SDConCast 5/7/2024 – This Time We Want Mushroom Soup

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This is Tuesday, May 7th. There are 78 days until San Diego Comic-Conn 24. Welcome to SDConcast, the official podcast of the San Diego Comic-Con EVENT unofficial blog.

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V-A-N-U-H-T-W-E-O-E-GO-M-H-T-W-E-W-E-H-T-W-E-E-RU-S-E. I love the color scheme It's pink and purple It looks dreamy I love all the posts I make And the million comments that they rakeI love the internet And I love the world Hello everybody

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I'm your host James Riley And joining me on the podcast as always, Carrie Dixon PERSON. Hey, guys.

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Thanks so much for joining us.

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And also joining us from the blog, Andy Wagner PERSON.

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And our special guest for the evening, he's a writer and editor, a moderator, and all things. Mark Evaneer PERSON.

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Welcome. Thank you.

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Thank you. I'm here again.

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You can't get rid of me.

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As long as you do these, I'm going to pop up on them every year. Nice.

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We love it. Actually, this is like five, six, somewhere around six-ish time, seven. So, yeah.

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It's a tradition at this point.

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All right.

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So this is the first episode of the season.

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And can you believe that we've been doing this podcast for 13 years? And it is the 15th anniversary of the blog. So we are celebrating both this year. During the show, we can take your comments and questions. You can tweet us at SD underscore comic underscore con or use the hashtag's SDConcast. We will also be keeping an eye on the YouTube live chat if you wish to comment there. But first up,we are going to talk to Mark. So, Kerry PERSON, why don't you take it away? Well, Mark PERSON, we are always

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so excited to have you join us as the first guest of each season to kick off the official start of the SDCC news season. But I just kind of want to catch up. What have you been doing here in the last couple months? I've been sitting

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at home mostly because I broke my ankle in January. Oh, no.

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Ouch.

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And I'm recovering. And I think I will be healed enough to make it all around the convention. But don't do this. It's not a very bright thing to do. The nice thing, the only nice thing it came out of it was I spent a month in a rehab facility and those are not fun places exceptthe nurse who was assigned to the male nurse who was assigned to the evening shift, walked in and went, oh my God, you're the guy who does Gru WORK_OF_ART. Oh, my God. And I'm not going to say he neglected his other patients, but he was in my room an awful lot to talk about comics.

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You had a fan.

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Everybody gets one. And I was, I have to find mine there. Actually, I mean, hey.

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I'll tell you, when I, when I was, I broke my ankle at home here and paramedics came, firemen, actually, fireman came. And I have a two-story house. I, of course, broke my ankle at home here and paramedics came, firemen actually, fireman came,

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and I have a two-story house. I, of course, broke my ankle in the top story, and four men had to carry me down the stairs. And they finally load me into the ambulance, take me to the hospital. And one of the two, one of the guys is driving.

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One of them is riding with me. The other two went off in another vehicle.

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And we get in, and I am in this extreme agony and my ankle is broken and I'm thinking

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all the how it's going to ruin my life for months to come. I've been great pain. And the guy

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says to me, the fireman says to me, I noticed in your house you've got a lot of conflicts around. Did you ever hear of a guy named Jack Kirby? Of course, I forgot about the pain and said, Jack Kirby, let me tell you about Jack Kirby.

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I'll bet that you bind off the pain.

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It helped.

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It helped a little bit to pass the time.

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I did all the way to the hospital. I told him, and I worked for Jack PERSON, and he did this. I talk about Jack PERSON a lot because he's.

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I hope that your orderly helper there in the evenings wasn't someone who was unhappy with the last Drew story you wrote and forced you to write a correct ending.

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Oh, misery. I gave him, you know, we have all these books out of grew. This is the latest trade paperback. And my shipment of them came while I was in the nursing home. My assistant brought me a couple of cops. I asked to bring me a couple of copies.I gave the nurse, the male nurse. I gave him a copy of this book. And I said, now this is not in stores yet. And he acted like I'd hand to him the whole diamond.

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He was, my God, this is, this is not out yet. This is, this is an advance. I have the only,

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I have the only copy in the city. I will. I've got a copy. Oh, this is, I'll treasure this forever.

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I said, well, it's only going to be unique. It's only going to be an advanced copy for about three more days.

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Everybody else will have it Wednesday.

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But he got it before they did.

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That's right.

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And geeks and nerds, we love being first.

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So, yeah, that was definitely a treasure no matter what.

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So if I can

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switch gears here for a little bit and talk

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about the panels that you've done

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over the years. Now,

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you've hosted a lot of them.

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You said you've been, this is your

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56th Comic Con EVENT.

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56th San Diego

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Comic. So in all those years, you've hosted at least I'm'm sure, one panel each year, at least.

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I was on one the first year. There were no panels at all, the second year, I don't think. The third year, I was on one panel. And then every year for a while, I was on an increasing number until I hit my, I think the maximum I ever

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hit was 17 one year. Last year I did. It's a lot. Yeah.

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14, I think, although I wasn't the moderator of all. This year I'm going for the record. Yeah,

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I do a lot of panels. So you're going for eight like more than 17? Wow. If I do all the

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ones I think I may do this year, I will probably be doing 17 or 18.

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Well, since there's an ankle there, there's a golf cart involved.

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I sure hope so because I can't, I may not be able to walk much.

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No, actually, it's not as awful as it seems because basically I have nothing else to do at the convention but host panels

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because I used to just walk around the convention I don't like to sit behind the table

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I don't like to sit there signing stuff if people want stuff signed fine I'll do it but it's not a

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I don't get that thrill that a lot of people get I have I have a friend who considers the

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if you ask me how is the convention He's liable to say, terrible.

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Only 11 people asked my autograph. And that is the sole criteria for him. But I don't care about it that much. But I don't sell anything at conventions. And I can't keep walking around, especially as I've gotten older and I've had knee problems. So by doing panels, I've always got a place to sit.

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And I feel like I'm making a contribution.

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And I get to talk to the people I want to talk to.

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Out of all the people that you've talked to over the years,

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is there anyone who's your unicorn,

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one that you haven't gotten on a panel yet,

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but you would love to.

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Well, there's the cartoon voices panels. I do two of those a year. And one of my best friends in the cartoon voice business is the best cartoon voice actor alive, Frank Welker PERSON. And he keeps saying, I'll do it some year. I'll do it. He's never, never done it. But no, you know, the problem for me, I'm 72 years old. And the thrill of all the early comic conventions for me and not just San Diego GPE, but any ones I went to, was I always got to meet

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somebody whose comics I'd grown up on, or it also applied to animation, occasionally to actors,

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and spend time with them. And if I didn't interview them on a panel, we might go to lunch or dinner. And I got to meet all the people who I could meet who did the comics that I grew up on. They're all gone. The few that are around I've met. So I can no longer go to a convention and have the thrill of meeting somebody who wroteor drew comics. I read when I was eight years old or 10, 12 years old or such. Last year at San Diego, I did a panel and I interviewed a woman named Barbara Friedland PERSON, who was the editor or associate editor most of the time, but a writer for DC's romance comics in the 60s. She went to work for DC in like 61 in the accounting department, moved to editorial in 62, got out in 1970 to get married.But at that time, she wrote a lot of romance comics. She created a book called Swingwood Scooter WORK_OF_ART, which was a popular DC ORG book for a while. And I'd never met her. So I got to sit and interview her about her work. Of all the 150,000 people at the Comic Con EVENT, the Comic Con,Barbara PERSON had the oldest credits in professional comics, I believe. There was no one in the building who did a comic book in the 30s, 40s, or 50s. So she had the oldest credits of anyone at the convention. And the person in second place, this scared the hell out of me, was me. I don't think there was anyone else because Marv Wolfman PERSON wasn't there. There were people who put in comics before mewere still active, but they didn't turn out for San Diego last year. A few of them will be here this coming year, so I will not be the person with the oldest credits in the room. Well, that actually leads me

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to, you mentioned comics when you were a kid. So you love classic comics. You love bringing on the people that did all the classic comics. Now we're into modern. Are there any, do you read any modern comics or do you collect any?

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Well, I collect some because they send them to me.

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But no, I don't really follow the current comic book industry and I don't resent it

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I just every time I pick up one of those these books I go that's nice but it's not my spider man it's nice but it's not my superman I mean they're not doing the characters that there's a point where you canyou can and this will horrify some people watching this you can have read few too many comics you can be a little jaded i'm a little jaded by it and i was always as much a fan of the people who did the comics as i was of the characters there are people in this world

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who love you know spider man well i love spider man drawn by steedico i Spider-Man drawn by Steve Ditko. I love Spider-Man drawn by John PERSON.

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It's like in movies. If I go to see a James Bond movie, it's not Sean Connery. It's not my James Bond PERSON. And so, while I can appreciate the skill and admire some of there's some amazing artists, there's some amazing writers there. They're not really writing for me. And so I don't follow comics as much as I... I'm not on who the top people are.I respect the careers. I admire the work, but I don't have the same emotional connection to the product they used.

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So in saying that, since you have followed a lot of comics over the years, obviously Jack Kirby is, in most cases followed a lot of comics over the years, obviously Jack Kirby is in most cases the influence of comics for a lot of creators. Do you think that there's anycreators over the last 30 years or so that you can point to and say they're also like big influencers?

