SFist Does the San Diego Comic-Con

One thing about events like these are the costumes -- we hadn't seen so much fetish gear in the daytime since, well, we left San Francisco a few hours before. Classic SDCC moment: a man dressed as a Klingon hurried down the convention floor. A retailer grabbed him and asked "How do you say 'hello' in Klingon?" The man responded with a guttural cough of some kind--presumably the correct answer. They both had a good chuckle over that.

AiT/Planet Lar is a San Francisco-based comic book publisher that publishes a number of great books, the sensibilities of which are decidedly different from most of what's out there. Notably, the publisher pre-released a book at SDCC called Smoke and Guns that was written by SF local Kirsten Baldock (who is affiliated with the great comic store Isotope, 326 Fell Street), with art by Brazilian artist Fabio Moon.

Publisher Mimi Rosenheim was more than gracious with her time and answered all of our questions, most of which had to do with the particulars of a comix company doing business in the Bay Area and what the advantages of coming to San Diego are for AiT/Planet Lar. They've been to the last 10 SDCCs, and exhibited for seven years. According to Rosenheim, the Comic-Con is a venue where "a volume of people and pop culture converge." She likened it to a big fraternity, but one of inclusion -- she noted that as the SDCC grows both in size and scope, both in and beyond comics, there's more diversity. She related that SDCC is a chance for attendees to connect with creators; indeed, AiT/Planet Lar had many of its creators (many of whom are locals!) represented at the booth, both for formal signing periods and just hanging out. Among the roll call of Bay Area denizens aside from Baldock are: Bill Harms, Kieron Dwyer, Rick Remender, Brian Wood, and Manny Bello -- and, of course, AiT/Planet Lar co-founder and chief visionary, Larry Young.

On being based in our beloved bay, Rosenheim said that the area is, "one of the perfect places to build a company that builds expressive and creative work." She indicated that the Bay Area is very open to alternate storytelling--not just capes and tights. Finally, as a smaller, independent publisher, Rosenheim stressed the value of being able to have a personal relationship with creators.

Todd Nauck is a well-known artist in the comix industry -- he has a very kinetic, engaging, and slightly cartoony style that we just love (check out his site!)--it seems to mix our favorite aspects of manga style with traditional American comics. He is currently writing and drawing "WildGuard," which is basically a story of what happens when you mix reality TV with 4-color superheroics, and is thoroughly entertaining. One of Nauck's current projects (there's a San Francisco hook in here, we swear, just bear with us) is "Teen Titans Go!", the comic book version of the Teen Titans cartoon. If you've seen the Teen Titans cartoon, which has been on Cartoon Network for a couple years, you may note that their home, Jump City, looks a lot like San Francisco; their home base (a shiny tower in the shape of a "T" on a tiny island in the bay) is more or less an analogue of Alcatraz. The traditional Teen Titans comic, from DC Comics every month, makes no bones about it -- San Francisco is where the young and hip capes-and-tights crowd flocks to. We totally feel safer!

The Amazing Joy Buzzards, by writer Mark Smith and artist Dan Hipp, was our undiscovered gem of the show. While the book has gotten some decent coverage lately at traditional comix hype sites, we hadn't yet had the opportunity to read it for ourselves. When we finally did at the show, we found it a real treat: just a good, rollicking time. It's the story of a three-man rock & roll band (and their mythical masked Mexican wrestler genie, El Campion) that travels the world playing rock shows, solving mysteries, and saving the day. The writing and storyline are clever and a touch whimsical, and the art fits the tone set by the plot perfectly. Imagine the Scooby-Doo gang, or maybe Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, with more introspection, modern sensibilities, and a dash of the old Beatles movies. No Bay Area hook here; we just loved it and hope that most people would too.

We again talked with Sacramento-based Daniel Cooney, writer and illustrator of "Valentine," as we did at APE. We had to ask Cooney his opinions of the big show, and find out what he'd been up to since April when we last spoke. (We also had to buy one of his books, as we promised to do in April and then flaked--it was well worth the price, and wish we hadn't waited!). This was Dan's eighth SDCC, and was pretty happy with his booth -- he had a prime spot, pretty close to one of the many entrances to the show hall.

Valentine is an ongoing series; the latest part of the story has to do, according to Cooney, with "choices people make without realizing the long-term effects." Now that we've read "Valentine" for ourselves, we can give you our impression: on the surface, it has some in common with La Femme Nikita; it's the story of a female assassin, though she's trying to move on. There's also a very sort of Western sensibility to it, though--the old gunfighter being drawn into a fight despite her wishes, mostly in an effort to help a loyal friend. It's great art and a thoroughly entertaining story.

Speaking of Westerns, Terra Major publisher Shane Amaya was excited to unveil "Gunned Down," a Western-themed anthology (10 stories for 10 bucks). All of the artists and many of the writers associated with this book are from Brazil, which is why the tagline on the promotional poster was "Westerns from way down south." Four of the artists showed for SDCC: the aforementioned Fabio Moon, his brother, Gabriel Ba, and another set of brothers, Bruno D'Angelo and Kako. The SF hook? A certain SFist wrote one of the stories in the anthology (we know, we know, self-serving much?).

Chronicle Books had a booth down at SDCC -- Laura Szkrybalo indicated it was a great opportunity to display products, included it's licensed D.C. Comics-related books, Pixar-related books (like "The Art of Finding Nemo" and licensed "Incredibles" products), a book on how to draw the Loony Toons, and the spooky-neato "Emily" line. Chronicle Books sponsored two author signings -- well known indie comix artist/writer Adrian Tomine, and Patrick McDonnell of "Mutts." Szkrybalo pointed out The Art of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion as another noteworthy item that SFists might have some interest in.

Speaking of spooky: Academy of Art University had an informational booth there, hyping its related programs (comic art, video game development, film making, etc). We're not afraid to admit we're scared of the Borg-like expansion of this local art institute, and hope that our aesthetically inclined future masters will continue to look kindly on such events as the SDCC. After all, we had a blast.

That was the bulk of our experience, which we were privileged to share with you. For more coverage of the Con (like if you want to know what Marvel, DC, and Image are up to, that kinda thing), we recommend checking out the combined coverage from Newsarama and Comic Book Resources. For one of our favorite takes on SDCC (and the comix scene in general) check out Heidi MacDonald's The Beat.