Comic Con 2006 is officially in the can...

...And what a Con it was, this year.

Saturday, as has become the norm, was absolutely dreadful on the dealer floor. Too many people. Too little space. Too many shiny things attracting attention. And that doesn't include the scantily clad has-been Bunnies or Adult Stars.

Panels became insane on Saturday. I actually sat through a panel about The 4400, just so I could endure the most dreadful [adult swim] panel I've seen in five visits to the Con. Having said that, I'm seriously considering emailing the following to [adult swim]:

---

To whom it may concern,

I would like to thank Dino Stamatopoulos for singlehandedly ruining Comic Con International 2006's [adult swim] panel. Mr. Stamatopoulos's contempt for his fans first became apparent when he attempted to consume alcohol during the panel. He further made his disregard for the audience obvious when he advised us he was already inebriated. It seemed, however, that he felt his distaste for his audience and fans was not clear. Thus, he employed a strategy of insulting the audience and his peers, while pouting. All this to garner attention.

I find it commendable that [adult swim] has such unyielding patience for such an arrogant "artist" (used loosely) who has no interest in his public. You should be proud of your support for this untalented hack who dislikes his own work and his audience.

I look forward to ignoring his work as much as possible.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

---

Such sentiment shouldn't be necessary. Panelists attend Comic Con voluntarily, for the most part. Individuals, such as Seth Green, really seem to enjoy the event. They like their fans and enjoy giving and receiving input on panels of this nature. Those of us who attend a panel to hear from a specific person are polite and friendly to the individuals with whom we are not familiar. It seems only fair that the panelists return the favor.

To appear inebriated is insulting to the fans. Not because I think drinking is wrong. Rather, because I believe it is disruptive and rude. Both to one's peers and to the fans.

I'm sure any sentiment I share with [adult swim] will have little or no effect on this guy. But I'll feel better, having shared my opinion on the matter.

---

Sunday was, as usual, pretty slow. The dealer floor was easier to navigate, but sparsely populated by dealers and their wares. I attended three panels:

1. The Tick (on DVD August 29th)
2. Cartoon Voices II
3. Robot Rumble 2006 (Crow and Tom Servo of MST3K fame arose victorious, over the likes of V.I.K.I, from Small Wonder)

By late Sunday morning, Con really begins to wear out its welcome. One is tired, over stimulated and on edge (people really jostle you around on the dealer floor). This year, I'm comfortable leaving... as the horror of the Evil Project From Hell no longer linger over my head at home.

I can't wait to get back to my own bed. And large screen TV.

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ICC2006: Friday, July 21st

I have a rather unfortunate schedule staring at me, today. There are actually four panels at the same time that I would like to attend, at one point.

1a. Blank Label Comics
1b. Family Guy
Seeing as I'm a bit disappointed with Family Guy, this season, I think I'll hit up the Blank Label panel. The guys seemed pretty cool at their booth, yesterday. I like several of the comics. And I feel guilty that I promised I'd start reading Starslip Crisis, last summer, and forgot about it.

2. NOTHING FOR AN HOUR (seems to be a pattern this year).

3a. Ray Harryhausen
3b. Cartoon Network
I think I'm going to leave the Harryhausen panel early to hit up a CN panel. Just because I'm not horribly interested in "She".

4a. Clickwheel Comics
4b. DC Comics: JLA/JLU/JSA
4c. DVD Sneak Peak
4d. Sci Fi: Battlestar Galactica
Con planners: This is the most evil, unequitable and unfair lineup you've ever thrown at me. Given that Cartoon Network saw fit to jumble the JLU schedule so much, this year, that no one could follow it, I'm not going to get my hopes up for JSA in '06-'07. So I can skip that panel. Clickwheel interests me, because there's a number of comics I'd like to subscribe to podcasts for. But the effort needs to evolve more. Feedback and questions there would really interest me. Galactica will just be a fanboy exercise, as always. And I can probably live without it. There are hardly any new revelations in those panels. I love DVD Sneak Peak. I've gone four years running. Unfortunately, this year sucked so much for movies, there's really nothing new to look forward to. Though it would be interesting to hear about library entries being pressed.

5. NOTHING four TWO HOURS. Yeesh.

6. Halo Graphic Novel.
WOOOHOOO!

7. DC: 52: A year in the life of the DC Universe.
Might be interesting. But it interferes with dinner. I'll have to see if I really want to attend this panel.

8a. Spike and Mike's sick and twisted.
8b. Worst Cartoons Ever.
Every year we discuss going to Spike and Mike. We've never gone.
Worst cartoons ever seems interesting. But it's rather late.

We'll see. Time to get ready to head down for breakfast.

Comic Con: Day 1

Wow, I did a lot of damage, today, to my checking account:

1. 3 copies of the Halo Graphic Novel.
2. 2 Con exclusive VF1S figures. They're pretty cool. I almost want one of my own.
3. 1 Con exclusive Prototype TIE Interceptor (gold)
4. 2 Con exclusive white Multiplayer Elites.
5. 2 autographed PVP books.
6. 1 autographed copy of "The greatest comic book in the universe"
7. Assorted other motley odds and ends I don't completely recall off the top of my head.

I attended several panels:

1. "Myths for the Modern Age". This is an interesting concept, the Wold Newton universe of Philip Jose Farmer. Basically, it creates faux historical fact based upon the union of pop media with historical fact. The authors then create a manuscript based on the combination of this data.

The concept is actually intriguing, although unfortunately applied in a couple of the cases presented today. The panelists chose to present the material as making a presentation to a college class. This could have worked, if the presentors were more comfortable with public speaking. Unfortunately, the panel left me with a rather tepid feeling toward the material, because several of the panelists simply weren't prepared to present this material.

I think I would have liked to see it presented in the format of a press conference, wherein the presentors seeded the audience with individuals highly familiar with the material. Those individuals would act as journalists, asking prepared questions. The entire presentation would be delivered as an extensive Q&A presentation and would encourage more interaction from the audience.

Long story short, if you're interested in some of the older legendary characters in classic fiction, this series *might* interest you. It's worth examining at Wold Newton.

2. Geek Monthly / Cinemafantastique. This was disappointing. Of course, I didn't read the panel description beforehand, so my disappointment is unjustified. In short, I was hoping the panel would focus on the Geek Monthly periodical. Perhaps some of its contributors and coming articles. It turned out to be Robert Mayer Burnett's annual "upcoming films teasers and trailers presentation". Which really isn't bad, it just wasn't what I expected.

3. Batman Golden / Silver Age. This was pretty cool stuff. A number of the artists who did ghost work on Batman during the early years spoke of their experiences. It was interesting to hear them tell their tales of working with Bob Kane.

4. Animaniacs / Pinky and the Brain. What can I say? This is the third or forth time I've attended a panel with the voice actors from these series. The great thing this year, is that they were able to announce the release of DVDs presenting these series. The best news is the DVDs will be in stores next Tuesday, July 25th. [sweet].

5. I tried to go to the Future Prime "Top 10 Sci Fi Films of the Century", but got locked out. Apparently the convention organizers didn't anticipate the potential popularity of this panel and scheduled it for a TINY meeting room. Oh well. Perhaps I'll find a recap somewhere.

That's pretty much it. We had dinner at the really great little Italian kitchen where we enjoyed some great pizzas, last year. Unfortunately, I once again do not recall its name. I'll have to find that tomorrow and post it for folks who might be in the San Diego area. Some good stuff, there.

I need to download and post the pictures I took, too.