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I think there's an awful lot of influencers. And you know, you could admire tremendously jack kirby PERSON but feel that he didn't get to do he was deserved the credit he deserved

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and the fame he deserved he's getting apostatimously in many cases because the characters live on

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getting apostatimously in many cases because the characters live on. But now you could admire an artist and also admire his career and see some of these people who have built important careers and have helped the comic book industry merge as it kind of has with TV and movies in many ways. People think Marvel ORG Comics is a Marvel is a publishing. Marvel ORG is an entertainment company, and one of the things they do is comics.And there are people who now blend into the current field. There are people who, besides Jack PERSON, who influenced the look of the modern comic book, probably the number two person after Jack PERSON would be Neil Adamswho passed away just a couple years ago. There was other people who had enormous influence. An awful lot of the U.R.ists these days were influenced by John Busema. It's obvious, even if they don't know directly who they... You know, I cease to say, if Jack Kirby wasn't your favorite artist, he was probably your favorite artist's favorite artist.And there was a generation that there were people were in love with some of the people who learned were inspired by Jack PERSON, so that his influence was filtered through there. And now we have another couple generations of people who were influenced by Neil Adams and Jack and Steve Ditko PERSON and Will Eisner

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and guys whose work lives on in some form. If you stand in the middle of the floor at San Diego and one turned 360 degrees,

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almost everywhere you look, there's something that was influenced by Jack PERSON. And there's an awful lot that was influenced by Neil,

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an awful lot that was influenced by Dicko PERSON and other people.

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Some people in the under Robert Crum PERSON probably influenced an awful lot of people these days and guys who did independent comics and people who did comics that didn't fit into the DC Marvel ORG moldthere's a greater diversity now of styles and approaches and there's less pressure on creative people to draw like John Busem draw like the Elatomsand they used to be.

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So you mentioned a couple of things. One, you said Marvel ORG's an entertainment company now, not just a comic company. That's one of the major differences in comics today. And then you just mentioned that they're not beholden to certain art styleslike, you know, there was the Marvel ORG style back in the 60s and that kind of thing. Do you think that those are two of like the biggest differences or is there any other

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really major difference in comics today? Well, it's possible to make a much better living in comics than it was if you, if you popular work, to share in the success of your ideas. I had the awkward situation.

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I knew Jerry Siegel PERSON very well. I knew Jack PERSON, of course. I knew a lot of people who created what are now billion-dollar properties

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and did not receive any sort of recognition. There was a long time when Jerry Segal's PERSON name was not allowed to be on Superman because he was at war with the company. And so I think one of the big changes is it is a field that people want to get into and stay in in many cases. When I got in 1970, most of the guys who are my age were thinking, oh, I want to do comics for a couple years and then I want to like movies.

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Oh, I want to do comics for a couple years and then I want to go draw paperback book covers or magazine illustrations or movie posters.

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And now it's a feel where people, first of all, you can do some of those other things while still in comics. You know, Frank Miller PERSON does comics and he writes movies and designs other things. He's a very influential guy also. Frank PERSON is a person who's inspired an awful lot of people. Jim Steranko PERSON inspired a lot of people. Dave Stevens PERSON inspired an awful lot of people. There's an awful lot of inspiration out therebecause it's no longer, you know, to work for Marvel, you've got to draw like Jack PERSON or John B. Well, kind of in that along those same lines,

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the way that trends have kind of shifted and molded over the years. What are some of the shifts over the years that you've seen or even just experienced over Comic Con over the 56 years?

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Well, you know, I always use these lines line in every damn interview I do about Comic Con over the 56 years. Well, you know, I always use these lines in every damn interview I do about Comic-Con EVENT, which is at the first one, we have 300 people. And we thought that was a ton of people. We thought that was an amazing number of people. And now there's 300 people ahead of your line to buy an anti-em's pretzel. So, you know, it's become a, it's no longer a subculture.It is the culture. And in fact, the definition of comics, and as Mr. Kirby predicted, has kind of expanded to include movies that have the same appeal as comic books and TV shows and artwork. Everywhere you look at the convention, there's people doing variations on comic books. They've expanded it into toys, which replicate some of the excitement of comic booksor video games. So that's one of the big differences. I have a friend who, if you ask him that question, would say to you the biggest difference in Comic-Con over the years is now that they're attractive women at the convention which was not you know it was kind of at the early ones like wait a minute is that a girl um anyway but it's it's

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it's a big more industry now it's an industry with no boundaries on it.

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The possibilities are endless. You go to Comic-Con and you can just spend the entire four-and-a-half days in video game hand. Or you can spend the entire four-and-a-half days in looking at original artwork or at animation cells or, you know, whatever else it is. You can just go, I know people who go to look at the cosplayers. For them, it's a costume image. And the costumes are astounding. They're just, I make a point, particularly at WonderCon EVENT, because it's a little easier to find them all at WonderCon. I make a point of always making time to go out and just look at the costumes.Just my jaw drops. I see how much work and creativity. People have put it. And also how physically fit a lot of the people in the cut. There are people now wearing superhero costumes who look like they're entitled to were superhero costumes. They're built like superheroes.

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They don't need the foam padding.

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They, you know, except the guy with the Hulk PERSON hands. Other than that, they're all, it's, I also love the fact that you always see, whether what assemblage you get of, of, of cosplayers at a convention. And this is also true, if you go to one of these touristy areas like Times Square or outside the Chinese theater in Hollywood GPE, where people wear costume characters and ask for tips,they can design the best-looking Spider-Man PERSON costume, and he's wearing Nikes PRODUCT. He can't get the footwear right. They spend all the effort to do. They can do Thor PERSON's hammer. They can do Conan PERSON's swords. They can do everything. They just can't seem to get a pairof boots with webs up. Well, on this same

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note about Comic-Con EVENT, as you said, I mean, you've been every year, and you said, you don't go to get to sign things, but what do you go for? What keeps you

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going back every year? Well, the main thing is I had a lovely friend who passed away. He's been

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Earl Crest. And Earl Crest would go to Disneyland about three times a month. He had an annual pass,

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one of those pass holders. And he'd just go down there.

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And I, you know, I go to Disneyland FAC once every 10 years. And I said, what's the appeal of it for Disneyland? He says, I just like being around so many people having such a good time.

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It is so much fun to be around so many people having the time of their lives. And that's one of the appeals have come. It also, for me, the appeal is that I get to see friends. You can't be bored for a second. Anywhere you turn around, there's someone interesting to look at, someone interesting to talk to. I have a schedule.When I'm at Comic Con EVENT, I have this schedule, and it's like 8 o'clock breakfast meeting with someone, 9 o'clock signing, 10 o'clock panel, 11 o'clock interview, 12 o'clock panel. It goes right down there, and it's every second of the day is budgeted for four and a half days. I couldn't live at that pace normally, but it's kind of fun to do it for every year for a couple of days. I used to go to the convention with this lovely woman who was in my life in Carolyn Kelton PERSON.She was the daughter of Walt Kelly, who did the comic strip Pogo, and she would go with me every year. I'd give her the schedule, and she'd look at it and shrieked by how many things were on it. And then I'd say, look, I've got little red markings here. These are the things I think you would enjoy. You don't have to go to this family. You don't go to this panel.I think you'd enjoy. You don't have to go to this panel. I think you'd enjoy this panel. And she would go to 20%, 25% of the panels I was doing. So Carolyn PERSON, unfortunately, passed away two years ago. And I now take this friend of mine named Amber PERSON, who wanted to be here to that. Amber PERSON was going to come over early enough to peek in and say hello on this. But she's at school still. And the first time I took Amber PERSON down, I gave her the schedule. I printed out as I printed out for Carolyn PERSON.She said, what are these little red markings here? I said, oh, these are the panels I think you'd like to go to that you'll enjoy. And she said, oh, I'm going to every panel with you. I'm not going to leave your side. I'd go in the men's room with you if they'd let me. I just, I just want to go to every single thing you. And she kept that up until about half past Friday. Finally, she said, is it okay if I go back to the room and take a nap for these next two panels? But she's going to try and do all of them againthis year. We'll see if she makes it. But I love the camaraderie. I love seeing people who are happy. I love the feeling that someplace in that room, not far from me, someone is making a career. Someone is getting discovered. Someone is showing their portfolio. Someone is getting a job. Someone is marketing their product. There's so much creativity in that room. There's so much ambition. There's so much excitement. There's somebody there who's excited to meet this artist or that writer, that actor. The interaction there, it's just four and a half days of joy.

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And that's what I do it for.

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I think I just like being. I like the energy. I don't mind the crowds. Of course, I have a badge which gets me everywhere. But I'm also large. So get through the crowds fast with some people.But I just enjoy the fact that for four and a half days, you're surrounded by people who are just having that hell of time. No, I'm the same way.

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Like, honestly, like I hate, quite frankly, like leaving my home. I hate going anywhere. Like, the whole rest of the year, but Comic-Con EVENT, like, I'm good.

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It's very different. I've barely left my home the last two months. I've got to go to doctor appointments. I've actually barely gone downstairs. I'm upstairs. I'm upstairs now.My cleaning, but I just nodded. My cleaning lady was slipping in some things for me. She comes over and cleans everything that I, even she's in cleaning

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rooms I don't go into. I don't know why that is. But it's just, you know, I have chosen for my

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life, a profession where you sit alone a lot and work. Yeah. And we'll do this podcast tonight.

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I'm going to just be sitting here at the same chair on the same computer,

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writing all night. And I enjoyed that. Something I've been doing for 55 years. I love it. I enjoy it. But it's fun to get a vacation from it and go off and be in this magical placewhere everybody kind of likes everybody else automatically going in. It's just,

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absolutely. But only for four and a half days. Like after that, no. Yes.

