Ever been within inches of a passing semi truck on a busy freeway, whipping past at 70 mph? Even in your car, you get thrown around like a leaf? Yeah, that was SDCC for the remainder of the weekend.

While I’d love to share pics, I’m still on borrowed time — my flight back home departs TODAY, thus I can write to you all, but I have roughly 500 pictures to sort, weed out and organize into a functional blog. In the meantime, let me tell you all — California rolled out the red carpet, and I had THE BEST — excuse me, *ahem* THE BEST time at a convention since the Blizzard of 2003 during Katsucon. That’s no small feat.

This was geek Mecca. Direct your prayers of Dr. Horrible and new episodes of Eureka just south of the setting sun, folks. While no show is perfect, and Murphy’s Laws prevail, I will say that the positives of the experience far, FAR outweigh the negatives. In other words, don’t feel bad. Everyone else is broke too.

So, in the meantime (while I’m 30,000 in the air for several hours) here’s my take on:  FIVE THINGS I LEARNED FROM SDCC.

(1): No one in their right mind should ever move an event or convention from San Diego. It’s PRIME real estate. I’m not the man behind the wheel, so there’s no telling what the future holds — but I will say that San Diego embraced the convention with open arms, and there was PLENTY to do and see beyond the convention walls. Go to lunch at the Tin Fish restaurant. Get around on the trolleys. Check out the best damned reuben ever at The Field.  Speaking of fields, the Padres play at Petco Park right up the street (say what you like about the Padres.)  Even the train station is a photo op waiting to happen!

(2): Your Mileage May Vary.  And oh, did I rack up a few.  Now, you can actually stop and get a breather throughout a good portion of the con, you just have to be… creative about it.  And not have any hangups about sitting on cold floors, corners of huge displays or just around the corner of an artist table.

(3): You have to be extra special, determined or crazy (or maybe a heady combination of the three) to actually get the Rare Collectable Merchandise Given Out Only At The Con Wherein You Must Stand In Line For Several Hours For The CHANCE To Get It.

(4): Besides, there are scores of people hired just to hand out free flyers.  Save the earth, collect them all!  I bet you could fill a phone book with all the mini posters, cards, flyers, and extra bits.

(5): Some personal tips to share with you all:

-Bring a camera, and break a bank book on batteries.

-When you’re done packing, open your bags again, take out half the stuff you packed.  You’re not going to need it.

-Say “yes” to whatever absurd means it takes to get there, short of risk to person or possessions.  This place is worth it.

-Water.

-Plan ahead.  There is for even the regular attendees, four whole days worth of events to attend and people to see, things to buy (or have a conniption over whether TO buy) and while you CAN do it all in a day, if you’re around for the whole thing, space it out.  Get some rest.  Eat hearty.  Because TONIGHT WE DINE IN — *ahem*

I’ll be back with photos, folks!  Sorry for the delay, but right now it’s time for me to say goodbye to perpetually sunny San Diego!

(Oh yeah, and there was an earthquake yesterday.  Most bizarre damned thing I’ve ever experienced.)

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Ooooh, short comics! 

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“In the year of 2423, After Dominion Calendar…

 The Nation of Koltenia celebrates 20 years of peace, after a costly and tragic civil war.

But on the anniversary of the nation, four wild sorceresses gained possession of a mysterious relic.  Now a surly basilisk, an arrogant gorgon, a nerdy succubus and a spunky dark elf are all that stand between the ambition of the ‘Magician’s Nation’, and the recapture of the “Babel Star.”

 Whether to destroy, save or conquer a nation, they are “THE DEMON MAGES!”

It’s done!  By yours truly, the comic book debuted on March 28th of this year!  It’s a 32 pager, the first of a six issue miniseries.  It’s a labor of love and I’m too excited to not share the news!  Spread the word!  Issue 2 is already in production as well, that is slated for June.

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Sorry for the late post, folks.  Yesterday was an EXTREMELY fun and productive day, meeting with longtime favorite artists and some of my best friends, IRL and on the net.  This geek has found the ability to network and communicate is ESSENTIAL for success in artistry and in life in general!  Here’s to a great day in artistic geekdom!

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Like many people, when I come across a new web comic I start at comic number 1 and read everything they have. Sometimes it’s terrible and I’ll give up after a couple of strips and wander off. Mostly I’ll read through the whole archive and then see something shiney and wander off and forget about it. Once in a while though, I’ll read everything and love it, and it goes on my list. The plots: so ingenious! The characters: so complex and well written! The art: ok, sometimes not the best I’ve ever seen, but more than up to telling the story. I’m a big fan particularly of strong plots with a liberal dose of humor.

So I recently found a new webcomic, and I did what I so often do and hit the Wayback button. I have to tell you that I am hooked, and it’s all about character. Planet Karen has no plot, but it is big on Karen. In fact, it is her diary. It’s a daily slice of her life, and can be anything from a trip to get groceries to thoughts on a fall day, half remembered dreams, and conversations with fictional characters, or sometimes it gets more deep into her struggles with depression, discovering that she has diabetes, or her financial tightrope walk. In other words, just life. The tone is such that I kinda feel like she at least tries to keep even the disasters in perspective, which is nice in an age of rampant flame wars and blogged whining. On top of all of that, the art is quite good, and she is constantly developing new skills to refine her style, which I appreciate.

I can’t really say very well what’s so utterly compelling for me about Planet Karen. I guess I can relate somewhat to much of what she writes about. Man, if I had a dollar for every time the banks screwed me in exactly that manner, I might be able to actually pay their fees! I know exactly how it feels to be having a terrible day until some stranger smiles at me for no reason. I tried to explain to my mother what I find so fascinating about the glimpse Karen allows us to view, and my mother said “yep. People have days.”

I just wish I could draw mine out so well.

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