Change of Plans--Wednesday Comics #1

I had every intention of posting my analysis of a Queen & Country page today, but it occurred to me that the longer I go without reporting on the C2E2 con, the less relevant what I have to say becomes. With that in mind, a brief report.

Overall, my experience was positive, but the con's main negative is the reason for my post, and it has to do with two of DC Comics' panels on Saturday.

The Brightest Day panel--the first DC panel of the day--was good fun. Even though there wasn't much in the way of news, the members of the panel did their jobs, in as much as they got us excited about what we are reading now and what we will be reading in the weeks and months ahead. The participants were lively and engaged, and I confess to being a fan of the comedy stylings of Ian Sattler.

But the second panel...that's where it went wrong. This was the DC Universe Editorial presentation, which was to be hosted by newly crowned Co-Publishers Dan Didio & Jim Lee and the new Chief Creative Officer, Geoff Jones.

And none of them showed up. There was neither acknowledgment of nor explanation for their absence. What's even stranger is that there was no mention of their absence in the press on the event.

Now, the guys I was with and I might have missed an announcement about this. Maybe there was a posting at the DC booth. If so, then you can all ignore this rant. If not, then can SOMEONE please explain to me why the new "Big Three" were no-shows? This is a brand new show in Chicago, and it behooves the publisher to have its heavy hitters running what should be the company's biggest panel on what is supposed to be the busiest day of the convention. Sattler and company did well enough (kudos to James Robinson and his surliness), but with the panel already being disappointing on the level of expectation, the seeming lack of concrete news combined with the fans' questions made for a less-than-enjoyable experience.

By the time my friends and I showed up for DC's third panel of the day, there were less people in the audience, and rightfully so, since there was a grand total of 3 people who showed up to present at the panel. (Note: Gail Simone did walk in after the panel started, and while she's one of those people who makes EVERYTHING better, we only had two hours left in the day. We wanted to get more out of our con than the same old fan questions.)

I was really pissed about the absence of the new heads of DC, and it's all but passed. I just want to know why it happened. If you've run across this entry and can put me in the wrong for being pissed, please do.

The rest of the con met or surpassed my expectations, and by all reports a successful launch for Chicago's newest show. There were plenty of guests, and, almost as important, there was plenty of room for everyone to move around. I got to meet Jonathan Hickman (who promises indie work in the not-too-distant that will surpass The Nightly News in design, which excites me no end), Mike Mignola (who seemed fine that no one was in line for him), and Ben Templesmith (who I've been waiting to meet for some time, and was impressed with how I held myself together). I also got the chance to see Carla "Speed" McNeil (who generously sketched Tara Chace for me) and Steve Bryant again, Steve in particular always being a great guy to chat with. Check out the "Support Athena Voltaire" and "Atomic Tiki Studio" links to the left to see some of his art and support his Kickstarter campaign.

More importantly, I did the two things I wanted to do that day. First, I kept my spending well in check. Second, Brian Hurtt did a fantastic sketch of Queen & Country's Paul Crocker (the young version) to add to my collection. Check it out here.

Most importantly, I went with my good friends Brad and Mark. And ultimately, they're the guys that made this whole thing fun.

Until next time, everybody. Next week: the analysis of the Q&C page, as advertised.

Read: The Engineer: Konstrukt, by Brian Churilla & Jeremy Shepherd

Watch: Going in Style (dir. Martin Brest, 1979)

Listen to: Big Fun, by Miles Davis

Eat at: Beefaroo