San Diego Comic-Con 2006

[Toya]

Looking for plesant and unpleasant, interesting and boring experiences. Rejack, how was the reaction to your comicbook?

Anyone checked out the Black Panel? Or something.

[Mastrmynd]

yes, what is this BLACK panel that i've JUST heard about?

[Toya]

yes, what is this BLACK panel that i've JUST heard about?

There wass suppose to be a black panel talking about (blacks in?) comics at Marvel.

[Sam Wilson]

I got a lot to say I guess.

I couldn't find redjack, the place was a goddamn zoo, and all his info was on the forum.   Sorry guys, and sorry redjack.  At the black pannel I introduced myself as Sam Wilson, hoping anyone from HEF would come up to me and say what up.  Guess no one heard me.

Hung out with Mike on Sat. He is a cool brother.  Totally old school comic collector, cool guy, I hope to hang out with him more when we aren't surrounded by 10,000 people. 

I got to meet a bunch of cool industry folks.

Reggie, you are a rigteous cat brother.  Heh. Talked martial arts w/Dwayne McDuffie and Dennys.  Word fellas, you all dope as hell.

Met Chuck D.  Rapped with him.  We exchanged pounds.  Goddamn.  Another righteous cat.  He's gonna come to my school and talk to the kids.  Talked about the same things w/Reggie and the BET crew.  Those kids minds would be blown if all these cats showed up to talk to them about the benefits of education. 

BET has some AWESOME stuff going on.  A crime program about how crime is bad, perfect for my kids at school.  Some bad - a$# animation, HARD core stuff.  Hard hitting, pull no punches political fare, dope superhero stuff, Hannibal w/Vin Diesel.  BET animation is going to be the new adult swim, believe dat.  Word.

More later, still coming down off of it all.  Bought a sh*tload of art.  Got a commision from Bill Siencewicz.  He's also going to come the my HS to talk to one of the art classes, he's in ATL this sept.  Man.  sh*t was large.

Mike, you gotta come to atl.  We'll keep it kosher, it'll be aiight. I'll check in later...

[michaelintp]

Well, I too was at the SDCC on Friday and Sunday (took Saturday and Sunday morning off in San Diego to spend with the wife and kids).  As well as seeing Reginald in two panels (the "Black" panel and the BET Animation panel) the high points for me were finally meeting SAM WILSON and REDJACK.  Spent most of Friday (after driving down to SD and going through the lines) with Sam (... yes Sam, it was Friday ... you were sooooooo sleep deprived, hope you've recuperated), then on Sunday poked around the hall and repeatedly went to the Redjack's booth -- which Sam and I couldn't find on Friday. (Found Redjack's booth by looking up The "Red Line - comic book" on my son's computer Saturday night and got the scoop from the Comic Book Resources interview with Geoff -- um ... don't ever just us "Red Line" on Google to find his site or you'll end up with endless mass transit websites).  It was so cool seeing these two guys in person, after all of our adventures on the HEF. 

I'll post some pictures soon.  Sammy showed me the great goodies he bought (original art), and we just talked about stuff.  I attended Geoff's (Redjack's) panel discussion for writers, which was real interesting to get a sense of what he's about in the real world.  Pretty amazing. 

I was so happy to see those guys ... seemed almost like a reunion.

OH, also discovered a statue company that makes really beautiful stuff that I had never seen before -- Sideshow Collectables.  www.sideshowcollectibles.com
They've an awesome Cap vs. Red Skull work, and also an amazing Elekra in jumbo size.  Though their prices are pretty "jumbo" too.

