William David Lee, ESQ.

A belated post, but a post nonetheless.

My shoulder hurt, my back was sore, and my feet were killing me. That's right, I was at a comic book convention. I hit up the first annual Long Beach Comic-Con this past Saturday. I should note that the LBCC has no relation to the more renowned San Diego Comic-Con. Most conventions are re-branding themselves as "Comic-Con" to capitalize on the success of San Diego's.

The main reason I attended was to do all the things I used to be able to do at SDCC before it became such a massive endeavor. Walk around the exhibit hall without feeling like a sardine, get my comics signed, gawk at D-list celebrities, and (most importantly) not have to deal with Twilight fans.

I was also hoping for better luck than the last time I visited the Long Beach Convention Center. This was back in 2004 when Wizard Magazine held the first Wizard World L.A. It was Spring Break and I bought a 3-day pass, looking forward to geeking out. Only I got crazy sick the night before. I was in a germ-induced daze and hardly remember even driving myself to Long Beach. I stumbled through the con for less than an hour (most of that time was spent sitting at a picnic table with my head down) before cutting my losses and heading home. I did get some comics signed by George Perez so it wasn't a total fail.



The set-up was pretty old school. No crazy, super expensive multimedia extravaganzas, just tables with toys, comics, and other cool crap on them. Only Nintendo had anything fancy with a carpeted area where people could play Wii and DS games. Best of all, Artists' Alley was placed in the center of the hall whereas SDCC has kind of shoved it off into a corner like it was an ugly stepchild. The main floor was miniscule compared to San Diego. You could walk the hall at SDCC for days and still not see everything while it only took me 15 minutes to walk LBCC and see all the booths. Also, the Long Beach Convention Center is kind of a dump. Sorry, Long Beachers.

I got some books signed by Jim Lee and Geoff Johns, but missed out on a few others like J. Scott Campbell because the lines were too long (which was something I wanted to avoid.) Other comic professionals in attendance included: Stan Lee, Marc Andreyko, Philip Tan, Scott Williams, Peter Tomasi, Jeph Loeb and Norm Rapmund. I did see Seth Green and Kevin Grevioux from Underworld (the man has an insanely deep voice) scoping out the Con. Thomas Jane was there, and just like at SDCC, he was walking around barefoot and chomping on a cigar. I don't think he pissed on the side of a hotel this time.

I hope the convention lasts and expands as a nice alternative to the hustle/bustle of the increasingly Hollywood-centric SDCC. I would like to see a deeper involvement next year from the major comic book companies.

After a brief hiatus, Wizard is bringing back Wizard World L.A., rechristened as the Anaheim Comic-Con, taking place April 16-18. Eliza Dushku will be there and as primary Eliza Dushku Stalker, you know I'll be there.

I didn't really take that many pictures, but here's a sampling:







More pics available on Flickr.