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All there for the same reason.

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So we're all just automatically

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connected just right by that fact that we're all there to see our favorite something.

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Yeah, well, it's not judgmental. I used to go to the early days of Comic-Con EVENT, but also I just went to early science fiction conventions in the late 60s, early 70s. And there was kind of this defensive feeling of a lot of those people that somebody was saying you should be ashamed of what you like.You should be, that's for nerds and geeks and, and, you know, and I don't get that anymore. I haven't felt, I never actually felt that myself much, but I, I don't even hear people complaining about that much because now people envy you going to Comic-Con EVENT. But people find out, people who've never been to Comic-Con EVENT, they find out I'm going to Comic-com EVENT.Oh, my God, that sounds like like much a wonderful place to be. And it's amazing that you've been there so much. And they get all excited about it. Just the prospect is like I, it's like saying, you know, that I'm going to brigadoon, going to some enchanted land that only appears for a couple days every year. That is definitely true.

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So there have been a lot of big changes over the years, but last year we had one of the biggest, and that is that Fay Desmond retired in August. And for those who don't know, Fay Desmond was the director of Comic-Con EVENT. She has run the ship the day-to-day, everything for, oh, geez, as long as I can remember. And I've been going for not nearly as long as you, but close to 30 years, around 30 years.

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And so I'm guessing that you two knew each other and got to work with her a lot.

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You know, you want to tell us a little bit about her and maybe some favorite memories or what she meant to Comic-Con EVENT?

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Well, you know, I didn't work that closely with her because Faye had one of the skills that is absolutely essential if you're going to have a job like that, which is the skill to be able to delegate. And the people around her, she was fabulous at that stuff. I hope she's not uninvolved now. I hope she's got some connection to the convention as an advisor, if I think that stuff. I hope she's not uninvolved now. I hope she's got some connection to the convention as an advisor if nothing else. Her advice was always very good.But she's got a lot of good people around her. The con will not miss her in the sense that all the people who have been there for years, the staff is wonderful.And believe I have been to conventions, I would not say that about it. I've been to conventions that I was just horrified by the management and how how they did not understand their own jobs. They did not understand contingencies. They didn't understand crisis management. You've got to be really good at crisis management because there's always a crisis. And Faye, you know, every year, Faye was good enough at her job to just say, you know, send me a thing, Mark, when you come again next year, I'll be there fine, good, and then turn me over to other people to handle the specifics. And I'd say her, say hello to her.I always feel guilty taking up there at these people's time because she had at any given moment at a convention. She's doing 111 things. And now maybe she can go to the convention. We do four. Be nice if she could be there and enjoy it. There are people who worked at the convention for 20 years or more who will say to me,someday I want to go see one of your quick draw games. Someday I want to go see what your cartoon voices. They don't have the time to enjoy the convention because they're too busy dealing with the fact that some movie star wants, you know, raisinets in this hotel.

Speaker 41760.46s - 1812.04s

And we have a comment from the chat from Gary PERSON, uh, former, uh, Comic Con International Director of Publications ORG and other things. Not retired yet. This will be her last Comic-Con EVENT. So she is retiring soon, but this is the last one. So if you ever, anyone out there, if you ever happen to run into her in her various travels across the con over a few days,wish her well and thank her for many years of service on putting on the show that honestly, she was one of those people who the show would not be what it is if it wasn't for her. So definitely someone that you want to thank if you ever have a chance to run across her, which she's probably, like you said, managing 100 different emergencies at a time, and you may never see her, but you will feel her effect when you go to Comic-Con EVENT.

Speaker 31812.76s - 1868.04s

And most of that applies to Gary Sass PERSON also. Gary PERSON was an important part of that convention. Made the website look great, the publications look great, the designs and everything, and just helping hold the convention together and bringing that spirit of love of comics, underscoring it.This is one of the very few conventions, I won't say the only one, but the only, it's very few of the big conventions in this country that isn't run for sheer profit. It's a nonprofit organization. The people running it are not trying to squeeze every nickel they can out of the attendees. They spend money on guests because they want to honor the people, not because they think they'll bring in a crowd.They don't need to do that. They don't need to advertise big stars to bring in a crowd. The convention sells out in four minutes. How fast did it sell up this year? You guys were monitoring it.

Speaker 11868.88s - 1884.14s

Well, it's, yeah. I mean, so it sells up in like 90 minutes, but that's only because, like, they space it out. Like, they only let so many people in at a time to purchase. Like, if they actually just, if it was a free-for-all, yeah, I mean, it would sell them like 30 cents.

Speaker 31884.48s - 1885.08s

Yeah, two seconds.

Speaker 51885.08s - 1885.52s

Yeah.

Speaker 31886.6s - 1892.62s

So instead of inviting the biggest names, they invite people whose presence there helps

Speaker 51892.62s - 1896.72s

to keep the spirit of comics and related arts side.

Speaker 31896.78s - 1899.82s

When I'm using comics in the broadest term, because obviously there's science fiction

Speaker 11899.82s - 1900.5s

writers there.

Speaker 31900.74s - 1925.48s

There's movie maker, filmmakers, there's there's, there's cosplayer designers. There's video game engineers, people like that as well and the convention makes guess out of those people instead of the superstars who will just keep bringing warm bodies not that there's anything wrong with you know conventions that brings super stars totally before i take things in another direction gary said he thanked you you know, conventions that brings superstars. Totally.

Speaker 11926.22s - 1933.56s

Before I take things in another direction, Gary PERSON said he thanked you, and then he said, you made my life much easier as my go-to guy for comics panels.

Speaker 31934.48s - 1975.8s

Gary is one of the reasons I do that many panels because he was the programming director. In fact, Gary PERSON gave us the germ salviator for the quick draw game. He came to me one day and said, did we dosomething with you know cartoonists like like a drawing contest of some sort of something like that and i um i ran with the idea but he deserves a lot of credit for that and and um you know and he i don't want to overpraise him at the expense of all the others there because there were a lot of good people run the convention. I love the staff there. Absolutely. Well, I want to take things

Speaker 11975.8s - 2000.46s

on a totally different topic. So you were the developer for the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon in the 80s. And I thought it was so cool that you did a panel last year, kind of celebrating that, especially because, I mean, I don't know about you, but I feel like D&D ORG has just, like, had a real surge in popularity here in the last eight years or so. Do you feel that way at all?

Speaker 32002.2s - 2063.64s

I'm outside the gaming world. So I don't, I don't really see much of it. That panel last year was the only panel I think I was on that I didn't host. Maybe it was one of them. But they asked me to be on it and I could squeeze it in. It was fortunately at a time slot when I wasn't doing something else.And it was nice to be in a room full of people who really loved that show. I was not that involved in it after writing the pilot, the Bible WORK_OF_ART, because I had other work. I came in. I actually, my entire involved with that show was all done in about two weeks. My job was to get the network to buy it, and I did.And then they did it without me and did a very fine job of it. But, you know, what's interesting, this has something to do with the internet. The internet enables people of like interest to connect with one another. You know, a guy in Holland GPE who loves Dungeons and Dragons can talk to a guy in Uyville who loves Dungeons and Dragons ORG.

Speaker 02063.64s - 2075.9s

They can connect. They can have a website together, or they can visit each other's web pages, they can share stuff on Facebook ORG or on Twitter or whatever it's called this out this week. And in the same way, the Comic-Con

Speaker 32075.9s - 2082.08s

brings together all these interests, and there's, you know, you can have a, you can fill a room

Speaker 52082.08s - 2093.72s

full of people who are interested in Dungeons and Dragons ORG or you can fill a room with people who are interested in some particular video game or in some particular comic book and they get together.

Speaker 32094.6s - 2147.78s

One of my joys every year is we do the Jack Kirby tribute panel on Sunday every year and I'm in a room full of people I like because if they like Jack Kirby, I probably like them. They're probably like. Because if they like Jack Kirby, I probably like them.They're probably very smart people. And they appreciate Jack PERSON. And there's a lot of love in that room for the guy who isn't there. And it's nice to talk about Jack PERSON with people who appreciate him and want to know more about it. And it was nice to be on my panel and talk about Dungeons and Dragons ORG to a very packed roomful of people who were excited to hear about how the show came to be and who did what on it. And I was able to, you know, the credits don't always explain everybody who did everything.And I was able to talk about some of the fine artists and writers who worked on the show who deserved more credit than they may have received.

Speaker 22149.86s - 2179.92s

Well, that was the cartoons. I watched a lot when I was a kid. And in fact, in our last Under the Tense Post WORK_OF_ART, I lamented about the cartoons that my sister and I fought over constantly every Saturday morning. We would fight.And I still still to this day am traumatized by strawberry shortcake and rainbow bright but thank God for Dungeons and Dragons you know thank you for creating that and throwing that into the universe so I can have something to

Speaker 32179.92s - 2198.32s

watch Gary Gygax created Dungeons Dragons a couple other people including, including a man named Dennis Marks PERSON, figured out bases of turning into a show. I stepped in and tried to, you know, pull it across the finish line and get CBS ORG to say, yes, we'll spend a few million dollars on buying episodes of this thing.

Speaker 52198.76s - 2206.22s

And that's about it. You know, it's important not to overinflate what you do because it takes away from somebody else's credit.

Speaker 22207.38s - 2209.26s

Well, thank you for closing that.