As for the Black Panel, it was not limited to Marvel.  It was kinda funny though, since I had to ask Sam who some of the people are.  Like this rapper guy.  Also, in some cases, I didn't even know their ethnicity from their work, before seeing 'em on the panel.  I'll let someone else fill in the details.  The main theme was what has been happening with African Americans entering the industry over the past couple of decades, and the meshing between Black Culture, Pop Culture and the Comic Book Culture, and future opportunities and aspirations.  It was pretty cool.  Then the second panel dealt with BET animation.  There are doing these short commercial length videos that will just pop in here and there by surprise -- was a real powerful one about slavery (with a woman on the auction block), and the Hannibal project and also a superhero sci-fi kinda project.  Makes me wish I had cable, haha.  A lotta folks asked questions.    Here is the description:

3:00-4:00 The LATE* Black Panel— Featuring Reggie Hudlin (president, BET), RZA (uh … the rapper guy Wu Tang Clan), Jeffery Wright (CEO, Urban Ministries), Denys Cowan (senior VP, BET Animation and comic book illustrator – didn’t know he was Black), Mike Davis and Mark Davis (Blokhedz), and Axel Alonso (editor, Marvel Comics). This is the definitive panel for what’s up in black content, and black content is hip content. Moderated by Michael Davis (who is a real funny guy). Room 6A
*Late because everyone on the panel except for the moderator Michael Davis was late.  Davis made a few jokes about that.

[Sam Wilson]

word mike, I was gone on sunday, that's why I missed redjack.

Heh. That was funny, the sideshow people were all over me when I told them I wrote for statueforum.  PS, don't forget about that bowen red skull I was telling you about,

I really regret missing out on redjack.  Sorry brother, we'll hook up soon enough.

Blue, brother, give me a call.  Gots to talk about some stuff...

[Redjack]

I got a lot to say I guess.

I couldn't find redjack, the place was a goddamn zoo, and all his info was on the forum.   Sorry guys, and sorry redjack.  At the black pannel I introduced myself as Sam Wilson, hoping anyone from HEF would come up to me and say what up.  Guess no one heard me.

Hung out with Mike on Sat. He is a cool brother.  Totally old school comic collector, cool guy, I hope to hang out with him more when we aren't surrounded by 10,000 people. 

I got to meet a bunch of cool industry folks.

Reggie, you are a rigteous cat brother.  Heh. Talked martial arts w/Dwayne McDuffie and Dennys.  Word fellas, you all dope as hell.

Met Chuck D.  Rapped with him.  We exchanged pounds.  Goddamn.  Another righteous cat.  He's gonna come to my school and talk to the kids.  Talked about the same things w/Reggie and the BET crew.  Those kids minds would be blown if all these cats showed up to talk to them about the benefits of education. 

BET has some AWESOME stuff going on.  A crime program about how crime is bad, perfect for my kids at school.  Some bad - a$# animation, HARD core stuff.  Hard hitting, pull no punches political fare, dope superhero stuff, Hannibal w/Vin Diesel.  BET animation is going to be the new adult swim, believe dat.  Word.

More later, still coming down off of it all.  Bought a sh*tload of art.  Got a commision from Bill Siencewicz.  He's also going to come the my HS to talk to one of the art classes, he's in ATL this sept.  Man.  sh*t was large.

Mike, you gotta come to atl.  We'll keep it kosher, it'll be aiight. I'll check in later...

don't worry. we'll work out a way to get you the books.

As for the black panel, I'll give my thoughts on that later but, if you were there for that and the following BET panel, you'll remember me ass the guy who lined up to ask a question and then didn't get to.

TWICE.

Toya, it went very very very well.

I'll be back later with pics. I took one with Michael who, I'm happy to say, isn't nearly as ferocious in real life. Nor, I suspect, did he find me to be.

There may be a lesson there, I think.

[Toya]

It all sounds interesting. Bet Animation? I wanna check that out when my mom hooks up some cable. I hope. Also, RZA is into comics I'm mildly surprised.

Geoff, I'm very glad that your comic was well received(it seems). I had no doubts it would be a hit. Looking forward to pics of course.

