For San Diego Comic Con International, 2009

Thursday, July 23rd

• 11:45 to 12:45 - Superman Panel (Room 6DE)


• 1:00 to 2:00 - Signing, DC Comics Booth


• 3:00 to 4:00 - Oni Press Panel (Room 10)


• 4:00 to 5:00 - Prism Comics Panel (Room 32 AB)

Friday, July 24th

• 12:30 to 1:30 - Bat(wo)man Panel (Room 6DE)


• 2:00 to 3:00 - Signing, DC Comics Booth


• 3:00 t0 4:00 - DC Nation Panel (Room 6DE)


• 4:00 to 5:20 - Signing, Oni Press Booth

Saturday, July 25th

• 11:00 to 12:00 - Signing, DC Comics Booth


• 12:45 to 1:45 - DC Editorial Presentation (Room 6B)


• 2:30 to 3:50 - Signing, Oni Press Booth


• 6:00 to 7:30 - Gays in Comics Panel (Room 6DE)

Sunday, July 26th

• 10:30 to 11:30 - Signing, DC Comics Booth

All times and locations are subject to the vagaries of con-ness. If I am not where I am supposed to be when I'm supposed to be, I beg patience; negotiating the floor and the hall can be a bitch-and-a-half, and getting from Point A to Point B through an ocean of humanity often takes more time than I'd like.

I will attempt to keep this blog, and my website, updated as to any changes.

Now, then...I promised some Cully goodness a couple days back.

( I aim to deliver. )

Enjoy!

In Dallas, and, uhm...it's insanely hot, and it's 11:30 at night, here. I can feel my pale and moldy PNW flesh already beginning to shrivel.

Be that as it may...some very, very nice words being said about today's issue of Detective Comics. Really wonderful that people are liking the work.

Talked to Cully this morning, and mentioned wanting to put up a Q wallpaper. Get to the hotel tonight, and lo and behold, he's emailed ( this )

Because Cully rocks.

Enjoy!

More from The Source.

Check out some Cully Hamner pages!

Another cat escapes the bag, this in the form of Cully Hamner announcing that he's exclusive to DC.

So now I can talk about the fact that Cully and I are doing the co-feature that will begin running in Detective Comics #854, the Batwoman debut issue, this June. Starting with four eight-page chapters, then expanding to ten-pages an issue, and he's been drawing, and it look incredible, and no, I can't share the pages with you.

But I can share his design work, which certainly gives a nice taste of what's to come.

( Check out some sweet Cully Hamner work! )

I'm fighting a cold this morning, and we're off to California to visit family in about five hours, so I shouldn't be devoting the time to this, because, frankly, it's not surprising that the mainstream media can't be bothered to do more than a quick Google image search and then raid Jeff Renaud's interview with me about Batwoman before posting their own - and I use the word advisedly - "stories" about the character.

Here's a crazy thought - how about doing actual, I dunno, fact-checking before spouting off about things you know nothing about? Too much effort? Yeah, I know, I'm busy, too.

But one thing keeps coming up again and again, pointed out most recently to me over at the Salon.com blog, in particular, this quote: "Now, show me a butch lesbian superhero who fights crime in practical shoes and I'd get excited."

Never mind the lazy and self-serving indictment of every comic book fan in the world with comments like "That sound you hear? Around the world little boys' heads are exploding."

I presume the author means comic book fans like this one.

Couple points.

Point 1: Renee Montoya.

Point 2: Look at the damn preview pages that were released. If those are stiletto heels then I'm Art Carney.

These people keep using the almost 3-year old one-shot design, and guess what? That's not the costume.

This is the costume, just a close-up of the relevant portion, but trust me, JH3 and I addressed this particular point immediately.

( Take a look. )

And yes, the whole design-sheet will be posted eventually.

Over at the Counterterrorism Blog, Madeleine Gruen and Frank Hyland have been working on a series about the threat of terrorism in the United States. I'm linking to it not so much to be alarmist, but because it's an interesting list (though my understanding of at least two of the incidents they site differs strongly from their assertions).

Regardless of the accuracy, I do think it's worth remembering that, if the people doing the CT work around the globe are doing it well, we'll never hear about it. The failures make the news; the successes far less so.

Final Crisis: Revelations #1 came out Wednesday, and Philip and I couldn't be happier with it. From what I've heard, reaction has been pretty positive, which is always nice. I'm particularly happy for Philip, because he really worked his ass off on those pages, and I think it shows. Between him and Jonathan Glapion's inks, I'm hard-pressed to think of another book I've worked on that has been this undeniably pretty.

So with that in mind, ( here's another piece of Philip and Jonathan's work )

There's a preview of Final Crisis: Revelations over at Newsarama (or "The 'Rama, as the kids say). First six pages of issue 1 for your amusement-slash-enjoyment-slash-indignation, choose as you will. The issue hits the stands on Wednesday, so my multi-month drought on released work is finally coming to an end.

In anticipation, ( here's a page from #3. )

Alex Boney has a nice review of The Question: The Five Books of Blood posted over at Comic Geek, for your perusal.

This whole thing with Russia and the Republic of Georgia is pissing me the hell off.

Back to work....

For San Diego Comic Con International 2008.

(And by "The" I mean "My")

Panels:

Thursday, July 24th:
5:30 to 6:30 - Dark Castle: Rocknrolla (Whiteout will be discussed; the poster shall be unveiled, and a release date given). Hall H.
6:00 to 7:00 - DC Nation. Room 6A.