Speaker 32209.5s - 2221.32s

I appreciate that. Yeah, I closed. I was the closer. I closed the deal. I figured out how to, you know, pack, repackage other people's ideas into something CBS ORG would say yes to. That's about it.

Speaker 22221.78s - 2228.02s

So is there anything at all that you could possibly tease for any of the panels coming up this year?

Speaker 32228.4s - 2265.7s

Well, I will not give the exact names, but I have the two strongest cartoon voice panels I've ever done to the personnel. I've got the people all agreed to do them. I'm being enough for some reason. It's like something in the wind. All of a sudden, everybody started calling me saying, hey, it's like today.And I staffed the panels in two days, and I'm delighted with the people. You have to trust me on that. They're very strong panels. I'm going to be doing the quick draw, as always, I'm sure. We're going to do a panel on group probably. We're going to do a panel on group, probably.

Speaker 52269.64s - 2271.6s

We're going to do a panel on Pogo ORG, which I have involved with the Pogo books.

Speaker 32272.58s - 2414.8s

I can't tell you. I'll tell you that a panel that may interest some people. Well, actually, you know, that panel has not been approved to fish. I think it's a couple of good ones. And I don't want to mention them until the convention has actually put them on the schedule. But, you know, I tell everybody, if you're going to the convention, I'm sure you tell them the same thing. Take the time to look at the schedule, the panel schedule.They usually put it up two weeks before each day with the Wednesday panel schedules up two weeks, the Wednesday two weeks before and make a list of what you want to see make a list of what you want to go see if you can't get into your first choice make yourself a schedule that's the convention is not the right place to try to figure out where to go and what to do it's too big although I actually have some friends who just go.They just wander upstairs. They just wander each room that's got available seating and watch until they're bored and then move on to the next. And they seem to have a good time of it. But if you don't do this, you're going to get home, look at the schedule and find, oh, my God, I missed seeing this person. I missed that.There were a couple of years there where one of my jobs was to interview Ray Brad the convention. And I would interview Ray every year from 2 o'clock to 3. And it was the most mesmerizing. I saw people coming up to me. Mesmerized by that panel.They just, they thought it was the most amazing man. It was one of the great public speakers. He had wonderful stories. And I had the skills, skills too strong a word, the knack for reminding him of stories I'd heard him tell earlier.And I just, all I would just do there is cue my favorite Ray Bradbury PERSON stories and say, Ray Kay PERSON, tell us about this thing. And he would, and he would just, and then I was done. I just did to sit there and he, 12 minutes later,he finished this story. I look out and there's an amazing arrays of fathers and sons or parent groups with kids. And if I had had the concession outside to sell Ray Bradbury PERSON books, I could have made a fortune because all these kids were listening to this man speak and they went, I want to, I want to listening to this man speak and they went, I want to, I want to connect with this man. I want to read some of his stories from myself.And they were wonderful panels.

Speaker 02418.52s - 2419.9s

And you do see panels at these conventions that are kind of life changing in a way.

Speaker 32428.08s - 2428.62s

We've had a panel with a couple of years ago we found, I didn't find her, but we found this woman in Joy Mercius and Kelly PERSON,

Speaker 02430.98s - 2431.22s

who had ghostwritten Wonder Woman in the 40s.

Speaker 32432.9s - 2437.14s

Never got real credit for it. It was one of the first women who got to write comics,

Speaker 02443.24s - 2446.16s

one of the few people alive who could talk about the people who did work on Wonder Woman in the 40s, William Marston and his Harry Peters PERSON and others.

Speaker 52447.02s - 2449.48s

And she had the time of her life.

Speaker 02449.52s - 2451.24s

She was like 94 years old.

Speaker 32451.88s - 2476.14s

And she was just amazed at how many young women came up to her, dressed as Wonder Woman PERSON and said, you inspired me, you changed my life. There's a wonderful connection that people who make their work. Years ago, there was a great comic artist named Nick Cardi, who was one of the greatest artists who ever worked in comics.

Speaker 02476.86s - 2479.64s

And he came to the convention.

Speaker 52480.52s - 2481.84s

I don't know the year exactly.

Speaker 02482.36s - 2484.48s

Look up what year he got an ink pot award.

Speaker 32484.56s - 2512.56s

That was the year he came to the convention. And he was very scared to come. He was afraid nobody would know who he was. He was afraid nobody would care about him. And he sat there for four and a half days with a line of people, many of them professional artists saying, you're the reason I got to the business.You inspired me. I learned how to draw. You made me want to learn how to draw. I'd look at your work and copy it. And Nick PERSON was the kind of guy who would cry if you told him the tide was going. And he was reduced to,

Speaker 02512.7s - 2517.42s

I had all these emotional moments when he realized that what his work had meant to people.

Speaker 32517.84s - 2566.64s

Because you work in isolation. You're saying they're drawing. You know, it's, you know, when I write stuff,if it's going to elicit laughter, I don't hear it while I'm writing. And I enjoy every, I used to enjoy, we haven't done this for a way. I would go to schools and teach kids how to cartoon and we'd show a couple of cartoons I've written. And I just got to hear the laughter. I did it so I had heard the kids laugh, which was enjoyable. Well, Nick PERSON was able at that convention to just suddenly realize how important his life's work had been to others. And he was literally moved to tears by it. And I've seen other parts of it. And then there are people who will tell you that somebody they met at the Comic-Con EVENT changed their life for the better,

Speaker 02568.16s - 2570.3s

inspiring them, advising them.

Speaker 52571.46s - 2577.72s

I can't tell you how many people I know who will tell me how Jack Kirby, meeting Jack Kirby,

Speaker 02577.72s - 2586.18s

when Jack PERSON was at the convention, made them realize something about themselves and their talents and how to put them to use.

Speaker 32587.36s - 2590.56s

So did I just answer your question? I just wildly off the subject.

Speaker 22591.22s - 2601.74s

A little bit of both, but I love that story. That was really, really touching. It was a great story. And I related to a lot of it.

Speaker 32605.02s - 2610.3s

So we have a reader question, and this might be an easy one or it might be really hard, Mark PERSON.

Speaker 22610.8s - 2616.26s

But Swag Collector wants to know, what was your favorite year at San Diego GPE?

Speaker 32618.22s - 2623.9s

That was the year that Alan Swan PERSON, that's no, that's not my favorite.

Speaker 12627.56s - 2629.9s

I've seen that movie. We were doing the boss hijack sketch

Speaker 32629.9s - 2632.12s

my ex-writing partner was one of the writers

Speaker 22632.12s - 2632.76s

of that film

Speaker 32632.76s - 2640.84s

Dennis Blumbo was my writing partner when I got to television Dennis was one of the main writers of that film

Speaker 22640.84s - 2644.16s

my favorite movie ever I love

Speaker 32644.16s - 2659.44s

that movie I'll tell you my favorite panel movie ever. I love that movie. I'll tell you, my favorite panel we ever did. I think there were other panels that year. There's a fellow named Dave Siegel who lives in Las Vegas, who was a fan of Golden Age comic book artists. This is back when there were some.

Speaker 52661.06s - 2662.72s

It's an endangered species now.

Speaker 32662.72s - 2678.22s

It's very few left. But Dave used to track down these guys who were out of comics and away from the industry and dragged them to San Diego and one year he broughta couple of guys who had no idea they had fans absolutely no idea

Speaker 02678.22s - 2680.54s

and these old timers who were

Speaker 32680.54s - 2752.42s

you know in their 90s or 90s were suddenly surrounded by fans. We had a couple of years there, one in particular. Well, a guy named Richard Morrissey helped bring a man named John Broome PERSON to the convention. John Broome PERSON was the writer, probably the most of us, writer responsible for D.C. Silver Age Karma, the D.C. Silver Age zeitgeist.He wrote the original the Barry Allen PERSON Flash and Green Lantern along with Garder Fox PERSON. And John Broome PERSON came to a comic convention and it was a very strange thing.I did a panel with him and at one point I asked the audience, which was 500 people, was packed. It would have been larger if we'd been in a larger room. We had 500 people there. I said, how many people here have written comic books professionally?And every person in the room put their hands up. All the writers, the writers usually don't go see other writers. But this was a chance to meet the master and hear him talk about its work. And that was very moving. And then this, I think it was the same year we gave ink pot awards to a couple of the other veteran artists such.

Speaker 02757.32s - 2758.04s

And it just, it was kind of a year of celebration. I don't can't tell you exactly the year or what it was.

Speaker 32763.44s - 2833.76s

But those were the moments I really remember a lot. Although, you know, we still, every so often have a wonderful quick draw where this, everything works. We have a cartoon voice panel where just you have this brilliance coming off the stage. I'm a member of the Magic Castle ORG, which you may have heard of, Magicians Club ORG,and you go to the Magic Castle ORG, and you see a look on people's faces, which is a disbelief. It's like, no, no, I didn't just see that woman gets sawed in hand. No, no, I didn't just see that person levitate. I didn't just see the cards appear out of no. Well, you go to, I do the, you know, the quick draw game. And I'm out with the audiencegetting suggestions with the cartoonists. And I see that same look on people's faces. No, no, I didn't just see someone draw that, that joke out of nowhere in five seconds. And then we do the cartoon voice panel. And, you know, on these jokes and these panels, the performing is not on me. I can, I don't have to, I don't make the funny jokes on the comic on the drawing screens. I don't make the funny words that come out of the,the actor's mouths. So I have the luxury of being able to watch the audience and to see that look. And they're going, no, no, I didn't just see that man and talk like folks funny.

Speaker 02833.92s - 2838.12s

No, no, I didn't just. It's the same thing. It's that wonderment, seeing it live

Speaker 32838.12s - 2871.58s

and seeing it happen right in front of you without a screen in front of you. We're so used to watching screens. It's hard for me. Like, even when I'm doing this, I have to remind myself, I'm talking to real people in real time. I see so much old stuff on this screen and so many artificial human beings on this screen. It's nice to talk to real human beings in real time. And you interrelate to people at the convention.And I guess I'm not answering your question real world, but that's what comes to mind here.

Speaker 12873.06s - 2892.34s

No, I think, yeah, no, I think that's a great answer. And honestly, Mark PERSON, like, one of the things I think that we love the most about you is how much you champion, like, giving recognition to unsung heroes. Like, I mean, I know that's one of my favorite things about you.

Speaker 32893.16s - 2946.2s

Yeah, we will be announcing the winners shortly of the Bill Finger Award this year, which I have the administrator of. And every year we honor a writer who is not, we feel is not received do it attention and or money and an a posthumous and i love that when like joy merchison kelly PERSON was our honoree i would say to people veterans in the comic industry hey we're giving me a word this year to join mergesin kelly PERSON i'd love it when they went who's that and then when they found out well we've got this year i won't saywho it is but one of the the postidus where we're getting right now is going to be a big, who's that, it's someone you should have known about, it's someone who's work you probably read at some point, but they never got a single credit line in their entire history of comics. And I like the fact that we can use the convention as a tool to honor people like that and put their names into the record books.Absolutely.

Speaker 12947.2s - 2964.72s

Well, I think we are all very excited to see what you've got going on this year, Mark PERSON. But I think that is probably about it unless we had any other questions in the chat. So why don't you tell our readers where they can find you?

Speaker 32965.82s - 3056.86s

I'm in this little box in the corner. No. I have my book. My blog is called NewsforMe.com. It's, I've been doing it now since 2000. I rarely miss a day. I did it from a hospital bed for a month. I did it from a hospital bed for a month. I did it on the iPhone PRODUCT here. I blogged on the phone here for a while for the hospital bed. And it's not a good place to go if you like Donald Trump PERSON,but other than that, you should enjoy. I just, unfortunately, today I had to post an obit for an old girlfriend of mine named Susan Buckner PERSON, a lovely lady who was, if you go to this blog and read about her, you'll hear who she was. And so I like the fact that I can say goodbye to these people and maybe tell people a little bit about them. But that's where you find me, and then everything is an offshoot of that, pretty much.We have a new issue of grew out now. We have the new Pogo ORG books been delayed a little bit. That's all I. Oh, we're coming out this. I hope I'll be out for the convention. We're doing a collection of a book that Sergio and I did called Space Service ORG.And it's got a beautiful, handsome volume of that that's going to come out. I hope in time for San Diego GPE. And, you know, that's it. And then I'm at my blog a lot. I live on my blog.

Speaker 13058.56s - 3076.9s

Well, we wouldn't know anything at all about living on our blog. Nothing at all. Well, thank you so much, Mark PERSON, for joining us. I'm sure that we will be posting lots of news about your panels here in the coming weeks. And I'm also sure we'll have you back on next year.

Speaker 33077.66s - 3090.98s

Okay, very good. Thank you very much. I love your blog. You are from a valuable public service. I send people there so that I don't have explained to them all this stuff. Thank you. So long. Thank you, Mark PERSON. All right. Thanks, Mark.

Speaker 13095.86s - 3103.94s

Okay. Okay. Next up, we have, well, news and exclusives and off-sites and,

Speaker 33103.94s - 3106.44s

uh, carry. What's the first news?

Speaker 53107.88s - 3110.48s

It is that the parking lottery

Speaker 13110.48s - 3112.82s

actually opens up this week.

Speaker 33113s - 3114.96s

It opens up, I believe, tomorrow,

Speaker 13115.18s - 3116.32s

yep, tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Speaker 33116.9s - 3119.66s

So this is going to work just like it has in other years

Speaker 13119.66s - 3120.52s

if you've ever done it,

Speaker 43120.58s - 3123.9s

where basically tomorrow you can sign up for the lottery.

Speaker 53124.2s - 3125.9s

You have quite a bit of time.

Speaker 13126.36s - 3133.54s

You have until Sunday, June 10th. And then after that, they will randomize everybody. And supposedly

Speaker 43133.54s - 3141.06s

they're hoping to send out your group on Monday, June 10th, and then start the first sale on

Speaker 13141.06s - 3145.94s

June 17th. So if you need parking, this is the sale for you.

Speaker 43146.42s - 3147.96s

Just make sure you sign up at some point

Speaker 13147.96s - 3153.44s

between tomorrow on June 10th or June 9th. So basically you have a month.

Speaker 43153.82s - 3156.12s

So if you're listening to this a few days after

Speaker 13156.12s - 3173.26s

alive, don't worry, parking signing up is still open. Yes. And don't feel like you have to like open it at 10 a of tomorrow. Like, it is okay on this one.Speed does not help you. Let's not crash Aces site when it's open for a month.

Speaker 23173.84s - 3177.28s

It's not open registration. No, it's not.

Speaker 13177.48s - 3177.94s

It's okay.

Speaker 43179.6s - 3224.84s

All right. So the next thing that's up in the news is actually pretty big news. And that is we have found out that there will be no eBay auctions for badges, which has happened over the last few years, actually. And so now the only way beyond the initial returning registration and then open registration is maybe if there's a contest here or there, but from Comic-Con EVENT themselves is the Comic-Con Museum's legend membership tier. If you want to purchase that, you will get a badge to Comic-Con EVENT.Unfortunately, it is a bit more expensive than most of those auctions went for because it is $1,900 per person.

Speaker 13225.48s - 3230s

Now, you do get like a year admission to the museum.

Speaker 43230.5s - 3237.66s

But let's be honest, most of the people buying this are not buying it for the museum membership, would be my guess.

Speaker 13238s - 3238.62s

So, yeah.

Speaker 43239.24s - 3257.44s

And the thing is that this membership is really only really good for San Diego GPE residents or people who can get there somewhat regularly to take advantage of special invitations for member only exhibits and you know the special stuff that comes along with being able to actually make it tothe museum all year long.

Speaker 13257.64s - 3258.5s

Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 43260.18s - 3261.68s

So no eBay ORG auctions,

Speaker 13261.86s - 3263.38s

so if you see

Speaker 43263.38s - 3268.92s

Comic-Con badges on eBay ORG, they are not good.

Speaker 13270.44s - 3271.82s

Do not buy them.

Speaker 43272.52s - 3277.82s

Maybe somebody wants to get that legend membership and just donate toward the museum.

Speaker 13277.98s - 3279.84s

Maybe they're feeling philanthropic.

Speaker 23280.54s - 3281.96s

Then they get a badge, too.

Speaker 43282.4s - 3282.72s

Exactly.

Speaker 23283.24s - 3301.58s

Yeah. We'd win. Before we go on, Carolyn Mendoza PERSON asked in the chat, my daughter got an attendee badge on returning registration and paid for it, but got approved for press and completed the registration.Does she have to email ComicCon ORG for refund on attendee badge? Yes.

Speaker 13302.18s - 3302.78s

Yes.

Speaker 23302.78s - 3306.5s

So there's a couple different ways that you can get a refund. The information

Speaker 13306.5s - 3310.86s

is on their website if you go to like Comic-Con EVENT and then badges and then refunds.

Speaker 23311.7s - 3317.3s

But you can, you can do it in your member ID or there's a form that you can submit and you

Speaker 13317.3s - 3335.8s

can explain things. For like an attendee badge, honestly, like I would just off on into your member ID and just cancel refund it from there normally I tell people to email but in that instance yes you you have to

Speaker 43335.8s - 3342.64s

do the process it's not just going to happen automatically correct but they have till the 13th

Speaker 13342.64s - 3345.6s

correct to get a refund, yes.

Speaker 23346.06s - 3348.36s

Yes, you've got a little less than a week.

Speaker 13348.76s - 3350.62s

If she wants to get the reason, she should get on that.

Speaker 23351.16s - 3376.82s

She should get on that and make sure she does it within the next couple of days. But now moving on, we are bringing back our attendee of the week. Each week between now and San Diego Comic-Con, we are going to highlight one attendee of the week. Each week between now and San Diego Comic-Con, we are going to highlight one attendee of the week on our site, someone who has some cool comic-con members to share, and don't we all, right?We do.

Speaker 43377.08s - 3378.5s

Yep, we do.

Speaker 23379.02s - 3380.04s

I think it's fun.

Speaker 13380.1s - 3407.2s

I think this is actually like one of the most fun things that we do because it's kind of like our chance to celebrate you guys and what you all do at the convention. And I approve these every week. I'm not the one who does these, but I definitely approve them. But it's fun just to like read the stories and hear about it because everybody has such a different experience at Comic Con EVENT. You know, like we all attend the same convention, but we don't have the same convention.Yeah, I don't hear that.

Speaker 23407.34s - 3408.02s

It's true.

Speaker 13410.14s - 3414.38s

And, of course, just like the, let me see, can I figure out my hands here?

Speaker 23414.76s - 3462.88s

Yeah, that way. Look at my name. It says the commish. That should give you a hint that commissions are, a lot of them are opening back up again. We're seeing a lot of artists opening their pre-con commissions. So if you're interested in getting on any one of those lists, go check out our post.There's a bunch with commissions open. There are a few that have slots filling up, some with slots that are already full. But there are still a bunch on there that have openings and would love to hear from you guys. So please check out that post. Get in touch with your favorite artistsand get that one of a kind, unique piece of art that you're going to hang on your wall like James and Kerry PERSON have behind them. Yes, for sure.

