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San Diego Comic Con International 2008

Ah, where to begin. This one was a little bittersweet. Rather than regale you with tales of my adventures through numerous panels, after parties, conversations with creators and publishers, and all of the high falutin’ spectacle, I thought I’d concentrate instead on the two most prevalent themes I encountered. Those trends basically lead right into the intent and primary content of this post. There were indeed highlights, but it was a very lackluster experience; even the Eisner Awards felt predictable and safe. When Brian K. Vaughan and Y: The Last Man are winning, instead of Jason Aaron on Scalped or Brian Wood and his amazing body of work, it disturbs me. Not that there’s anything wrong with BKV and Y, that’s a fine title, not picking on him per se – it’s just makes the ceremony a little rote. I mean, does anyone really think Meltzer’s JLA #11 was the best single issue last year? Really?! I know the awards are influenced heavily by the nominations and personal taste of the rotating judging panel, but how many comics did those people actually read? It’s an ok issue, but for my money there’s dozens more qualified single issues. I can only watch James Jean win for the same category so many times. I’d prefer to have more innovation and an edgier quality recognized. Of course, that’s just my personal taste, your mileage may vary, but it all did have me asking… do I need to even go next year? Could I get by with just one day instead of all four? Would LA or Chicago be a better show for me?

Theme 1: Where Are The Umm… You Know, Comics? The feeling that Hollywood (and...

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