I opted to lead with this photo from San Diego Comic Con 2007, if only to satisfy Steve's burning desire for blog-coverage of Grindhouse's daring promotional activity. That is not a special effect, people. The rest of my photos (snapped on the D40 and, when I later grew tired of carrying it about, the SD600) may be found here. I think they give a good picture as to the nature of my Con experience this year. I had to leave early to attend my course at OSU and therefore missed Sunday, but the Hall H programming on Saturday was sufficiently thin that I was still able to get my proper fix of the convention floor. As I commented in the gallery, I think the Image Founders panel was the highlight of the Con for me. It really took me back to the time when I was most excited about reading monthly comics, discovering the Image flagship titles one by one, getting all jazzed about things like X Month, etc. Awesome. The Iron Man preview was also pretty amazing. But besides the programming, as usual it was the little moments that made the weekend for me. The best example is without a doubt tracking down Leinil Francis Yu in Artist's Allery, whose work continues to grow ever more phenomenal (Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk has to be seen to be believed, and I think I may actually start picking up New Avengers on a monthly basis). When I arrived at his booth, he was in the midst of completing a transaction for some original art with a Japanese gentleman. As I waited patiently for their business to conclude, I came to the realization that his enthusiastic customer was none other than Yasuhiro Nightow (creator of manga/anime sensation Trigun). So I got to meet two comics legends for the price of one, and then geek out with Leinil Yu about Nightow, when I should have been geeking out at him about the Hulk rending Wolverine in twain. Surprises of this nature are by no means unique in the wonderland of the San Diego Convention Center, and are the kind of thing that keeps me coming back year after year (yes, I pre-reg'd).

Arriving in San Diego still flush with the wonder of witnessing Transformers in the Cineramadome the week before, I was quite disappointed to discover that I seemed to hold a minority opinion (though perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised). Of course, this didn't stop the vocal majority from queuing for hours to buy Bumblebee at the Hasbro booth, but such is also the nature of Comic Con. Nevertheless, I was quite pleased when I stumbled across this strip, which quite accurately reflects my movie-going experience. If you're interested, Joe's actual review (scroll down from the comic) is far more rational and well-considered than certain other opinions to which I was subjected...