the near future. Room 8
Categories: Comic Books | Comic-Con Special Guest Spotlights & Appearances

If you hate Sergio Aragones, you are a filthy Commie and possibly a zombie.

1:00-2:00 The Future of the Comics Pamphlet— Are serialized comics in a death-spiral? Is the graphic novel the sole shape of comics to come? Retailers including Carr D’Angelo (Earth 2 Comics), publishing representatives including Joe Keatinge (Image Comics), and cartoonists discuss the state of the periodical with moderator Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics). Room 32AB
Categories: Comic Books

Trades up, floppies down! I mean, this should be interesting!

2:00-3:00 Science Fiction That Will Change Your Life— A discussion of science fiction stories intended to make you rethink your whole life or alter your perceptions. With Annalee Newitz (editor-in-chief, io9.com; contributor, Wired), Austin Grossman (author, Soon I Will Be Invincible), Charlie Jane Anders (news editor, io9.com; contributor, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet), Graeme McMillan (weekend editor, io9.com, contributor, Newsarama), and Patrick Lee (editor, Sci-Fi Wire). Room 2
Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy | Writers & Writing

Graeme is family, so I’ll try to check this out. I don’t really like sci-fi, though, so we’ll see where it goes!

2:00-3:00 The Middleman— Creator and executive producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost) and The Middleman actors Matt Keeslar (Dune) and Natalie Morales (CSI: Miami) discuss the bizarre world of The Middleman. Based on the graphic novels by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, The Middleman follows the surreal life of twenty-something Wendy Watson as she gets recruited by a top secret agency to fight comic book-esque criminals under the guidance of her straight-laced boss, The Middleman. Room 5AB
Categories: Comic Books | Television

The Middleman is the bomb. I’m really impressed with that show, so I’ll check this out.

It gets bonus points for using Dub to abbreviate W and the Wally West/Barry Allen joke in the first episode.

3:30-4:30 Entertainment Weekly’s The Visionaries: Comic Creators— Jim Lee (All-Star Batman & Robin), John Cassaday (The Astonishing X-Men), Matt Fraction (Casanova), Mike Mignola (Hellboy), Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Colleen Doran (A Distant Soil), and Grant Morrison (Final Crisis) are the writers and artists blazing a path into the future of comics. Coming from both the mainstream and the independent worlds, these men and women can provide unique insights into the comics landscape. Moderated by Entertainment Weekly staff editor Nisha Gopalan. Room 6A
Categories: Comic Books | Comic-Con Special Guest Spotlights & Appearances

Chances of me getting into this panel: less than zero.

5:00-6:00 The Third Annual Comics Podcasting Panel— The best of the best in comics podcasting returns to San Diego for the third annual discussion of comics podcasting and how it’s affected the comics media. A no-holds-barred discussion with comics podcasters Bryan Deemer and Peter Rios (Comic Geek Speak), Charlito and Mr. Phil (Indie Spinner Rack), Joe Gonzalez and Jimmy Aquino (Comic News Insider), Josh Flanagan and Conor Kilpatrick (iFanboy), and John Mayo and Bob Bretall (Comic Book Page). Room 32AB
Categories: Comic Books | Fandom

Josh and Conor from iFanboy are good buddies, so I’ll check this panel out. I’ll even stick around for the end, in part because–

6:00-7:00 The Comics Blogosphere— The blog explosion has opened up a new frontier for comics criticism. This lively (and inevitably bloggable) discussion features David Brothers (4thletter!), Jeff Lester ( The Savage Critic(s)), Laura Hudson (Myriad Issues), Tim Robins (Mindless Ones) and moderator Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics). Room 32AB
Categories: Comic Books | Fandom

my panel is next in the same room! I am going to talk about… I do not know. Possibly comics, blogging, or some combination of the two. it should be interesting. I’ve actually been reading the blogs of everyone else on the panel for a while, so I’m feeling like the odd man out. Still flattered, though!

