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Patrick Reed Chilled Out At C2E2

Published Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:00:59 -0500

Last updated Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:19:07 -0500

Patrick Reed writes for Bleeding Cool after returning from C2E2;

C2E2 2012 was just about as low-stress and enjoyable as a convention could possibly be. The main floor was full, but never overly crowded. The panels were well attended, but you could almost always find a seat, even if you showed up a few minutes late. Business appeared to be brisk in Artist Alley, but aside from a little bit of a traffic jam on Saturday afternoon, there was plenty of space to move, and things were low-key enough that the creators and fans could just hang out and talk together. (At one point, George Perez was happily sitting at a table with no sign, turning out astoundingly beautiful sketches for the people gathered around.)

A lot of the pleasant vibe of the show is due to the lovely venue. The amount of space in McCormick Place is astounding, especially for someone like me, who's more used to the cramped confines of New York. The double wide aisles, the high ceilings, the vast amount of natural light throughout the building, and the huge sloping staircases give the entire proceedings a sense of grandeur and scale that is truly impressive. There's also a vast amount of food and beverage options throughout the complex, with cafes downstairs, an extensive food court next to the autographing area, and even a few small bars on the convention floor itself. (Which was a very welcome surprise when I discovered it halfway through the weekend.)

I was hosting my own panel on Friday, so much of the first day was spent organizing and preparing for that… But even while running around and handling practicalities, I managed to run into lots of old friends and make some wonderful new acquaintances. (And as for the "Comics & Pop Music" panel that I moderated? We had Charles Soule, Jen Van Meter, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dan Parent, and Chris Powell on a stage discussing the creative process of musical comics, publicizing and marketing such titles, and their shared passions and inspirations for blending the two media. It was outstanding.)

Saturday was a much calmer day for me. I got to drop in on some programming, and caught some interesting details:

The hype for the Doctor Who/Star Trek: TNG series at the IDW panel has me genuinely curious. (They're calling it the "first EVER Doctor Who crossover", though I believe Death's Head appearance in the old Marvel UK magazine holds that title.) Also from that panel, the word that their Will Eisner's Spirit Artist Edition is "even bigger than the Wally Wood one" has me thinking about rearranging my shelves to make room. And their announcement that their digital AND print sales had both risen 10% over the last year was a really encouraging bit of information.

The DC/Vertigo panel has been covered pretty extensively, but I wanted to make note of the group's obvious enthusiasm for the new slate of titles.

Everyone onstage seemed really thrilled to hear about each others' new work, and that vibe of camaraderie and anticipation helped get me excited for the upcoming projects ("Punk Rock Jesus" and "Collider" in particular), despite the scarcity of visual samples.

Also, the screening of some VERY early footage from the upcoming PBS comics documentary "The Never-Ending Battle" looked great. There's a lot of work to be done on it – creators spoke in front of greenscreens, awaiting background images; underscore music came and went; historical footage was tagged with watermarks and timestamps; color correction was inconsistent. It was clearly a rough edit compiled just for screening purposes, but even so, it was thoroughly engrossing. As I understand, there's about a year and a half to go 'til the air date, and it looks like it'll be a very insightful and fun series… The clips we were shown covered the medium's history with obvious affection, and meticulous attention to detail.

Some other selected insane and brilliant moments from the weekend: The CBLDF party on Friday night, held in the Threadless HQ warehouse, with projected Mario Kart games, foosball, kegs from a local microbrewery, flashing disco lights, and what appeared to be a make-out room in a converted Airstream trailer. Getting a glimpse at upcoming work from some of my favorite artists, and getting some "off the record" hints about their forthcoming projects. Watching Jon Armstrong perform magic tricks at the IDW panel. Chatting with Art Baltazar and Franco about their new "Superman Family Adventures" title. Discovering work by some supremely talented Chicago-area artists at their Artist Alley tables.

And of course, all weekend, there were the usual convention attractions. Giveaways, previews, friends and associates, and lots of people in elaborate costumes. It was a wonderful show, and I'm already pencilling in the date to make sure I can go back next year.

Patrick A. Reed is the co-editor and head writer for Depth Of Field magazine (http://www.depthoffieldmagazine.com). Photos © 2012 Marnie Ann Joyce.

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