Barbara Vey

Comic Con: Stephen Baldwin Sighting
July 26, 2008

I waited all morning for the foot masseuse guy to come to my room and rub my feet, but he never showed up.   I really need to get some Dr. Scholls for my shoes because there is major walking going on here. 

I spent a lot of time just walking around the convention floor today looking at the displays and people watching.   All of a sudden, there was Stephen Baldwin! He was hawking his new comic book, The Remnant. Of course, I had to go up to him and say hello.

My kids always loved pop-up books, so when I saw an elaborate pop-up, I had to take a look. Jake Gerli, the Acquisitions Manager (on the left, brother Charles Gerli on the right) for Palace Press were great and Charles told me, “We focus on craft and quality, working directly with artists and studios to create superlative works for fans. The more interactive and creative our books get, the happier we are. Our new pop-up books, like The Spirit are an homage to masters like Will Eisner because it acts as a unique narrative device that literally brings pages to life.”

The panel authors, from left to right: Kelley Armstrong (Women of the Otherworld), L. A. Banks (The Vampire Huntress Legend Series), Lilith Saintcrow (The Dante Valentine Series), Kate Brallier (The Boundless Deep), Marjorie M. Liu (The Iron Hunt), moderator Samantha Sommersby (Forbidden: The Revolution), C. E. Murphy (The Negotiator Trilogy), and Justine Musk (Lord of Bones).




The Dabel Brothers Publishing has given me some very special comics to give away.  So one lucky commentor from today will be the winner.  Look for your name in tomorrow's blog.  Dabel Brothers Publishing from left to right:  Grant Alter, Derek Ruiz, Neil Schwartz, Claria Levin, Anne Elizabeth, and Malcolm Wong.





Meeting Martin Baynton was one of the highlights of my day. Martin is the author of the popular Jane and the Dragon books. "Jane is a medieval middleclass girl being raised as a Lady-in-Waiting, but she's got much bigger plans for her future! Training to become a Knight is what she's all about - good thing she's got a 300 year-old fire-breathing dragon as a best friend."

With this premise, Martin manages to entertain while teaching.  He feels that the young girls of today measure their value by the number of people who know of their existence.  The constant need to accumulate more friends on MySpace and Facebook, the quest to see who gets the most text messages in a day (apparently some girls text themselves so they can tell their friends they have even more messages).  Martin sees these girls searching to become the next celebrity because that's what will make them seem even more important rather than focusing on things they do well at.

That's where Jane comes in.  In medieval times contractions were not used, so when fans message Jane and use them or slang or text abbreviations, Jane answers them by saying she does not understand the reference and could they explain.  So the fan has to message back, in correct English, their comments.  Schools have started showing Jane in the classroom for that reason.  The special effects on this show are done by Richard Taylor who won an Academy Award for Lord of the Rings (not too shabby).  I can't wait to share this with my granddaughter.  Watch my Drive By Video with Martin below (love his accent!).

Bottom Line:  Try going a whole day without using contractions.  It's It is harder than you think.

Posted by Barbara Vey on July 26, 2008 | Comments (14)