Comic Con April 19, 2008 – Posted in: Aberrant Normalcy, Altered Fluid, Paper Cities

Yesterday morning started as beautifully as it ended. Playing hooky from work. I took the ferry across the Hudson River to the Jacob Javits Center for Comic Con 2008. The sun was rising, low and warm behind the Manhattan skyline, and the air was fresh and salty. I met up with Mercurio Rivera and we spent the day browsing the immense dealer room filled with colorful comic eye-candy. Mercurio remarked, “Isn’t it great being around all this creativity?” And it was.

I tried to contain my wallet but ended up splurging on t-shirts. I’m also headed home for Passover this weekend, so I bought my cousins and nieces and nephews things I thought they would like. Mercurio says to me, again with his keen perspicacity, “Those are really for you, aren’t they?” All I know is that if I were a kid, I’d be totally psyched to get a pack of Batman and Joker playing cards.

After purchasing my last gift, he asked to see what I bought. I pulled out a cute, fluffy, pink doll. He holds it up to me and says, “Um, it has claws.” And gosh, darn it, it did. Big white, sharpsters. Not really appropriate for a two year old. That’s the trend these days: cute, fluffy, plush…and evil.

Thankfully, the seller let me exchange it for a giant blue thing with swirly eyes, this one without sharp ends of any kind.

We saw many friendlies there: Alaya Dawn Johnson, Paul Berger, Kris Dikeman, Liz Gorinsky, and Carol Pinchefsky. We also saw a Weird Tales panel celebrating their 85th year and their influence on (some might say genesis of) fantasy, horror, and science fiction hosted by Stephen Segal. Later, Stephen and his crew joined us for dinner.

We raced back to the Con to catch the Battlestar Galactica screening, abandoning Alaya (she had left her jacket at the restaurant) so we could get good seats. When she looked at us and said, “No you don’t need to come with me,” and really meant “Well, it would be nice if one of you came with me,” we looked at her like she was crazy. “But…Battlestar!” Mercurio was a real mensch and walked with her back to the restaurant.

And, man, what an episode. I won’t spoil it, but what a trip.  Seeing Battlestar at the con on a big screen with surround sound was, as the Doctor might say, Brilliant! This year’s episode, like last year’s, kicked some fraking ass.

The night was capped (or, uncapped, I should say) with several bottles of soju in Korea Town. I took several Blade Runner-esque photos out the window. If I ever do film the sequel, Korea Town will be the place to do it. I’ll be posting these and other pictures I took soon, but for now, I hope you enjoy this photo Rajan Khanna snapped in Portland, OR of Paper Cities on the rack at Powell’s. It really made my morning.