For the Southern California folks, this weekend is the second annual Long Beach Comic Con. I had a great time last year, and plan to go again this year for one day, if time permits.
One of the fun panels last year was 50 Questions in 50 Minutes with Mark Waid. The former Flash writer and current BOOM Studios EIC is doing it again this year, and collecting questions on CBR. The deadline for submitting questions is 3:00 PM Pacific Time on Friday.
On another note, my new employer has been sending me to the Adobe MAX conference this week. I can’t even remember the last time I went to a trade show, but I’ve been to a lot of fan conventions, including two Wizard Worlds at the same convention center (Los Angeles), so I can’t help but compare them. MAX is a lot more organized, a lot less crowded, provides food, has much better swag, audience members ask better questions (“How do I get the same app to run on an iPhone?” vs. “I know I speak for everyone here when I say that you’re the best thing since aerosol cheese.”) and people tend to dress nicer (though I have a theory that the people who are dressed up are all either management or sales & marketing, while the people in jeans & t-shirts are all developers, artists or designers). It’s also much more expensive.
Oddly enough, there is some overlap. They have the Green Hornet car, just like Comic-Con. Stan Lee got mentioned in one of the general sessions, as saying that “With great content comes great responsibility…to make sure it’s available in every medium possible.” (“Are you sure he said that?”) And there are Flash fans — though admittedly a different kind of Flash!