It wasn't ALL work at this year's San Diego Comic Con International!  

There were also opportunities to get my photo taken with several persons I have missed having a photo taken with during the years!

After the 2008 SDCCI I blogged about seeing the Greatest American Hero Panel.  I was fortunate enough to see William Katt, Connie Selleca, and Robert Culp at that special program.

However, with the crunch of persons wanting to talk with those three stars after the panel was over, there was no way to get a photo!  Plus you should see the lines for autographs for stars at the autograph tables at this Comic Con!

Thus when I saw that William was going to be at his own Catastrophic Comics Booth at the 2009 SDCC this year, I circled the day and time that he would be there. 

Yes, One Day only, and just a Few Hours at that!   BTW, for those of you that are not aware of how hard it is to meet someone who is on a limited appearance basis at the SDCC,  it is doubly tough when you have to leave a full to capacity program Hall H or Ballroom 20 to do so.  Trust me folks, You aren't getting back in easily into those rooms to see the next programs!  So if you have a 'must see', like I did with William, you must realize that something else has to give for you to be able to make it.  Too many newbies to this SDCCI don't realize how overcrowded and expansive this Con is!

Well, it appeared that  I wasn't the first one there in line to meet William.  So while I was waiting I talked with Chris Folino who was managing the booth, and who turned me on to Catastrophic Comics' other main title, 'Sparks'.  So I'll be sharing my thoughts after reading that series and blogging my review here.

Just before my turn came to meet William, up comes a second Greatest American Hero (GAH), this one in costume!  My thanks to new Facebook Friend, Alan Pedini, for standing long enough to pose for a couple of pics before moving on to where he was needed next!

Talking about next... well my turn was finally next to get my photo taken with William!  Thanks Tina for taking two great pics of me and William! 

I've already blogged about a couple of the GAH comic book issues here in my Blog, but also picked up another one while I was there.  So I'm looking forward to reading that issue also! 

The only disappointment while I was there at the booth was not seeing Marci Beaucoux, blogger for the GAH!  She recently was hurt in a car accident and is recovering nicely, but not up for the long trip and 5 days at Comic Con.  Maybe next time Marci?!

If you are interested in what William Katt and Catastrophic Comics are doing next and what other comic conventions they may be attending, check them out at:   http://www.catastrophiccomics.com

BTW, unless we are on site all day and night during a three day or longer comic con... we do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, and pop culture news and events!  Check out our daily blog posts, new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store! 

Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!!  

If the late William F. Buckley had been a fan of comics, I imagine he'd have sounded a lot like Andy Grossberg, the U.S. Editor of Tripwire Magazine. Andy led Tripwire's panel at San Diego Comic Con (Thursday, July 23) and what a far-reaching philosophical discussion it was.

The conversation between Andy, Editor-in-Chief Joel Meadows, Kody Chamberlain and Rick Johnston ranged from the future of comics in a digital age to the evolutionary efficacy of monotheism. (I kid you not!)

These dudes take their comics seriously!

Andy gave us the first report on Jeb Loeb's address to the CBAG on Wednesday where Loeb discussed how Hollywood is accepting comics as a genre not just a medium. 

Some interesting tidbits:

-- "30 Days of Night" started out as a comic for a Hollywood pitch meeting for a movie. It came out as a comic then a movie five years later.

-- The director of "Road to Perdition" didn't know it was a comic (graphic novel).


Where will comics be at the 70th SDCC (30 years from now)?

-- The consensus was that they'll be the same but with a different delivery system, like web comics and a Kindle-like reader in full color.

-- Kody Chamberlain is convinced that people will embrace the web comics technology as soon as e-paper has a higher resolution than print.

-- Comics publishers and creators will rely on viral marketing over traditional.

Tripwire the magazine is every bit as interesting a read as you'd expect from such a erudite bunch of comics enthusiasts.  Look for a detailed review by Michael of Tripwire's 2009 Annual in an upcoming blog.

Until then you can check out their current and past issues at their web site:  http://www.tripwire-magazine.com

 ~ Tina LoSasso (Guest Blogger)

Addendum by Michael:  Unless we are on site all day and night during a three day or longer comic con... we will be blogging daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, and / or pop culture news and events!  Plus You can check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store! 

