The odd posting pattern here and middle-of-the-night time stamps should give you some idea that my life is not back to normal yet.  I'm sleeping odd hours and my body is still telling me, "Please don't do Comic-Con again for a while."  But I still had a great time down there at Comic-Con #50 and I'm still remembering moments I want to tell you about.

One involves my long-time buddy Scott Shaw!, whose name is properly spelled with the exclamation point.  I met Scott in 1970 at, of all places, Jack Kirby's house.  We worked together on any number of comics over the years and when Scott's first marriage broke up, he moved in with me for a brief time.  I describe that brief time as "The Odd Couple with two Oscars and no Felix."

The last few years, Scott has been coping with a series of medical problems involving his right foot. He actually missed one Comic-Con because of them…and if you know Scott and his love for Comic-Con, you know how severe those problems must have been. I suspect his doctor had to physically restrain him from crawling to San Diego. Anyway, that's the only reason Scott wasn't among that select group of us this year who were pointed-out as having never missed any of the fifty gatherings. (I believe, however, that Scott has been to more days of Comic-Con than anyone else. I, for example, went to at least one day of each one but not every day of every one.)

Last December, Scott and his doctors bowed to the inevitable and his right foot was removed. He was wheelchaired about until things healed well enough that he could be fitted with a prosthetic foot. After frustrating delays, that finally happened three weeks before the con. And while learning to walk with one of those can take some folks months to master, Scott got vertical quickly and on several panels we did together — most notably, this year's Quick Draw! — he was able to walk up the stairs and onto the stage. That was more amazing and impressive than even how fast Sergio draws…and he got a big, joyous ovation for it.

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It was great seeing old friends like Tony Isabella (who I've known longer than I've known Scott Shaw!) and Steve Sherman (who I've known longer than I've known Tony Isabella) and Bruce Simon (who I've known longer than I've known Steve Sherman). It was great meeting longtime readers of this blog, especially ones who've e-mailed me about items I could post here for your dining and dancing pleasure.

I also had a couple of very nice conversations about The World Outside Comic-Con, including a mature/reasonable one with a fervent Trump supporter where we did more than agree to disagree. You can do that but also find some areas of common ground…like places where we concur on goals, just not how to reach them. On the other hand, I had this quick exchange with an anti-vaxx protester outside who was yelling at people…

HIM: Mandatory vaccinations infringe on my right to control my own body.

ME: Are you the least bit concerned with the right to send a kid to school without them getting the measles?

HIM: Reported cases of measles have been on the decline for years!

ME: Yeah…because of vaccinations. And now they're on the increase because of people like you.

There was no response. Some of these people should have a mandatory injection of reality. More convention reporting later today…if I'm awake, that is.

me saying stuff about the Comic-Con…

Christina Cauterucci disagrees with much (but not all) of Jane Mayer's article about Al Franken.

Fred Kaplan has much to say about Trump's recent foreign policy decisions and it ain't flattering.

Jonathan Chait explains the legal papers Trump's reps just filed to try and block the release of his tax returns. It pretty much comes down to insisting Democrats have no right to see them because they're Democrats.

Jane Mayer of The New Yorker looks into the story of how and why Al Franken was forced to resign from the Senate and concludes…well, she doesn't exactly say this outright but here's the take-away: Franken did a very small thing wrong that didn't warrant his ouster but a lot of crafty foes of his and cowardly friends railroaded him outta office.

That's me with one of my favorite people on the planet, the lovely/talented Laraine Newman. Laraine agreed to spend her Saturday driving down to San Diego, appearing on our Quick Draw! panel and one of my Cartoon Voices panel…and then after being sensational at both, she drove back to L.A.  Consider this a special thank you to her for doing that.

There won't be a lot of coherence or order to my reports on Comic-Con.  It's always an exhausting (but fun) experience but this year's left me more fatigued than any of its predecessors.  Some of that was because this was San Diego Con #50 and as someone who has now attended all fifty, I was tapped for a lot of press interviews and special historical panels.  I probably answered the "How has it changed?" question fifty times.

Comic-Con starts with a three-hour Preview Night on Wednesday and then it officially ends at 5 PM on Sunday.  But really, it starts when you do your prepping and packing, and it ends when you're home and unpacked and settling into your non-conventional life style.  So for me, it's more like ten days.  Today, I didn't even dress or venture outside, and when I did anything, it was unpacking.  I don't truly feel "home" until the suitcases are emptied.

It's not so much that I needed to sleep.  I needed to not use my body for most of what I used it for in San Diego — scurrying from a panel to a meeting to an interview and to another panel and so on.

