Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here.

A few folks may say otherwise but I have seen zero negative impact of the two entertainment industry strikes on this convention. And even the attendees who might be upset that they can't go over to Hall H and spend hours in line to see Brad Pitt talk about his upcoming movie (a) don't hold that against the con or even the unions and (b) have found more than enough to make them happy to be here.

There were rumors that the striking unions might set up picket lines outside the convention but everyone must have realized how brain-dead stupid that would have been. It would not have put the slightest gram of pressure on the producers to settle and it would have presented fans with an awkward decision. With very few exceptions, the fans are not fans of the studios and production companies and certainly not of the CEOs. They're fans of the writers who are on strike and the actors who are on strike. Why punish them?

If you couldn't make it here — or, more likely, just couldn't gain admission — I apologize for saying I'm having a great time here and as far as I can see, so is everyone as far as I can see. Maybe I'm lurking in the wrong corners of the con but I'm not spotting quite as many cosplayers as in past years. Otherwise though, it looks and feels like the previous Comic-Con and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that…

The pattern does not go all the way back even though I do. This, for the love of God, is my fifty-fifth one of these. I watched this entity grow in slow-motion from 300 attendees in 1970 to something where the fire marshals have to cap attendance at (I'm guessing) about 20% of all the sentient beings who'd like to flood the hall. Since it reached capacity, it has been a wonderful place to be for those of us who know how to find the things we want to see and do. I really think that if you don't have a fabulous experience at this gathering, you either don't know where to look or are arriving with impossible expectations.

I have a full Saturday ahead of me: Breakfast with an editor at 8:30, Dungeons and Dragons panel (about the cartoon show) at 10 AM, Quick Draw! at 11:45, Cartoon Voices panel at 1 PM, a panel on reporting comic book history at 3 PM, panel on The History of Cartoon Voices at 4:30, dinner with friends at 8 PM. Hope your day is equally full but maybe not as fatiguing. Gotta go get mine started…

From The Ed Sullivan Show for October 2, 1966, Gwen Verdon performs one of the big songs from her Broadway smash, Sweet Charity. This is not exactly the way the number was presented in the show and I dunno if this was even staged by her husband-director, Bob Fosse, but he probably at least okayed it. Sweet Charity opened on January 29th of that year so the box office was probably not as busy as they liked by October and someone said, "Hey, let's get a number or two on Ed's program to attract customers!"

Hello from Comic-Con in San Diego where, so far, I haven't seen the slightest difference from previous years when actors and writers weren't on strike. Oh, I'm sure there are folks who live each year to put down roots in Hall H and watch Big Stars promote upcoming movies but there's so much going on with the rest of the con that the absence of any one component is hard to notice. All of the aisles I tried to walk down were just as sardine-can-packed as they ever were.

The only slight difference I noticed was this: There seemed to be fewer cosplayers around — many but not the usual stampede you see here even on a Thursday. I don't think cosplaying is losing its appeal. I suspect some of them were just cosplaying as Striking Actors by staying home — a much cheaper, easier challenge.

My day started out, as you saw in the previous post, with a quick Via Zoom appearance on the local Los Angeles news, Actually, I was supposed to be on the morning before and I was all Zoomed-in and ready to be interviewed but there was a police pursuit being covered live. Some guy who's now sitting in a cell somewhere stole a work truck when its owner stopped into a service station for fueling. The purloined vehicle was towing a small cement mixer and that apparently made it impossible to "PIT" the work truck and bring the pursuit to a speedy close.

The folks at the news station thought the chase would reach that speedy conclusion anyway and then I'd be on, a little later than planned but still on. But then the chase ran three hours and — worse — they were three of the most boring hours of police-in-pursuit you ever saw. Just about nothing happened. Cops chased the guy until the guy pulled over and gave up, the end. By that time, there was no time for me so I agreed to come back the next day. (Here's some of that boring chase as captured by another L.A. station.)

