My Comic Con 2011

Once again I headed down to San Diego for the extravaganza known as Comic Con. While movies like “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “The Immortals” were getting the big push from the studios (judging from the wraps done on the sides of the big hotels), I was more focused on the TV shows being promoted.

 

We arrived too late on Wednesday night to do little more than a walk through of the exhibit hall, which followed the layout of the previous year. Thursday I spent haunting the DC Comics booth, where writers and artists show up to meet fans, autograph books and sketch for free. I always hang around the DC booth much more than Marvel’s because while Marvel will have just one line featuring a few of their stars each hour, DC will have three or four going at once, keeping the lines manageable. My thanks to Dan Jurgens, Jeff Lemire, Norm Rapmund and Rafael Albuquerque for the additions to my sketchbook.

 

Of course, my number one priority at the Con was adding autographs to my various books. For instance, I have a book on the history of DC Comics signed by over 130 writers and artists that have worked for the company. I also have books on Marvel Comics, television and Batman, my favorite as I started with the signature of Batman creator Bob Kane 25 years ago and have been adding to the book with the autographs of people that have worked on Batman in comics, TV and movies ever since. Somehow though, one autograph has always eluded me… the signature of comics legend Frank Miller! Once again, I tried and failed, as they capped the line for Frank before I arrived at his signing. Oh well, there’s always next year…

 

But any sadness over that missing signature was washed away by my success at adding autographs to my “Lost” Season One DVD box. I was in time for the signing by Nestor Carbonell, who’s in the new CW show, “Ringer.” It’s a good thing for me Sarah Michelle Gellar didn’t sign, as I’m sure the line would have been around the block! Then Saturday, I added three more “Lost” actors to the box. To participate in Warner Brothers signings, you had to draw a winning ticket from a bag. If you did, they gave you a wristband, which got you into their booth at the appropriate time. I was lucky and got a ticket for “Person Of Interest,” enabling me to get Michael Emerson’s autograph and say a few words to him. I felt bad though, as I was planning to have the other stars of the show sign my TV book, but the security at the booth insisted I only have one item signed, even though it meant I would only have one actor sign for me. Well, the “Lost” DVD came first, of course. When I left the booth, the two guys in front of me in line commented on how badly the security guy had treated me and added that another actor from “Lost,” Mark Pellegrino, was standing near the booth. Unfortunately he had moved away by the time I looked around, but I later saw him in one of the upstairs hallways and he was happy to sign the box right then and there. Finally I had noticed that Daniel Roebuck, who portrayed the not long for this world science teacher Doc Artz on the show, was scheduled to sign free autographs at a booth, so I hightailed it there and added signature number four to the “Lost” box. Dan also gave me an autographed photo of himself (on which he wrote “Kaboom!” which I made me laugh) and spoke of a family film he has coming out called “That’s What I Am.” He’ll also be seen in an episode of “The Mentalist” next season.

 

Of course, my “Lostapalooza” didn’t end there, as I attended the  “Lost: One Year Later” panel and enjoyed the surprise appearance of “Lost” producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. Kudos to EW writers Jeff Jensen and Dan Snierson for turning over their panel to Darlton for the duration. Of course, the highlight was the showing of a never before seen “Lost” scene they code named The Marbled Rye. Check it out online if you were a fan of the show. Very funny!

 

Still, the one thing about Comic Con is making choices. Did I err by attending that “Lost” panel and skipping the “Green Lantern” animated series panel hijacked by Conan O’Brien, who answered questions and told jokes for 45 minutes? Should I have attempted to attend a panel in the gigantic but usually packed Hall H, which this year may have had a few empty seats, for the chance to see Steven Spielberg? Maybe, but it doesn’t matter. Because the truth is the thing that keeps me going back to Comic Con year after year is the chance to hang out with my friends in a city that’s full to bursting of people who love the same things I do!