Prelude to part II
Even though I was reportedly asleep within seconds of head hitting the pillow, there was just enough time for my last thought to be how last night's ramble spoke of a comics convention but not once did it mention comics. That seems all the funnier when in my comments thread I mentioned something of a renaissance in (mainstream) comics, particularly from the point of view of someone who has a nostalgia for the Marvel style of the 60s and early 70s. I don't have the time to address this now -- I have several things to accomplish before meeting with Eric again and heading for a train station -- but I did want to at least note that I realized the seeming irony. H hit on some of it back near the end of April, as seen here in the first entry on the page.
There certainly were comics there, of course, from the new to the old, along with some of the creators and panel rooms devoted to both upcoming works and techniques involved in creating them -- all standard items for any comics convention. I often don't concentrate on much of that because the Internet comics community has turned the challenge of a decade or more ago on its head. Back then, fans would be hunting for every scrap of "inside" information on upcoming items, plotlines, etc. Now, with so many people rushing to show everyone else how connected they are, and many of the pros themselves basking in the online attention and engaging in (understandable) self-promotion, the challenge of being online is often one of willfully remaining ignorant. The average retail price of a mainstream comic monthly is in the $2.50-$2.99 range. If one's going to be paying anything like that much for them, why spoil any of it with advance info? So it is that I wouldn't tend to rush to panels being held on comics I'm currently interested in. Looking for new things is a better use of a convention.
There are also celebrities of various stripes, though most would be candidates for future seasons of The Surreal Life; celebrities who are trading in on minor to moderate stardom, some from efforts decades in the past, nearly all of whom, I'm sure, have to consider their careers as ongoing because, well, they're still here. While the temptation is to poke fun at people whose careers have mostly been in B material, and all of that long ago, I try not to do that. From what I saw in passing of at least two of the guests who would fall into that category - Mark "Beastmaster/V" Singer and Lou "Hulk" Ferrigno - they were friendly and appreciative of their fans. Besides, what scary accomplishments are on my resume that I should presume to be disdainful? I wish them and all of us well in the never-ending process of self-reinvention.
Yesterday was taken up with other things, and when I was dumping the day out onto the screen most of it clattered and bounced out in the form of bits of plastic. Today the emphasis should be different, though some of the same might creep back in.
Off again.
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