6:30-7:30 So You Want to Do a Graphic Novel— Writer and publisher Larry Young assembles a team of writers and artists to unlock the secrets and unveil the mysteries of completing your own graphic novel. Panelists Adam Beechen (Final Crisis), Steven Grant (Two Guns), Kirsten Baldock (Smoke and Guns), Matt Silady (The Homeless Channel), and Manny Bello (Dugout) kibbitz, cajole, and inspire you. Room 3
Categories: Comic Books | Writers & Writing

Wrapping up Thursday is this panel. Matt and Kirsten are Writers Old Fashioned cohorts and Larry Young is a good friend. I’ll sprint from my panel to this one, I think! It should be interesting, though I bet I’ve already heard a few of these stories.

Tomorrow, I’ll go over Friday and Saturday. I’ll hopefully have some hi-content posts for y’all later this week.

Art Baltazar at New York con really hooked me up. I got a grip of sketches for me and my friends. I’m having to trickle these out, ’cause I know that my friends read the blog and check my flickr. Here’s a few that I gave out last week:

Grifter for the Eisner Award-nominated Matt Silady, Cloak & Dagger for World Famous Runaways Fan Mindy Owens, both of which are my comrades in Writers Old Fashioned

Matt Murdock for Kirsten, also of WOF, and Doc Strange for James Sime

Adam Strange (heart) Miss Misery, for Kirsten and James both.

It’s been quiet on 4l lately ’cause my day job needed a careful application of “work” applied to “projects.” That’ll change soon! Big things poppin’.

The weekend of chunky guys dressed like Colossus and hot women dressed as Slave Leia has come to an end. I myself had a great time, spent with hermanos from this very site and a whole bunch of guys from Funnybook Babylon. Sadly, Thomas “Wanderer” Wilde deemed himself “too broke” to consider joining us and Hoatzin would have probably involved a gigantic plane ticket paid in rare diamonds, since he’s from Europe. I don’t know. I really have no grasp on how that type of thing works. Besides, Hoatzin seems to have vanished from our planet. What happened to that guy?

This one movie sent the other movie into space.

Day One

Last year I got to New York the day before the con started, which allowed me enough rest and whatnot. This year I had to come in the first day of the event and kill time until David Uzumeri came in from Canada, since he was in charge of dealing with the hotel. I walked straight from the Port Authority bus terminal to the Javits Center, which tired me the hell out.

After getting my swanktastical press pass, I met up with hermanos and Joseph of FBB. They were at a panel starting up that was a screening for a new Will Eisner documentary. Since I was tired from all that walking, I decided to stick around and watch it. I found it interesting in the sense that I honestly didn’t know all that much about Eisner, which is almost a sin if you’re a comic fan. The four of us (David U. showed up towards the end) mostly agreed that while it had some fantastic stuff in there, such as taped conversations between Eisner and guys like Kirby, the sum of it was incredibly dry.

Shortly after, we went to the panel on online journalism, with guys from Newsarama and CBR there. It wasn’t as good as the comic blogging panel from last year and mostly focused on arguing over criticism vs. getting press releases. Once that was done with, I was rested up enough to do some wandering.

Read the rest of this entry �

One of the Women in Comics panels at NYCC seemed kind of off to a lot of people. (Shot of Jenna Jameson in that one that may or may not be sfw?)

How do the ladies creating comics do it? They’re constantly blowing us away with the most outrageous and provocative titles. Jenna Jameson (Shadow Hunter), Colleen Doran (Distant Soil, Reign of the Zodiac), Amanda Connor (Birds of Prey, Painkiller Jane, Lois Lane ), Louise Simonson (New Mutants, X-Factor, Superman) and special guests reveal why they know what Fan-Boys want.

Yeah, Jenna Jameson is the odd man out there, so to speak. She’s got one comic under her belt, which she is credited with creating, rather than writing, so I can totally understand the consternation. If anything, I’d pay cash money just to see Louise Simonson talk. I’d pay extra if we could get a “Walt’n’Weezy Hour” where they just tell stories.

But, I kind of feel like the fan-based hostility toward writers or creators from outside the medium has run its course. It’s gotten stupid in its fervor. Case in point– Steve Bunche wrote a panel report on the Women Who Kick-Ass panel, which was subsequently reposted on The Beat.
Here’s a bit of it:

Billed as a sounding board for women in the funny books biz, the panel garnered a bit of controversy for its placement of former adult film star Jenna Jameson among the likes of Colleen Doran, Louise Simonson, and Amanda Conner. Jameson, a funny and intelligent speaker, is quite lively in her own right, but her presence was guaranteed to detract from the other panelists and attract a legion of devotees of “one-handed” cinema, many of whom couldn’t have cared less about the creative process of comics and paid their admission fee in hopes of worshipping at Jameson’s tenderloin flick altar. I have absolutely no problem with Jameson’s porn past, in fact I’m a staunch advocate of such fare, but the inherent sensationalism that comes with her simply doesn’t jibe with a panel aimed at women being taken seriously in the medium. No matter how sincere her intentions may be, the vast majority will most likely not be able to embrace Jameson in any real capacity as a creator and see her as anything other than a “tainted” woman who splayed her naughty bits on camera for the, er, amusement of folks living in a hypocritically anti-sexuality culture. Just ask Traci Lords.

Here is what I learned from the panel report:
-Jenna Jameson used to do porn.
-Colleen Doran and Louise Simonson didn’t show.
-There were more moderators than there were panelists.
-Jenna ain’t that interested in comics, no way, and probably didn’t even come up with the story for her book.

I can’t find any info on the Women Who Kick Ass panel online. All I’ve got is this report to go on, and it’s got no quality information in it. It’s got a lot of unsourced and specious conjecture, to be sure. Most of the crowd were Jenna fans, rather than comics fans? Really? It cost forty-odd dollars to get in the con for a day pass. You mean to tell me that you seriously think “about twenty or so comics enthusiasts” were the only comics fans in the audience? For really real?

Jenna was there to shill the comic “she supposedly created” is a huge claim to make– particularly when you aren’t privy to the inner-workings of Virgin Comics. A lot of their comics follow the format of (Celebrity Name)’s (Two Word Title). That’s their thing and it’s a formula they’ve worked to some success. Why throw in that jab about “supposedly created?” What’s the point? What does that have to do with the panel?

Conner’s efforts were valiant, but, for all intents and purposes, for what may have been the first time in her life, Amanda was the smart, talented, and funny wallflower in the eyes of a room full of wolves sniffing around the dance’s popular “hot” girl in a futile omega mating display.

This is the bit where I realized the post wasn’t a panel report at all. It’s a hit piece. The first paragraph is about how we don’t need a Women In Comics panel ’cause gender has nothing to do with nothing, the second paragraph is dissing Jenna’s fans and saying how she’ll be distracting, third paragraph disses the fans and moderators, fourth is dissing Jameson, fifth disses Jameson again and calls her comics illiterate, sixth mocks her movie, seventh is reproduced above and is basically a White Knight in action, eighth is dissing the audience, and then the ninth is a wrap-up that says the panel sucks.

The only paragraph I remotely agree with is the ninth one. I agree that the panel line-up was a bad idea and unbalanced. I disagree that Jenna Jameson being on the panel deserves an entire hit piece devoted to how she sucks, doesn’t know crap about comics, her fans are slavering fanboys who just want to touch the goddess’s hem (or i guess thong, whatever), and Amanda Conner got done dirty.

Conner did get done dirty, but that isn’t a good reason for the rest of that. I don’t even like Jenna Jameson and her comic is not my thing– so don’t even think that I’m just sitting here defending her. I don’t like the trend of “X person is coming from outside comics” with the subtext of “stealing jobs from worthy comics creators.” It’s crass.

I do agree with Johanna in her comment here, though.

I don’t think it’s her so much as cynicism towards famous names on comics. Remember Tekno’s Neil Gaiman’s whatever and how he had nothing to do with it besides the original concept? If someone licenses a name just to get PR value off of it, then I think readers are justifiably skeptical about that.

I just feel like the reaction is out of proportion. I’m sure that there was something funny or interesting or clever or new said on the panel. Bunche makes a big deal out of Conner’s quick wit and sense of humor (which considering her art, must be pretty awesome), but never actually gives us any anecdotes. It’s like what David Uzumeri said a while back.