ICC2006: Thursday, July 20th

Comic Con programming begins in earnest today. I only have a few panels to attend:

1. Myths
2. Geek Monthly (Maybe)
3. Batman
4. Sergio & Mark Show (should be good stuff)
5. Pinky & The Brain and Animaniacs (a DVD announcement, maybe?!)
6. Top 10 Science Fiction flicks of the 20th Century (could be real lame, we'll see)

I still need to locate exclusives for some friends and a few other things. But I'm not anticipating too much trouble with a few of them. I managed to get by the Red versus Blue booth, last night. I got an autographed copy of Season 4, a Trocadero CD (sweeeeeet) and their Con exclusive TShirt. Cool stuff, man!

It's time to head down to our friends' hotel to meet up for breakfast!

I ain't got a chance...

...tonight proved expectation can be reality.

However. Reality still can't be expectation.

Fortunately, this particular TV show is cool.

When my time comes, I want it to be like Frederic Arthur (Fred) Clark

Fred Clark, as his friends apparently knew him, passed this week. I have no clue who he was. I don't know his family. I wouldn't know anything about him, if he didn't have a rather intriguing obituary:

Here's Fred's Obit

I like Fred's honesty. No, I freakin' admire it. When I pass on, I want my obituary to be this honest. I certainly hope that I folks won't have to say that I excelled at mediocrity... rather... I hope they say something along the lines of "He excelled at being who he was." Or, something philosophical like that.

Fred, I'll hoist a cold one in your honor! Thanks for being so forthright.

Dead Man's Chest

I ventured over to the Drafthouse, this afternoon, for a matinee of "Pirates of the Caribean: Dead Man's Chest". Good stuff, for the most art. I enjoyed the dialogue, once again. However, I felt, as have many critics, that Captain Jack was a little too scarce, this go around. In his place, the filmmakers felt the need to gorge their audience with an excess of special effects.

That's too bad, the finest selling point of the original film was its capacity to stand on its own. Without all the glitz.

1. What little we got of Captain Jack was, once again, great. I do think Depp was entitled to chew the scenery just a little bit more.

2. Cannibals. Cannibals are cool. In pirate movies. I don't want them living next door, or anything, but I certainly want to see them in my pirate movies.

3. I actually got to like Davy Jones. I was a bit put off by the look of the character, initially. He just felt too... over the top. But, after seeing Bill Nighy use the character to create such a strange speech pattern, was kinda cool.

That being said. I hated the ending. What an utter disappointment. I'm not referring to the inevitable cliffhanger. I'm referring to the absolutely unresolved storylines and the cheesy comic book character reveal in the moments before the credits.

Way to dumb things down, guys.

... on your mark ...

... Today begins the final stages of preparing for Comic Con International 2006. Hard to believe this will be my fifth venture out to San Diego for the ultimate Geekend. Kinda cool, huh?

If you don't think so, you're reading the wrong blog, my friend.

Thursday's schedule was released, today. I guess they're going to release the weekend's schedule, one day at a time, through this Sunday. Kind of odd, I don't recall this pattern, in the past. But, it's quite possible things were meted out to us in such a manner. I'm old and forgetful, afterall.

I'm starting to get pretty excited about seeing the gang again. Steve and Lee, in particular. For some reason we seem to have the most in common and set similar paces out there. That's quite fine by me, good company on vacation is the stuff.

I haven't laid out, exactly, what I'll be doing, this year. But, my absolute musts include:

1. Anything, everything and all things Bungie. Goshdarnit to heck, they're going to be there, so I'm going to show as much Bungie support as I can. Rabid fanboy stalker stylee. Including their panel.

2. I need to pick up several DVDs and hopefully a Trocadero CD from the Rooster Teeth dudes.

3. My plans to put as much anti-New-Star-Wars propaganda on the floor Thursday seem to have fallen by the wayside. I need to see if I can get a grassroots thing going here, next year. Maybe I should get :rose: involved in some sort of viral campaign. Since he's, like, studying them and stuff for work, now.

I'll have to go through this schedule again in more detail. Nothing really jumps out at me on Thursday. They just released Friday and the morning looks dismal. WTF?