Logo

Well, folks, I survived another one.

More than survived, I enjoyed the entire thing immensely and that with having to take painkillers periodically to keep the chronic KNEE DEMON attacks under control. (Curse you, you spiky devils!)

I met some people I'd only ever written with- members of Comic Book Resources, Black Superhero, The Hudlin Crew, Pop Culture Shock, the followers of both Maestro McDuffie and those of the Kung Fu Monkey King.

I had one of the best conversations, perhaps THE best, I've ever had about writing with some exceptionally incisive writers from all strata of the gladiatorial game.

I went to a party that had Stan Lee and half the cast of HEROES in attendance.

I met one of my writing idols, TAD WILLIAMS, who was precisely as nice and cool as I thought he'd be. Cooler, in fact. If you haven't read his OTHERLAND series, go out and buy book one RIGHT NOW.

I met MIKE CAREY, another of my writing faves, who ALSO turned out to be one hell of a nice guy. He also has a novel out now, not graphic, a straight out, PROSE novel with magic and guns and, oh hell. It's called THE DEVIL YOU KNOW. Go buy that too. Do it.

I met all four of the men who make up MAN OF ACTION and learned that simply kicking back and having fun with your pals CAN turn into fun and profit. Provided, of course, that those pals are kick-ass writers and artists.

I (and several score more) partied with the boys and girls of BOOM STUDIOS and,baby, them folks is off da CHAIN! "Boom!" is right.

I saw my friends, most of them, and, from the number of people crammed into the place, I saw your friends as well.

The MOST important thing, the most pleasurable and gratifying, was the debut of THE ANTIDOTE TRUST at the convention. This is, if you don't know, a collection of independent comic book creators who realized that the only way to make dent in the ever- expanding, impenetrable armor of the big graphic media corporations (yes, there are such entities; the industry left its cottage ten years ago.) was to band together and fight back as a collective.

The members of the collective set up a reading room, complete with sweets and stacks and couches (with real cushions) all to facilitate the mindset that this is supposed to be FUN and that there ARE actual alternatives to the so-called mainstream that don't necessitate a drop in quality.



The members of the collective tell tales that run the gamut of speculative fiction from science fiction and fantasy to superheroes, horror, and hard-boiled crime and each with their own unique appeal and twists on the themes.

If you were there and you missed it, you missed the birth of something wonderful. If you were there and you managed to participate, you know what I know: the TRUST is not only a idea whose time coming was long over due but it functioned as an oasis of sanity amidst the zany chaos that is the San Diego Comic Book Convention.

There will be Trust booths in more of the big cons, so you will get your chance to see the folks in action and you will know what I know. Resistance Is Futile. The Trust is here to stay.