I'll start with the disappointments, the biggest first.  We took off from Bakersfield at sparrow-fart in the morning (3:30 a.m.) to make sure we got to San Diego in plenty of time to check into our motel, stash our stuff, and get down to the Con in time for the first panels.

Nope.  A big-rig on the I-5 had struck a parked car and burst into flames, setting the whole hillside on fire.  The freeway had to be closed completely, and then only one lane was opened.  We were stuck in the resulting traffic jam for three-and-a-half hours.  As a consequence, I missed the "GLBT in Comics" panel I really wanted to see, which meant I didn't get a chance to hear Gail Simone and Judd Winick speak on one of my pet topics.  I was very bummed, but I tried to put it behind me and move on.

We also missed the Dr. Who panel for the same reason.  That was less of a blow to me than to my wife, I suppose, but still...traffic jams suck.

I didn't get to the line-up for the Joss Whedon panel in time.  The auditorium seated (I think) a thousand people, and there were about twice that many in line.  That sucks because the panel featured the cast of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

I also missed the screening of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and this part really sucks.  Three thousand people lined up for a show that could only seat a thousand, so most folks who got there late just wandered off.  My wife was one of those off-wanderers.  As it turns out, she should have stayed put.  The response was so overwhelming that Joss opened a second screening once the first one was finished.  And then he opened a third after the second.  So yeah, we might have gotten in to see it after all.  Of course, we would have gotten back to the motel at about two in the morning, but...

Finally, just barely in the "disappointment" department, I discovered that the big-name panels are often not as exciting as they might be.  Look, the big comics companies use this Con to move product, right?  So they're going to advertise what's coming out.  This is cool when it's something you didn't already know about, but I'm usually pretty aware of what's new from Marvel and DC, so...  Anyway, the panels were decent, I suppose.  I got to see Joe Quesada once again defend himself against a disappointed fan who hated the "Brand New Day" thing Joe's doing with Spider-man.  And there was a cute fangirl dressed as Dazzler, which was fun to see.

Now for the triumphs...

I will say again that the Hero Initiative and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund took a big chunk of my time and money, and that's exactly what I wanted.  Those were major triumphs, as was the time I sacrificed giving blood.  Wouldn't trade those things for all the swag at the Con.

So, what did I get?  Let's see here...  From the CBLDF booth, I bought some shirts for myself and for my wife.  I bought a Daredevil graphic novel signed by Brian Michael Bendis for CBLDF.  I bought three issues of Liberty Comics, CBLDF's own Con-exclusive comic book.  From the Hero Initiative booth, I bought a grip of rubber wristbands, some of which I gave out to my wife and friends, and some of which I have yet to distribute.  I also bought a Frank Cho print of Beverly Switzler and Howard the Duck.  And I bought a Gene Colan Daredevil print.  Sadly, Gene's not doing well right now, so he needs the money.  Finally, for giving blood, I got the richest swag bag of the Con, including a copy of the City of Villains MMORPG, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer action figure (I chose Cordelia, while my wife chose Spike), some Streetfighter II minimates which I will give to my nephew, a coloring book showcasing new artists, a bunch of Magic cards which I will probably drop into the first open sewer I find, and a tee-shirt.

Other triumphs included seeing Ed Brubaker, Peter David, Eric Powell, Mark Evanier, and a host of other comics types.

Mostly, though, I count as a triumph the fact that I managed to keep my cool throughout the Con, with the exception of one or two very minor incidents.  One of those, I've already mentioned in the previous blog, and that's the whiny little asshole at the Marvel booth.  The other was...well...  Okay, I shoved a stroller.  Go ahead and hate me if you want, but check this out first.

I was at the end of the main floor, looking for Kamandi back issues, right?  I finally found one vendor who had some at reasonable prices, but a woman with two children and a stroller had parked herself directly in front of that bin.  She wasn't shopping; she was texting.  I said, "Excuse me, could I get in there?  Ma'am?  I just need to get to that bin."  I said it twice more before she looked up, briefly, directly into my face, and then returned to her texting, having not budged an inch nor acknowledged me in any other way.  "Fine," I said.  And I put my leg between her stroller and the bin and shoved.  The stroller moved about a foot-and-a-half, I stepped into the space in front of the bin, and the woman snorted once, then yanked her brood away, no doubt in search of some other high-traffic area to park her ass.  Did I feel bad about this?  Nope, not in the least.  Hey, I don't think I should have to make special allowances for someone else's rampant fecundity.  You want to churn out your own little population parade?  Fine.  Just don't expect the rest of us to confer special privileges on you because of it.

But yeah, otherwise, I kept my cool, even when teenagers with fake lightsabers ran right into me because they thought a crowded convention center was the perfect place to play Run-and-Giggle-Like-a-Jedi-Master; even when confused families of obese Americans stopped cold directly in front of me for no appreciable reason, thus forcing me to find a way around them; even when a German guy used "the irony is..." as a preface to everything he said, despite the fact that not a single thing he had to say was in the least bit ironic.  Yeah, all those were triumphs.

Oh, and hearing Peter David give a very brief lecture on grammar...That has to be counted as a triumph, as well.  He was MCing the Pros v. Fans Trivia Contest, and one of the questions used "their" as a generic singular possessive pronoun.  David stopped, scrunched his face up a bit, and said, "That should properly be 'his or her.'  'Their' is plural, and we're clearly talking about one person here.  Just to clear up any confusion about that."  Peter David clearly takes the English language seriously, as any professional writer should do.

Enough for now.  Maybe more later.  Must drink coffee.