Last weekend’s New York Comic Con was my first big convention thing (a visit to MoCCA shortly after moving here hardly compares), and all things considered I don’t think I could have asked for a nicer introduction the particular brand of insanity these things become the focal point for. The Girlfriend and I went all of Saturday and most of Sunday, a move that, while leaving us spent and exhausted by the end, gave us a chance to get in a few panels and make several laps of the convention floor. Highlights include:

- Michael Hogan, him what plays Colonel Tigh on Battlestar Galactica, referring to Edward James Olmos as “Eddie” throughout a sort of good, sort of not so good panel full of horrible fans and an idiot moderator.

- The incredible Venture Bros. panel, which involved a preview of the new season and a mention of the game I designed for the show that was killed when Adult Swim made the jump from show-based games to original ones.

- Regularly running into friends and adding them to our party. To survive Comic Con, you need a posse.

- POCKET NINJA.

- Being introduced to Chaotic, a newish and intriguing new card game from 4Kids that is apparently quietly taking the world by storm. Between this and what I’ve heard about the new World of Warcraft CCG, it looks like card games are having a rush of new blood in much the same style as videogames – the people working on these things are the same kids that grew up playing Magic: The Gathering, and the designs of both Chaos and WoW contain reactions against the less popular aspects of the seminal card game. Chaos is faster, for instance, throwing the player into the the thick of things from the word go, while WoW is highly tuned to stave off the horrors of mana burn and other nagging problems WoTC can’t seem to iron out of their game. It’ll be interesting to see this trend continue.

- Doing the business card swap with a bunch of people behind Chaotic, and getting loads of booster packs for free. A mutual beneficial deal to be sure, as the next day I went back and bought two starter sets. I am doomed.

- POCKET NINJA.

- Picking up a fantastic page of original High Moon art from Steve Ellis (it’s page 33), as well as sketches from Kyle and Lily Baker. Also a couple of truly ace robots from artist
Jason May. Our walls are better than your walls.

- Filling up on enough Comics Are Expensive fodder to last me a few weeks at least.

- Filling my bag with enough miniature wine bottles to last me an hour or two at least.

- Realizing I didn’t really care about and of Marvel or DC’s events or booths, and instead throwing all my money for new books at at Dark Horse, Tokyo Pop, and Comics Bakery. Comics Bakery even gave me a squid pin. Pay attention, Big Two: The way to my heart is tentacled and lurks in the deep.

So a good show all around, and I’m very much looking forward to next year. There’s something that makes me very happy about people being able to freely enjoy the things they love, and while there’s inevitably a fat guy running an X-Wing guy down demanding “A PHOTO WITH A PILOT OF THE REPUBLIC!”, it’s the sort of thing I wouldn’t mind tapping into again. We didn’t make it to any of the videogame panels, including the one with my boss sparking a feeding frenzy by mentioning we’re hiring, but there’s always next time. Oh, how there is always next time.

Filed under: Bam Biff Pow, talk about games, Wreck your life