Comic-Con 2009

Comic-Con 2009

Jul 27

So this week was Comic-Con time again and just like last year we had a great time. The thing that is so great about this event is the amalgamation of art work, great writers, screen stars and everyday folks gathered together to celebrate the arts. The highlight of this event for me this year was getting to go to the Ray Bradbury panel.  Bradbury was a special guest at the very first con in 1970 and is 89 years old this year but he is one of the spunkiest old men I believe I’ve ever seen. His love of science fiction is visceral and I can see now why he has been so prolific throughout his life. He breathes and a story falls out. One of the folks at the panel asked him what advice he had for aspiring writers and he sagely detailed a story about the script he created for It Came From Outer Space. Bradbury came in for an interview with the producers of the movie, who detailed a story about a meteor from outer space hitting earth and destroying most of the planet. Ray turned to the producers and said “Ok, well I’ll write your story and then I’ll write mine. I’ll bring you back the two scripts and if you pick the right one, I’ll take the job.” Simply put, a writer should write what they want without ever compromising for money. Be true to your story he said. He also had a lot to say about planning writing and he said that he rarely planned his novels. He said “the characters tell me their story”. It was a real treat to see a science fiction legend face to face and he didn’t disappoint. Just being in the same room with the man was inspiring.

We also had the pleasure of sitting in on the Dexter panel with Michael C. Hall and John Lithgow. Evidently, Lithgow will be joining the cast this fall as this season’s psycho killer du jour called the Trinity killer. The panel and writers were very tight lipped with the any details regarding Lithgow’s character but given the man’s track record in evil roles, it promises to make for an interesting season for Dexter. You can see more about this season of Dexter here.

The other thing I love about Comic-Con is meeting and exploring new artists.  Last year I found Ben Templesmith’s work to be haunting and have since read quite a few of his comics.  My particular favorite is Fell, the story of a dark detective in a seedy dark corner of the world.  Templesmith is best known for his WormWood Gentlemen Corpse comics, as well as providing artwork for 30 Days of Night and DeadSpace.  You can see his artwork here.

This year I have picked up a few new artists, first of which was completely by accident.  I am a big fan of video games and my very favorite game on the XBox is BioShock.  BioShock is like Ayn Rand on acid and the Cult of Rapture website had an independent artist by the name of JHonen Vasquez created a limited edition print for BioShock2 just for Comic-Con.  I have to say, the artwork is awesome and I plan on getting a nice frame for this one and putting it up in the apartment.  You can see a story about the production of this limited edition here. The little girl in the front of the image is just freaky!