Day 1 of ComicCon
A sunny morning greeted us as my husband and I hopped in a Lyft, bound for the San Diego convention center with four days of beautiful, diverse, nerdy-goodness ahead.
The first day, we spent acclimating to the CC vibe, spending some time perusing the main hall where hundreds of vendors were selling their wares. The floor was jam-packed. In order to get around, you have to ride the waves of fellow con-attendees with their intricate, detailed cosplay, whether the tide is going in your intended direction or not. While in a moment between the waves, my husband and I saw Greg Nicotero, one of the biggest players in The Walking Dead franchise. This was a huge moment for me as I’m a big fan of The Walking Dead! We didn’t interrupt his phone call, but I managed an ultra sneaky-selfie, haha.
We scoped out the turf and headed over to the Marriot Marquis for lunch where we were seated at the table next to Michael Uslan, the man who, in his twenties, did not see the Adam West Batman as the moody dark night he’d read about in the comics, so he made it his mission to purchase the rights for Batman, which he did! He’s now had consultation on every batman since Tim Burton’s renditions in the 80s. We didn’t interrupt his lunch, but it was super fun seeing him in person! Talk about someone who made his dreams reality!
One of the panels we attended was the Writers Coffeehouse, hosted by Jonathan Maberry and Henry Hertz. Jonathan, Henry, and Peter Cline host the Writers Coffeehouse in San Diego on the first Sunday of every month at Mysterious Galaxy bookstore and it’s a fantastic resource for writers of any level to learn from industry experts. After that panel, and with our friend James, we headed over toward the Omni to toast the start of CC with fellow members of the writing community. It was lovely chatting with everyone and while we were there, my husband spotted Ed Boon, the creator of Mortal Kombat. My husband, a HUGE fan of MK, was able to shake his hand and thank him for his work, which was pretty special for Sal.
MANY hours of celebrations went by before we all headed back to our Lyfts and called it a night.
Day 2
On the second day, my husband and I were strolling through the vendor hall where we ran into the one, the only, Fluffy! I’ve been a fan of Gabriel Iglesias for the better part of twenty years, so it was so freaking cool to get to meet him, even if only for a minute!
Of the many panels we attended, one of the most interesting and inspiring was the panel: Hispanic Creators and Retailers Discuss the Comic Book Industry Present and Future. The panelists discussed their journeys to reaching where they are and had some beautiful words encouraging the next generation to never give up on their dreams! The panel was great, but what became a bizarre roll of connected universe moments, was when we went to a booth where I was introduced to the Asunda series published Stranger Comics, which works with one of the panelists we’d just seen, Tehani Farr. Mind you, we maybe stopped at a total of 5 booths throughout all of CC, but the enormous image of a female warrior holding a blue sword drew me in like a moth to a flame. Here are two of the four images of Tehani’s that I ended up purchasing over the weekend:
While Tehani wasn’t at the booth, we were able to get the signatures on the entire stack of hardbacks from the writer Sebastian Jones. I ended up reading the first book in its entirety by the end of the night. It was fascinating and I’d recommend the Asunder series if you are a fan of dark fantasy. The creators described it as a more diverse Westeros, which feels very accurate!
The cherry on top of the whole weekend was that I was able to sit on my FIRST panel at Comic-Con. It was my honor to sit alongside Dennis K. Crosby, Kristina Grifant, Theresa Halvorsen Author, Jonathan C. Butler, Jonathan Maberry, and THE most amazing moderator, Billy James San Juan! We were talking about Diversity in Horror: From Creators to Characters and the positive changes we’ve seen change or that we would like to see in the industry. I brought up the projects I’ve been working on discovering my ancestral folklore and how I’ve made it my mission to have a variety of voices available to my students. This was a WONDERFUL opportunity and I can’t wait until my next panel! A HUGE shout out to my amazing friend Chris Bannor, for offering to tackle people in our way so I could make it to the panel on time! This activity did not take place, and we made it with plenty of time, but talk about a friend!!!
Day 3
We took it a bit easier on day 3, spending a lot of our time circulating the free items outside, eventually making our way to the Hilton Bayfront where we enjoyed the Horror Writers Association until the sun went down and the starts came out! What also came out were drones! On our way across the pedestrian bridge, Sal and I stumbled upon the drone show by Futurama over Petco Park! It was incredible! We’d seen these on tv before, but seeing the precision of the drones in person was absolutely jaw dropping entertainment.
Day 4
On the final day, I was determined to meet Tehani Farr, the incredible artist and what do you know? We caught her right before she was leaving her booth. We had an INCREDIBLE conversation about how she brings in folklore and historical artifacts into all of her works. She said that the print I bought directly from her, the one above and on the right, was the first one she drew for herself and after that, her career took off. I can’t wait to hang her pieces up in my classroom to use as inspirational pieces for my students!
Sal and I attended another couple of panels and before we knew it, ComicCon was at an end. We saw some amazing talks, met so many great people, had wonderful conversations, and were sufficiently sunburned.
Were you at ComicCon this year? What were some of your highlights? Let me know in the comments!
Thank you for reading and see you in the next post!
