My God, It’s Full of Fans! – Thursday at SDCC
Well, folks.
After boarding a Greyhound bus at 4am this morning, I am happy to report I am alive... at the San Diego Comic Con. The largest convention of it's size, shape and flavor. It's madness.
I'm coming to you LIVE from room 6CDEF (it's a big room), where in just a few minutes STAN THE MAN LEE will be not but a few yards away from me, where I'm currently sitting against a wall stealing power from a water cooler. Oh yes, we here at Snap Judgments (who'm I kidding? Me here at Snap Judgments) are a class act.
To be honest? I've only been on site for about an hour and boy, it's overwhelming. I've been to four or so of these SDCCs and it just keeps getting bigger. Entering the Exibitor's Hall is like turning on every TV at 16 Best Buys to play your favorite shows and asking you if you want more. Already starting to get that nice around the eyes Con Headache(tm).
But aside from that I can tell you it's a good media blitz; it had been a long time since I'd seen a Real Live Booth from Marvel at SDCC, so it's nice to see... what amounts to some very large silkscreens, a few placed for people to sign (I'll be on the look out for Paul Jenkins and Dan Slott, but it doesn't look like Jeff Parker or Matt Fraction are here... or at least,with Marvel for an official signing thingie), a exclusive cover to that New Avengers where Elektra's a skrull... oh. And a BIG BOX marked Stark Industries. More on the box to come.
Meanwhile, Tokyopop managed to have a better looking set up than them. Go fig.
Keep your eyes here, folks! I'm reporting live from Comic Con this whole weekend and I gotta a camera. Hijinks should ensue.
Woiken’ for da Man
Oh, so you think working at a cmoic shop is all fun and games, now eh? EH??
Sorry, I've been lousy at coming home to a hot keyboard to actually type up all these notes I have on Preview Books since I've been tasked to slave away at a hot keyboard at work to help Metro Entertainment (SANTA BARBARA'S BEST AND ONLY GAME AND COMIC SHOP IN TOWN AT 6 WEST ANAPAMU IN THE HEART OF SANTA BA- ... sorry, I advertise on reflex now) hit the interwebs with an all new, all snazzy website. This goes ot show you: volunteering can sometimes bite you in the butt.
But! Never fear! Marvel may have Spider-Man as a raging vigilante in the night or a crying emo kid, but I have found the way and the light and it's called Annihilation: Conquest. Nothing like having good things to say to really revv up the ol' engines, right? I'm tired of being negative and enjoy the personal sense of satisfaction when a customer leaves with books I can guarantee are going to make his day.
Looking forward to stuff is nice.
More to come. (muha)
I Have the Plague
So, where the All You Need to Know for the New Avengers? The preview solicits? The pomp? The circumstance?
My deepest apologies, dear reader. I have been sick as dog these past few weeks and I promise things'll be back to normal shortly.
Whatever normal is ...
Wonder of Wonders
So... apparently when I press the 'Publish' button on the WordPress console in a rush to get my reviews (much snappier this week as I had about a short shift at work to digest them), it apparently sent them all to the mess that is my drafts. Good job, there.
So, probably today I'll post them back up but for now! I have exciting news. Yours Truely has hit the convention scene in style! I am current blogging from my posh and exclusive Hollday Inn room far above a rather cluttered and grimy parking lot to espouse on the virtues of WonderCon in sunny San Fransisco.
Now, I've been to Comic Con before and I have to tell you: if you really like comics and got the opportunity, come to WonderCon. It's on the small side, but boy, everything feels so trendy here. Panels are nicely placed so that you can cross-pollinate and catch as much as you can (point in case: opposite the room I was in for one panel, I caught the mention of Mike Mignola in the room adjacent and made a speedy getaway). People have been pleasant and everyone has rallied to the cry of enjoying their fandom. Even Brian Poeshn, whom I caught in the dealer's room making a phone call. Hobnobbing with the stars!
