San Diego Report.

It was a fun trip to San Diego this year. This was the first time that I've ever stayed less than 2 miles from the Convention Center. We were right next door in the Marriott. A very special thanks to Ray for organizing the accommodations, and to SCAD for picking up the tab. Easily the fanciest hotel pool I've ever graced:

The weather was really great. It was nice not being sweaty and hot all the time. A nice cool breeze is something that we never get in Savannah.

Although the convention was sold out on Friday and Saturday, I think the crowds were actually smaller than previous years. Maybe the organizers restricted the number of attendees or people just didn't come because they were afraid of the massive crowds. Who knows. Keep in mind that it was still too crowded to move around. It takes more than 30 minutes to walk from one side of the convention to the other.

As per tradition, I have a lovely shot of Rob Liefield's sad eyes.
If you see Ray ask him about the Rob Liefeld bathroom incident.

Speaking of Ray, we got to go to the Warner Brothers party, which was really fun. That's Anna with Ray - she's working at Cartoon Network on Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. I didn't want to use a flash in the party, so that's why the pic is so dark.

I must thank all of the SCAD students/Alums/Faculty who helped work the SCAD Press table. Next year we're going to have a big honkin' booth. It was great to sell students mini-comics (I'll be returning profits and unsold books to their owners soon, so don't worry). We had countless helpers. Andrew, Hunter, Justin, Chris, Jamie, Doug, Kevin, and many others. If I've forgotten to list you, then please let me know. The biggest award goes to Geoff for being there whenever he was needed and picking up everyone's slack and being the best seller for out table. If you see Goeff tell him he's a great fellow indeed. Here's shot of Hunter and Justin at the table.

I managed to come away from the convention with these goodies:
- Flight Vol. 4 (thanks Kazu!)
- Scott Pilgrim by Brian Lee o'Malley
- The Clarence Principle by Fehed Said & Shari Chankhamma
- The new Chris Sanders sketchbook
- The Effigy Mound (new Sam & Max Sketchbook) by Steve Purcell
- The Replacement God (ironically it's replacing a copy that I lent out) by Zander Cannon
- Black Cherry by Doug TenNapel
- When I Die I'm Going to Mars by Shannon Wheeler
- TMNT Artobiography by Kevin Eastman (who actually wrote 'cool beans' in my book).
- Sky Doll by Alessandro Barbucci
- A cool Cartoon Newwork Bag (thanks Anna!)
- The Penguin Book of Comics - an old 1960s history of comics. What fun!
- Some other stuff I'm sure...

I'm glad to be back in Savannah with Kristie (who's working hard on getting her September show together), but I wish the weather here was nicer. Compare this shot from last night to the San Diego pictures above: