Today was my last day the the con. I need a day of rest and family time before going back to work on Tuesday. Today’s comics track was filled with excellent scholarly, art and documentary panels.
I’ll write more about each panel I attended tomorrow eventually. For now: (-_-)…zzz
Here are today’s pics:
Day 2 of Dragon*Con just happened to also be the Clemson Tigers vs. Alabama Crimson Tide at the Georgia Dome. MARTA, Atlanta’s commuter train system, was packed with Crimson and Orange fans right along side cosplayers and (~shutter~) furries. There were a few unsuspecting football fans who were actually unfortunate enough to have booked rooms in the hotels where Dragon*Con takes place. The looks on their faces were priceless. Generally, a good time was had by all today in Atlanta.
Today I continued the comics track. I was running late today and decided to catch the end of the famous Dragon*Con parade instead of making it to a session on writing for artists. I wish I could have done both. My first session was We Don’t Need No Superheros featuring Pete Abrams, Jennie Breeden, Michelle Belanger, and Gina Biggs, Kittyhawk and Brian Curtis (moderator).
Next was an incredible session on Concept to Creation - The Making of a Toy featuring Voltaire, Brandt Peters, Kathie Olivas, Sket One, and D Fiorito (moderator). I had no idea it was so difficult to get a toy made. Basically, “commerce is not about art, it’s about numbers,” says Voltaire. If you’ve never made anything how do you get something made? You have to assure a toy-maker that you will move X number of toys. After the design phase, there is such a huge amount of work and business that goes into having a toy made by a factory… it is amazing. The panelist also shared humorous stories about their works being bootlegged.
Next was Figure Drawing with Gaijin Studios featuring artist Brian Stelfreeze. Brain was a super nice guy, a great teacher and incredible artist. His work speaks for itself: Pic 1, Pic 2, Pic 3.
Finally was a session with Nexus co-creator and artist Steve Rude. It was cool to meet one of the greats. He has some interesting ideas about bringing a more wholesome, classically informed aesthetic back to mainstream comics and has formed a company to do just that.
Yay! More pics!
My first day at my first Dragon*Con was very enjoyable. I spent most of my time in the Comics track panels. My favorite session was Comic Writers Pitfalls with Peter David, Bobby Nash, Sean Taylor, Doug Wagner, Mike Baron.
Perhaps the most unique session was Comics and Philosophy with Damien Williams (GSU), J. J. Sylvia (USM), Hannah Dame (UA). It is part of a new type of mini-con (no, not one of these) that seeks to foster academic discussions at conventions like Dragon*Con. Their goal is to present scholarly studies of comics and the popular arts. It was most excellent to see this type of dialog taking place and if you are at the Con on Sunday be sure to check out the other two programs: “Comics Across Cultures” at 10AM and “A Study of ‘Watchmen’” at 5:30PM.
And now the pics…