I've been to a bunch of different panels, from Dark Horse to Judd Winick to Star Trek and even made a wrong turn into a Masquerade workshop, so I will have tons more to report. But what I can say at the start of day two is this: despite message boards, despite angry letters, despite our own disappointments, fandom is great. I have met so many great and friendly and smart as hell people just by liking comics and that, no matter how popular culture paints the nerd or geek, we are at heart very awesome people. We are what makes comics great because without the fans, they would just be ink on a page. No matter how Quesada jokes about the 'Interfret' and doesn't like using the word fanboy, I think that embracing that love for Speedball or classic B horror movies and owning it is a far better way to go.
Be a fanboy. Hold your head up high. You are in some cool company.
Reach Out and Touch
The first time a 'Real Live Professional' ever wrote me was to correct that fact I'd called him Paul. I was mortified.
The second time was Lea Hernandez, commenting on something I wrote enough for me to go and find the nearest person and rave at them for this wonderful note I was left. Sadly, my fellow employees didn't get as big a kick out of Clockwork Angels as I did, so my glee was left unexpressed.
So now at my finest hour I come to you, dearest fanfriends, to tell you:
Hoorah!
No, really… Why Not?
At work on Wednesday, my boss is trying to get people ot pick up the new Spider-Man: Reign mini-series that he just might have over ordered on. "It's like Dark Knight Spider-Man," he lures customers with and for some, it works. Other want a little more info.
"Who's Kaare Andrews," one asks, leaving him to pause and think. I take the opportunity.
"Oh, he's done a bunch of covers, some one-shot stuff, do you remember the movie poster take-off covers on the Incredible Hulk awhile back? He did those, but I think this is one of his first big things as a writer and artist. In fact, he dedicated the book to Seth Fisher, who passed away-"
"Seth Fisher passed away?"
"Yeah! You didn't hear?" I fill him in on the sad story an we both agree that the art has a certain similarity. He buys the book. Another familiar face at the register asks about the book and I get to tell him how fascinating the book is without really answering any questions. "Just kind of one 'What?' after another, but in a good way really," I joke. Man picks up the book. Someone else who heard about the Seth Fisher dedication asks who he is and I show him a copy of Iron Man/Fantastic Four Big in Japan, which he buys.
Another customer asks as to how good the book is as well. "Oh, I haven't red it," the boss admits, "but the art looks really good."
"I read it and it's weird, but really good!," I call from the register, but am shut out of the Big Boy Conversation.
"Oh, and it's dedicated to an artist that died," my boss throws in.
It's been one full year today that I started this blog for exactly the above reason. I still have a lot to say, I still love comics and some one, somewhere, doesn't mind taking advice from a girl. I have met so many awesome people through this blog and I have read so much by some really incredible people, so of course, everyone on my right there? The link list? BLESS YOU! Thank you so much for your opinions, rants and reviews that get me off my butt and get me thinking and writing. Thanks to Graeme McMillan of the late Fanboy Rampage! and Dave Campbell of Dave's Long Box, two people who have no idea how much their sites made me go out and purchase webspace to do this blog. Thanks to Ragnell and kalinara for taking a peek this way and giving my little posts a shot on When Fangirls Attack and helping me create some hits. Thanks to the late 2 Guys Buying Comics and the current Calvin Pitt over at Reporting on Marvels and Legends for being cool.
And I'd like to thank the Academy- wait, what am I doing? It's a tiny milestone, but I thought I'd give it some fanfare.
All You Need to Know: Snap Judgments 2006
The holiday season and 2006 are winding to a close, leaving me to rock in a chair by the fire with a mug of mulled cider and ponder what to do for a year-end at Snap Judgments. I mean, everyone else is probably going to look back on the year that was, picking Best Ofs and trying to find just the right turn of phrase for 2006 (*psst* It's "Mega-Event"). But me, I'm coming up on my one year anniversary to ol' Snap Judgments and I think that needs a little something special.
After all, what's one more voice to the "ZOMG IM NAD CAP SUX!! MARVLE RAPED MY CHILDHOOD!!11" online masses? What is this all for? My favorite writing teacher in 7th grade made us read our essays out loud in front of the class and would blatantly ask, "So what?" when we were done. Why do we write? What are we trying to say?
