“We’ll carry bags full of rocks, so our arms will be as tired as they’d be in San Diego” – FoxTrot. As the second full day of the show rolls on, the sun seemed especially blazing and the convention center particularly warm on Friday. Coming off multiple nights out and a workout or two, I’m starting to feel this vacation but must party on as it’s all I know how to do. My first panel was Spotlight on special guest Bill Amend, who has provided family, science, sports and popular culture laughs in his cartoon strip FoxTrot since 1988. Amend doesn’t get out to SDCC as often anymore since his publisher no longer has a regular booth there but it was a full room and he took us through various strips, their origins and his growing up before taking audience questions. During an autograph session after, Amend chatted, signed and provided sketches providing 1993 me with glee.
On the show floor it was time to hit Rob Liefeld’s booth, the creator of Deadpool, Cable and the Extreme Universe, the man has had quite the week traveling to New York for the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere, getting caught up in the CrowdStrike glitch then coming right back to California for the con. Liefeld was in good spirits and is always good to his supporters. Gerry Conway, co-creator of The Punisher and co-writer of Conan the Destroyer was signing nearby and I picked up a print as he complimented my Commando shirt featuring Arnold. Over in Hall H, Alien: Romulus sounded like a highlight as they passed out full size face hugger masks to the audience.
Amazon was out in force with The Boys and Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power Hall H presentation. In the Exhibit Hall The Boys has a custom tee shirt activation while offsite LOTR hosted a shindig with cast signing. We popped over to nearby neighborhood Little Italy for Geeki Tikis takeover of speakeasy False Idol for their terrific, now annual celebration of tiki mugs, swag and Disney and Star Wars themed drinks. While you could spend the entire day and part of the night enjoying Comic-Con programming on comic books, movies, gaming, writing, art and so much more, a lot of folks go for offsites, some ticketed, some stand by. Hulu’s Animayhem featuring The Simpsons and Futurama allegedly had a 4 hour line while coveted ticket, The Penguin’s Ice Lounge, apparently caught on fire leading to heavy smoke in the area and a huge fire department response. It was a double strike out with Super 7 as their Dungeons & Dragons pop up had already closed for the night and their Ninja Turtles themed Mikey’s Pizza pop up had a line around the block.
Wise man say forgiveness is divine but never wait in line for stuff you can buy later.
