But FIRST I got this awesome piece of fanart by the amazing Kari, artist of the comic Bird Seed:
 |
| Ace by Kari |
She understands the importance of empty beer bottles when defining Ace's personality. If there is beer around, he will consume it. And yes, this totally made my day.
I had the benefit this year of a professional pass so I decided to go down to SDCC for one day on Saturday. SDCC isn't something I usually get excited about. I don't follow a lot of big entertainment news, I don't have a lot of expendable income, and right now I have to spend a lot of my free time working on my art. That said, knowing some good friends of mine would be there, ones that I rarely get a chance to see, was more than enough of an excuse to head down.
It's been years since I'd been to the convention. I'd heard the even described a bit like a pride parade, to which my friend added "Yeah it's like, whooooo! fly your freak flags, my bretheren! But also AAAH MOM HELP MY BRETHEREN IS TERRIFYING!" add in all the scantily clad costumers and the Bible protesters and I think we're not too far off. Except, in my opinion it's a bit more like a pride parade at Disneyland where either pick one or two rides to go one, wait in long lines to see them, and spend a lot of cash doing so. OR you just go on a bunch of less popular rides and spend a lot of cash.
I'm not trying to be too negative here. Hell, I think the experience can be a lot of fun. I actually like going to Disneyland and SDCC has the benefit of gathering a lot of really smart and skilled people within a large range of pop culture industries. I don't plan to table there any time soon, at least not until I've really established myself. As far as comic book conventions go, SDCC is an entertainment convention. That fact, though, shouldn't be news to anyone.
I did pick up some books I'd been wanting to get, though. Three volumes of Wandering Son, the fourth volume of RASL, the latest issue of Papercutter, and a mini by MK called Bull that you can check out here.
Other than that, I posted up a comparison picture of the old C1.18.1 and the new version:
You know, it's a good to remind yourself that if you work on something long enough you'll improve and to not let yourself get too caught up in self doubt all the time. I look forward to seeing where I'm at in two more years.
My first SDCC was 1989 (god, that sounds forever ago, I was 12!) and my last was 2009. I still wish I could go each year even though it has grown so crazy, but I fondly recall the days of the smaller con. 89 wasn't even in the convention center yet, and there was one room for dealers and one room for creators. I had Chris Claremont sign a bunch of stuff, and I didn't have to wait in line for it.
ReplyDeleteOh no, I've become a crotchety old man. "In my day..."
Sorry for hijacking your post. Looking forward to next week's comic. :)