Well, I made it. Thanks to Janna Knudson (of Moodoo Puppets) and William Stout, my girlfriend and I were able to attend Comic Con for free today. Unfortunately, we arrived later than I’d hoped and missed a lot of the events I was hoping to see: Neil Gaiman’s panel, Comic & Animation business panels, Kevin Smith, etc. Regardless, we still had a nice time and I got to attend my first comic convention and see San Diego in the same day.

The con was huge, but I don’t know if it was as big as E3. They are definitely close. I only spent a little time on the room floor and there was merchandise and artists everywhere. I attended a few panels. We saw a few short independent films including Batman: Dead End. This is a fan production shot for $30K featuring Batman taking on the Joker, alien, and Predator. It was very well put together especially considering the budget. The crowd went wild over this one, so much so they played it twice in succession. The only way to see this movie is at conventions because they can’t sell it due to the fact Warner Brothers owns the characters. Hopefully, it will leak onto the internet eventually. I also attended the Adult Swim panel where clips from the new season were previewed and various creators/VAs answered questions. Hopefully, next year I will spend the entire weekend at Comic Con. There is lots I’d like to see that five hours won’t cover. If all goes well, maybe I’ll have a booth.

As for William Stout, he is a great guy. Click his name and visit his website. Read the biography. He has an amazing history yet still manages to be a nice guy with no hint of ego. Hell, I’ve only met him twice and today he gave Jennifer and I some sandwiches when we stopped by his booth and spoke with us as if we were his friends. The art world needs more people like him.