Still, apart from the part where the world's stupidest cosplayer knocked me down, I loved every second of it. I couldn't live at that pace for long but I could manage those few days a year. It's fun to never be bored for a second.

I'll write more throughout the week. I'm just too weary at the moment…but I do want to thank the couple I ran into last night. While driving home, I suddenly felt the need to stop, stretch my legs and find a men's room. Since I needed to get some groceries for home, I got off the 5 in Fountain Valley and went to the Ralphs Market on Brookhurst Street there. It was in the bread aisle when a man and a woman spotted me and said, "We really enjoyed Quick Draw! and Cartoon Voices yesterday." I was very pleased by that, though being a humble guy, I gave all the credit to Laraine.

It's been a while since we heard from Emmy-nominee Randy Rainbow but it's worth the wait…

Convention's over. Now, we can concern ourselves with more important matters…like what kind of silly news stories is Trump going to create to divert attention from Robert Mueller's testimony on Wednesday? I'm guessing he starts sending troops to Funkytown to stop the dangerous spread of socialist funk.

Here's a nice article about Mike Friedrich, this year's "alive" recipient of the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. Thanks to John I. Carney for the link and no, I have no idea why I'm blogging at this hour. Do I not know how tired I was after yesterday?

As you've probably figured out from the dearth of postings here, Mark's been busy at the con. I can't recall ever being so exhausted, most of it in a good way. I'm enjoying it but I may take the rest of July and all of August to recover.

I won't even attempt to go in order. Here's a pick from one of my panels. This is That 70's Panel, discussing the comic book field in that turbulent, innovative era…

Okay. Back row, left to right, you have m.e., Tony Isabella, Louise Simonson and Walt Simonson. Front row, moving in the same direction, it's Trina Robbins, Arvell Jones, Lee Marrs and Mike Friedrich. Last night, Mike formally received the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing as did, posthumously, E. Nelson Bridwell. Both were presented by Yours Truly and Mr. Finger's granddaughter, Athena Finger.

The panel was a pretty good one, I thought. We started doing an annual panel on comics in the seventies because that most inevitable of problems in this world — advancing age — had made it impossible to fill a panel with creators from the forties, fifties and even the sixties.

Inevitably now at each con, someone stops me and expresses the wish that we'd bring back the old Golden Age Panels on which I interviewed folks who'd produced comics in that era. I then ask who we'd put on it and I get back blank stares and maybe the names of a few folks who, while still happily alive are not willing and/or able to make the trek to San Diego.

The seventies were an intriguing era because so many new people joined the Talent Pool but — and this is a crucial "but" — we still had plenty of predecessors around. Someone who joins the field today will still work alongside writers and artists whose work they admired as readers but we worked with Jack Kirby and Will Eisner and Joe Kubert and Stan Lee and so many others who actually invented the business. That's a privilege that is unavailable to new generations.

Getting back to last night's award ceremony — I told you I was going to jump around — let me insert this photo from backstage at the Eisner Awards…

That's me on the left and I was a lot happier than I appear to be with two of my favorite voice actors. Grey Griffin (aka Grey DeLisle) is the voice of Daphne on Scooby Doo, Catwoman, Captain Marvel and so many others. Phil LaMarr has been heard on Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Futurama, Samurai Jack, Static Shock and just about everything else. They were among the presenters and I'll leave it to Samantha Puc to tell you what got presented and to whom.

I almost didn't make it to the Eisners. I was rushing to get there on time when, outside Hall H, I walked what should have been a safe distance from a large gent (about my size) who was cosplaying as Conan, leaping about and waving his sword in some sort of demented victory dance.

Like too many cosplayers, I'm afraid, he was completely oblivious to the safety and proximity of others and he slammed right into me, knocking me down. The new knee I got less than four years ago took the greatest impact and my semi-fancy award-presenting clothes sustained some minor (cleanable) damage.

I was limping but okay, I guess. The main harm was to my love for cosplayers. I still think most of 'em are great but there's still a small contingent of them who act like morons and give the majority a bad image. The fellow was, of course, minimally apologetic. I think in a way he was mad at me for ruining his all-important, nothing-else-matters performance.

Lots more has happened the last few days but I need to go make more of it happen. Look forward to a lot of Comic-Con stories in this space during the following week.

They'll be posted on those rare occasions when I'm not sleeping or wondering whether it's worth the effort to unpack my luggage or maybe I should just leave it ready for the 51st Comic-Con International. It will take place July 23-26, 2020 and the way time is speeding up these days, that oughta feel like three months from now.