If you take away one thing from this blog for 2006, it's don't buy books you don't enjoy. If you're not happy with the way New Avengers is going, if the new Blue Beetle just isn't doing it for you, whatever, don't get it. Tina Turner left Ike and look how far she's come, so don't take Ike back. Don't let heroes give you snotty looks. No matter how hard they try and shock you, dazzle you with crossovers and changes and mega events, it's all up to your wallet in the end. Time magazine may have chickened out and named "YOU" the Man of the Year, but Snap Judgments is naming "THE READER" the Best of '06. Because for every late book, shoddy editing job and ridiculous characterization, I have met good friends, good fans and paid my hard earned money for some fantastic books this year.Happy new year, True Believers.
Rise… like the PHOENIX!
Everytime I see that word, I just want to spell it the wrong way.
And where have we been, young lady? Well, from being rather ill these past few weeks to taking a note from Alan Moore and moving far into the countryside (though no, still no magic cave) where internet access is wild and untamed, the outside world has taken a toll on yours truely. But I swear I'm still reading these preview books and I have a BUNCH to say. So hang tight, True Believers and... whatever snappy phrase DC fans have.
Where Are We?
So. Not much going on weekly at the ol' homestead, eh?
I have recently moved from an apartment to a swanky cabin in the hills (teaching me just how many comics I have and it's not a pretty number), been taken in by two kittens (B'Elanna and Garak and, why yes, I am a huge nerd.) and... the fine folks at Blog@Newsarama wouldn't mind if I said a little something about the wide wide world of Marvel on a weekly basis. That has been a mindblowing offer that puts me with the likes of Graeme McMillan, the guy who ran the first comic blog I ever read, Ragnell and kalinara... heck, Newsarama is where the store manager gets all his info and BAM! I'm on it! Kinda. Family and friends got into the act, helping me name the site 'The Fifth Color' and so far, no one's banned me from the internets.
If things keep going well, I might even pull a 'Fifth Color Confidential' to explin why in God's name I rehashed that old topic and posted it to Newsa-FREKIN'-rama.
So, I'm still here, just going through some growing pains.
Thanks for watching.
Recent Posts
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Regaining that Smile
Okay.
I haven't been here awhile, mostly because I have been suffering from what I abhor to describe as 'comic hate apathy'. I mean, DC announced Gail Simone would write Wonder Woman the same week that Marvel revealed the supremely retarded idea of 'Civil War Chronicles'. As I sat there, with my mouth open at such an audacious idea as to reprint books that JUST CAME OUT in floppy form when perfectly good trade paperbacks are just hitting the shelves now just so they could show you what the real order of the books should have been and explain continuity errors that they were responsible for, I was in so much shock and awe that I simply walked away from the computer and played Guitar Hero. I felt like 'Sexual Chocolate' in Coming to America, just dropping the mike after the worst set on stage and just... walking away.
Now, for those of you not into the wrasslin', there's this guy named Shawn Michaels. A champ, the 'Showstopper', he was a pretty popular dude who gave this speech in about '97, basically saying that wrestling for a living had taken a toll on his life and body and he had "lost his smile", meaning that the thrill was gone and busting his butt just didn't do it for him.
I am fully prepared to admit that I honestly lost my smile for comics for a bit. I mean, I stil read them, I still got angry (What the hell is She-Hulk doing sleeping with Tony Stark?), but... just not enough to spew the right amount of vitriol on the screen.
And then I got a preview copy of the Sensational Spider-Man Annual. And it was like the clouds parted and angels sang and the smile was back. I will tell you now (and tomorrow at B@N's the Fifth Color) that this issue pressed every single joy button I had for reading comics. It was amazing. Spectacular, even (ha ha). It was the issue that I'd been waiting for, proof that I wasn't out of my head for wanting Spider-Man to have a cookie, some reward for putting up with all this overblown plotting. That no, kids shouldn't be killed wholesale to prove a book is 'really serious'. That heroes are heroes even out of the mask and, at heart, that is good enough for them.
And it's good enough for me. I'm done with all this 'hero vs. hero' crap. I'm done with death after death after death. I'm done falling through plot holes and negotiating with the stories to ignore inconsistency for just that one cool shot or line. I'm done because at least Matt Fraction wrote one story that proves I'm not the only one who's done with those things too.
Smile back in place, reviews are coming tonight. And Hell's coming with me! You hear?! HELL'S COMING WITH ME!