I really didn't want to do the telecast. I only did it because I thought TV viewers would enjoy seeing anyone ontheir sets who wasn't Chris Christie.

It's so much fun to be up at 7 AM to be interviewed via Zoom from your hotel room and have your last name mispronounced…

Thursday, July 20 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 32AB
SPOTLIGHT ON BARBARA FRIEDLANDER
Fresh out of high school in the sixties, Barbara Friedlander got a job at DC Comics and quickly ascended to a job in the editorial division working with or alongside, among many others, Carmine Infantino, Jack Miller, Robert Kanigher, Mort Weisinger, Julius Schwartz, and Joe Orlando. What was it like to work in that office on DC's romance comics and on her creation, Swing With Scooter? Comic-Con Special Guest Mark Evanier will be quizzing her — and on Friday evening at the Eisner Awards, he'll be presenting Barbara with the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.

Thursday, July 20 — 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 10
COMICS FOR UKRAINE
Comics for Ukraine is a new and important book that is raising funds to aid people whose lives have been devastated by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Some of the top names in comics have donated their time and artistry to this book, which is debuting at Comic-Con. Come join several of those folks as they talk about their stories and why this project is so important. Mark Evanier, John Layman, Stan Sakai and Billy Tucci will be on hand, as well as Richard Walden, the founder of Operation USA, the charity that is funneling funds to help the struggling people of Ukraine. Moderated by book organizer Scott Dunbier.

Thursday, July 20 — 2:00 PM to 2:45 PM at the Dark Horse Booth
I will be signing stuff, especially copies of Groo in the Wild #1 along with colorist Carrie Strachan at Booth 2416.

Friday, July 21 — 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Room 10
WALT KELLY AND POGO
The brilliant newspaper strip Pogo was created, written and drawn by one of the great geniuses of comic art, Walt Kelly. It's currently being reprinted in full in a series of books from Fantagraphics, one of which is up for an Eisner Award tonight. Meanwhile, fans of Mr. Kelly and his zany swamp denizens can gather to discuss him, his work, and what it was that made his cartooning so very special. Come hear from artist Steve Leialoha, scholar Maggie Thompson, Kelly archivist Jane Plunkett, and the co-editors of the current reprint series, Eric Reynolds and your moderator, Mark Evanier.

Friday, July 21 — 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 10
THE GROO PANEL
For 40+ years, the irrepressible (and ignorant) barbarian Groo the Wanderer has wandered the land and through comic book shops making good things bad, bad things worse, and all things hilarious. What's it like to work on this comic with master cartoonist Sergio Aragonés? Since Sergio isn't attending the con this year, these three people can speak freely about the experience: letterer (and creator of Usagi Yojimbo) Stan Sakai, colorist Carrie Strachan and a guy named Mark Evanier who does something on the comic but we don't know what. Also, they'll try to phone Sergio, which will be great fun if it works and probably funnier if it doesn't.

Saturday, July 22 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 6DE
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: AN ANIMATED ANNIVERSARY
Mark Evanier (show developer), Katie Leigh (voice of Sheila), David M. Booher (writer, IDW's Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures), Frank Todaro (voice actor, Netflix's The Cuphead Show), and Luke Gygax (son of D&D creator Gary Gygax) discuss the legendary tabletop game's 40th anniversary as a Saturday morning cartoon from the perspective of the talent who worked on the show and today's creatives who grew up on it. The session will be moderated by TJ Shevlin (2023 Eisner Awards judge).

Saturday, July 22 — 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM in Room 6BCF
QUICK DRAW!
No matter when you're reading this — hopefully before the event — run and get a seat for Quick Draw!, the fastest and funniest presentation at Comic-Con. Your Quick Draw quizmaster Mark Evanier will be putting three of the swiftest cartoonists in the business to the test, inventing well-projected humor on the spot. Competing this year are cartoonist and Comic-Con co-founder Scott Shaw!, MAD magazine's Tom Richmond, and Disney legend Floyd Norman. As usual, there will be no wagering on the outcome.

