Comic Con 2010: Day 1
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 07:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
retsukoFirst of all, photos can be found here. Of course, I'll continue updating as the Con rolls along.
Day 1 started somewhat blearily, as decaf coffee really is no substitute for the real thing (but regular caffeine has to be rationed at the moment.) We ran several much needed errands before catching the trolley downtown. (The trolley is simply excellent, and I look forward to the day when it is actually convenient for me to use it on a regular basis.)
Of the three panels I attended today, two of them were literature-based and one was science-based. The science-based panel ("Iron Man and Rocket Men: Is Stark Industries an Appropriate Model for Private-Industry Space Exploration?") turned out to be very interesting and rather optimistic about the long-terms odds for continued space exploration, despite the current state of space science research funding here in the States. (In fact, there was general consensus amongst the panelists that space tourism would eventually become a financially accessible thing for many more people than it is now, and that private industry would help advance the cause much further than current government projects.) The literature-based panels were both equally interesting, but veered into dangerous conversational territory towards the ends. Each panel consisted of at least seven authors, which was one too many; I think the conversation would have been much more focused with just five. However, both panels produced interesting observations from their authors, and (as I expected) left me with a long list of new books to get my hands on.
[Short note: For the record, contrary to my previous impressions, Lev Grossman (author of The Magicians) does not appear to hate children's literature, or C. S. Lewis. I think he just wanted to push a lot of buttons.]
There was one especially awkward note in "The Power of Myth" discussion, though: one audience member asked how what the authors were doing was any different from fanfiction. (It had been established that all the authors had taken established mythological characters and rewritten their stories.) After a short moment of awkward laughter, and then silence, one author spoke up and said he thought the difference was "quality". An angry buzzing murmur went up from the audience, but before anything could happen, the moderator hastily ended the panel. The eternal fan/creator crisis was narrowly averted.
I also spent today doing one of my favorite things at the Con: walking the Small Press, Independent Press, and Artists' Alley areas. I got to chat with Ryan Clayton of Elephant Eater Comics who is kind enough to remember my name despite the fact I only see him once a year. He's turned his master's thesis into a combination essay/comic special release, and I am looking at a copy of it right now. I also met Tammy Stellanova, whose work is a beautiful and wonderfully detailed combination of comic narrative and scientific animal observation. Another great artist who patiently answered all my questions was Richard Peter Han, whose work is inventive, dynamic, and funny, without being forced or contrived. Finally, I commissioned a sketch from the always awesome Tracy Butler, who I think could get away with (read: should be) charging a lot more for her personality-filled and inspired drawings.
The running theme I've been overhearing this year in conversations between fans and artists, in practically every area of the Con, is "So, what's your day job?" Tammy Stellanova, for example, takes on commissions of pet portraits and freelance magazine work, all so she can keep on drawing for a living. But I've also heard it on the lips of people who I thought were seasoned professionals, veterans of the industry. This is somewhat sobering, because one of the things the Con always leads me to is the thought that being creative and living a creative life producing what you love should be its own reward. But this year, that idea's being sorely tempered by economic concerns. Still, I can't escape the fact that everywhere I turn at the Con, someone's reading something, or drawing something, or talking about something they've seen, read, or drawn. And I get this feeling in my heart that all's right with the world, money woes be damned.
Tomorrow: Moto Hagio panel! Girls Gone Genre panel! Hopefully meeting more of my favorite webcomic authors! More photos! More fighting with my wallet! Stay tuned!
Day 1 started somewhat blearily, as decaf coffee really is no substitute for the real thing (but regular caffeine has to be rationed at the moment.) We ran several much needed errands before catching the trolley downtown. (The trolley is simply excellent, and I look forward to the day when it is actually convenient for me to use it on a regular basis.)
Of the three panels I attended today, two of them were literature-based and one was science-based. The science-based panel ("Iron Man and Rocket Men: Is Stark Industries an Appropriate Model for Private-Industry Space Exploration?") turned out to be very interesting and rather optimistic about the long-terms odds for continued space exploration, despite the current state of space science research funding here in the States. (In fact, there was general consensus amongst the panelists that space tourism would eventually become a financially accessible thing for many more people than it is now, and that private industry would help advance the cause much further than current government projects.) The literature-based panels were both equally interesting, but veered into dangerous conversational territory towards the ends. Each panel consisted of at least seven authors, which was one too many; I think the conversation would have been much more focused with just five. However, both panels produced interesting observations from their authors, and (as I expected) left me with a long list of new books to get my hands on.
[Short note: For the record, contrary to my previous impressions, Lev Grossman (author of The Magicians) does not appear to hate children's literature, or C. S. Lewis. I think he just wanted to push a lot of buttons.]
There was one especially awkward note in "The Power of Myth" discussion, though: one audience member asked how what the authors were doing was any different from fanfiction. (It had been established that all the authors had taken established mythological characters and rewritten their stories.) After a short moment of awkward laughter, and then silence, one author spoke up and said he thought the difference was "quality". An angry buzzing murmur went up from the audience, but before anything could happen, the moderator hastily ended the panel. The eternal fan/creator crisis was narrowly averted.
I also spent today doing one of my favorite things at the Con: walking the Small Press, Independent Press, and Artists' Alley areas. I got to chat with Ryan Clayton of Elephant Eater Comics who is kind enough to remember my name despite the fact I only see him once a year. He's turned his master's thesis into a combination essay/comic special release, and I am looking at a copy of it right now. I also met Tammy Stellanova, whose work is a beautiful and wonderfully detailed combination of comic narrative and scientific animal observation. Another great artist who patiently answered all my questions was Richard Peter Han, whose work is inventive, dynamic, and funny, without being forced or contrived. Finally, I commissioned a sketch from the always awesome Tracy Butler, who I think could get away with (read: should be) charging a lot more for her personality-filled and inspired drawings.
The running theme I've been overhearing this year in conversations between fans and artists, in practically every area of the Con, is "So, what's your day job?" Tammy Stellanova, for example, takes on commissions of pet portraits and freelance magazine work, all so she can keep on drawing for a living. But I've also heard it on the lips of people who I thought were seasoned professionals, veterans of the industry. This is somewhat sobering, because one of the things the Con always leads me to is the thought that being creative and living a creative life producing what you love should be its own reward. But this year, that idea's being sorely tempered by economic concerns. Still, I can't escape the fact that everywhere I turn at the Con, someone's reading something, or drawing something, or talking about something they've seen, read, or drawn. And I get this feeling in my heart that all's right with the world, money woes be damned.
Tomorrow: Moto Hagio panel! Girls Gone Genre panel! Hopefully meeting more of my favorite webcomic authors! More photos! More fighting with my wallet! Stay tuned!