And yes, I will be blogging my review of the 2009 Tripwire Annual that Joel Meadows is holding in a future blog.  Still reading it at the time of this posting.  Not enough time to read its massive amount of pages in just a few sittings.  Especially since I have a deadline to meet on a writing assignment for an upcoming book!  Thanks Tina for 'guest blogging' again today so I can continue working on the book chapter!

AND Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!!  

At this year's San Diego Comic Con International there was a series of 'How-To' programs in Room 18 in lieu of a different series that was retired!

The Art Auction was the series that was retired at the Con.  It was replaced by this 'How-To' series of programs which were presented by many of the same artists that would create works before your eyes at the Art Auction.

There were actually artists AND writers presenting in this series this year.  Besides Jason there were other top notch creators at this series, including Adam Huges, Arthur Sudyam, and Charles Vess among others!

I would have taken in more of these programs, but the room itself is tucked at the end of the Mezzanine Floor on the second level. Beside the long lines for other programs, this room is tough to get to unless you are looking for additional food options... Plus knowing that the room's seating arrangements were extremely limited, I would have to get there early for seating.

However I did want to definitely see what I could of this program by Jason.  That's because Jason was recently nominated for two Harvey Awards!  One as 'Best Artist' and the other nomination for 'Best Graphic Album'!

The room was a little on the small side, but it was an intimate enough of a setting that you felt right at home watching Jason sketch away and get caught up in his enthusiasm...

For those of you that are interested in how artists work, this was a good example of how one does it.  I would recommend you taking in at least one of these more insightful programs if you are attending the SDCC in 2010! 

Jason also had a table in Artists Alley, of which I may blog more of later.  In the meantime you can check out more of his work at: http://www.jasonkruse.com

BTW, unless we are on site all day and night during a three day or longer comic con... we do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, and pop culture news and events!  Check out our daily blog posts, new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store! 

Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!!  

Wow - if they had rolled with this theme from the beginning, the show would never have been in jeopardy!

I say this as someone who isn't a Joss Whedon fan - don't get up in arms, I don't mean I don't like him.  I'm just not a follower. 

Michael and I started watching the show because we'd heard a lot about it at last year's SDCC. I found it rather annoying, like Charlie's Angels for the new millenium.  What were these hot girls going to have to dress up for this week?  Would they be kick-butt operatives or hookers, again...Yawn.

We stuck with it simply because there was nothing else on, and we were too tired to do anything else on a Friday night!  I know, we're boring.

The show got more interesting as it explored the ethics and mystery of the Dollhouse.  But, then they lost me with the hyper-violence of the return of Alpha.  I still don't understand what that was all about.

Now, having seen the "never-before-seen" episode (filmed as the show's swan song), I'm back in the Dollhouse fold.

"Epitaph One" opens in 2019 with "actuals" (non-imprinted humans) are being hunted by the imprinted, which seems to be everyone.  Technology has allowed the imprinting to spread from human to human and the only way to stay safe is to get underground and cut off from any tech.

We follow a small group of "actuals" who seek refuge in what was the Dollhouse.  By finding and activating the chair, we learn, in a series of flashbacks, what caused this apocalypse. It all felt a lot like the latest Terminator movie - set in the future...humans tormented by evil technology...can they change the past?...Lots of great twists...I loved it.

 ~ Tina LoSasso (Guest Blogger)

BTW, unless we are on site all day and night during a three day or longer comic con... we do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, and pop culture news and events!  Check out our daily blog posts, new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store! 

And yes, 'Dollhouse' doesn't currently have a comic book or graphic novel.  Unlike so many other TV shows like 'Fringe', 'EUReKA', and others.  But with Josh Whedon involved in so many comic books projects, I thought you wouldn't mind reading a blog post about his TV show here in our Blog!  Especially since I have a deadline to meet on a writing assignment for an upcoming book!  Thanks Tina for blogging today!

AND Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!!  

It's the END of another SDCC, which marked the 40th Anniversary of this Comic-Con!

I would say 'comic convention', but this year even more so than the other ones since 2001, it was more of a pop culture / Hollywood convention.  Especially IF YOU had to go to a popular TV Show / Film program.  It was like two different cons this year for me...