[michaelintp]

As for the black panel, I'll give my thoughts on that later but, if you were there for that and the following BET panel, you'll remember me ass the guy who lined up to ask a question and then didn't get to.
TWICE.

HAHAHA!  That WAS You!!!  Didn't make the connection when I saw you on Sunday, but NOW of course I realize.  Oh, and to think Sam and I missed you there.  Oh m'gosh!

Toya, it went very very very well.
I'll be back later with pics. I took one with Michael who, I'm happy to say, isn't nearly as ferocious in real life. Nor, I suspect, did he find me to be.
There may be a lesson there, I think.

Haha, a lesson for sure.  Yep those two big grins and hugs from both of us kinda said it all, don't ya think?

(Oh, I got this cell phone message while I was there ... picked it up Saturday night ... for "Mike and Brian" ... but it was from a woman on a cell phone and it just kept cutting in and out and ... no number was left ... probably cut out ... I couldn't make out much of it except for asking how we were doing ... hmmmmmm .... was it Toya?  Who?  Boy was I mystified ...).

[michaelintp]

OK, here are pictures of me and "Sam Wilson" and Geoff "Redjack" --  First Sam, then Red:

[michaelintp]

Me and Geoff:

[Toya]

(Oh, I got this cell phone message while I was there ... picked it up Saturday night ... for "Mike and Brian" ... but it was from a woman on a cell phone and it just kept cutting in and out and ... no number was left ... probably cut out ... I couldn't make out much of it except for asking how we were doing ... hmmmmmm .... was it Toya?  Who?  Boy was I mystified ...).

LOL. I'll never tell.

You guys have never met before yet it looks like you're old friends. Sweet.

[Redjack]

me and a bunch of other creators.

left to right:

Me. M. Torez (Nefertitti Jones & Wild Child). Mulele Jarvis (mulele.com). Korby Marks (Stormbringers.com). The AWESOME Robert Roach (hometownprods.com) and, crouching, the fantastically gifted Todd Harris (The Red Line, Redjack).

The one thing that stood out above all the other things was the sheer number of balck creators and fans wandering around the place. And, among the creators, the depth of talent.

Something is up, folks. Something is definitely up.

now. As for the Black Panel. This was the second year in a row that I was disappointed. The moderator was most of the problem as his patter seemed a bit hostile and, in some ways, demeaning to the audience (essentially telling us to behave our coon selves cuz otha folks was around). I didn't like it last year and i dind't like it this year.

Reggie's panel, the one that followed right after, had a certain amount of hostility as well (you can't have watched BET for the last decade and not have some anger) but, unlike the previous host, the Prez managed to keep things professional and on point.

Plus, the new BET animation stuff?

DAMN.

Really. You have no idea.

Just. DAMN.

When I say a hush fell over the crowd after watching the small segments that Reggie was able to show, I am not exagerating. You could have heard a pin drop. BET might have been a  joke before but within the next two years, MAX, it'll be slapping FX, SPIKE and the rest around.

It's on, folks.

Like donkey kong.

[michaelintp]

... OH, and lest I forget --

Got a great copy of "The Red Line" with the following personalized inscription:

"Citizen,
Many voices make the world.
God Bless, Michael."
signed by Geoffey Thorne

Now that was something worth going to ComicCon for!   

[michaelintp]

(Oh, I got this cell phone message while I was there ... picked it up Saturday night ... for "Mike and Brian" ... but it was from a woman on a cell phone and it just kept cutting in and out and ... no number was left ... probably cut out ... I couldn't make out much of it except for asking how we were doing ... hmmmmmm .... was it Toya?  Who?  Boy was I mystified ...).

LOL. I'll never tell.

You guys have never met before yet it looks like you're old friends. Sweet.

We are old friends.

Oh, the phone call I got was from Latrice [I think], and it started, "Hi Mike, Hi Ryan [not Brian]" cut cut "coming out" cut cut "your appointment went well" cut cut "you have a great weekend" cut cut cut ...