Speaker 13464.38s - 3511.02s

I also just want to mention that if you are still looking for a hotel to definitely keep trying the hotel refund is coming up here i believe it's next week is that also the 13th i need to look um but around that refund date there will definitely be a lot more hotels that pop up. So definitely keep checking. I've seen lots of folks who've even managed to grablike gas lamp hotels this week. And hotels continue to pop up all the way through when the convention is basically. So if you do not havea hotel room yet, like all hope is not lost, definitely keep checking. Persistence.

Speaker 23512.38s - 3514.18s

Yeah, and I'm totally wrong.

Speaker 13514.68s - 3524.94s

Reservations may be canceled on our before Wednesday, May 8th. So basically tomorrow, I think there will be quite a few popping up. So definitely keep checking. There you go.

Speaker 43528.3s - 3541.46s

I think that's about it for just the general news. But next we have a bunch of off-site information already. And we have news on what many consider to be the biggest, the funnest, the craziest, the loudest.

Speaker 13541.82s - 3548.98s

The worst sandwich off-side? We're talking about fun days, of course,

Speaker 43549.08s - 3568.38s

Funko Fund days. And we found out at C2E2 that they're going to do fun days over two days this year. And it will be likely, but we don't have word on which two nights, but likely Friday night and Saturday night because those are the most obvious ones to do it on.

Speaker 13569.22s - 3571.58s

I mean, it could be Thursday and Friday.

Speaker 43572.12s - 3629.74s

Yeah, we'll find out. But also just yesterday on a distractor's post on Instagram, Mike Becker, the Funco chief officer of fun, confirming that the event will be the exact same event over both nights. So essentially they want more people to have access to the event. So they are essentially doubling the number of people who can attend by having the same event both nights. They just want more people to see the show.He did say that they will have an unusual twist at the end, which is interesting because we have no idea what that's going to be. But that is really the extent of the information except for the theme, which is Fantastic Voyage, with, of course, the four themed teams with the different mascots. They showed off the box of fun. They showed off Funkoville ORG, which will be their booth on the floor. So, I mean...

Speaker 13629.74s - 3633.1s

Which is Funko Airways, like it was at C2EH2 FAC.

Speaker 43633.66s - 3660.12s

So, I mean, it's not a whole bunch of information, but thankfully, we do know that being a two-day event, maybe they're going to actually require everyone to only buy tickets to one event so they can fit in as many people as possible. Hopefully they manage to do that because I think that is definitely something that is needed to be done so that double the number of people actually can't attend instead of the same number of people getting both nights.

Speaker 53661.14s - 3671.54s

Yeah, totally. And so that is, I think, some pretty big news. And we'll, of course, find out more in the coming days and weeks about tickets and when and how much and all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 43672.2s - 3678.3s

And if we have to sit there for five hours, refreshing to be put in randomly in line.

Speaker 13679.3s - 3683.1s

Yes. That was the worst. So, we'll see.

Speaker 53683.6s - 3683.82s

All right.

Speaker 43684.82s - 3687.38s

The twist at the end is they're going to have better sandwiches this year.

Speaker 13689.5s - 3691.22s

I think they actually will.

Speaker 43691.22s - 3696.2s

Like, I, I mean, after last year, like, surely they will.

Speaker 13696.44s - 3696.72s

Surely.

Speaker 23697.88s - 3698.38s

Hey, don't.

Speaker 13698.58s - 3702.38s

But do, do check out.

Speaker 43702.48s - 3704.5s

Oh, yeah, that was a chamois.

Speaker 23705.34s - 3710.16s

Do check out the Batman live in concert, the 1989 films.

Speaker 13710.28s - 3716.34s

Some of us like me and James are old enough to remember when that came out and just blew our collective minds.

Speaker 23716.98s - 3733.38s

But now they're doing the 30th anniversary concert, sponsored by the San Diego Civic Theater ORG. They'll be celebrating the 35th. I cannot talk today. It's crazy because this is a talking thing.

Speaker 43733.88s - 3734.7s

I know.

Speaker 23736.08s - 3737.22s

Oh my gosh.

Speaker 43737.54s - 3738.96s

You're on a podcast, Andy PERSON.

Speaker 23739.04s - 3766.66s

Get it together. So yeah, celebrate the 35th, I am old, anniversary of Tim Burton's spin on Batman WORK_OF_ART, in which the film will be accompanied by a live orchestra conducted by James Olmsted PERSON. Guests are encouraged to dress up as their favorite DC ORG superhero. If that's Batman WORK_OF_ART, obviously appropriate. Tickets start at 4850, and they are on sale now, so go get them.

Speaker 13767.86s - 3832.7s

Yes, absolutely. So one thing that will be back to this year that I know everybody was super psyched about is Paramount Plus's The Lodge WORK_OF_ART is coming back. And just like last year, it will have a ton of shows and movies and all kinds of things that it's going to feature, including Knuckles, Halo, Brazier, Lawman, Bass Reeves, Dora, Mean Girls, Bob Marley, One Love, Survivor WORK_OF_ART, SpongeBob, Square, Star Trek, Discovery, Halo PRODUCT, and a whole lot more. So you can go look at our post, and actually, I want to mention this because Andy PERSON loves it too.If you liked last year's ghost activation at their booth, it basically sounds like they're going to do a different iteration of that, like at the lodge. So if you're a fan of ghosts, which you should be. So that's cool. They'll have like drinks again.So yeah, it'll be back Thursday through Sunday. More details to come, including presumably how to register. But I know a lot of people are really excited about that one. Oh,

Speaker 23832.82s - 3839.44s

I'll be going for, uh, obviously and of course, Star Trek WORK_OF_ART. It's,

Speaker 43839.54s - 3842.44s

it's crazy how much they packed into that small space with all,

Speaker 13842.44s - 3859.66s

like, uh, franchise. It was, yes. They, like,they did a really good job. And none of it felt like super packed either. And the weight, like, wasn't horrible for Comic-Con EVENT. I don't know. It was just a really well-run event, I thought.

Speaker 23860.76s - 3864.08s

All-o-oiled machine. I think it's one of the best off-sites that that's been

Speaker 13864.08s - 3895.98s

for the past couple of years. So another thing that people seem very excited about, including me, is that we are going to get a Sharpie bus. The Sharpie bus is heading around the U.S. on a couple of stops, including San Diego Comic-Con EVENT, and you will be able to stop and get free Sharpies, as well as, like, try out their new marker on all different kinds of materials. We don't know yet where it's going to be, but surely this is going to be in the interactive zone. I mean, there's basically nowhere else.

Speaker 43896.12s - 3897.7s

It sounds right. Yeah.

Speaker 13898.36s - 3902.8s

This year's randomness of that's coming to Comic-Con EVENT?

Speaker 43904.3s - 3904.76s

Yes.

Speaker 13905.52s - 3910.26s

I don't know. Hey, look, I'm not going to turn down a free Sharpie PRODUCT. So I actually like that. Yeah.

Speaker 23913.32s - 3914.08s

Exactly. I mean, it's not that random because when you think about it,

Speaker 13915.82s - 3920.14s

get those Sharpies for those autographs. Yes. Yes. Totally. We made like our own branded Sharpies like one year.

Speaker 23920.3s - 3929.98s

I might still have one. 2019. Yeah, I love that. Those were great. She's got her fish bowl of stuff. I know.

Speaker 13930.08s - 3932.4s

I'm like digging in a day. Do I have one?

Speaker 23932.54s - 3934.56s

He's totally keeping the amazing business.

Speaker 13935.42s - 3938.04s

I know. Carry on. I might find one of it to leave.

Speaker 23938.6s - 3991.42s

Yeah, while she digs through her little fish bowl there, I'll mention the Disney ORG in concert, the sound of magic. If you are coming into town just a little bit early on Saturday, July 20th, let me see here. Who's hosting this one? The Rady Shell ORG.There it is. It's going to be at the Rady Shell FAC at Jacobs Park. You will find Disney in concert, The Sound of Magic WORK_OF_ART. And it will kick off at 7.30 and will feature live music for many of your favorite Disney ORG films, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Moana, Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin, the Jungle Book WORK_OF_ART, Frozen, the Lion King, Fantasia, Encanto, Beauty and the Beast WORK_OF_ART, and more.So I will probably be there with my wife singing along to everything. And if I'm not, she will. But yeah, it'll be Saturday, July 20th. So if you're in town a couple of days early,

Speaker 13991.52s - 3997.62s

go check it out. Yeah, absolutely. For the record, I didn't actually find our like Brandon Sharpie PERSON.

Speaker 23998.12s - 4004.06s

So look, my fishbowl is like where I keep our buttons. And so like when I need a giveaway item,

Speaker 14004.06s - 4030.84s

I just pull something out of the fishbowl. Don't make fun of it. Um, another off. Another offside this year is they are celebrating 25 years of Mission Hill, which was a series that hailed from Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, who were some of the writers, producers, and showrunners for some of the biggest animated hits ever, including The Simpsons, Futurama ORG, disenchantment.

Speaker 54031.56s - 4041.24s

So they will be having a screening followed by a Q&A with the creators and possibly some surprise guests as well as trivia for prizes.

