Lost Weekend

I went to the Wizard World LA Convention this weekend, and had a great time in spite of the convention itself. More on that further down this post.

First off though - No, I have not seen V for Vendetta. Yes, I will see it as I am a card-carrying member of the legion of males who will line up, silly straws dangling out of our mouths, to drink Natalie Portman's bath water. Yes, I will see it as I am also a card-carrying member of those few who read it in it's original format in Warrior magazine - way back in the dark ages called the eighties. I've always thought of it as a powerful work, and I look forward to the movie adaptation.

I had a meeting on Saturday (yes, a seven day work week) with an executive to further develop the story for B.E.M. She wants to develop it as a feature so we will pursue that line of attack for now.

Then we went to the convention where she proceeded to buy out all sorts of toys while I spoke to some of the comics pros whose names will be familiar to those in the scribosphere:

I went over to the Boom! Studios booth and met Michael Alan Nelson (War of the Worlds: Second Wave, Cthulu Tales) and the Kung Fu Monkey himself, John Rogers (Zombie Tales) . We chatted for awhile and talked shop for a bit. I didn't mention it then, but I'm going to mention it now:

John needs to write a comic called Kung Fu Monkey. If you think so too, mention it to him and tell him that I sent you over. It doesn't have to be a series or anything - a single issue would do - but I think it would be hilarious. Especially if it captures his fun personality.

Mike Nelson has a lot of cool, mind-blowing stuff in store for Second Wave. If you haven't picked it up - do so.

Sunday, I went down to the Convention center - dodging those frikkin' marathonners - and had a good time chatting with Matt Busch and his significant other Sarah Wilkinson about their indie movie Conjure. Matt and Sarah are artists known for their Star Wars cover illustrations. Sarah, who always has this "How ya doin, good to see ya!" smile, is going to be featured in an upcoming issue of Femme Fatales.

I had the pleasure of speaking with some of the folks who reside at The Engine, as well as make some comic book contacts that are also movie contacts.
(ssssh! It's a secret for now. I'll let you know what it is as soon as/ if the contracts are signed)

I also picked up several pulps, a book by Al Williamson I've been dying to get (got it at half price- SCORE!) and a Frank Frazetta documentary on DVD.

Concerning the convention itself, it was a disappointing turnout. The con could have used more retailers and movie people as well as several key publishers whose absence was felt. Likewise, they were competing against the LA Marathon. There needs to be a lot more marketing going on for next year in order to make this one a great precursor to San Diego.