The manga signing at Golden Apple last night was awesome. We drew a very large crowd by comic book in-store signing standards, and it was more like an informal party than anything else.
I'm telling you, if you're local and into comics or Star Trek, you should come out to one of these things, because we have a lot of fun getting our geek on.
At last night's event, the SoCal contingent of Enforcers from PAX was in full effect, so we posed for a picture to protect our rep against the Seattle Enforcers, who I understand are always taunting the SoCal Enforcers with tales of awesome. Well, who's awesome now, beeches?!
I also got to meet filmmaker John Singleton, who was on his way to a dinner, but stopped to get his comics on the way.
"Wow, I am a huge admirer of your work," I said when we were introduced.
"I'm an admirer of yours, as well," he said, and I could tell that he meant it. A lifetime in the entertainment industry has given me a nearly flawless bullshit detector, and I was totally floored by his sincerity.
I stayed at the shop until they closed down, and picked up Batman #668, which will wrap up Grant Morrison's outstanding run on the series. I also grabbed a 100 Bullets trade, a 1602 hardcover, and a book for Nolan called The Big Book of Hoaxes, which I think he'll like. I now have so many unread comics, trade paperback, and graphic novels, I will have to take a full day to do nothing but read them. It's a sacrifice, I know, but I'm willing to make it. Stiff upper lip and all that.
I met a bunch of people from TokyoPop, including the publisher. In the film and television world, this would be the equivalent of meeting a network or studio head, and those guys are always douchebags, but Mike from TokyoPop was a cool guy. In fact, everyone from TokyoPop was cool, and I felt like I was talking to people who are in this because they're passionate about the work and excited about the future of Manga in America.
And speaking of the Manga, there's another review out today, from activeanime.com:
The first volume really had a fan fiction feel to it, and frankly, the art work left a lot to be desired in many cases. In this volume, the stories have more punch, and the design is better. Perhaps some of the talent behind the stories is to account for this. One of the writers is Wil Wheaton- yes, that Wil Wheaton of TNG fame. He shows he has the right stuff as a writer for the franchise with his work “Cura Te Ipsum” which headlines the book. Damaged engines, Scotty getting new crystals from the middle of a war zone, and McCoy wrestling with his conscience and the Prime Directive whilst seeing a civilization tear itself apart are prominent elements in the classic tale that could easily have been an episode in the original series. You can see the author has caught the essence of what the classic shows were all about and has cleverly distilled it in a compact manga format.
Dude! I'm 2 for 2! Awesome.
Our next stop is at the West Hollywood Bookfair this Sunday, where we'll have a Q&A, then we're down in Manhattan Beach next week at Comic Bug for the final comic shop stop on the tour.
