Experiencing Comic-Con

I headed down to San Diego this weekend for Comic-Con, the largest comic book and popular arts convention in the world. Now, I have no clue about comic books outside of their movie counterparts, but this massive show sneak peaks movies and TV shows too, and has appearances by stars like Samuel L. Jackson who was promoting his video game Afro Samurai. So far I've seen Lost's Matthew Fox (so hunky), Matt Groening the creator of The Simpsons, Johnny Galecki of Roseanne and now The Big Bang Theory (he smiled at me) and Patton Oswalt from King Of Queens and the voice in Ratatouille.

Now, I was obviously expecting the show to be geeky, after all Friday was "Star Wars" day, but the people aren't just that, they are fanatical. Every other person was outfitted in outrageous costumes of characters I've never even seen before and they were practically running from booth to booth. The organizers had to keep yelling out "no running!" I also knew the show was a big deal, but there were sooo many people it was overwhelming and a sensory overload. The exhibit hall itself is an artistic explosion of colors, sights and competing booths. I felt like a very sheltered kid gaping at all the stuff on display and at the passing people. Really, I've never experienced anything like Comic-Con before.

While there I interviewed Chris McKenna the writer of TV’s American Dad and the upcoming animated film Igor by Exodus Films (video here). We discussed his inspiration for the story and the difference between writing for film and TV. Set to be released on September 19^th, the film’s characters are voiced by actors John Cusack, Molly Shannon, Sean Hayes, Jay Leno, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese and Jennifer Coolidge. I had the pleasure of seeing a rough cut of the cartoon and really enjoyed it. I had feared it was going to be a Nightmare Before Christmas type of flick, but I was delighted to see that it wasn't, since I'm not much of a fan. Igor on the other hand is actually funny and Molly Shannon definitely steals the show as Eva, the not so evil monster.

Meanwhile, over in the artists gallery, I paid $5 to have a quick portrait of me done by Frank Silas and while he was sketching my face, the guy at the booth next to him (Johnny Beware) started his own sketch of me for free. Here they are and their drawings:

Here are some general photos from the show: