Back From Comic-Con!
Hello, friends! It has been a while! As of late, I have been busy, busy, busy! Besides getting ready to move next month, I attended Comic-Con International in San Diego this past weekend. It was a great time, so I thought I would share a few highlights!
I arrived in beautiful San Diego Thursday afternoon and headed straight to the convention center. Before heading out there I made up my mind to not purchase anything due to my impending move. So, I slipped by the dealer area (which is usually where I spend most of my time at conventions) and started the day off with the spotlight on Roy Thomas panel. The session was very informative and I finally got to meet Roy with whom I had worked on Alter Ego #102 (June 2011) with! He was just as nice as I had anticipated!
The rest of Thursday I walked around the exhibition hall and said hello to old friends in Artists' Alley. I also stumbled upon some amazing original romance art over at the Romitaman Original Art booth. I fell in love with the following Abel and Flessel pieces, but stuck to my guns on not purchasing anything. Discipline!
Splash page of "Wings on My Heart" from Our Love Story #16 (April 1972)
Creig Flessel One-Pager "Fate" from Young Romance #203 (January/February 1975)
Friday was another eventful day! The first panel I went to was the tribute to Gene Colan. I only met him once, so it was great to hear about him from his colleagues over the years. Marv Wolfman mentioned Gene's affinity for old movies a few times during the panel -- a point which I think really resonates in Colan's romance work. Overall, the panel was a fitting way to say goodbye to the recently departed industry great.
My second day in San Diego flew by and evening brought the event for which I made the trip out to San Diego in the first place -- the Eisner Awards! My grandfather, Mart Nodell was inducted into the Hall of Fame and I was there to help represent! There was a lovely dinner beforehand and my Dad and I were seated at a table with Jerry Robinson and his family, as well as the very talented Ramona Fradon. It was a fun evening and I was very proud to help accept the award on behalf of our family!
Saturday morning I had breakfast with Michelle Nolan, author of Love on the Racks: A History of American Romance Comics and collector, Dan Stevenson. The three of us had a nice chat and of course talked quite a bit about romance comics!
I even caught a glimpse of the comic book series I lettered -- Super Human Resources (Ape Entertainment).
I like my comics "Rare!"
The excitement continued on Saturday when I met Jim Steranko for the first time. Naturally, I had to gush over his only romance story, "My Heart Broke in Hollywood!" that appeared in Our Love Story #5 (June 1970). He was kind enough to tell me the story of its inception -- which I think I will save for another post -- stay tuned! He was so nice to talk to me for so long and I only regret that I didn't have a recording device on me.
Before I knew it, Sunday arrived -- the last day of the convention! After a short meeting with other women comic book scholars, I headed back out onto the exhibition floor. I "accidentally" made my way over to the dealer area and well... you can probably guess what happened next! Yup, I bought a few romance comics! I just couldn't help myself!
Annual Women Comics Scholars Meetup (From the left: Jennifer K. Stuller, Jacque Nodell, Trina Robbins, Candace West and April Murphy)
And just like that, Comic-Con International 2011 was over. I had a great time and I am very thankful that I was able to attend this year!