Saturday, July 22 — 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in Room 6BCF
CARTOON VOICES I
Once again, Mark Evanier has assembled a roster of some of the most-heard performers in the world of animation, and they're here to tell you what they do, how they do it and then demonstrate it. The dais includes Adam McArthur (Star vs. the Forces of Evil), Elle Newlands (Lego Marvel's Avengers), Keith Scott (Bullwinkle Moose), Bill Farmer (Goofy, Pluto), Dave Fennoy (Batman, Transformers) and Jessica DiCicco (The Emperor's New School, Muppet Babies). And as usual, the actors will mangle a classic fairy tale for your enjoyment.

Saturday, July 22 — 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM in Room 4
MAGGIE THOMPSON SPOTLIGHT: Wrangling History (How to Preserve the Past So We Can Read in the Future)
As we lose creators, memories fade, and collectibles are lost or damaged, what can be done to hang onto the creations and establish the facts? Maggie is joined by writer and producer Mark Evanier, Columbia University comics and cartoons curator Karen Green, and Abrams ComicArts editor-in-chief Charles Kochman.

Saturday, July 22 — 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE HISTORY OF CARTOON VOICES
Keith Scott is one of the top voice actors and impressionists in Australia, and he's also an expert on cartoon voices for theatrical cartoons in this country. He's making a rare visit to America this year and he'll be talking about Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, June Foray, Walt Disney, and many you've never heard of. Don't miss this rare chance to hear all about how cartoons learned to talk, with not only Keith but also historians Jerry Beck, Leonard Maltin and your moderator, Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 22 — 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM in Room 5AB
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL
It's a Comic-Con tradition to assemble on Sunday morning to remember the man some still call, and with good reason, The King of the Comics. His life and career will be discussed by folks who knew him or wish they did. They include writer Tom King, Jack's grandson Jeremy Kirby, Kirby experts Bruce Simon, Mark Badger and Jon Cooke, attorney Paul S. Levine and your moderator, former Kirby assistant Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 23 — 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM in Room 6A
CARTOON VOICES II
Cartoon Voices I on Saturday will be so wonderful that we'll need another such panel on Sunday with other top actors in the animation-voicing profession. This time, moderator Mark Evanier will welcome Maurice LaMarche (Futurama, Pinky and the Brain), Anna Brisbin (Final Fantasy VII Remake), Fred Tatasciore (Team America, The Hulk), Frank Todaro (The Cuphead Show, Transformers), and Courtney Lin (Monster High, Rainbow High).

Sunday, July 23 — 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM in Room 7AB
FRANK MILLER: AMERICAN GENIUS
Comic-Con Special Guest and legend Frank Miller, one of the comics medium's most important creators, returns to San Diego for an all-access and in-depth discussion. Be here for this exclusive panel that will give you insight into one of the genre's most influential people. With his publishing line, Frank Miller Presents, and details on the upcoming Frank Miller: American Genius documentary, there will be much to cover!

Sunday, July 23 — 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM in Room 7AB
COVER STORY
There have been comic book publishers who believed that what they put inside the comic didn't matter much — that readers decide to buy or not to buy because of the cover. It's arguable, but a great cover never hurt a book. On this panel, your host Mark Evanier welcomes four artists who have drawn great covers: Todd McFarlane (Spawn, Spider-Man), Becky Cloonan (Batman, Gotham Academy; this year's Comic-Con Souvenir Book cover), Joe Quesada (Daredevil, Spider-Man), and J. Scott Campbell (Danger Girl, Amazing Spider-Man).

Sunday, July 23 — 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE BUSINESS OF CARTOON VOICES
Are you interested in a career in the highly competitive world of voiceover? There are plenty of folks who will take your money to advise you, but you can get a ton of information for free with no strings attached at this panel. Two very busy voice actors (Vanessa Marshall and Gregg Berger), a top agent (Cathey Lizzio of C.E.S.D.), and a voice director (your moderator, Mark Evanier) will tell you how one goes about learning the craft, breaking into the business, staying in the business, and maybe even making a living in the business. This panel is not for entertainment. It's for enlightenment.

