I realize it’s a couple days late, but here’s my report on Comic-Con International.

I just got back from the San Diego trip last night. I made a slight detour to Disneyland on the way home, so that’s why this report is late. And I am sorry to say it, but my con report this year won’t be nearly as exciting as any of the reports Dave gives for the shows he goes to. He always has lots of neat commission pictures, and he knows way more industry people than I do. As for me, I brought my family with me and so most of my pictures are of them. However, I do have a couple shots of celebrities who stopped by the Dial R Studios booth to get a look at The Guns of Shadow Valley:

Mark Sheppard from “Battlestar Galactica”, “Firefly” and “24″ (and his son):

Morgan Spurlock from “Super Size Me”:

I thought the show this year was a lot of fun, but there seemed to be way more focus on movies and television than on comics. I realize Comic-Con has been like that for the last several years, but this year it was more evident than most. A lot of the foot traffic was heading past book sellers on their way to the movie studio booths. A few vendors I spoke with said their sales were dismal, and a few people went so far as to say “Twilight ruined Comic-Con” because so many of the attendees were there just for Twilight panels and merchandise. I’m not sure I follow the logic of that complaint, but whatever, I still had fun.

We bought our 3-year-old kids a couple of toy cameras so they could take pictures at the show. After the page break is what Comic-Con looked like to my daughter…

(more…)

I can’t visit Chicago without having some of that delicious deep dish! After the show, I traveled with Andy, Pat, the effervescent Brian Defferding, his girlfriend and friend(sorry, names are escaping me, you know who you are!), to Gino’s East, my preferred pizza joint when at this show. They tell us the wait is 40-60 minutes but 10 short minutes later and we’re at the table. Pat is intolerant of the tasty deep dish, but Andy and I split a pepperoni supreme and it was delicious. The company was good, Brian and his friends were a nice addition and they had some fun stories to tell. Then on to the Hyatt. One great thing about having the show up by O’Hare Airport in Rosemont is that there is pretty much only one place that everyone goes to for after dinner festivities, so we can all rub elbows together. I meet lots of folks at the show floor but I also make many new friends after hours. Sometimes I’m stunned by how many people I didn’t see at the “Red Bar’, as it’s called , and then the next day, tell me they were in attendance all night! The theme for that night at the Hyatt: Kindergarten Teachers are Slu-huuts!! (you have to say it out loud.) If you want to know the full story, go ask Zack Kruse or Andy. (more…)

Saturday night dinner: Andy recommended Maria’s, a nice Mexican place just up the street. It was a great restaurant, elegant without being pretentious. The food was terrific in that slightly higher end Mexican style, but with really decent prices. The low lights and wondering musician with light finger picking on his acoustic guitar made for a relaxing atmosphere with a touch of class. We had a big group, a dozen of us that evening. The lively conversation was at times humorous and enlightening. Back to the Hyatt once again where I just have to give thanks to Zack and Ben for bringing your backpack to the Hyatt! (more…)

Sorry, no extensive con reports this time. I’ll just briefly state that I had a fantastic time at both these shows. The Guns preview book sold out once again at the Pittsburgh show. I got to see old friends and make some amazing new ones. I may never do two shows on consecutive weekends again, but this time around, no matter how exhausting, it was worth it. I did manage to get off a few snapshots in between sketches. Here’s a few to whet your whistle. The rest you can find on my flickr account.

If you live in Santa Barbara like I do, check out page 69 of this week’s copy of The Independent for a nice full-page spread about The Guns of Shadow Valley.

If you’re unlucky enough to live anywhere else, you can read the article online here.

-Jim