The Real Comic Con

Yesterday, I discussed what a comic con is not. Today, allow me to give you a taste of what a comic con is.

9 a.m.--find a perch in the panel before the panel we really wanted to see, so we could camp out and get a good seat for the panel afterward. The panel we camped at turned out to be a preview of the pilot to an ABC comedy slated to air this fall. Pushing Daisies is scheduled for Wednesdays at 8/7c. I can't vouch for how well the rest of the series will work out, but the pilot is funny as heck. The preview is followed by a Q&A session with producers and cast, including Barry Sonnenfeld and Kristen Chenowith.

10:15 a.m.--Move up a few rows to the front and say hi to some email buddies who are saving seats for some others.

10:30 a.m.--Quickdraw. This is an hour and a half divided between art improv and a variant of Pictionary played with professional cartoonists. One of the sheets, filled (and I mean filled) with sketches by Sergio Aragones, was auctioned off on site for charity. It finally went for $325.00

11:00 a.m. -- Emp. Peng. ducks out for a few minutes and returns with two free paperback books.

12:00 p.m. -- We have a break, so I take a quick run around the exhibit hall. In the space of half an hour, I got the Peanuts Free Button of the Day, went fangirl on not one but two actresses from my favorite TV show, and grabbed a free tote bag and poster.

1:00 p.m. -- A panel discussion with Greg Bear, Vernor Vinge, and five other sci-fi authors about the role of technology and science in their writing.

4:00 p.m. -- Sitting in on a discussion with Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen.

5:00 p.m. -- Another cruise through the exhibit hall, this time netting a pair of free t-shirts, a free CD and free book, and a purchased emperor penguin chick plushie toy. The same booth with the penguin also had figurines of Thoth, the ancient Egyptian ibis-headed writing deity.

You don't hear about anything like this in the news coverage, but it is by far the more typical con experience.