Each and every item above is subject to change for reasons that even I may not be able to explain. The entire programming schedule can be found and studied on this page.

Here's some of that old footage — in this case of Los Angeles in the late forties or early fifties — which someone has enhanced and colorized and they've also added a phony audio track. I love this stuff. You'll notice that the first area we tour has an awful lot of pawn shops in it and most areas in these videos have cafeterias.

I miss cafeterias. As a person with multiple food allergies, it's so nice to see your meal before you commit to pay for it. These days, you rarely see them and I can't think of one that still exists and is convenient to me. I used to like the Souplantation chain because their outlets were a little like cafeterias.

I also liked buffets for the same reason but since my gastric bypass, they really aren't cost effective. While at Comic-Con, I'll probably be breakfasting at my hotel's breakfast buffet where they charge something like $35 per person…and I'll be able to eat about as much food as I could get at a Denny's for eight bucks.

In the absence of a good cafeteria, the best I can do is a food court or a place like Farmers Market where you can pick and usually see what you want. The trouble, of course, is that at most food courts, everything — regardless of the cuisines being offered — tastes like that tasteless Sbarro's grub that's often your only option in an airport when you're in a hurry. Apart from the cafeterias, I'm don't see much that I miss in these videos of old Los Angeles but they sure are fascinating…

As far as I know, all of my panels at Comic-Con are still on and still as advertised. All fourteen of them…and my knees are starting to ask the question that so many folks ask me: "Why the hell are you on fourteen panels?" An honest answer would include the fact that I like doing them, I like being at Comic-Con and I don't know what else I'd do with myself there if I didn't have all these panels to do there.

I am dealing with a slight walking problem. If I have to summon a wheelchair assist I will but I'm going to try to not do that. Fortunately, most of those panels are close enough to one another that I could crawl from one to the other. Just understand if you see me walking like Tim Conway's old man character.

As I know I've mentioned here before, I was attending a convention back in October of '73 when the infamous "Saturday Night Massacre" occurred and I didn't get to watch it unfold on TV in real time. I'm a little concerned that during Comic-Con, I might miss the third Trump Indictment but I figure I'll be around for the fourth or fifth or however many more there are. It's just about the only TV show you can count on being there during the strikes.

I'm not watching a lot of TV these days and every time I do turn it on, I see Chris Christie, who is now somehow on more often than Steve Harvey. I didn't know it was possible to be on TV more than Steve Harvey and the strike won't slow him down because most game shows are still in production. Former Governor and Bridge-Blocker Christie is very entertaining and he knows that attacking others will always get you air time in a 24/7 news channel world — a lesson he learned well from Donald J. Trump.

Christie's appearances are all pretty much the same because everyone asks him pretty much the same questions. I'm waiting for someone to ask him, "You say you won't consider a third-party run because only the Democratic and Republican nominees have any chance of winning. If the Democratic nominee is Joe Biden and the Republican nominee is Donald Trump, who will you support and will you again be claiming that by supporting Trump, you're just trying to make him a better president? That worked so well last time."

More later here maybe after I finish packing.

From 1/2/2008, a once-again-timely Top Ten list from Late Night with David Letterman…

There would have been more on this blog the last few days were I not scurrying to finish assignments and prep for Comic-Con — two time-fillers which will persist for a while. The convention starts Wednesday night and I'll post my ridiculous schedule again here on Wednesday morning. Obviously, I'd like to lure you to events I'm on but my main recommendation to attendees is to study the entire schedule and make a list. List the events you want to go see and list some alternates if you can't get into some of your first choices.

I also recommend taking it easy, not trying to see and do everything and accepting the simple reality that there's no way you can see and do everything. Whoever's The Flash this month might be able to manage it but not you.

This is my 55th one of these and it took me until around #20 to realize and learn to live with this. I had a much better time there once I didn't think I had to be everywhere and see everyone…especially as the convention expanded and there were a lot more everywheres and everyones. I also learned and accepted this for Disneyland the second or maybe third time I went there.

People keep writing and asking if my Cartoon Voices panels are still going to happen as planned. As far as I know, they will. I expect my convention to be pretty much like they always are. Your convention, if it centers around seeing TV and movie stars promoting their upcoming projects, may be a little different. Honestly, I've never had the slightest interest in previews of any kind. If I'm looking forward to a movie, I would prefer to experience it when it comes out with no idea of what I'm going to see.

But that's just me. And that's one of the great things about Comic-Con. You can ignore 90% of it and still have plenty to do. The folks who complain that there isn't enough there about comic books haven't done what I recommend above and read the schedule. I think some of them are really complaining that the mainstream press pays more attention to the movie stars…and they're complaining to the wrong people about that.

And then every year, I seem to hear from someone who's upset that I no longer host panels of the great writers and artists who did comics in the forties or fifties. Apparently, we should not let a little thing like these people dying prevent us from having them appear at the convention. I sometimes feel that if we all sat around in a circle and held hands and I could find the right magic words, we could maybe get Jack Kirby to show up for a few minutes. There certainly is enough of his spirit in that convention center when we're there.

So I gotta go pack. I gotta finish my notes. I gotta think of more silly challenges to put to our dueling cartoonists in Quick Draw! I may even finish a paying assignment that an editor of mine wanted to have today before he leaves for Comic-Con even though he's not likely to do anything with it — not even read it — before he returns home. I could probably rename an old PDF and send it to him and he wouldn't notice until a week from tomorrow. Since I don't think he reads my blog, I just may.

Here's a hunk of The Tonight Show from 5/18/73. It starts after Johnny has spent time with Sid Caesar and now he brings out Art Carney…so right there you have three of the most talented guys ever on television. It ends with them jamming — Johnny on drums, Sid on saxophone, Art on the piano. They don't play especially well but there's something charming about it…

Some of you have suggested and others have politely kept to themselves the notion that I'm outta my ever-lovin' mind to be host or panelist on thirteen (13!) panels at Comic-Con. You're absolutely right and to prove it, I have added #14 to my schedule. I will be the host/interviewer for this…

Sunday, July 23 — 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM in Room 7AB
FRANK MILLER: AMERICAN GENIUS
Comic-Con Special Guest and legend Frank Miller, one of the comics medium's most important creators, returns to San Diego for an all-access and in-depth discussion. Be here for this exclusive panel that will give you insight into one of the genre's most influential people. With his publishing line, Frank Miller Presents, and details on the upcoming Frank Miller: American Genius documentary, there will be much to cover!

I am reminded of one time a billion years ago when I got to spend some time with Sammy Davis, Jr. He had just done an appearance in some special and he said he had to fly from Vegas (where he was appearing) to New York (where the special was being shot) and then back again to Vegas (where he was still appearing). I asked him why he'd done that and he said "Because Frank asked me to and you don't say no to Frank."

He was talking about Sinatra, not Miller, but I kinda understand now.

As I've mentioned, the current strike by the Writers Guild is my fifth since I became a member in 1976. There have also been a number of times when the old contract had expired, a new one was looking impossible and we went through the angst and prep and worries of a strike…but it was averted at the last minute.

In each strike, I have lost something. I did not ask myself "Was what we gained worth what we lost?" because that's impossible to calculate. It's hard to put a dollar figure on work that might have happened if not for the strike and what ancillary benefits you might have derived from it if it did happen. One time, I was up for a very good job on a very good TV series but the job went away because of the strike. I have no idea how much I would have made off that job or what it would have led to.

Another time, I was writing a movie when the strike interrupted things. After the strike, I finished that script and I did get paid but by then, the folks at the studio who'd been enthused enough about the idea to hire me were no longer at that studio. Their replacements, of course, were totally disinterested in advancing a project championed by those who'd been fired so the movie was never made. I have no idea what that might have done, good or bad, for my career.