Speaker 14041.78s - 4225.24s

That will be at the music box on Thursday, July 25th, and tickets are available if you are interested in that. There are tons of other off-sites on our website. Already, it is only May 7th,including, like, if you like game nights, Punchbowl ORG, social is having a board game night on Wednesday, so if you don't have a preview night ticket, you can totally go to that. If you love Star Wars, Mosh Isley PERSON is returning for their like emo night that I don't fully understand. But it's sold out last year. So a lot of people liked it.There is a barks and bruise event on, when is this thing? On Saturday, July 27th. So if you don't have a badge and you want to go drink some beer and hang out with some dogs, I mean, that's a pretty cool afternoon. There is a Sonic Symphony where they will be, a live symphony will be playing the music of Sonic the Hedgehog on Saturday, July 27th. There is, if you don't mind traveling a little bit further, there's a Barbie, the movie, and concerts happening. Now, again, it is a little bit further, but that is on, where is it? Sunday, July 28th. So if you don't have anything to do, that could be a fun way to end the convention. And then the American comedy company has listed their comedy shows for Comic Con EVENT, which includes everybody should be.I mean, it's a returning favorite Doug loves movies as well as Maria Bamford and even Chris Hardwick PERSON. So there are lots of off-sites and there are so many more to come. I will say we've had a lot of questions lately about like, when do tickets for off-sites go up? Or like, when do you register for off-sites? And I'm like, it depends which off-site, first of all. Because again, there are tickets already available for some off-sites.But if you're talking about like the studio ones, those tend to happen much, much closer to the convention. Typically, those don't start going up until like three weeks before the convention. And then one thing that we, that I did not mention is what just happened shortly before this podcast, which is that XLE is bringing back their shows this year. They will have three nights of parties, starting with the first night on Wednesday, July 24th.They're bringing back their Ready Party WORK_OF_ART one. And they will kick things off with Legends of Fantasy, which is going to celebrate a whole bunch of your 80s fantasy films. They love live music. They've got a VIP section that includes some fun giveaways. So all that information is on our website.And for everybody asking about the blog party, give me a little bit of time. But I very much think, yes, there will be a block party. I very much think it will be Sunday night. So let me keep talking to the...

Speaker 44225.24s - 4232.42s

Even if it's us sitting on a piece of grass handing out cups of water.

Speaker 14234s - 4257.82s

I mean, that is literally how cups of water started, is that's what I used to threaten. It's like, look, guys, like, if a venue, like, won't let us have a party, like, we'll be on a patch of grass somewhere and out Dixie PRODUCT cups of water um but yeah I very much think we're going to have a party so just give me just a little bit of time but we we have a theme that I don't even totally know of like James and Andy PERSON know

Speaker 44257.82s - 4264.62s

keeping things close to the vest this year to make sure that it's all all surprise and an amazing

Speaker 14264.62s - 4277.12s

all of us. Yep. Yep. I've got Val PERSON working on some stuff. Like, nobody knows what I'm doing. So,be a fun surprise for everybody. Oh, goodness.

Speaker 44278.06s - 4339.32s

Okay. So let's move on to exclusives, which there are not very many yet. You can expect a lot of exclusives to be popping up over the next two months, of course. But the first one isDiamond previews, and Diamond Select Toys and Gentle Giant ORG, of course, are coming back with a whole bunch of stuff. We have things like the Star Wars Mandalorian Off World Java jumbo figure,which will be $80. The Star Wars Grievous 16th scale minibus, that will be $130. We have some Marvel animated style statues like the Silver Surfer, Ghost Writer PERSON, Dr. Octopus, and a Comic-Con exclusive Iron Man PERSON. Those will be prices TBD for most in the $60 to $75 range, it looks like. We have a Marvel ORG MCUWandaVision PRODUCT White Vision Minibust and that's all we have so far but I think they tend to come out with a slew of things amongst their different brains.

Speaker 14340.26s - 4342.12s

So expect a lot more from them.

Speaker 44343.2s - 4344s

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 14344.5s - 4378.66s

They do it a little bit weird. All of previews does because basically, like, their exclusives are available through comic bookstores. And so, like, if you want a lot of their stuff on the show floor, like, you would necessarily go to, like, their previews booth. You would, like, go and get a list of booze on the show floor that have theirexclusives. It's always a little bit weird. But yeah, previews make some awesome stuff. And they should have, I mean, they usually have like 30 items. So there's a lot more to come. All right.

Speaker 24378.76s - 4419.2s

And next up, we've got the Her Universe Fashion Show EVENT, which is going to be coming back once again this year. We learned at WonderCon that the Star Wars Rebels actress Ashley X PERSON-Steen is going to be bringing her fashion show back. It'll be on Thursday, July 25th at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel and sponsored by Mattel this year, celebrating 65 years of Barbie PERSON. But competitors' designs can be inspired by any fandom of their choosing. It doesn't have to be Barbie PERSON.So look for that on Thursday, July 25th again at the Manchester Grand High FAC. Absolutely.

Speaker 14419.74s - 4446.96s

So we have plenty of other news up on the site, including our under the tent sections, which we've been posting about one or two a week. And those will definitely be increasing in volume. I wanted to get to a couple of reader questions in the chat, including, I'm looking for it now, but I saw two people who asked about like, do we think Hollywood is back this year? And James and Andy PERSON, I'm going to toss this to you guys. What do you think?Yes.

Speaker 24447.9s - 4457.5s

I agree. There's no strike. There's no reason for them at this point not to come. So I don't see why they wouldn't.

Speaker 44458.2s - 4467.68s

Honestly, if three actors show up, Hollywood is back because they were not three actors at Comic-Con EVENT last. I mean, there were, but

Speaker 54467.68s - 4471.46s

there were. But no, I think we're going to see

Speaker 44471.46s - 4485.72s

plenty of stuff come back now that there is nothing stopping them from coming back. Will it be in the same volume as some of the biggest years? Probably not. Will it be more than there was the last few years? Most likely.

Speaker 14486.76s - 4530.54s

Yes. That's how I feel is I think it's going to be way bigger than last year. I think it'll be bigger than 2022. But like, are we going to get 2019 levels? I don't know that we are just because with the strikes, like so much stuff got delayed or like has finished filming or like has just finished filming so it won't be ready by July. So we do a big breakout every year of like the movies we think are going to beat Comic-Con EVENT or the TV shows we're going to be at Comic-Con. And we will actually be getting the movies post up this week. So you can look at kind of like what we think the predictions of whether or not which movies might be at the convention or not and then we'll start with TV shows next week and we break it all down by network.

Speaker 44531.44s - 4533.16s

Very cool. Can't wait.

Speaker 14533.36s - 4536.08s

And I see that Carolyn Mendoza PERSON mentions

Speaker 44536.08s - 4541.94s

hopefully Tom Hardy PERSON, maybe for some venom or something else.

Speaker 14542.94s - 4559.18s

I mean, I would love a venom game, but I would also love he has, he's doing a comic with Arkbound ORG. And that's actually why I went to New York last year. And I have heard through the great mind that ArkMy, Arkbound might be at Sandy Akgo this year.

Speaker 54559.32s - 4563.3s

So I'm like, well, even if Sony ORG does it show, I have hope.

Speaker 14564.52s - 4566.9s

And of course, Kailen PERSON also mentions the other thing that we all love,

Speaker 54566.98s - 4570.72s

which is severance and the fact that maybe Apple ORG will bring season two

Speaker 44570.72s - 4576.16s

and let us all go through some severed experience again.

Speaker 14577.28s - 4580.26s

Yes, that would be amazing.

Speaker 54580.9s - 4582.8s

I just want Apple ORG to come back, period.

Speaker 44583.22s - 4587.08s

Like, they blew it out of the water, and then they didn't come at all last year.

Speaker 14587.2s - 4588.12s

I'm like, come on, kids.

Speaker 44588.88s - 4592.6s

So here's the question that you've got a lot of people are actually going to ask in that

Speaker 14592.6s - 4596.76s

Deadpool and Wolverine is coming out Comic-Con weekend.

Speaker 44597.58s - 4617.14s

Do we expect something to happen for them, despite the fact that it is opening weekend? Because usually, I mean, obviously, Comic-Con EVENT is all about promotions for things so that people go see stuff or buy stuff. And with the movie out, I mean, sometimes they just don't feel like they need to. So what do we expect anything?

Speaker 14618.38s - 4623.58s

It's Ryan PERSON. I don't know. Go ahead, Andy PERSON. Was that Andy PERSON?

Speaker 24624.16s - 4632.4s

It's Ryan Reynolds PERSON. Do you think he'll pass up an opportunity to do something big and extravagant for it?

Speaker 44632.4s - 4634.06s

You would hope not.

Speaker 24635.88s - 4637.36s

You would hope not.

Speaker 14637.58s - 4645.24s

And you got to remember, like, look, Fox brought Deadpool 2 WORK_OF_ART for the Blu-ray release.

Speaker 44645.24s - 4649.22s

Like, not even for, like, the movie,

Speaker 24649.42s - 4652.02s

but, like, they brought it for the Blu-ray release,

Speaker 44652.08s - 4654.38s

which is very outside of the box.

Speaker 24654.46s - 4656.62s

Like, that was the year we got the toilet seat covers,

Speaker 44656.82s - 4660.84s

and they had, like, the big booth with the Chuck E. Cheese ORG stuff.