Here's a quick item on the local news here in San Diego all about me.

In many ways, this feels like any Comic-Con of the last few years — so many of the same exhibitors in the same places and only the prices have changed. And yet, the fact that it's #50 is already making things feel special, even for folks who missed the first 49.

I'd elaborate that but I have a breakfast meeting and then a panel and then another panel and then an interview about it being Comic-Con #50 and then a lunch meeting and then a business meeting and then another panel…and that's the kind of day it's going to be and it might be a good idea if I get dressed before embarking on it.

I will be doing all this with a bit of a handicap. Last night, I took my friend Jewel Shepard to the big gala party at the new Comic-Con Museum celebrating its impending opening and the induction of Batman into some sort of Hall of Heroes I don't quite understand. If you live within the continental United States or Mexico, you probably heard it. At one point, I used this app to measure the decibel level and it gave me back a reading of "What? I can't hear you over the noise!" After a fitful night of sleep with the "Batman" theme still pounding in my brain, I'm still hearing it. I love the museum but come on, disc jockeys of the world. Some of us might have to hear again…

That's my one complaint so far. Everything else is peachy here at Comic-Con, U.S.A.

…that while some of us are living in the closed environment of Comic-Con, Donald Trump is still doing Trump-like things in the outside (and somewhat less real) world.

By "Trump-like," I mean things that if they'd been done by Bill Clinton or Barack Obama would cause current Trump supporters to say, "That shows the man is unfit for the presidency." But when Trump says or does something like this, they look the other way or applaud him for his candor.

Thursday, July 18 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 32AB
SPOTLIGHT ON MAGGIE THOMPSON: BEING CELEBRITY ADJACENT
Maggie Thompson (30-year co-editor of Comics Buyer's Guide) is joined by Mark Evanier (writer, editor, entertainment expert, and News from ME blogger) and Leonard Maltin (film critic, author, and host of the Maltin on Movies podcast) who consider the challenges, anecdotes, and delights of interactions with a variety of celebrities.

Thursday, July 18 — 11:00 AM to Noon in Room 5AB
COMIC-CON IN THE 1970's
What was it like at this convention during its first decade? Hear all about it from these folks who were there for it: Barry Alfonso, Wendy All, Maeheah Alzmann, Richard Butner, Roger Freedman, Eric Hoffman, Scott Shaw!, Brinke Stevens, William Stout, Phil Yeh, and your moderator, Mark Evanier.

Thursday, July 18 — 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 8
THE MARK, SERGIO AND STAN SHOW
It's most of the crew that brings you the bumbling adventures of Groo the Wanderer, talking about what they do and why they do it. See the award-winning team of Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier along with Stan Sakai (the creator of Usagi Yojimbo). They'll be discussing the latest Groo miniseries, many upcoming projects, and why Mark doesn't get paid for the work he does on their comic. Then again, he's not getting paid for writing this panel description either.

Friday, July 19 — 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM in Room 8
THAT 70's PANEL
It was a time of change in comics, with a new generation intermingling with the old and taking command. Hear what the comics industry was like in the 1970s from Mike Friedrich (Iron Man, Justice League of America), Tony Isabella (Black Lightning, The Champions), Trina Robbins (Wimmen's Comix, Wonder Woman), Arvell Jones (Marvel Two-in-One, Iron Man), Louise Simonson (Creepy, Power Pack), Walt Simonson (Manhunter, Thor), and moderator Mark Evanier (Groo the Wanderer, Blackhawk).

Friday, July 19 — 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 8
JACK KIRBY AND THE SAN DIEGO 5-STRING MOB
They may not have been Jack Kirby's greatest creation but they were sure important to some of the folks who started this convention. Come hear how the King of the Comics turned six kids involved in the con's early days – Scott Shaw!, Barry Alfonso, Roger Freedman, Mike Towry, John Pound, and Will Lund – into comic book stars for some brief, shining moments. Moderator Mark Evanier is the one who gets the band back together!

Saturday, July 20 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 28DE
MEMORIES OF THE FIRST COMIC-CON
The first San Diego Comic-Con (a.k.a. Golden State Comic-Con) was held in the summer of 1970 in the basement of the U.S. Grant Hotel. Hear all about it from several of the original committee members (Dave Clark, Roger Freedman, Scott Shaw!, Mike Towry), three of the guests (Mark Evanier, Mike Royer, Bill Stout), a dealer (Bud Plant), and some attendees (including Gene Henderson, Phil Yeh, and moderator Jackie Estrada).

