FEAR OF BLOGGING GOES TO COMICON…

FEAR OF BLOGGING GOES TO COMICON…

And survives to tell the tale. San Diego Comicon has become so vast that for five days it’s a money-making industry for every business in the city. And it’s not just about comics anymore — in fact, I might say that it’s hardly about comics at all! All those teen fans camped out overnight behind the convention center, so they could be first into the room for the Heroes panel, or the Lost panel, or especially the Twilight panel (think thousands of teenage girls screaming like their mothers did for the Beatles), couldn’t care less about comics — they want their movie and TV stars. For me it was just too darn immense, and the floor was so jammed that it was almost impossible to make it from one end to the other.

The best part of the con wasn’t in the convention center at all — it was on the 6th floor rooftop of the hotel where we stayed, the Omni, and it was the Wired Cafe, sponsored by Wired Magazine. From Thursday through Saturday, if you had been invited (I was!), you could hang out in the sunshine, drink free (and strong!) iced coffee or free fruity tequila drinks (It was a bit early for tequila, so I settled for the coffee), have your picture taken in a wacky comicky setting (see the photo up top!), get a massage (if you signed up quick enough — free massages went fast!), check your email, or just hang out at the pool (I did that, too!). What a great getaway from the con! Thank you, Wired!

But I did do a presentation on my new Nell Brinkley book, and signed the book at the Fantagraphics table, and I was on an Underground comix panel with the likes of Jim Danky, Denis Kitchen, Lee Marrs, and Bill Stout. That’s me and Denis in the bottom photo. Despite what it says on the name signs in front of us, that’s Denis, not Trina Robbins, and that’s me, not Lee Marrs. (and thank you again, Denis, for inviting me to contribute to your comic book back in 1971, when nobody, I mean nobody, in the comix boys’ club, invited me into ANYTHING!) The photo is by Kim Munson (Than you, Kim!) and here’s her blog at http://kmunson-mac.blogspot.com/.  And here’s a photo of Kim and me at my presentation.  Photo by Michael Dooley.

So where can this peripatetic blogger be found next? How about China?! Yes, (yikes!) from September 15th through the 17th, I’ll be in ChangChun, Jilin, China, at the International Animation, Comics & Games Forum, sharing my knowledge of early 20th century women cartoonists with over 100 comics people from all over the world. More on that as soon as there’s a website to link to.

Upon my return from China, I’ll be home for 4 days before flying to Portland, where I’ll be teaching a workshop on writing comics and graphic novels for the Oregon Writers Colony. Here’s their website: http://www.oregonwriterscolony.org/graphic_novel_ws.htm and there’s still time to sign up before August 1st, and get a break on the price. If you live in the Portland area, I hope to see you there!