Tina had a few TV Show related programs that she HAD to see, and with more attendees than ever caring just for THOSE same programs, the lines were outrageously long.  Multiple attendees were disappointed in not even getting into the back of the rooms!

In fact the line for Saturday's 1st program 'LOST' @ 11AM in Hall 'H" was several hundreds of people long already when we arrived at 5AM.  There were multiple tents in the first row where they had camped out overnight.  This was nothing in respect to those that came only for the IRON MAN 2 program that didn't even START until 4PM later on in the day in the same Hall!  That's because the Con folks still don't clear out the room between panels/programs!

Sunday's morning line to get in to the building itself was all the way down to the end of the street past Hall 'H'.  This is not normal folks!  Usually Sunday is a quieter day to get in to the building. Not this year!

That was because the SMALLVILLE program was starting in Room 6 BCF @ 10:30 AM.  It appeared that most were also there for the following program on SUPERNATUAL that started at 11:45 AM. Which was good for those attendees that they didn't have to wait for one or more programs in between.

However the problem here was that after standing in line to get in to the building, they had to semi-run to the staging area on the other side of the 'Sails' pavilion to stand in another line to get into the largest of the regular program rooms...

Needless to say, there was a LOT of complaining going on in lines this year.  More than I have ever personally heard since the 1990's when the Comic Con first moved over to the San Diego Convention Center.  Repeatedly I heard from con goers that the rooms should be CLEARED between programs!  (Upon re-reading this post before publishing, that appears to be my 'theme' from this year's Con...)

Because of the lines and the non-clearing of the rooms, Tina and I had to forgo attending the exhibit floor as much as we wanted to on Friday and Saturday.  Our apologies to those creators that we missed this year!  As to the ones we saw, several mentioned how Friday was not as busy as it usually was in their area.  I explained what I saw upstairs at the program rooms. 

However, Tina was very happy with the All of the programs that were TV or Film oriented. She will be blogging about them in the near future in this Blog.  Stay Tuned!

She was disappointed in the marketing / promotion / industry panels / programs she attended, as there wasn't enough information presented in the ones she attended.  They were basically PR programs even though the program titles / topics indicated otherwise.  According to her, others that were attempting to break into the industry also expressed similar opinions when leaving the rooms...

As for myself, I enjoyed celebrating my Birthday once again at the the Comic-Con!  I had to have back-up plans for my back-up programs for the programs I really wanted to see.  As several of those were too popular with the other attendees to even get into... 

Once either we or I got into a a popular room or hall, Tina and I felt we had to stay in it to justify the long wait to get into it!  However because of that situation we did get to see the first episode of 'V' which is really good!  We are adding that to our 'watch' list for the upcoming TV Season!

I've taken many photos of comic creators, costumed attendees, and exhibits, which I will be sharing in the weeks to come, along with my thoughts on those topics.  Plus I picked up a lot of hard copy comics that I will be reviewing here!

Even thought it was a LOT tougher to make it through Comic-Con this year then pre 2001 years, it is a CON that YOU've got to take in @ Least ONCE in YOUR lifetime!  Just to say You've done it!

And Yeah, even though we both had problems with this year's Comic-Con, we have already purchased our 4 day + preview night memberships for 2010!  

(That's more because it's a tradition for me, since this was the first con ever for me as an attendee back in 1970, while Tina has been attending SDCC since we were dating back in 2001.) 

BTW, unless we are onsite all day and night during a three day or longer comic con... we do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, and pop culture news and events!  Check out our daily blog posts, new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store! 

Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!!  

"Hammering Out the Web For You Since May 12th, 1998!"   Note: If you work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for review, send to: Make It So Marketing Inc PO Box 130653 Carlsbad, CA 92013

Thank You For Being One Of This Blog's NOTE:  This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768. All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners. CONVENTION TIP:  If you are going as a couple, be sure to remember to have photos taken of both of you several times by strangers. That's because you may become so busy snapping pics of everyone else you may forget to have pics taken of you two to remember the Con by!  And then your significant other will remember that for a long time after you get home and sees none of the two of you there... LOL!    Below are Tina and Michael in front of the Iron Man and Doctor Doom models at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con International held at the Convention Center in San Diego, California. If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.