Date:    Mon, 8 Aug 1994 22:38:05 CDT
From:    "David R. Sanderson" <[D S S 1] at [UTAHUSI.BITNET]>
Subject: Conventions- (USA) SDCC A Short Report

   This is my report of the San Diego Comic Con, exclusively for Comics-L.
Mainly because I haven't taken the ten minutes I need to figure out how
to load files into my news reader.

   I'll keep this short, since I'm sure others will provide excruciating
detail.  Jerry Stratton has already written extremely detailed entries
for several panels on RAC.

THURSDAY:

   Flew in.  Drove out to Point Loma and scoped out the city.  Arrived at
the con around 4pm.  They were really nice about replacing my badge, which
I had managed to lose even before leaving home.  Found the Ciao! table.  Said
"Hi" to Jim Drew, who was hiding behind a false I.D.  Cruised the exhibit
hall for a couple of hours, scoping out what to buy before blowing my whole
budget at the first table.  Ate dinner with Jim, tyg, and a couple of the
other Netters.  Thanks to Jim for handing out the NET stickers for our
badges.  Between them and the Squiddie shirts they were pretty easy to find.

FRIDAY:

   Spent the whole morning in Horton Plaza with my cousin (she lives nearby.)

   Caught the last half of the making of The Mask panel.  Interesting stuff,
but poorly prepared.  Spent half the time watching the video being fast
forwarded.  Stayed (actually came for) the Babylon 5 panel.  Watched the
first half of the B5 blooper reel.  Good stuff, except I would have prefered
raw footage versus the more finished product shown.  Then they show an
unaired episode, the title of which I have forgotten.  Easily one of the best
I've seen.  Maybe JMS should write all his episodes while he has the flu.
Out of respect for JMS' request I won't give any details except to say,
watch the poker game with Londo very closely.  How they got past the censors
I'll never know.

    I think I wandered over to the Grant Morrison panel after that.  My
impressions of Grant:  weird, funny, weird, intelligent, weird, talented,
weird, great accent, WEIRD!  Free _Invisibles_ #1 for everyone there - Great!

    Cruised the big room some more.  Still didn't spend any money.  I'm so
proud of myself!

    Left fairly early.  After dropping off my stuff at the Doubletree, I went
for a walk around the neighborhood.  Interesting.

    My friend showed up after a day and a half of boozing and deep sea fishing.
Grabbed some pizza, and then crashed after watching the X-Files on the hotel
TV.

SATURDAY:

    Jeff, my friend, and I got our handicap stamp at disabled services.  Jeff
has a seriously broken foot.  The stamp came in handy later.

    Cruised the great hall again, still didn't buy anything.  Went to the
second B5 panel.  Saw the second half of the blooper reel.  Saw another
unaired episode (this weeks I think).  This show has a great creator, and
looks like it has a bright future, assuming the ratings hold.

    Waited for Jeff at the eating area for about twenty minutes.  I was
freezing my butt off, and we managed to miss each other.  So, I made a beeline
for Stan Sakai's table.  I spent at least fifteen minutes agonizing over which
pieces to buy from him.  Finally decided on a splash page from Space Usagi,
and two other original sketches.  At last, I spent a small fortune.  Just as
Stan was bagging up the drawings for me Sergio Aragones set up shop next
door.  I immediately hoped in the short line.  Sergio did a quick sketch of
the Sage for me on his Groo (Image) poster.  Both Sergio and Stan were
extremely nice.  Stan's got some really cute kids too.

   After a quick trip back to the hotel to drop off my purchases and to eat
lunch at Horton Plaza (the food at the convention center was EXTREMELY
expensive), I came back for the Trivia Contest!  Needless to say, the Black
Ink Irregulars dominated the competition.  Their victory was somewhat spoiled
by the fact that they managed to answer at least three questions involving
Image.  I was forced to boo them after the second one they answered.  8)

   One well noted creator, who I shall not embarrass by mentioning his name,
and his team were knocked out in the first round.  However, Len W**n did come
in handy confirming or correcting several of the quizmasters answers.  After-
all, he created quite a few of the involved subjects.

   More time in the great hall, without spending money (why was I there?)

   The evening ended for me at the Masquerade.  This is where our handicap
stamps came in handy.  We got in with the first bunch after only having to
wait about five minutes.  Jeff and I got seats on the front row at the
front of the stage.  Great seats, except we had to crane our necks a bit
to see the action at the back of the stage.

   Bob and Bob, and all the rest of the Bobs were great.  I had a great
time.  I was very impressed with the Predator and Alien costume team.  The
Wolverine toy gag worked extremely well also.  Being up front was great for
seeing detail.  Slipping costumes (can you say T&A), and the fact we could
tell the more masculine contingent among the female characters.  Which reminds
me, did anyone else spot Mr. Kissy-Huggy at the Doubletree?  I overheard some
rather interesting conversations in the elevator at the Doubletree.

SUNDAY:

   Did some real shopping.  I couldn't find much of what I was looking for.
No one had any early Omaha's or any Hepcats.  I found a couple Radioactive
Man.  I spent a few minutes at the Cartoon Books booth.  Met Jeff's wife.
She's a very charming woman.  I finally gave in, and bought a signed Phone
Bone figurine.  Now I'm dying for the Dragon and Thorn figurines.  Jeff
stopped by for about one minute, but rushed out before I could get him to
sign a flipbook.  One note about the figurines.  Check it before you leave,
if you buy it in person.  Apparantley the one I picked up first was the only
broken one they had seen, but they are quite delicate.  Phone's fingers on
his left hand had snapped off.  She asked me to check it before I left, so
it was no big deal.  I just grabbed another, and she marked the first box
as damaged and hid it away.

   The only panel I went to on Sunday was the ElfQuest panel.  I was lost.
Ever since Richard and Wendy started parsing out their creation I've lost
interest.  The more books, the less interesting I find them.  Anyway, Barry
Blair kep me amused with his facial expressions.  Jon Ostrander is working
on what sounds like an interesting book for Warp.

   Left for the airport about 3:30pm.  Waited in horrendous lines, and then
flew home.

   I very enjoyable trip overall.

   Dave


      .            .    It felt personal.  It always feels personal
    .  ..        .  ..    when someone tries to kill me.
  .     . .    .     . .    - Vila
..............        .  .    Blake's 7 - Redemption
David R. Sanderson .........  .........................................
Marriott Library, Univ. of Utah  <[D S S 1] at [UTAHUSI] OR [D S S 1] at [LIB.UTAH.EDU]>