You also have to factor in what we all might have lost if taking the rotten offers that precipitated those strikes had led, as it almost certainly would have, to much rottener offers in the future. If I had more time, I'd explain how I believe the terrible deal the WGA accepted to quickly end the 1985 strike (two weeks) made inevitable the 1988 strike (twenty-two weeks) over an even worse offer.

In 2015, I had my right knee replaced. People asked me — they still ask me — if it was painful. Yes, at the time it was but I didn't have any other option. Not having it replaced would have been far more painful and would at some point have left me unable to walk at all. That's not a bad analogy to going on strike.

How do you get through a strike? Well, I got through my first four as I'm getting through this one: By not getting all my income from companies that deal in what the Writers Guild covers. The WGA does not represent writers of comic books, animation writing for certain companies, books, articles, etc. I wish it did but it doesn't. And since it doesn't, I have other sources of income.

During the long '88 strike, I was picketing and even working on the strike in various capacities…but I was also writing and voice-directing the Garfield and Friends cartoon show. My agent at the time referred to me as "Our working client" and "The sole support of the agency." Right now, I have a WGA-covered project that is "on hold" but I have other things to write. Some are paying gigs. Others are things I may — emphasis on the word "may" — sell at some time in the future. That's one of the great things about writing: If no one's paying you to do it, you can still do it. You just may not get money for it or may not get it immediately.

I also have a Comic-Con to prep for. It doesn't pay but it keeps me busy.

I do have friends or colleagues in the profession who are hurting…or who may be hurting if the strike lasts long enough. A couple of them are too new to the business to understand what I learned on or around my second WGA strike: That these things are sometimes, like getting your knee replaced, a necessity. Also — and this is important to remember and accept — when you assume the job description of Writer, it's possible to have prolonged periods of no income when there isn't a strike. That's not only possible but probable and it applies to actors too.

We all feel for those who are hurting and I'm optimistic that it will all end with an acceptable deal. I'm just not predicting when that will happen nor am I putting any stock in any of the hundred different predictions that are circulating. A couple of them must be right but we don't know which ones so we just have to tough it out.

This includes putting up with the most maddening part of it: Hearing some guy who gets paid a zillion dollars a week tell us that the business is hurting and there's simply no money to give to us. When I hear this — and we always hear this — I always think, "Your only responsibility is to make as much money as possible for your company. If it's doing that badly, shouldn't you be fired?"

While we're toughing it out, it would help to think about preparing for the next one. If we take a terrible deal this time, the next one will come sooner and be a whole lot worse.

Not only will there be a next one but there may also be non-strike periods for most of us when our incomes flow to a trickle for a time, perhaps for no visible, foreseeable reason. When you're a writer or an actor, that happens too. And by the way: My orthopedist tells me I'm going to need to have my other knee replaced in the next few years.

Two or three months from now, Rudy Giuliani and I will have something in common. Neither one of us will be practicing law.

Hey, do you own a good condition copy of the Marvel Super-Heroes Special #1 from 1966? Wanna loan it to someone for a prestigious event? A friend of mine is assembling an exhibit at Comic-Con next week and needs to borrow a copy. This friend is utterly trustworthy and will treat it with loving care and will also cover things like postage and insurance and whatever else it takes. He needs it by Tuesday morning so if you happen to be in San Diego or will be there by then, that would be ideal.

If you might be willing/able to help him out, drop me a note and I'll put you in touch with him. He can give you more details. I will just vouch for his integrity. And who knows? You may even be able to find someone who'll vouch for mine.

UPDATE: My friend found what he needs. Thanks.

SAG-AFTRA is joining my union, the Writers Guild of America, on the picket lines. As you may recall, I expressed some worry about the current president of SAG-AFTRA, Fran Drescher. I said here on Wednesday, "She has not yet shown her members that she understands the responsibilities that come with the title and I sure hope she masters them in a hurry — like by later this evening." I am pleased to say she did…