Friday, July 25th:
6:00 to 7:00 - Final Crisis Management. Room 6A.

Saturday, July 26th:
12:45 to 2:00 - DC: A Guide to Your Universe. Room 6B.
5:00 to 6:00 - Oni Press Panelmonium 2008! Room 3.
5:45 to 7:15 - Gays in Comics Panel: 21 and Legal! Room 6A.

Scheduled Signings

Thursday, July 24th:
3:00 to 4:30 - DC Comics Booth.

Friday, July 25th:
11:00 to 12:00 - Bantam Booth (we'll be giving out copies of Patriot Acts!)
1:30 to 2:50 - Oni Press Booth.
3:30 to 4:30 - DC Comics Booth.

Saturday, July 26th:
10:30 to 11:30 - Oni Press Booth.
11:30 to 12:30 - DC Comics Booth.

Sunday, July 27th:
10:00 to 11:30 - DC Comics Booth.




You will note that there are, already, several conflicts, mostly amongst panels. If you are looking for me in Location A and I am not there, the odds are very good that I'm en route from Location B, or trapped in Location C. I will be updating the blog at the show -- no, not from the floor, I'm not nearly obsessive enough to manage that -- and will note any changes in the schedule.

Couple other things to note. First, wherever and whenever I am signing, it's perfectly acceptable to bring works from other publishers that I've written for my signature. This may seem obvious to some of you, but I've met more than one person at a show who has feared causing offense by bringing, say, Oni books for me to sign while I'm sitting at DC, or copies of the novels, or whatever; don't be, it's not a problem.

Second, July 27th is Nicola Scott's birthday. If you see her, wish her a happy birthday. I want nothing so much as to see her unable to take a step in the convention hall without people wishing her the best of the day. *cackles gleefully*

Third, on Friday at 3:30, there's a spotlight panel on Geoff Johns. Geoff is not only incredibly talented, not only a good friend, and not only a terribly nice guy, but he's a wealth of information about the process of writing. I doubt I'll be able to attend myself, as I've a signing conflict, but if you do go, and you have questions for him, try asking him about writing, and not whether or not Wally is faster than Barry or whatnot. He is, most definitely, a writer people can learn quite a lot from.

Fourth, I'm trying to get a signing in with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. In addition, the plan is to deliver both a signed copy of the new The Question: The Five Books of Blood hardcover, along with one of the only remaining copies of the Montoya Journal, to the fund for auction. Those of you hoping to hold a copy of the journal in your sweaty little palms, here's your chance!

Fifth, Matthew Southworth (and follow the link, by the way, and give Matthew's music a listen; I think it's quite good) and I will have some promotional material for Stumptown on hand at the show, in the form of an 8-page introductory short. As currently planned, some copies will come with bonus gimmick. Wait and see. There'll also be an -- in my opinion -- very cool promo poster at the booth, designed by mercuryeric and Matthew that is, in my opinion, a triumph of PI geekdom. I'm actually hoping we can run off a slew of them for sale.

Actually, I think it's Day IV, now, but I direct those of you with an interest in such things to this roundtable discussion between Scott Anderson, Joe Palmer, and (now Doctor!) Amy Reads on "The Question of Gender and Sexuality." Clever title, that.

It's terribly late here, and I'm not feeling fully articulate at the moment (just finished whacking away at the novel, y'see), so I don't have anything to add to what's said there. I do think, however, that the conversation is one worth having. Thus I bring it your attention, gentle reader, that you may peruse and ponder, and comment upon it should you choose to do so.

Funny that the costume -- the suit, the fedora, the faceless mask -- engender such debate. Funny because The Question's look is still evolving. I've actually spent more time than I should've done arguing about not giving her a costume, in the sense that, to me, the mask is the key element, and everything else is secondary. It is, in point of fact, one of the things I loved about Denny and Denys' run...Charlie wore what was appropriate; in winter, he was in a down jacket and heavy pants, with gloves; in summer, he wore a muscle shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers. This is something that, incidentally, hasn't carried forward with Renee, and the ongoing search for her "look" still continues, even into FC:R.

Just a thought.

Seriously, it is, at least according to Eric Newsom, keeper of all things Question at VicSage.Com. He's posting all sorts of interesting stuff about the character, detailing her creation by Mitch Brian (to whom I shall forever be indebted) in Batman: The Animated Series and chronicling her evolution in comics. I'm posting this late Monday in my corner of the world, and he's already put up the Tuesday content, including a script-to-page feature, showing my script for CB:FBOB #3 alongside Matthew Clark's pencils. That's just the tip of the iceberg -- the amount of content he's lined up is impressive as hell.

Definitely, definitely worth checking out, and I urge folks to take a look.

I'm slogging through the final phases of the first draft of Kodiak VII. End of the tunnel in sight; will be finished in the next couple of days, barring catastrophic incident. This means that I'll be finishing while attending Wizard World Chicago this coming weekend. You see me Thursday or Friday, there's a chance I'll look like a haunted man; you catch me Saturday, odds are I'll be chipper to the point of hysteria. Consider yourself warned.

The other thing this augers is that I'll get back to this here blog a bit more frequently, something I've actually been quite eager to do. Not sure I'll be making any more sense than I have, but there you go.

Let me know if any of y'all are going to be at the show this weekend!