San Diego Day 2

Too busy (and tired) to blog yesterday, so I'm writing this late. Saturday to follow. As always, all of this may not have happened exactly as I remember it.

Got up early (didn't need alarm, woke up at 7:50 AM no problem, thank you two hour time difference and inability to sleep well in hotel beds) to attend ComicsPro retail breakfast. Talked to a variety of retailers, including my former boss David Wheeler, had pastries and orange juice, nice start to the day.

Had plan to: A) Get tickets for the Spaced signing B) Get tickets for the Cobra Commander figure C) Get in line for the Women of the DC Universe giveaway posters and D) Get a ticket for the Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog signing.

All three lines were too long for my patience limit, so I only got the ticket. I think the reason I get so little of the freebies (big bags, T-shirts, etc.) that folks talk about is that I have no patience for waiting in huge lines where there's a very good chance you'll have no payoff at the end. This would be an issue throughout the next two days, more on that later.

Went to the New Frontier signing at the Cooke/Bullock/Stewart booth (2207). Nice chill signing, they sat back on comfy chairs and a couch and signed my DVD. Then I headed over to Diamond for my scheduled meeting of the Con, checking out the new POS system that Diamond is selling.

At noon, when my meeting was over, I went up to get in line for the 12:30 Spaced panel, the panel I think I was most excited about. The line was enormous, and so long that there was no way in hell I was getting in. Frustrated, I went back to discover, not surprisingly, that my ticket was not going to get me one of the wristbands for the Dr. Horrible signing. Everything I had hoped to do on this day was not panning out.

So I went over to Artist's Alley instead to pick up some prints. Met David Nakayama (Marvel Adventures Hulk, Big Hero 6) who, in addition to being a good artist, is one of the friendliest people I've ever met. Bought a few prints from Christina Strain (drawn by Michael Ryan and Adrian Alphona), bought great prints from artist Adam Archer, and then went over to Ralph's to grab a sandwich (Prosciutto & Provolone, toasted and tasty) for lunch.

I came back and got a chance to tell the Spectacular Spider-Man creators, during their signing at booth 2207, how much I liked all of their work. Then I went to the EW Filmmaker's panel, which was mostly fun because Kevin Smith and Judd Apatow got on great. Seriously, they should have their own buddy comedy. Zack Snyder was kind of taciturn, and Frank Miller... well, Frank Miller was either not paying attention, drunk or both. When moderator Marc Bernardin asked him even the simplest of questions, Miller looked at him as if he had two heads.

Caught up with my roommates for the next two days, Dean Trippe and Jason Horn, gave them keys and then stayed where they were (the Kevin Smith panel, with tons of special guests) until it got to be about 8 PM and I got hungry. So I headed back to the hotel, had a meal at Anthony's across the street (Stuffed swordfish, grilled shrimp and crabcake combo, and it was *great*), changed and then headed back to try and get into the Spaced screening.

I was afraid, given my experiences earlier, that it might be a doomed errand, but I got in, and in fact got to sit right up front. Edgar Wright, Jessica Hynes and Simon Pegg made a grand entrance, talked a few minutes and then Pegg said "Before we start the show, I'd like to do something, and I think this is the largest gathering we've ever done this at" or something of that nature. I was pretty sure I knew where this was going. Then he said "All Spaced fans have a sort of mental telepathy," gave us the rest of that spiel, and said "So I hope you're all packing."

And then we had a brief finger gun fight with the cast of Spaced and the rest of the audience, or at least the ones who had already seen the show. I got to fire an invisible shotgun at and be gunned down by Simon Pegg, and that was really one of my best Con moments ever.

For those who have *no* idea what I'm talking about, there's this:



Now go buy the Spaced DVD set that was just released. You'll thank me.

Then they showed three great episodes of Spaced, which was even more fun to watch with a group. After that, caught up with Dean and Jason at the Eisners, which were just ending, headed over with them and a few Dark Horse folks to the Marriott Bar, which was very quiet, and we left shortly after, as we were all tired, it was nearly midnight, and we might have turned into pumpkins at any minute. (Actually, Dean and Jason had been traveling all day... I was just being a wuss.)