Chicago

Well, I'm back from my visit to Chicago and the Wizard World comic book and pop culture convention. In some ways, it was the best time I've had there in my seven years of going; in other ways, it was the worst. There were some of the best deals I've seen: lots of dealers had half-price trade paperbacks, which is the main thing I look for at cons. I picked up a dozen or so. Most of the panels were a bit lame, but I did manage to talk to Brian Michael Bendis (currently probably the biggest name in comics) a couple of times, and in a way that should give me an "in" with him if/when I ever see him again. We had a great room in the hotel, a two-level suite that we were "upgraded" to for next to nothing, but unfortunately were almost kicked out of the hotel due to the loud, drunken partying of some of my companions. (I was in bed, trying to sleep at the time.) I got very little sleep over the entire weekend, but that's par for the course. I managed to drop off a submission at a couple of publishers, too -- keep your metaphorical fingers crossed for that one. I got a couple of cool sketches for my Martian Manhunter collection -- one a very cool colored sketch from Tom Mandrake, the former artist on MM's own now-cancelled comic. I spent a fair amount of money, but no more than I expected or planned to, and came home with about as much extra as I did last year. I had a great time talking and laughing with the guys for most of the weekend, too. It's my one real vacation for the year, and I look forward to it every summer, but I'm glad to be back home.