New York Comic Con, Part One

We got up bright and early for New York Comic Con; I was manning (womaning) the Friends of Lulu booth, and honey had Zuda things to do.

Halfway to the Javits center, our cab driver remembered that he didn't turn the meter on.

"I keep forgetting it's Friday!" he said.

First thing I do when I get to the convention is head for the bathroom. Washing my hands, I notice that a woman is looking very friendly at me, and nodding hello.

"You've got that blog, right?" she asks. "You look just like your picture."

Sok-0 handmade sock doll

Up to three o'clock is professionals-only. You don't really get a sense of how crazy the convention is going to be. It spoils you.

By four o'clock I am dead, exhausted, beat, lying on a couch in the con's professionals-only "comfort room."

The comfort room is stocked with free coffee, bottled water, popcorn, and an oxygen bar.

Yes. An oxygen bar. With tubes you put in your nose. I will try to get pictures for you.

Stitch Kitten "Blurb" from Rocket USA

By the way, if you see a bottleneck in the artist section of any convention, there is a good chance Darwyn Cooke is there. Happened at Big Apple Con last year, happened here. I was like "damn, there's a big clot of people all of the sudden in this one section. Who are they waiting for?" Yep, Darwyn.

Gail Simone attracts these types of crowds, too. After Friends of Lulu's panel on women in comics, Gail leaves the podium and: bottleneck! The crowd swarms in.

I create minor bottlenecks. Sometimes, I dream of big bottlenecks. Last year, I had no bottleneck. Next year, I might have a bigger bottleneck. Next year, I might be raising a baby and learning how I can make thousands of dollars from the comfort of my own home by stuffing envelopes. Who knows?

Stitch Kitten "Nubbs" from Rocket USA

I run into an old DC coworker I haven't seen in years. There is this sort of meaningful silence. We both start to speak at the same time, then stop.

Him: "Haven't seen you in a while!"

Me (in my best Jewish/Italian mother voice): "You don't write, you don't call..."

Him: "I could say the same thing about you...except for the writing part."

Gort from Rocket USA

Back at the Friends of Lulu booth, I'm really touched about how everybody came out to volunteer and pitch in for this table. This is really what it is all about. These human connections...every convention, that's what strikes me. The comics are just a vehicle for the human connections.

Day's end, I make the long walk from Javits to my train station. For about 4 blocks I am behind a group of convention goers dressed like characters from Star Wars and Indiana Jones. I think they even had that character Shia LaBoeuf is playing in the new sequel in their entourage.

I had a chance to sit on the X-Files panel, had I stayed later. Maybe I would have met the stars of the X-Files. I used to be completely obsessed with the X-Files. When I was 21.

But now, I rather be here sipping a red wine and writing this for you.

Sok-o handmade sock doll.