Saturday, July 20 — 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM in Room 6BCF
QUICK DRAW!
It's the fastest, funniest panel in the whole convention! Once again, your Quick Draw quizmaster Mark Evanier pits three super-speedy cartoonists against one another with dueling Sharpies as they create great cartoon art right before your very eyes. Competing this year are (as usual) Sergio Aragonés (MAD magazine, Groo the Wanderer) and Scott Shaw! (The Flintstones), joined this year by Disney legend Floyd Norman plus a couple of highly surprising surprises!

Saturday, July 20 — 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in Room 6BCF
CARTOON VOICES I
Each year, moderator Mark Evanier gathers a bevy of the most talented cartoon voice actors working today and invites them to explain and demonstrate their artistry. This year's lineup includes Marieve Herington (Big City Greens, Disney Junior), Adam McArthur (Star vs. the Forces of Evil, The Adventures of Puss in Boots), Laraine Newman (The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz), Lex Lang (Star Wars Resistance, Curious George), Eric Lopez (Young Justice, The Spectacular Spider-Man), Fred Tatasciore (Family Guy, The Incredible Hulk), and maybe a few other members of the vocal majority.

Saturday, July 20 — 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE AWARDS OF COMIC-CON
Over the years, Comic-Con has developed and given out its own awards as well as serving as the home for other awards presentations. Get the background on the Inkpot Awards (Meg Mardian), the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award (Ruth Clampett), the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award (Gene Henderson), the Bill Finger Excellence in Comic Book Writing Award (Mark Evanier), the Icon Award (David Glanzer), the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award (Joe Ferrara), and the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards (Carl Gropper and Jackie Estrada, who is also moderating).

Sunday, July 21 — 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM in Room 5AB
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL
This is the annual panel about Comic-Con's first superstar guest, the man they call "The King of Comics," Jack Kirby. Jack left us in 1994, but his influence on comics, film, and this convention has never been greater. Discussing the man and his work this year are Kurt Busiek (Astro City, Marvels), Buzz Dixon (Thundarr the Barbarian, Destroyer Duck), Mike Royer (Kirby's favorite inker), attorney Paul S. Levine, and maybe a few surprise guests. Naturally, it's moderated by former Kirby assistant Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 21 — 11:45 AM to 1:15 PM in Room 6A
CARTOON VOICES II
With the smash-hit success of yesterday's Cartoon Voices I panel, there's no choice but to do another one-with different but equally talented actors from the world of animation voicing. Once again, moderator Mark Evanier has assembled an all-star dais that will include Jim Meskimen (The Adventures of Puss in Boots, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Robin Atkin Downes (Ben 10, Star Wars Rebels), Secunda Wood (Boss Baby, Days Gone), Dee Bradley Baker (American Dad, Looney Tunes), Candi Milo (Fanboy & Chum Chum, Jimmy Neutron), and probably someone else.

Sunday, July 21 — 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM in Room 25ABC
COVER STORY: THE ART OF THE COVER
What does it take to make a great cover for a comic book? Let's ask four of the top artists…all folks who've created some of the best. Come hear the "shop talk" of Billy Tucci (Shi, Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion), Charles Vess (Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess' Stardust, Heavy Metal), Alitha Evelyn Martinez (Iron Man, Batgirl), and Jae Lee (Hellshock, The Inhumans). Moderated by Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 21 — 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 25ABC
THE BUSINESS OF CARTOON VOICES
Interested in a career doing voices for animation and videogames? There are plenty of people around who'll take your money and tell you how to go about it, but here's 90 minutes of absolutely free advice from folks who work actively in the field. Hear from cartoon voice actors Jon Bailey and Candi Milo, talent agent Julie Thompson (SBV Talent) and your moderator, voice director Mark Evanier (The Garfield Show).

Every danged thing above is subject to change for the silliest of reasons, including the convention wising up after all these years and kicking me the hell out. Throughout the con, I will be exercising my constitutional right to not sit behind a table in the exhibit hall so if you wanna find me, this is how you find me. I am usually not as busy as I appear except before and after Quick Draw!

Here's our friend Jackie Estrada — one of the folks who labored long and hard to make Comic-Con what it is today — discussing what it was…

Thinking of taking Amtrak to Comic-Con? My pal Dana Gabbard let me know (so I could let you know) that they're adding extra trains. How many other events do they do that for?

I haven't had time to listen to all of it but SyFy Wire has posted Part One of a podcast of the history of Comic-Con. I think I'm in there somewhere.