Speaker 14660.96s - 4680.24s

Like, all of that was literally for the Blu-ray release. So I just feel like they went outside of the box because they knew if you're going to promote that movie anywhere like you promoted it at san diego FAC so i have hope that we're going to get something now what i don't know if we're going to get like a panel i don't know if we're going to get

Speaker 24680.24s - 4687.08s

a screening i mean we maybe we even get an offsite.

Speaker 14687.78s - 4695.6s

Like you never think about Marvel ORG doing an offsite, but they did one for, uh, was it, Avengers WORK_OF_ART?

Speaker 44696.98s - 4698.08s

They did one for what?

Speaker 14698.54s - 4699.56s

Oh yeah, they did it for Avengers WORK_OF_ART.

Speaker 44699.86s - 4702.24s

They also did it for Agents of Shield WORK_OF_ART, I think.

Speaker 54702.28s - 4702.76s

They did one.

Speaker 14703.7s - 4704.08s

Yeah.

Speaker 44704.8s - 4705.28s

Possibly. Yes, they did want, well, I think. They did one. Yeah. Possibly.

Speaker 14705.28s - 4705.6s

Yes.

Speaker 44705.6s - 4706.04s

They did.

Speaker 14706.76s - 4710.26s

Yes. They did want, well, they had like those vans. Yeah.

Speaker 44710.3s - 4722.38s

Went around. Oh, yeah, they did, they did an Avengers WORK_OF_ART one. And they,early, and then they also had done one that was like an agent thing. And then back when Captain America PERSON came out, they did a screening because it was opening that week. Yes.With Amando PRODUCT poster.

Speaker 14722.5s - 4722.66s

Yes.

Speaker 44723.1s - 4723.78s

So they have done.

Speaker 14723.78s - 4728.2s

Yeah, but for like the Avengers WORK_OF_ART one, like nobody knew that was even happening.

Speaker 44728.2s - 4731.56s

But I'm like, they have done off-sites.

Speaker 14731.66s - 4744.4s

I'm like I don't even feel like an off-site is off the table. I don't know. I just feel like if they don't do anything, it's a lot of missed opportunity. But I'm also like, we said this thing last year about Warner Brothers and Barbie PERSON. Yeah.

Speaker 44744.44s - 4747.32s

And what did we get that was pink? Nothing. Literally nothing.

Speaker 14748.32s - 4754.32s

But also you have to remember, like you mentioned, Ryan Reynolds PERSON, he is the king of marketing, right?

Speaker 44754.96s - 4772.34s

And promotion. And Hugh Jackman PERSON is someone who, I mean, was over in the parking lot at Petco handing stuff out of the back of a van for that robot movie that he did, a real steel.

Speaker 54773.06s - 4774.14s

So, I mean, they're both,

Speaker 44774.48s - 4806.08s

they love Comic-Con EVENT. They both, you know, enjoy doing things and promoting the stuff that they're really involved in. And, of course, based on everything you see,they both are just like having the time of their lives doing this movie. So I would hope that that will lead into doing something here, even if it's just some random appearance where you're like, oh my God, you know,Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman PERSON are walking around on the show floor dressed as Deadpool PERSON and Wolverine and just filming it for something and random people get to find out about it. That's something like that would be really cool too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 14806.46s - 4830.96s

Totally agree. Okay. I see Swack Collectors hoping for Lego ORG exclusive. So say we all. Like, sure would be nice.Lego ORG if you would bring those back. Yeah. Rom V. Ask, will there be carpet? I don't know. But, I mean, I think at this pointlike carpet has probably I think we, those days are gone.

Speaker 44831.78s - 4839.84s

The carpet has been rolled up and put away. Yeah. Until, say otherwise, don't expect it anymore. Yeah,

Speaker 14840s - 4844.24s

I agree with that statement. Okay. All right.

Speaker 44844.32s - 4846.46s

That's it. Thanks so too. All right. Thanks so too.

Speaker 14846.94s - 4847.3s

All right.

Speaker 44847.68s - 4853.4s

What do we want to talk about? We talked about attendee of the week. We have a Patreon for all those who are new.

Speaker 14854.32s - 4863.72s

We do have a Patreon and you can win fun stuff. Like, I'll go pull something else out of my little fishbowl. Fishbowl.

Speaker 44863.72s - 4863.74s

Fish bowl.

Speaker 14863.74s - 4903.92s

You win. I just keep all of my stuff down here in one nice place. You can get stuff like our fun little yesterday's pen that they made us. And there's a shirt. So there's all kinds of fun stuff that you can get on our Patreon. And all of the money goes back into the siteand keeping us live. Our hosting bill is not small. So we do appreciate our patrons very much. And I know that I have been terrible this year about like sitting out your free monthly stuff. We'll get better. I promise. We have a question.

Speaker 44904.08s - 4925.36s

Let me check this one real quick. This is another one similar to carpeting. It's just like, do we think? Jason Todd asked you all think side show collectibles will come back. That's another one where you just don't know because, I mean, honestly, sideshow didn't really sell stuff at Comic Con EVENT.And that is a lot of space and a lot of money to just bring things to show.

Speaker 24926.7s - 4929.22s

And they started online con, right?

Speaker 14929.38s - 4931.04s

Right. They did it online con last year.

Speaker 24931.98s - 4933.5s

Yeah, they do side show con.

Speaker 14933.72s - 4937.3s

And I feel it's also worth noting that like when they left,

Speaker 24938.94s - 4940.26s

they definitely put out a quote.

Speaker 44940.26s - 4943.1s

It was like a little bit disparaging towards the convention.

Speaker 14943.46s - 4955.84s

Like it was, I don't know. It did not feel like it was a like, well, like, maybe we'll be back later. It was basically like, we don't see the value in the spy. Was more the vibe I got at least.

Speaker 44955.84s - 4967.34s

Maybe everyone builds different. Because online, they can show a picture of a thing just as well as you walking by and looking at it. So I guess that's their thinking in not doing it anymore. Yeah.

Speaker 14967.54s - 4974.58s

So I am not expecting them to be back. I would be actually very surprised if they came back firstly based on that quote.

Speaker 44975.5s - 4980.3s

Oh, well, that's the way it goes. Things change, right? Yeah.

Speaker 24980.3s - 4988.48s

Sounds like that bridge is a little burned. Might have gotten singed at the edges. Yeah.

Speaker 44989.76s - 5011.72s

Okay. So I guess that's going to wrap it up for today. So thank you again to Mark for coming on and coming on each year as our first guest. We will be back next week with more news and exclusives and a special guest. And do we have a teaser or do we have an announcement for who next week's guest is, Carrie PERSON? Yeah.

Speaker 15012.36s - 5045.96s

My tease is that next week's guest was in the comment section. We will be joined by Gary Sassaman, who was the director of multiple departments at Comic-Con over the years, including programming, as Mark PERSON talked about, as well as publications. So it's always a fun chat. We'll talk to Gary about his tales from My Spenterac, his blog, and just, you know, his many years at Comic-Con EVENT. So it's always a fun time when Gary PERSON's on.

Speaker 45046.32s - 5061.74s

Awesome. And so we'll be here every Tuesday, live. And, of course, you can listen on all the different places that you listen to podcasts. But thank you all for joining us. And we'll be back next week all the way up until Sandy Good Comic-Con, 24. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 15063.02s - 5071.02s

You can sign up for a newsletter, which we have not started yet, but we will likely start in June. But if you want to do that, the link is on the very bottom of our site.

Speaker 45071.9s - 5080.9s

So thank you all again for joining us live and also listening after the fact. So let's wrap this up. And Andy PERSON, where can we find more of your work on the internet?

Speaker 25081.9s - 5101.1s

You can find me on the socials, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook at SCCCWacky Wags ORG, or you could follow my cannabis content at SD CanaBlogger ORG and listen to my podcast, CamBlogger's Corner. Carrie, where can we find more of your work on the internet other than SDCCBlog.com ORG?

Speaker 15101.86s - 5111.8s

You can find me on Twitter at Carrie Dixon PERSON, and I think that's also my Instagram ORG handle. Look, I'm changing it up, guys. Like, you can also follow up at Instagram ORG if you really like.

Speaker 55112.4s - 5114.16s

What? James,

Speaker 15114.4s - 5116.22s

where can we find more of your work on the internet?

Speaker 45116.62s - 5137.16s

I'm everywhere at Dan Regal ORG, and you can also check out the Citizens of Lorcana WORK_OF_ART, a podcast I do weekly, talking about the new Disney ORG trading card game, and my experience is playing it and being competitive and all those kinds of things. So, thank you also to Beth, our producer, for editing the show and getting this into your ears.Thank you, Beth.

Speaker 15137.98s - 5140.02s

We are on iTunes.

Speaker 25140.22s - 5142.18s

If you'd like to subscribe, the links are up with the blog.

Speaker 15142.28s - 5143.72s

You can search for SDConcast ORG.

Speaker 25143.92s - 5146.38s

If you like what you've heard so far, please review us. We are also on Stitcher Radio and Spotify, and the links are up with the blog. You can search for SDConcast ORG. If you like what you've heard so far, please review us.

Speaker 45146.52s - 5150.08s

We're also on Stitcher Radio and Spotify ORG, and the links are in the show notes.

Speaker 15150.92s - 5154.92s

If you want to get a hold of us, you can send us an email at info at sdccblog.com.

Speaker 45155.04s - 5167.12s

Find us on Facebook at facebook.com slash SDConblog or tweet us at SD underscore con. Thank you all for listening and everybody. Go, Beaummerma PERSON. Comic underscore con. Thank you all for listening, and everybody, go swarmam.