What’s starting to disturb me more is the reaction to this that I see on a lot of the more moderated/respectable blogs – this conscious attempt to cut ties with the tastes of the hoi polloi and instead turn the topic to how cleverly you can savage a certain creator or book. Mike Choi is right – the switch is defaulted to “snark” all across the blogging community and everyone’s tripping over themselves to be the funniest guy to say something’s going to suck.

I’m tired of empty snark. You’re clever, you’re mean, you’re smart, you’re witty, you’re awesome, I get it– now tell me what you saw.

edit: Ragnell pointed me to Girl-Wonder’s Four Color Heroines podcast, which discusses the issue at around 12:00 in or so. I may not 100% agree, but they do make good points! Which, really, makes for a great post. Also, they just posted this new post which is all about the panel. I haven’t gotten a chance to check this one out, though, but it may warrant a followup post later!

So, 4l is hitting up New York Comic-con and we’re gonna do it big. Our FBB connects are gonna be there. We’re a bunch of black republicans, man. Straight up young money types, holla at us. We’re walking around like we got chest colds, we got so much ice around our necks. A bunch of young dudes with bad upbringings and worse intentions.

But, you know, F-Unit wants to meet up with a bunch of people at NYCC. Cheryl Lynn is gonna catch up with us for sure. That puts basically the entire black comics blogohedron at New York Con, so if you want to put us out of commission… learn to run if you’re shook, son.

Just for future reference, I’m on the right and Pedro Tejeda is on the left:

We had a photo shoot last week, so they put that up for us.

Who else wants to meet up? Hit me with comments here and we’ll see what’s up. ’cause, honestly, we’re trying to do one thing during NYCC:

except i’ve been stuck in SFO this morning after not sleeping last night and my plane is straight up leaving when it was supposed to land in NYC so i am super pissed and i will leave you with a buck 50, kid

(actual content coming later. my buddy Matt Silady was nominated for an Eisner and I want to talk about that!)

Matt Silady and I were interviewed at Wondercon for Lene Taylor’s I Read Comics podcast. Come out and listen to me blab about being a blogger and Matt talk about being a comics creator. I think that Matt’s bit is a bit more interesting than mine, but maybe that’s just my long-lost sense of humbleness at work! Anyway, I talk about blogging, black comics stuff, and tokenism and why I post on the internet.

I manage to mention a bunch of internet people I like, too. Pedro and co., Kalinara/Melissa, Ragnell/Lisa, WFA, Writers Old Fashioned, and Cheryl Lynn.

Whoo.

Give it a look and toss I Read Comics into your podcast catcher.

Warfare’s inevitable, Rebel I hold several government official
Issue thirty-eight specials, that step through
Like Nat Turner create a spectacle
I may die in the scuffle, but I’m takin’ forty devils
–Inspectah Deck, “The City”

I watch my small home burn to the ground. My wife and daughter’s screams stopped over half an hour ago. I should get up, but I can’t find the reason or the strength. My world has been destroyed, and the cruelty is that I have survived it.

After a long time, I find a reason to move. I can’t say it’s a good reason, or a Christian reason… but it’s reason enough.

I head into the direction of the white triangles.

I head into the dark.
–John Henry, New Frontier

Steel Drivin’ Man

I was really big into American folk tales for a while, real or fictional. Paul Bunyan, John Henry, George Washington Carver, and so on. They were infinitely interesting, but one that kept catching my eye sounded like fiction, despite the fact that it actually happened.

Nat, commonly called Nat Turner, (October 2, 1800 – November 11, 1831) was an American slave whose slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, was the most remarkable instance of black resistance to enslavement in the antebellum southern United States. His methodical slaughter of white civilians during the uprising makes his legacy controversial, but he is still considered by many to be a heroic figure of black resistance to oppression. At birth he was not given a surname, but was recorded solely by his given name, Nat. In accordance with a common practice, he was often called by the surname of his owner, Samuel Turner.

Nat Turner is an icon, and kind of a hard one to explain my interest in. I mean, his mission was to straight up kill white people and free slaves. “Hey guys, I heard this awesome story about this dude named Nat. He helped kill like fifty white people and–”

Yeah, that’s about as far as you get before the funny looks start, huh?

