Oy gevalt…
We’re mobilizing back to base. Everything is packed up at B.L.A.R.D. The mobile transmitters, the latrines, the Medivacs. Nothing left to do but write this journal as we listen to the lonely whistle of a train down the way.
Was it a successful expedition? Yes, and no. A lot of shit happened. A lot of shit that shouldn’t have happened. There was triumph, and tragedy. Stupidity and lucidity.
Saturday night, at the swanky EW/Sci-Fi party that we’ll probably never get into again, we ran into our old pal Steven Zeitchik, who is a ninja reporter for The Hollywood Reporter now. He’s there to cover show biz, the subject of Comic-Con, not our own little pasteboards and mini-comics. He’s also covered Sundance and Cannes, the other legs of the show biz triathlon. We asked how it compared. He pointed out that those last for 10-15 DAYS. Not four. He mentioned that at those events, you have time to do nothing but sit and watch a movie. At Comic-Con, it’s go, go, go, go, and whatever you happen to be doing, you’re missing 19 other things.
There was a sense of acceptance at this show. Everyone knows it’s too big and too crowded and too frantic. Everyone just goes with their own little flow now.
I think comics did okay, despite it all. I think great cartoonists still had their time to shine, and our own viral marketing campaign has been way too successful for our own good. I have some actual thoughts on this topic, but they’ll have to await a good night’s sleep to be put into coherent form.
We’re still recovering from too much information and stimulation. A long plane ride is ahead of us. With any luck, we’re flying home as you read this.
We want to send shout outs to our good buddies and two awesome people Laurel Maury and Andy MacDonald. A shout out also to Future Mr. Beat, Ben McCool, who endured all the ups and downs that Comic-Con can deal. And big thanks to the PWCW crew, Calvin, Laura, Douglas, Kai-Ming, Jody, Ed, Erin and honorary member Noah. Big thanks to Ralphs for the tasty pumpkin pie which we ate as a nightcap every evening. Big ups also to Trish (always), her nephew Michael, Anina, Paul, Charles, Larry, Tanya, Richard, Ben, Lorelei, Chappie, Nisha, Ed Douglas, Frank 3, Frank 2.3, Nelson, Jimmy, Amanda, Jimmy A., Ivan, Kristyn…well, you know there are always too many people to name. Anyway, thanks to you all. Let’s do it all again next week!
07/29/08 at 10:34 am
This was a great little passage, Heidi. Of all the stuff I’ve seen about the Con over the years, this one made me feel for one moment like I knew something about what happens there.
What do you mean by your own viral marketing campaign? Did I miss this? I thought I was a loyal Beatizen? Have I been skimming excessively? I also find that I don’t really know what you mean by B.L.A.R.D., so maybe I am just not paying attention well enough.
Sit me in the back of the classroom.
07/29/08 at 10:42 am
One suggestion, for the BLARD debriefing later in the week:
Find someone not at the con, someone holed up in the BLARD secret bunker located beneath the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, who can monitor Google News and other websources for breaking news, interesting opinions, and better photos. Or activate your network of informants, set up a special email box accessible from your WiPhone, and scan nonchalantly while in the ladies room or in line at Ralph’s.
The PW Crew did a great job of reporting! Almost as good as being there!
07/29/08 at 2:35 pm
I figured out BLARD. Go me.
If the Con moved, would they closed San Diego? Isn’t that why they opened San Diego? If the Con closed, they’d have to get that cop from South Park to stand around and say, “Nothing to see here folks.”
Or is he in The Simpsons?
07/29/08 at 4:46 pm
hey, i’m Jimmy A! thanks for the shout out, heidi. always great to see you and hang. my con report will be forthcoming as my laptop died and ive got our big 150TH episode recording tonight.
07/29/08 at 5:37 pm
Who are the people in the picture?
07/29/08 at 8:33 pm
Wendy Pini, Jim Shooter and Gary Groth.
07/30/08 at 4:26 pm
That’s (left-to-right) Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos, and Fábio Moon. At least I think that’s Fábio– his twin brother Gabriel Bá was sporting a beard, as I recall.
