A very fun day at the con for me. I shopped for yet more books, and did some art wheeling and dealing – all par for the course. But I also spent time with Leonard and Alice Maltin (and their cool daughter Jessie), first at the Warner Archives panel and then accompanying them while Leonard did a signing in the autograph hall. The WA panel was great, with clips from all kinds of psychotronic movies – even Leonard was impressed that the first clip session represented movies (THE GREEN SLIME and THE HYPNOTIC EYE, for example) that I had seen in the theater as a kid. One exception: BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS was before I was born, so I had a good excuse.

The creator of X-FILES, Chris Carter, was signing at the IDW booth (with Gillian Anderson) for an X-Files comic book, and I was able to pull strings and briefly met Carter, just for a handshake and a hello. I had not dealt directly with him on the writing of the X-Files novel I WANT TO BELIEVE, but he remembered me and said I did a great job…and remembered also that I was one of three people on the planet who had access to the full script during filming. Very nice guy. I unfortunately did not get to meet Ms. Anderson.

I did get to meet Adrienne Barbeau at the Shout! booth, where she and my old buddy Len Wein were signing SWAMP THING blu-rays. I got one signed, and THE FOG, too, and had a short but very warm talk with both Len and Ms. Barbeau. I also chatted with several nice people at the Shout! booth about the possibility of me being interviewed for the upcoming blu-ray of PEE WEE’S PLAYHOUSE – Paul Reubens had personally suggested me! Also, we spoke briefly about a possible new release of a restored, remastered MOMMY/MOMMY’S DAY double feature. Shout! Is probably my favorite home video company, so that would be a dream come true.

I also ran into Tom Kenny of SPONGEBOB and MR. SHOW fame, who is a longtime and very hardcore M.A.C. fan. Since I am a fan of Tom’s work, this leads to full embarrassment as we simultaneously melt down in public at each other’s feet.

Tom Kenny and M.A.C.

Nate was on the tie-in panel (also Scribe Awards presentation), which featured a great line-up as previously listed. A very strong panel despite the limitation of time.

Scribes Awards 2013

We will probably take the day off tomorrow (Saturday) for family fun type stuff. I love the con, but right now need some time away. Then Sunday will be a blast.

M.A.C.

Though throngs are in attendance here, with a good number of attendees in costume, the opening day seemed less crowded than before, or at least the dealer’s hall was easier to navigate than in recent years. This may have to do with the room being laid out somewhat differently, to satisfy the fire marshals, or perhaps fewer four-day passes have been sold.

For me, it was a fun day with some business stirred in. I bought a slug of books at 50% off (classic strip and comic book stuff) and did some more wheeling and dealing on artwork. People are friendly and even the security staff has lightened up.

I had a long business lunch with Ken Levin, my producing partner on numerous projects, and got updates from him on QUARRY and several other TV/movie projects. Tomorrow I will be signing one last document and the QUARRY deal should be complete (nick of time, since they start shooting on Monday).

Only disappointment was that I hoped to get a picture taken with LONE WOLF AND CUB creator Kazuo Koike, and to generally pay respects to a great writer. I have heard conflicting reports about how he feels about ROAD TO PERDITION, from being a fan on the one hand to being bitter on the other. Looks like the latter is more likely, because those around him would not allow us to meet. (Nate, on the other hand, got some autographs from him at a Dark Horse signing).

As many if not most of you know, I have always acknowledged Koike and his great manga as an influence on PERDITION. This has been exaggerated, however, in countless casual references to my graphic novel being an Americanized version of Koike’s. The notion of a shogun being like a gangland boss and his executioner being like a Godfather’s top hitman certainly has roots in LONE WOLF AND CUB, as does the father and son going on the run. But the two stories are not overtly similar…starting with Michael Jr. being an adolescent, not a baby. Plus there is also the overriding John Woo influence, and the real-life story of John and Connor Looney (and the lieutenant who betrayed them), as well as my desire to do a father-and-son variation on my own MOMMY film and novel. I doubt Koike knows anything about any of that, and doubt he’s actually read PERDITION, which I don’t believe has a Japanese translation.

Sad as I am that someone I admire apparently has bad feeling about me, I do get a kind of a kick out of the parallels – that in a way Koike is the Shogun, and I am the renegade Lone Wolf…with Nate as Cub.

Nate did a bang-up job on a very interesting translation panel, where every question came from the audience. Good panel all around, with a lot of interesting ground covered. Well-attended, too.

Our evening drew to a terrific close by dining at Buster’s Beach in Sea Port Village with our friends Alice and Leonard Maltin. Leonard and I discussed, to the edification of all around, the merits of Joe Besser, Clayton Moore, old Warner Brothers cartoons, Henry Aldrich (again!), the Bowery Boys and much more. Nate was convinced that Leonard and I were making up the names of the various movies we discussed….

M.A.C.

After endless shuffling by convention staff in various directions, Nate, Abby and I were directed to a line for professionals waiting to get in to the dealer’s hall. There a very high-energy young woman cheerfully played power games, changing up the width of the line and telling us to sit or stand according to her whim. My goal was to get someone to trade me their Batman TV show giant bag courtesy of DC/Warners for my similar Green Arrow one. This mission failed miserably.

The dealer’s hall is vast, like a couple of football fields slammed together, but it was nicely air-conditioned and somewhat less busy than recent years – aisles not so clogged, tempers not so frayed. Purchases were made, fun was had, but I definitely am feeling like this event is starting to overwhelm me.

I have a business lunch tomorrow and Nathan has a panel. In between, I will be exploring the hall, searching out bargains, running into friends, and making new business contacts. I don’t bother trying to get into panels.

I spent much of my time on this first night working on art deals – I have collected original comic art for a long time, and was able to trade art I brought for a nice Joe Kubert “Green Berets” original, as well as an unpublished try-out strip for HENRY ALDRICH. I love the movies with Jimmy Lydon, though admittedly the radio show is fairly frantic. But Henry Aldrich predates both Andy Hardy and Archie Andrews (ARCHIE began as an outright ALDRICH imitation), so it’s historically very interesting. The strip I picked up is particularly interesting because it was drawn by David Berg of MAD MAGAZINE fame and written by (wait for it) Jerry Siegel. You know – the co-creator of SUPERMAN. Must have been frustrating for Aldrich creator Clifford Goldsmith to see the ARCHIE strip flourish when he couldn’t get the original teenager comedy into the funnies. (There was a successful Dell comic book, though.)

By the way, my son finagled me a Batman TV show bag, which shows just what kind of son he is. And what a ridiculous father he has.

M.A.C.