On July 31, I flew to San Diego for my first Comic-Con International. I had a total blast (thanks Eric and Mark for convincing me to go)! Here are the few pictures I took while I was there. Sadly, the quality is not as good as the pictures from London, but you'll get the idea.

This is the line to get into the convention on its first full day, Thursday. It stretches about three blocks. On Saturday, it was about three times as long.
Donna and Eric Nolen-Weathington, my travelling companions. Eric works at TwoMorrows Publishing. His company won an Eisner over the course of the weekend. Donna is working on an anthology comic she is trying to put together.
Mark Schultz, creator of Xenozoic Tales, stands on the left. This is a good image of what goes on with the artists on the exhibit floor, much interaction between fans and writers, artists, and creators. Mark was really convinced I should go to San Diego, and he was right.
Part of the Lord of the Rings Pavilion. This is a statue of a Ring-wraith.
This is a statue of an orc at the same pavilion. You can compare him to the woman at his feet.
They also built a troll, that is being used as a display case for statues that were actually available for purchase. Those statues around him are about eight inches tall apiece, to give you an idea of the size.
A statue of the Balrog. This was available for purchase and is about 15 inches tall.
A game of miniatures based on the Lord of the Rings. That's Sauron standing on the "hilltop" with all the dead soldiers at his feet (duh).
Thundarr action figure prototypes. That's Ukla and Ariel with him. Thunder dogs!
Igoo, from the Herculoids. He's about eight feet tall.
SLightly smaller, here's Igoo and the rest of the Herculoids. These are action figuree prototypes, with the figures due out in September and October.
Moe the bartender at the Acme booth. He is surrounded by animation cells and production art that was for sell. I almost bought some Samurai Jack art, but it was mite bit expensive.
An imaginative portrayal of New York City after Star Trek's Borg conquer it. This is a painted piece of art, some eight feet by five feet.
The side of the San Diego Convention Center that faces away from the city looks out over San Diego Harbor from three different levels. This is looking to the north from the top level.
This is a view almost due west. If you walk out the back of the Convention Center, you walk down into a small park and marina. Actually, almost all of San Diego Harbor is a marina, close to the shore.
Second from the left is long-time writer, editor, and publisher at Marvel Comics, Stan Lee. This is a nice picture of the size of the largest of the rooms where the panels were held. Excelsior!
Two costumed folk run into each other outside the Convention Center. A lot of people go to the con in costume, and had I chosen, I could've taken dozens of pictures of just costumed folk. On Saturday night, the convention holds a masquerade and costume contest, of which I am told, these folks would not be anywhere near the best. The Japanese monster was pretty good I thought. And they sell costumes too...Imperial stormtrooper armor for only $4000, anyone?.
Outside my hotel was a pedestrian mall, Horton Plaza. This is a view of the third and fourth levels of it. One of the more interesting things about San Diego is they build without thought of rain, just because it never rains in southern California. Gathering places are all open to the sky.
The fountain in Horton Plaza, directly in front of the hotel I stayed in. I thought of it as the Trafalgar of America, with dolphins instead of lions, and lit from the inside at night.
This is a view of the exhibit floor from the mezzanine. You can probably see about a third to a quarter of all the displays.
Another picture of the exhibit floor from the same vantage point, but a differ ent section of it..
Ray Bradbury and the man who sold his first story, longtime DC editor and one-time literary agent, Julie Schwartz.
Bradbury and Schwartz, joined by Al Feldstein, forty year editor of EC Comics, including Mad magazine. Feldstein was the first to publish any of Bradbury's stories in comics. Here, he is recalling how good the golden age of comics really was.

The weirdest people show up at comic conventions.