San Diego '06 con post

Drew this sketch from the big screen projecting B.T's talking head. Never drew him live before, though we all did caricatures of him back at WB. He's not going to like this one. I'm gonna get it. Pencil, on those thin cardboard cover moleskin sketchbooks, post photoshop colors.

Ol'Bruce. As an exhibitor in prior years I was grafted to my table, unable to conscience not being there when someone buys my book or asks for me. I mean, man, it’s work just to be a visitor at the con. And costly! The blessed few who do search me out deserve to find me there, talk comics and gab drawing, this is the place for it, why I'm there. So, you end up not leaving, practicing bladder zen, or do the guilt walkabout hoping to shop but not getting far and return after a half hour. This year I had no table. Nothing new to show. Just a regular con-guest swarming with the rest (can you believe the circus this con has turned into?).

I was free to do something I never do: Attend a panel. This one is special, a Bruce Timm Retrospective. I read about him having one earlier this year held at the Egyptian, made plans to go but work got in the way. Actually didn’t even know this was going on at the con and if I hadn’t run into Dan Riba--an old friend and director from our Batman days--at my brother Louie’s table I would’ve missed it entirely.

Richard Daskas (another alumnus from our Batman days and a fantastic painter) and I sat down as the intros were done, “Bruce…warm, caring…yada…human being...” Richard and I had fun with the lackluster drum roll. Bruce came out and, this is good, he looks well. I had been concerned in recent years when he had lost so much weight, but today he was his old self. And from where I was sitting it seemed that he hadn’t aged. Oh, it might have been me, I wear glasses now and the big screen blow-up of him was a little hazy. But still, his energy was at it’s positive best. The whole thing was rather skimpy on clips for a retrospective but they only had an hour or so. The question and answer covered much of the same stuff that you’d already know, though good ol’ Bruce was sharp with the repartee as he’s always been.

It was good to see him again, though I didn't bump into him in person the whole weekend. Glen Murakami and I got to chat for a bit by Stuart Ng’s and I was hoping that Bruce was going to be around. “This is the worse place to catch up.” I agree. This convention used to be less frenzied and was really about comics not so long ago. Now, it’s big money raising a ruckus. Little folk can’t be heard above that. I left the con Sunday thinking about that. I’ll have to get a table/ booth again next year. Just so the guys can find me. Maybe I’ll be better at walking out from behind the table and stand there to talk a while. You know, about comics.