I guess if I had to nail it down, it’d be the fact that Nat was up against a wall in an untenable position and didn’t just sit there– he reacted. He made a choice. One thing that pretty much every black kid I knew would do was brag about how if they were alive back in slave days, they’d fight back, kill the master, and take over the plantation. You’d think you were looking at an entire generation made up of Huey Newtons and Malcolm X’s the way we used to talk.

I’m older now, and to be honest, I’m not sure how I would react. Would I stand tall? Would I bend? Heaven forbid, would I buckle and break? I know which one I’d hope to do, but I can’t say for sure.

John Henry in Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier is a character I love dearly, and it was very cool to hear Cooke say that it was some of his favorite writing and best scenes in the book. Including him in New Frontier greatly increased my enjoyment of the book and, in a way, summarized a lot of the time going up to the civil rights struggle. There have always been people trying to do good– however, they were ahead of their time. So far ahead of their time that they ended up dead.

One connection that I happened upon, that may or may not have been intentional, is the one between Nat Turner, the legendary John Henry, and the New Frontier John Henry. New Frontier John Henry’s real name was John Wilson. He seemed to have been a well-established dude, with a wife and daughter, before he “died.” When he came back from the dead, he became a mix of two black folk heroes: Nat Turner and John Henry.

The iconography is John Henry with a twist. The hammers are John Henry, but the hood and noose are new. The hood and noose are bold statements. “You can’t kill me,” the noose says. “You tried, you failed, and here I am again.” The hood has a similar message. “I am no one. I am everyone.” It turns John Henry into an idea.

The actions, though? Those are a more focused Nat Turner. Instead of indiscriminate murder, he’s going after the people who do wrong. He’s going after the problem. He’s taking a stand. He’s standing tall. He’s striking back. It’s all he has left to live for.

It’s a mix that really speaks to me, I guess. Two of my favorite heroes in one person and beautifully illustrated. I feel like the John Henry sequence is a vital portion of the book, if not the best portion, and was pretty brave to include in the final product. I’m curious as to whether or not DC editorial had any qualms, but at the same time? It went through. That’s the important part.

Wondercon was a trip and a half for me. I had GDC on Monday through Friday, and then Wondercon on Friday through Sunday. I did a lot, saw a lot, found a lot. I’m still recovering and my sleep schedule is awful. However, it was also worth it because I bought the best page of art from New Frontier.

I got an email earlier this week (or maybe late last week) from someone I’d spoken to a couple times. She wanted to interview me at Wondercon! Being a suitably narcissistic fellow who loves the sound of someone listening to him speak, I said “Yes!”

–So, at 1030 Saturday morning, I was interviewed by the wonderful Lene Taylor of I Read Comics. She asked me my opinions on comics, race in comics, and my Black History Month series. What a start to the day! Thanks for letting me ramble, Lene. Hopefully it came through all right in the recording.

–I bought a grip of trades again. I can’t help it, man. The haul this time was Peng (signed by Rey, and shoulda been bought years ago when it came out), Dr Strange: The Oath, X-Men Legends vol 4: Best of X-Men Unlimited, Human Target, Squadron Supreme: Hyperion vs Nighthawk, and Gambit: House of Cards.

I know someone who’d kill for that Gambit trade. Eat it, Sara! It’s going for 130 dollars on Amazon! I paid half cover for it!

Cripes, she might actually kill me at that price.

–I caught some awesome panels. First was the podcasting extravaganza. It was moderated by Matt Silady and featured Ron, Josh, and Conor of iFanboy, Lene Taylor and Logan Hall of I Read Comics, Chris from Around Comics (I forgot his last name like a jerk, though I’ve hung out with him basically two or three nights in a row now), and Bryan Deemer of Comic Geek Speak. It was a fun panel, made double fun by the fact that I know/am familiar with most of the people up there. I got to ask a question about timeliness in podcasts with regards to content. Does it matter at all? Chris had the best answer: “Nope.” The others mostly agreed, with the caveat that they will cover something if it is underreported or if there’s a demand for it. Otherwise, there’s no reason to feel pressured. It was a great panel, and everyone involved did a great job. Also, Conor is incredibly awesome and has a hard life being so awesome.

–The next panel was the Animation Break-Down panel. I’ll let the convention site tell it. I added in iMDB links.

4:30-5:30 Animation Story Break (“Wait, does it HAVE to be a story?”)— Go behind the scenes as writers take an idea for an animated superhero story from one-sentence premise all the way to a full-blown beginning, middle, and end. Then the real fun begins with audience participation! The crack writing staff features Charlotte Fullerton (Kim Possible), Michael Jelenic (The Batman), Dwayne McDuffie (Static Shock), and Matt Wayne (Justice League Unlimited). Moderated by Eugene Son (Storm Hawks). Expect laughter and tears – mostly the latter.

Um, wow, what a line-up! Basically, the gimmick of the panel turned out to be breaking down a Howard the Duck vs Green Lantern Corps movie. It was pretty ridiculous (in a good way) and a lot of fun. Also, as seen below, I got McDuffie to sign a couple of trades– Static Shock and Fantastic Four, in fact. That was a great moment.

–After that, I chilled out a bit, went home, changed, and went out to the world famous Isotope Comics for the awesome Darwyn Cooke signing event. I’d volunteered to work the art table, so I stuck around upstairs for most of the night, giving people the mean mug when they get their drinks too close to the art.

Did I mention the art? We had J. Bone drawings, we had some stuff from Spider-Man Tangled Web by Darwyn and J (I want to keep calling him J.Bone, but man! that’d be weird), we had some Doop/Wolverine stuff… and we had pages from the as-yet unreleased New Frontier Animated Special. It drops the first week of March!

How were the pages? They were awesome. Beautiful, every single one of them. I saw a few pages that I kept going back to. You’ll see them when the book drops. I’ll just say that there is a note in them that just says “Think fast” and a wonderful smirk. That character should always smirk. Manoman.

How was the party? Hrm. Did you know that a million people were there? Maybe not a million, but it sure felt like it. The party was out on the street for a bit and getting across the store was nearly impossible. The guest list was completely ridic, though. There were some folks in costumes. The mascot or whatever from the new Zelda was in effect. There were some burlesque-looking girls.

There was also Amy Jo Johnson a.k.a. THE PINK POWER RANGER (according to Ron), JH Williams III, Paul Dini, Bill Willingham was maybe there, Antony Johnston stopped back in again, Ross Richie of Boom Studios was there, and a grip of people from DC Comics/Warner Home Video were there.

Repeat: Pink Power Ranger.

I might have possibly kind of told Paul Dini to get his drink off the art table before it spills, but in my defense if I did do such an unconscionable thing it was because I didn’t recognize him until Marsha, Darwyn Cooke’s wife, pointed him out to me.

Oops!

It was pretty cool talking to J. Bone and David Bullock about art and work and like that. Those were great times. Bullock did some work on the upcoming Spidey cartoon and being something of a big Spider-Man fan, it was cool to speak to him.

Oh yeah, Darwyn Cooke… he is awesome, through and through. I finally saw a break in the signing line and he signed my copy of Selina’s Big score and the print of the Isotope flyer. We talked more about the John Henry stuff. I mentioned that I was going to fanboy at him for a moment and told him that I led off my Black History Month posts with the John Henry sequence from New Frontier and he was like “That was you?!”

So, uh, Darwyn Cooke reads my blog! He also told me to post this picture.

He thanked me for feeling that the John Henry stuff wasn’t overwrought or horrible and I thanked him for writing it.

I’d brought a camera with me with the intention of taking a ton of pictures, but instead I basically just took shots of me and my friends chilling in the art room. Check the flickr set here!

Sunday is almost guaranteed to be more laid back and less awesome than today. I’m going to be trade bin diving with Keith and Ash (I want to score another Gambit book!) and just wandering the floor the rest of the show. I’m definitely gonna do a stint at the Writers Old Fashioned table, too.

Also, wandering the Wondercon halls listening to Saul Williams’s “The Inevitable Rise and Fall of Niggy Tardust” is really, really weird but really, really fitting. I don’t know why.

One quick reminder: You can still enter the contest to win a free copy of New Frontier! Go post on that thread to get it done and I’ll pick the winner Sunday night.

The image explains it all, huh? And how cool is that?

click for directions

See you there!