2007-07-31 - MOB RULE: COMIC-CON 2007

Whew!

Man, that was something.

As I write this, I've only just now returned to COMICS 101 HQ after a both exhilarating and debilitating five-plus days at Comic-Con International: San Diego. Easily a bigger crowd than last year, I'm putting my guesstimate at a count of 165,000, based on what this year felt like compared to last year. Curiously, all of the advanced sellout warnings put out by Comic-Con may have made things worse, as Wednesday night, Thursday, Friday and Sunday all felt like an exceptionally crowded Saturday, while Saturday didn't feel so bad in comparison. Although it may just have been that by Saturday, I'd gotten acclimated...

As I'm quite literally writing this while surrounded by numerous bags of Comic-Con goodies I picked up at the show, I don't know if I'll be finishing this year's CCI photo essay up tonight, so stick with me and we'll see where this goes.

This year stood out as a landmark for me personally, which I couldn't help geeking out over: my first year as a professional:

As always, I spent Preview Night working, helping manage the crowds at the Toynami booth, as the hordes converge to get their hands on all the year's action-figure exclusives. The crowds at Preview Night this year seemed heavier than ever, almost at the level of a Saturday. Within five minutes of opening we had a line wrapped around our entire booth, one that didn't disappear for the full three hours of Preview Night.

Obviously, this was taken before the floor opened...

We were in a busy neighborhood this year, with Mattel, Hasbro and Hot Wheels surrounding us. Hot Wheels in particular drew big crowds, thanks to the appearance of the Batmobile:

Speaking of Mattel, they had plenty of folks lined up for their Man-Bat and JLU exclusives, as well as to take a look at their brand-spanking new booth, a vast improvement over their displays of previous years. They had very cool dioramas for all of their superhero lines, such as this JLU example:

Also being shown was a forthcoming JLU box set, which will include both Gorilla Grodd and, in a surprising inclusion, the Red Hood!

Mattel also premiered their new DC Universe action-figure line, which will feature the Build-a-Figure trend so popular these days, offering a buildable Metamorpho as an incentive to buy.

The folks at Sideshow Collectibles didn't have quite as much really cool stuff to show off as in years past, but there were a few standouts, such as this amazing 1:6 scale Power Loader from ALIENS. I don't know where I'll put it, but this will be in my home someday:

There was also a little further hope of finally getting a full Fellowship of the Ring, with the introductions of Frodo and Sam in their 1:6 scale line:

Of course, there were plenty of visits by costumed types both professional and amateur, such as the appearance by HALO's Master Chief:

And speaking of HALO, Wizkids premiered their new HaloClix tabletop combat game, featuring their Scarab tank, which is about the size of a small endtable.

Another surprise from Wizkids? How about a HeroClix Starro the Conqueror?

Got the chance to make a few appearances in a professional capacity this year, always an exciting but nerve-wracking prospect. Here Ryall and I go over a few last-minute details before the IDW panel began on Friday morning.

El Jefe had plenty of news to break, with the announcement of IDW's acquisition of both the DOCTOR WHO and SPEED RACER licenses, as well as further details about the upcoming ANGEL series from SPIKE writer Brian Lynch, ANGEL: AFTER THE FALL, which will offically pick up where the TV series left off. Cool news for me personally was announced there as well, as Lynch has asked me to co-write an issue of the new series, an offer I happily accepted.

Later that same day was IDW's STAR TREK signing, manned by ST:TNG writer David Tischman, ST:TNG artist Casey Maloney, cover artist and all-around good guy Joe Corroney, and my brother Dave and myself representing KLINGONS: BLOOD WILL TELL. Only wish our artist David Messina could have made it, but San Diego is a long commute from Italy...

Come back tomorrow for the next installment of our Comic-Con coverage, which will include a look at what Hasbro, DC Direct and Diamond had to show, close encounters with Wil Wheaton and Matt Groening, and even closer encounters with a couple of unruly Klingons...

EMAIL THE AUTHOR | ARCHIVES