Gearing Up For the Con

Greetings faithful readers from your not-so-faithful editors. Shame on us. We know, we've slacked. We wish there was a good excuse, but suffice it to say life, work, travel, etc. have intervened. However, in the last week our mind has turned almost exclusively to comics.

For one, in years past when we went to Comic-Con were were a little unprepard. We knew which issues we wanted to get signed, but sometimes they were diffiicult to locate. Our filing system alphabetically seperated each title in one of two categories: ongoing or limited and cancelled series. That proved to be unworkable. So, about two weeks ago we merged those two cetergories into one. Then we downloaded a free copy of Comic Collector Live, a free software which tracks and organizes your collection, and allows collectors to purchase and sell to each other, among other features. Although we found the software a bit clunkly, it was still useful. Perhaps after more time using the program, it'll become more workable. We've yet to try any of the features beyond the organization of the collection. Now we have a grand total of 4125 comics, a respectable # but nothing that will win us any awards. It took us, on average, 3 hours to do 4 longboxes. What really slows you down are variant covers - do you have them or not? Noting signed comics is truly a pain, though we have relatively few of those so it wasn't all that overwhelming.

Comic-Con 2008 is completely sold out, so if you don't have your tickets yet and you are planning on heading down to San Diego, it's probably not worth your trouble. In all the years we have gone, we have yet to notice folks trying to pawn off tickets. Logistically, that would be difficult unless the person is selling the laniard and pass. This isn't like a Grateful Dead Show where you can just hope for a "miracle."

The Programming Schedule is up and complete. Click here to find out more. For our money, Sunday's pretty lackluster this year, so perhaps we'll plan a trip back to the Zoo, Wild Animal Park, Sea World or various museums. We've already got all day Monday as well, so it'll be a nice change of pace from moving like cattle through the convention center. Also be sure to check out the film pages too to help plan your visit.

Our signing plans aren't complete. Although DC and Marvel haven't yet published their signing schedules as far as we know, we've got our last batch of David Mack comics to get signed. This will get us through the present and all the random past issues we have acquired over the years (one of the positives of organizing the collection) Mack, for our money, is the most innovative artist working in comics today and a genuinely nice guy. Check out his Kabuki series, as well as work on a recent New Avengers cover. Mack will be at the Image booth.

Also at Image will be the Luna Brothers, creators of Ultra, Girls, and the Sword, some of the most originally and engaging comics of the last 5 or so years. We'll be sure to get some of their work signed too.

This year we got a hotel closer to the con. Last year we were out at the Sheraton. Although a nice hotel and on the free shuttle line, it was very far removed from the action. This year we happened to make reservations at the Sofia Hotel, an historic hotel about 8 blocks from the convention center. We're really looking forward to taking advantage more of the downtown core during this trip.

Now for the bad news: We're 75% sure that we won't be attending the con in 2009. Why? The cost of hotels. Between our flight and membership, we spent about $200. Our hotel- to be sure one of the most reasonable con hotels out there - is running $165/night + tax. After 5 nights, that really adds up. We're looking at international travel next year for about the same price. Depending on exchange rates, we may avoid Europe and look to Peru, Costa Rica or some other great opportunity. The con will still be there in 2009. All of this wouldn't be necessary if there were more competitive hotels in the mix. We firmly believe that the Con needs to move to Las Vegas, and not because we live there, but because of the amount of convention space (allowing the Con to grow) and the availability of rooms. Sure it'll be hot, but that's what air conditioning's for.

That's about all from us. Look for pictures from the Con, and perhaps even posting directly from the convention floor as Wi-Fi is free there this year.

Thanks for being faithful readers.

Regards,

Your Slacker Editor Mister Fanboy