07/30/08 at 6:38 pm
[…] Random Comics News Story Round-Up * a freelance cartoonist named Jim Hope has lost his gig due to claims of plagiarism over a similar cartoon by Nate Peeler. I’m sure there’s a ton of material out there about this if you want to go look, but I’m not certain there’s a lot to discuss. I’m probably as sympathetic as anyone out there to the concept of two people telling the same joke, and I think it happens a lot more frequently than people want to say it does, but the structure of the picture and the phrasing here is close enough that I don’t think I’d want to work with the second cartoonist again, either. * here’s a summary article in English on the Sine situation at Charlie Hebdo: “I would rather cut off my balls” is going to be my way to refuse anything and everything from now on, down to and including passing the salt at dinner. * this well-traveled link of unflattering moments from autobiographical comics is worth your time, well-selected and well-presented. I think there needs to be a re-appreciation of Jim Woodring’s Jim comics, pronto. * Mo Willems, Radio Cartoonist * <a href=”http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/07/29/oy-gevalt/” title=”this post by Heidi MacDonald at her The Beat”>this post by Heidi MacDonald at her The Beat allowed some things to click in place for me: the reason I may be so disinterested in the Hollywood portion of Comic-Con International is that it’s almost all about trailers and marketing; the comics side has some anticipatory news, but it also has the art itself. If the entire comics part of that show were nothing but those weird Marvel and DC panels where editors and marketing people and certain creators being glared at by them talk in vague terms about their future plans for the Paladin and Blue Devil or whatever, I wouldn’t enjoy the comics side of things very much, either. * “… cartoonist Ralph Steadman singing about cannibalism…” * I found this story about Parkinson’s disease making it so a cartoonist can no longer draw very sad. * I’m not sure if this was covered earlier and I just forgot, but Jamie Quail, the studio and publicity coordinator at Drawn and Quarterly, sent out a brief note on Friday saying she was leaving the company. Her last day is today: “I’m writing to let you all know that my last day at Drawn & Quarterly will be this Wednesday, July 30th. After some very inspirational four years here, I am moving away from Montreal to work on an MFA in visual arts. “I couldn’t have been more lucky than to have had the opportunity to work with you all — artists, distributors, journalists, organizers at various cultural institutions, translators, book-sellers, and everyone in between — and I’d like to thank you for all of your work, which has made this such a rewarding experience.” I don’t know as of this writing (it’s the middle of the night) if the company is going to bring someone else on board or move folks around or both, and as I recall the late summer is their typical vacations period so maybe we won’t know until Fall. Jamie was a very nice person with whom to work, and this site wishes her all the best. * I felt bad about having no links in my post yesterday about Comic-Con International 2008, so I went back and added a bunch. I also added about 8-10 new comments. * finally, is this the greatest San Diego Con photo ever? […]
07/30/08 at 7:24 pm
[…] Collective Memory: CCI 2008 Links to stories, eyewitness accounts and resources concerning Comic-Con International, held July 24-27 with a July 23 Preview Night at the convention center in San Diego, California. This entry will continue to be updated for as long as people ***** Institutional Convention Physical Location Host City Blog Entries Blog@Newsarama Notes 01 Blog@Newsarama on Darwyn Cooke Buzz Bags Chebutykin Collected Comics Library 00 Collected Comics Library 01 Collected Comics Library 02 Collected Comics Library 03 Collected Comics Library 04 Collected Comics Library 05 Dave Ferraro D&Q 01 D&Q 02 D&Q 03 D&Q 04 D&Q 05 D&Q 06 Good Comics For Kids 01 Good Comics For Kids 02 Good Comics For Kids 03 Good Comics For Kids 04 Good Comics For Kids 05 Ian Brill Irene Gallo 01 Jarret Kobek Jim Emerson Kelly Kilmer Major Spoilers on Moving The Show Matt Silady MetroMix Los Angeles Randy Lander 00 Randy Lander 01 Randy Lander 02 Randy Lander 03 Randy Lander 04 Randy Reynaldo Rick Marshall Rick Marshall on Joss Whedon Rick Marshall on Rick Geary Scott Edelman: Thursday Quickie Scott Edelman: Thursday Scott Edelman: Friday Quickie Scott Edelman: Friday Scott Edelman: An Encounter With James Owen Scott Edelman: Moo Scott Edelman: Sci-Fi Saturday Night Sean T. Collins Suvudu.com 01 Suvudu.com 02 The Beat 01 The Beat 02 The Beat 03 The Beat 04 The Beat 05 The Beat 06 The Beat 07 The Beat 08 The Beat 09 The Beat 10 The Beat 11 The Beat 12 The Beat 13 The Beat 14 The Beat 15 The Beat 16 The Beat 17 The Beat 18 The Beat 19 The Beat 20 The Beat 21 The Beat 22 The Beat 23 The Beat 24 The Smart Set Todd Klein on Wednesday Todd Klein on Saturday Todd Klein on Sunday Todd Klein on Thursday Todd Klein on Friday 01 Todd Klein on Friday 02 Tom Neely Valerie D’Orazio Zander Cannon Message Boards and Chat Rooms News Stories and Columns Big Shiny Robot! Index ComicMix CBR: David Glanzer CBR: David Glanzer 02 CBR: Matt Furie CBR: Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba, Becky Cloonan Cinematical Hub Greg Burgas Haaretz.com ICv2.com Summary ICv2.com: David Glanzer Interviewed LA Times General Article NPR PopCultureGeek Preview PW PW 02 PW 03 Reuters THR on Preview Night USA Today Audio TwoMorrows Preview Podcast Photos Blog@Newsarama Preview Night Chris Butcher ComicMix Coming Soon Jarret Kobek Kevin Church Rick Marshall Scott Edelman Miscellaneous 5 Reasons To Be Glad You Didn’t Go 50 Jewish Reasons to Attend CCI Article on Comics Movie Influential Folks Barry Windsor-Smith’s Eisner Hall of Fame Acceptance Speech Cliff Chiang’s SDCC Sketches Guide to CCI Jokers Kevin Church Comedic Commentary Pop Candy Giveaway Pre-CCI Hype Round-Up Remember 1971 Seuling Con In Light Of ‘08 CCI Variety Re-Run (?) on Moving the Con Videos Ali Kokmen Rallies The Trops Kevin Smith Vs. Comic-Con Virgin ***** ***** ***** […]
07/31/08 at 12:49 pm
Spurge—>too many drugs?
~chris—thanks. Recognized Becky’s face, but couldn’t put a name to her. Had no clue about the guys.