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SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2003 (Day
4)
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GOODNIGHT YOU PRINCES OF MAINE...
Day 4, the saddest and perhaps the loneliest day of the Con. By this time
all the panels, raffles, signings and shennanigans are over (at least the
ones I am interested in) as people are looking more towards closing shop
and thinking about getting home after a long and hopefully successfull
weekend. Bongo was in full swing as usual as they did host a few signings,
their daily raffle and more appearances by Matt Groening and Bill Morrison
around the Bongo booth. As mentioned previously Matt really tries to satisfy
the fans who may not have gotten a chance to get an autograph by him. He
signed plenty of posters and items for resale at their booth thereby doing
whatever he could to make sure people didn't go home empty handed. A helfpfull
tip to anyone who misses a Matt signing at the Con next year - typically
the big day is Saturday and if you miss out on him on Saturday come back
the next day as many times he will be signing posters like the Futurama
one for resale. Since the crowds are much less on this day it is very easy
to step up and pick up one with no problem.
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Matt Does His Best to Maker
Sure Nobody Goes Home Empty Handed
Missing this year from the show was sketch signings from the artist at
Bongo. They still held plenty of signings on Saturday and Sunday but for
some reason there was a decree sent down from someplace that Bongo artist
were no longer available to sketch on non-Bongo Comics items. I am not
sure where this came from but it put a little bit of a damper on the activities
of the weekend as it is one part of the Con that I look forward to. Still,
all told I was able to get my hands on quite a few signed  comics
and it didn't stop any of the artists from sketching directly on the cover.
In addition it made for some really short lines and quicker turnarounds
at the signings as when they do sketch the lines crawl and you can easily
stand there for a good half hour to an hour just waiting your turn. Plus,
I think the raffle more than made up for this as I have already mentioned
there were some cool prizes. No telling how long this rule will be in effect
but I hope they rethink it.
I must admit that there was a little buzz in the air regarding Futurama
that was a welcome surprise. I stopped off at a couple of animation galleries
that were dealing Futurama 1 of 1's as well as production drawings and
there was always the whispers of - Ohh, Futurama or That episode was on
just last night and What do you have in the way of Futurama? Same thing
at the Toynami booth who had their I-Men figure prototypes on display.
It was nice to hear such chatter and really goes to show what a little
promotion and a steady schedule can do for the success of a show.
All in all a good Con with plenty of cool stuff. For a show that is
no longer in production Futurama certainly had a good presence. I encourage
everyone who can to attend next years show as I am sure Futurama will be
there in one form or another. With Cartoon Network and TBS going full steam
with syndication as well as the imminent release of all 4 seasons on DVD
the memory of the show will last on for quite some time. I also encourage
everyone to write people like Toynami
and give them some encouraging words on their new figures coming out. Everyone
wants more merchandise and the only way for more to get produced is through
positive feedback and supporting the stuff that does get released.
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comics
and it didn't stop any of the artists from sketching directly on the cover.
In addition it made for some really short lines and quicker turnarounds
at the signings as when they do sketch the lines crawl and you can easily
stand there for a good half hour to an hour just waiting your turn. Plus,
I think the raffle more than made up for this as I have already mentioned
there were some cool prizes. No telling how long this rule will be in effect
but I hope they rethink it.
