FEAR OF BLOGGING GOES TO COMIC-CON

 

 

 

…And returns in one piece! It’s just too darn big, folks!

Steve and I read that there was a Torchwood panel scheduled one morning of the con, and since we’re big Torchwood fans we decided we’d try to get in to see it. So very naively we figured we’d get there a half hour early. If you’ve ever taken in one of those major panels at San Diego, you’re already laughing, right? When we got there, we found that there was a huge line, about four miles long, snaking around the convention center. Gamely, we walked to the end of the line. The people behind us asked what we were on line for, and when we said “Torchwood,” they laughed! The Torchwood panel is already filled, they told us, and they were on line for a panel that didn’t start for another 2 1/2 hours!

So apparantly people come to Comic-con and wait in line all day just to see their favorite movie and TV stars in person on a panel. Not us! (But I’m still a fan, and couldn’t resist getting my picture taken in front of a Tardis!)

 

I was on some pretty good panels myself, and since none of us on the panel were movie stars, the room was not mobbed. Joyce Farmer, who has been drawing comics as long as I have, was a guest at Comic-con this year because of her truly excellent graphic novel, Special Exits, which should have won an Eisner. She kindly invited cartoonists Mary Fleener, Frank Stack, and me, up to the dais with her to share her solo panel. Since we had all been in comics so long, I decided it was the geezer panel. Every convention has to have a geezer panel!

 

What I like about Comic-Con is seeing people I love but only get to see once a year (if that!) like Joyce, Mary, and Frank. Before the panel, I met Joyce and Mary for lunch, so we could actually hang out, and the next morning Steve and I met with the fabulous Ramona Fradon for breakfast, and there we are. Ramona’s holding up my Chicagoland Detective ghraphic novel — I hope she enjoyed it!

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There was a time when Ramona was the only woman drawing for comic books, and then a time when she and Marie Severin were the only TWO women drawing for comic books. But Ramona’s also a mystic and a gnostic, and she has written a book that had absolutely nothing to do with comics: “The Gnostic Faustus: The Secret Teachings Behind the Classic Text.” As it says on the back of the book, Ramona has been investigating the Faust legend since 1978 in order to decipher the mysteries of its spiritual framework. Yes, I bought the book on Amazon.com, but no, I have not been able to read it yet! (My Chicagoland Detective Agency graphics novels are a bit easiet to read!)

 

Coming up on July 26: I’ll be talking about and signing copies of my Miss Fury book at Escapist Comics, 3090 Claremont Ave, Berkely at 7 PM. I’ve prepared a slideshow about Tarpe Mills and Miss Fury that I promise you will like. Come see it! Their phone number is 510-65COMIC, and you can read more about it at :

 

http://www.escapistcomics.com/

 

After that, on September 1st, Steve and I leave for China (!!!!) where we will be guests at an international forum at the Jilin Animation Institute in Changchun. I promise to write all about it when I return.

 

FEAR OF BLOGGING MEETS ARCHIE!

 

Well, actually, I met Nancy Silberkleit, co-ceo of Archie comics, but she was dressed in Archie orange, and here we are. The photo’s by Heather Plunkett, who manages the Cartoon Art Museum bookstore.  Thank you, Heather!  Nancy was at the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum for the Archie show, along with her project, the Archie comic book fair. As Nancy knows, comics are a great way to get kids reading, so Archie sends comics and the makings of a comic book fair to schools, and even takes care of the shipping costs. There are giveaway comics and comics that kids can buy, and the schools get 40% of the sales, so it’s a great fundraiser for schools. Yes, I know that it will be a great day when schools have all the money they want, and the military has to hold comic book fairs to raise funds, but in the meantime…You can read more about it at http://www.comicbookfairs.com.

 

Nancy and I ducked out for coffee, and she kindly bought me a cookie, because nobody had saved a slice of cake for me! We discussed subjects we both care about, including literacy, domestic violence, and the lack of women in the comics biz (still!). Nancy rocks!