Comic Con International 2006 Report, Part OneI arrived in San Deigo for Comic Con International a little before midnight Thursday night. Unfortunately, that was a early as I could make it out. I was disappointed that I had missed a great day Thursday, but I was grateful to be able to be there at all. I shared a hotel room with Paul Taylor from whom many of these photos are stolen. :) 
Our booth, as you can see, stood out like a beacon to the weary fan. Mega-thanks to Sandra Tayler (Howard's wife) for sewing the booth coverings. The booth looked awsome. Dave Kellett also put in a truckload on work on signage and bookstands. In all -- thanks to the cooperation of everybody involved, we had a darned professional presentation working for us. 
The great thing about comic conventions in general -- and this one in particular -- is seeing all of your old friends. Sarah (right) is one of those people. We met Sarah at the New York Comic Con. Her delightful presence made the con that much brighter for us all. She's interning at DC right now, working on some sort of Top Secret project. Whatever it is, I know it will be all the better for her involvement. 
Leah Riley (right) is another old friend who stopped by the Blank Label booth. I met her and the vivacious Annie Broadwater at Wizard World Chicago last year. They represent Lulu, the company that prints and sells my books. Lulu has been a tremendous partner in growing my comic and I couldn't be happier with their quality or their customer service. 
The other great thing about comic conventions is making new friends. David Willis and I both met the gorgeous Ms. Monster (right) when she crept across our booth. The Blue Bombshell is a TV Horror Host! Longtime readers will know of my fascination with TV Horror Hosts. Needless to say, I was thrilled to meet her. She also has an interesting MySpace page. 
And, of course, there was the costumes. You've got to love the costumes. Here's a photo of me taking to a woman with an incredibly intricate costume. Seriously, her eyelashes must have weighed five pounds. Each. She spent quite a bit of time talking to all of the us at BLC. 
Here's an even better shot of her costume. She was a lot of fun to talk to. If I remember correctly, she became a big fan of Willis'. 
The BLC booth was right next to voice artist Billy West of Futurama and Ren & Stimpy fame. This is Billy posing with a couple dressed as the Blue Beetle and Catwoman. I saw these same people in Philly for Wizard World and I missed the opportunity to take their photo. This time, I was quicker with my camera. More to come next week. :)
