[Groop] Brief (?!) con report

Tue Jul 31 10:14:55 PDT 2007

I am trying to get a subscription to this www.the99.org it's an islamically 
motivated comic attempting to show non muslims a better side to islam.
Apparently in the Quaran there are 99 names for Allah (God) such as "The 
Merciful" etc, and each of the "99" is supposed to exemplify one of these 
traits.

Personally I like the plot line - gives an alternative to the marvel and DC 
universes, and the artwork is kinda cool.

They have a demo online - whaddaya think ?

Not really Groo related, but it is comic related, and it starts with a fray 
and a city being destroyed which is kinda close . . .

And I agree with Mo - more of this sort of stuff and less "media hype sci fi 
stuff" at the SDCC would make it better as a CC, otherwise it could be 
called the SDSFnCC  :o)

Greg

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mo orst" <m00rst at hotmail.com>
To: <groop at groo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 7:47 AM
Subject: Re: [Groop] Brief (?!) con report

>
> Interesting to hear the tote bag story. The whole issue with "swag" and 
> the
> crowds is a big deterrent to coming to an otherwise cool event like the 
> Con.
> I went last year on Saturday, and the crowd was insanely large. It lost 
> it's
> charm in all of about ten minutes. It was a major chore just to wander
> around. I kind of feel like they should remove a lot of the peripheral
> pop-culture elements from the Con because, in my opinion, it makes the 
> event
> less and less about comics every year.
>
> I think it would help if they simply limited the number of super large
> displays to half the main convention hall and invited more independent 
> comic
> creators to come ply their wares so that comic book fans could discover 
> more
> new alternative creations than what is expected from the big guns like DC,
> Marvel, Dark Horse, Etc. That way the spectacle is still available on a
> large scale, but it remains a "comic book" convention where comics 
> actually
> dominate. There are countless comics creators who are talented and obscure
> that people would love to discover in lieu of the sensory overload they're
> being offered instead. Bring in more of the indie crowd and less of the
> video game crowd and the altruism will naturally rise to human levels.
>
> Yeah, they'd lose some money. But they'd gain back some respectability and
> credibility. How do we keep the medium relevant and flourishing if we 
> allow
> it to be muscled out of its own main event by Warner Bros.?
>
>
>
>
>>From: "Elie A. Harriett" <elie at harriett.us>
>>To: The Groop <groop at groo.com>
>>Subject: Re: [Groop] Brief (?!) con report
>>Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:31:33 -0400
>>
>>Before I regale you with the story of the tote bag, let me say how
>>much fun I had at San Diego.  It was great seeing Eric, Gary, Kaytee,
>>Mrs. G, George, Mark, Sergio, and the about half-dozen other
>>Groopiers we bumped into at the con.  I have been out of mainstream
>>comic reading for awhile and I think this con experience has gotten
>>me enthused enough to get back into it.  I noticed a trend at this
>>con that was new to me: I was much more interested in the comics and
>>the literature panels, giveaways, and booths than I was with
>>Lucasfilm, MGM, or any other media vendor as I had been in the past.
>>Aside from not being able to get into a couple of panels that I
>>really wanted to see and the tote bag incident related below, Janet
>>and I had the time of our lives.  In addition to the Groo-related
>>stuff that I enjoyed which both Janet and a dozen other posters will
>>probably tell you about, the real highlights for me were meeting
>>Steve Purcell - creator of Sam & Max (extremely personable guy).  I
>>enjoyed meeting him so much I got one of his prints.    Also enjoyed
>>meeting Austin Grossman - author of a new book "Soon I Will be
>>Invincible".  Had never heard of him or his book before, but Janet
>>and I went to two of his panels.  Again, I thought he was such an
>>interesting person to talk to and listen to that I had to get his
>>book.  Also met Anthony Tollin who was a pleasure to talk with and
>>shared some stories with me about his time in comics (and about Tony
>>Isabella).  ME mentioned Anthony Tollin on his blog a few weeks ago -
>>he's the guy who is reprinting the old Shadow and Doc Savage Pulps.
>>When I saw he was going to be there, I had to find a moment to talk
>>with him.
>>
>>Went to a lot of fun panels, got to meet some interesting con-folk
>>(showers, people, showers).  Had a surreal experience at the
>>Battlestar Galactica Fan Club Booth that I'll leave for Janet to
>>explain or I will sometime later--once I figure out how to put the
>>experience into words.  Don't want to go there every year, but every
>>two or three, this is the greatest vacation a young couple could ask
>>for!
>>
>>
>>Oy, the story of the tote bag....well here it goes.
>>
>>On Wednesday night, we saw a really nice bag that a lot of people
>>were holding and I told Janet I wanted one.  It was a large, canvas
>>oversized bag with a promo for Smallville on one side and a promo for
>>the upcoming release of the new Direct-to-DVD movie Superman/Doomsday
>>on the other (for those who don't know, Doomsday was the creature
>>that "killed" Superman back in 1992 -- also the storyline that got me
>>interested in comics including Groo).  I found out it was the Warner
>>Bros. booth that was giving the bag away, so we planned on hitting
>>their booth first thing Thursday morning.
>>
>>As soon as we were allowed into the exhibit hall, we made a beeline
>>for the WB booth.  It wasn't too hard getting there, and when I did,
>>they were already giving bags out.  The line started somewhat
>>organized, but before even a minute passed, people were cutting in
>>line, pushing through, and one guy even put his arm above my head and
>>pushed me down (by the way, I'm 5'8").  Somehow, the girl giving them
>>away actually put one in my hand and as I pulled it back, someone
>>tried yanking it out of my hand.  Someone else pushed that guy's arm
>>aside and I decided to hug the bag close to me if I wanted to keep
>>it.  I turned around for the first time and saw the huge swarm of
>>people behind me.  I couldn't believe it, but there were now more
>>people forcing me down to the ground!  I was getting scared being in
>>that line and I was beginning to lose my balance in that crowd.  For
>>the first time I can remember since I was in elementary school, I
>>actually muscled myself out of a crowd.
>>
>>As soon as I was out of that swarm, I remember hearing a girl's voice
>>saying "oh my god oh my god oh my god."  I don't know if she was
>>referring to the danger of the swarm which she herself was a part of,
>>or the fact that I actually had to forcibly push myself out of a
>>swarm which she herself was a part of.  But I still hear her voice.
>>By the way, considering what I went through to get that bag, I assure
>>you it wasn't worth it.
>>
>>If there is anybody that reads this that is one of the Comic-Con
>>organizers: you guys are the absolute greatest at moving large crowds
>>in an organized manner into the building, exhibit hall, and
>>programming rooms - better than any organizers from any other con BAR-
>>NONE.  But you had absolutely no control in that packed hall.  Warner
>>Brothers created a near-riot for the sake of tote bags, and didn't
>>seem to care if someone got injured.
>>
>>To any Groopier thinking of going next year or sometime later:  first
>>of all, this is my only bad memory among a huge cluster of great
>>memories.  I really enjoyed myself and think anyone interested in
>>comics or pop culture will truly have a blast there.  I am going to
>>give you this piece of advice that I wouldn't have given in previous
>>years: DO NOT TAKE A SMALL CHILD THERE!  At least not until the
>>organizers at Comic-Con get a handle on the safety within the exhibit
>>hall.
>>
>>Elie
>>_______________________________________________
>>Groop mailing list
>>Groop at groo.com
>>http://mailman.newdream.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/groop
>
>
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