Comic Con 2009

Amy and I had a great time at Comic Con this year. Here's the run-down:

Friday - (nerd-shirt worn: Catscratch by Doug TenNapel)
- drove down, intended to make copyright panel, but hit traffic, so we stopped at my parents' house and hung out for a bit.
- met up with Biola friends Tawney and Elizabeth for dinner in North Park (San Diego). Good Mexican food place. There were rainbow banners everywhere because it had just been Pride Week, I think. Honestly, every single storefront on that street had one. Pity the poor business that didn't order theirs in time.
- Elizabeth then drove us to Eisners (comic book award - like the Academy Award for comics). Eisners were next door to the Convention Center at the Hilton. Got there in plenty of time. Sat with forum friends Ethan (nominated for Best Humor Publication for his book Chumble Spuzz 2, the one I have a pin-up in!), Ethan's brother and co-writer Isaiah, Ruiz and his girlfriend Brenda, and some others. Doug and Sean McGowan found us.


Eisners were boring, slowly paced, but Patton Oswalt and Reno 911 guys (presenters) were funny. One award was accepted on the winner's behalf by a guy dressed in a silver cape and t-shirt that said, "Yes, I am a Gay Robot." He gave a really long and incredibly unfunny acceptance speech. Doug had us rolling with his comments about winners and presenters throughout the ceremony. Ruiz was laughing hysterically at bad presenters and long-winded acceptance speeches. This old Mad Magazine writer was given a lifetime achievement award and went on for 20 minutes. Ethan didn't win (bummer!). We all left after that.
- Eric Peterson, Isaiah Nicolle and I were going to go surfing Saturday morning (like last year), but I forgot my cell phone and wasn't able to arrange boards or coordinate a meeting time, so we decided to do it on Sunday instead.

Saturday - (nerd-shirt worn: Ninjas Everywhere by Scott C)
- wanted to go to Chuck panel, but got there at 9:45 and line was already closed off. Didn't know floor opened at 9, either. So, Amy and I started walking the floor, aisle by aisle. Saw John Kricfalusi and Kali in booth. Said hi to Kali and told her I admired her skill. She was flattered I recognized her. She was very nice.
- bought a shirt from Giant Robot booth (another Deth P. Sun shirt - the blue one)


- met Scott C, who saw my shirt, exclaimed. Asked him for a cowboy monkey sketch. He did a great one.


Amy bought one of his prints.

Very nice guy. We talked about Bodie.
- met up with Hethe for lunch. It was good catching up.
- went by Doug's booth. Doug wasn't there, said hi to Eric Branscum, a friend from the forum and Sockbaby 4. Browsed Doug's original art pages.


- found this awesome prop of a fictional gun from a comic called 13 Chambers.

- came across some cowboy dudes.

- went to Behemoth booth, got picture with Orange Princess (what a nice gal!), got Barbarian sketch from Dan Paladin.

- went to annual Hodown with TenNapel and forum buddies. Doug bought us all chimichangas. Met Dave Nielson, who happens to live in Carlsbad and happens to know Hethe! Nice guy, we gave him a ride home. Josh Kenfield attended his first ever, and we hung out with Frankie for a bit, too. Also chatted with Eric Brown. And several other good friends from the forum.

Sunday - (nerd-shirt worn: Gear by Doug)
- got up at 5:30am to meet up with Eric, Isaiah, and Eric's wife Shayla for surfing. Only got a hold of one extra longboard, so gave those to Eric and Shayla, while Isaiah and I took shortboards. The waves were huge that weekend, but we went to Teramar, which doesn't face the south, so the waves were medium to small. Didn't stay out for that long, but had a good time. Water was really warm. Isaiah and I took the longboards when Eric and Shayla were done and caught a few fun rides.
- got down to the Con early to help Doug work booth. Amy dropped me off and went to find parking. Got on the floor by 8:30am with Exhibitor badge and walked floor with Doug for a bit, admiring artwork. Went back to the booth at 9 when floor opened to everyone else.
- watched Doug interact with some atheist/agnostic fans. Very graciously done. Planted a good seed.
- Doug's wife Angie came by and we talked about her days of airplane piloting (!).

- met a guy who made an escrima movie because he was inspired by Sockbaby. Nice dude.
- met a girl who is a producer for Xbox in WA. Another friendly person. Amy was there and we all had a good time chatting. She and Amy shared a "Mid-West Girls" bond.
- sold a lot of Doug's limited Earthworm Jim prints. Sold out of Jim, still had a couple Evil the Cat at the end.

- at the end of the day, we helped Doug pack up and took off for home! Had a great carnitas meal with the folks and bros.

There are many more pictures from our Con experience on Amy's Facebook, too.