It's wall-to-wall nerds, and I'll soon be in the thick of it again, with wife and daughter to share the joy.

Comic-Con International, by default, has become our family vacation. I enjoy it for a lot of reasons -- the artwork, the pop-culture, the previews, the window-on-the-world look at the people who attend . . . and that's still not doing it justice. It's been great to meet the actual artists behind The Tune, or Too Much Coffee Man . . . my daughter Hannah even got to meet Matt Groening (class act, BTW). And although I'm a bit of a squire nowadays (mortgage, job, kids, spouse, responsibilities, etc.), I like to think that I still hold a grasp on some small thread of subversive. The Comic-Con is a way for me to re-live (revive?) some of that, in some small way.

Much of it has to do with reminiscing over my older brother Dave's reading material, and I'm happy to say I've been able to track down long-lost copies of . . . The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers (soon to be animated . . . who knew?).




I'm also on the hunt for the more elusive Trashman. I'm a huge fan of a comic I discovered via a random purchase at Samurai Comics in Phoenix, AZ several years ago: Love and Rockets (Maggie, Hopey, and the entire ensemble from the barrio of Hoppers). I've known of Robert Crumb's work for decades, as well as Harvey Pekar's "American Splendor," although I've yet to pick up a copy . . .maybe this year?



Stay tuned . . . photographic documentation of the madness will follow in upcoming weeks.

Labels: comics, pop culture, underground