I’m writing this from our hotel room in the Marriott Marina after a fairly exhausting San Diego Comic-Con.

We arrived Wednesday and I attended the preview night. Once upon a time it was limited to professionals, and was a real pleasure. Now it’s kind of a frantic mess, and the best days to get around in the crowded dealer’s hall are Thursday and Sunday.

Because I’m still recovering from heart surgery and a stroke (minor), I took it easy, only going over to the dealer’s area for two hours a day Wednesday thru Friday, and skipping Saturday entirely, because it’s a zoo. Every day at least one nap went down, but on Sunday I had my stamina up and did several long sessions. I made some nice finds (I mostly collect hardcover collections of comics) but bought only one or two per day, because I can’t carry the kind of loads I once did (and fully expect I will again).

But I frankly don’t know if the San Diego Con is for me anymore. The crowds are so huge, and so much of what goes on is outside my areas of interest, I sometimes feel like that moment in a buddy movie starring aging action actors when they say, “I’m getting too old for this shit.” Also a problem is the things I wanted to see – like the Archer panel and the Evil Dead one – required endless waits in line to MAYBE get in. Worst of all, our son Nate and his missus Abby did not come along with us this year, and we missed them terribly.

Were there pleasures? Oh yes. The Scribe Awards went well, thanks to a fine panel of mostly nominees, with my pal Andy Mangels presenting the awards themselves and doing a bang-up job. We were hampered by not enough time (an hour) but everybody got to talk. And I won a Scribe for my Mike Hammer story, “Fallout.”

Left to right, M.A.C., Andy Mangels, Michael A. Black, Adam Christopher, Matt Forbeck, Glenn Hauman, Nancy Holder, R.L. King, Jonathan Maberry, Cavab Scott and Marv Wolfman

Michael A. Black, Adam Christopher, Matt Forbeck, Glenn Hauman, Nancy Holder, R.L. King, Jonathan Maberry, Cavab Scott and Marv Wolfman

Kevin Dillmore, M.A.C., Michael Black, Matt Forbeck, Jonathan Maberry, Nancy Holder, Glenn Haumann, Adam Christopher, and Cavan Scott.

We also had dinner with our friends Leonard and Alice Maltin, and their daughter Jesse and her newlywed husband, Scott. Among those I connected with at the con itself were the great Stan Sakai, M.A.C. fan Tom Kenny of Spongebob and Mr. Show fame, and Maggie Thompson, a superstar in the history of comics fandom.

Leonard Maltin and M.A.C.

M.A.C. and Stan Sakai

There was also some excellent food (though some not so excellent, like the hotel’s lousy $27! buffet) (no ordering off the menu either) and we ended Sunday by seeing the terrific new STAR TREK movie (STAR TREK BEYOND). So we kind of fought the con to a draw this time.

M.A.C.

Tags: Awards, Comic Con 2016, Comic-Con, Fallout, Mike Hammer, Spillane