“And lo, there shall come a time, when the old order shall changeth …” as Stan Lee might have put it in an issue of Thor or The Avengers … Under Comic-Con’s management, WonderCon lasted from 2003 through 2011 at Moscone Center in San Francisco. During that time, attendance rose steadily, with 2005—to me at... Continue Reading →
I have a lot of fond memories of WonderCon, San Diego Comic-Con’s sister show, which I was involved with from 2002 through 2020. I think anyone that goes to this event realizes what a great alternative it is to Comic-Con, with a more laid-back and less crowded vibe to it. Having said that, it has... Continue Reading →
(Above: a badge from APE 2008 designed by me (far left); the APE Exhibit Hall at the Concourse Exhibition Center; and Paige Braddock's simian cartoonist for the APE 2008 Program Book cover, colored by me.) When I look back over my 20+ year career with San Diego Comic-Con, I can definitely see what meant the... Continue Reading →
Of all the things I did in my 21-year career at San Diego Comic-Con, the thing I am proudest of—and most enjoyed doing—were the event’s yearly Souvenir Books. While I enjoyed doing the Update magazines (which evolved into Comic-Con Magazine and finally, Comic-Con Annual ... more on that here), the three-times a year schedule was... Continue Reading →
Soon after I edited and designed my first major book for Comic-Con, the 2007 Souvenir Book (click here for details), I was contacted by Andrea Fernandes, the business development sales manager of Chronicle Books’ Custom Division. a San Francisco-based publisher that specialized in pop culture and well, just plain ol’ culture-in-general books. “We want to... Continue Reading →
I spent an enjoyable couple of hours yesterday (Saturday, August 13th) on Zoom, one of those technological “marvels”—along with Slack—that helped convince me to retire. While I vowed to never go on Zoom again for any kind of work-related reason, I was very happy to join my fellow Pittsburgh Comix Club members to reminisce about... Continue Reading →
When I started my new position of Director of Print and Publications at San Diego Comic-Con in 2007, one of the things that fell into my lap was the event’s annual Souvenir Book. I had been a fan of the book for many years, and at one of my very last visits to Comic-Con as... Continue Reading →
Comic-Con 2022 is now one for the history books and it was a show that had a major personal effect on me. It was the first San Diego Comic-Con I went to as an attendee in 25 years (if you’ve been following along, you know I worked for the organization from 2000-2021), and this event... Continue Reading →
It's Comic-Con time! I hope you're able to attend this first, full-blown Comic-Con in three years and if you see me walking around aimlessly (or with aim in mind), please stop and say hello. I know it will be difficult to figure out who is who since we'll all be wearing masks, but here's a... Continue Reading →
Hey! Look at me ... or rather, listen to me! I'm featured on another podcast, which premiered on Tuesday, July 19. The podcast is called The Musical Innertube, and no, you're safe ... I won't be singing. I was interviewed a few weeks back by Don Rooney and John Timpane, "who talk with people you'd... Continue Reading →
When I worked for Comic-Con, I would regularly post this little graphic I made from a photo I took behind the San Diego Convention Center. This year will mark the first time I've gone to a "real" Comic-Con International: San Diego (its proper name) as an attendee since 1997, 25 years ago. I'm looking forward... Continue Reading →
In the winter of 2005, my boss (Fae Desmond, the executive director of Comic-Con) and I went to San Francisco for a site check for Comic-Con’s sister shows, WonderCon and APE, the Alternative Press Expo. We were looking at various hotels, in addition to stopping in at Moscone Center for a pre-WonderCon meeting. When not... Continue Reading →
You probably won’t find them on Amazon or in your local indie bookstore or comic book shop, but the entire Innocent Bystander oeuvre is still available … only from me! For complete information, just click on the BUY MY BOOKS! link in the menu on the black bar at the top of this page! There's... Continue Reading →
COMIC-CON RESOURCES I’ve written a lot about my career at Comic-Con (and the event itself) on this here blog, so for those of you who know nothing about it, here’s a list of resources, all of which were created by me during my time overseeing Comic-Con’s publications and website. The 2019 Souvenir Book celebrated the... Continue Reading →
I had survived my first year as director of programming at Comic-Con, coming through it largely undamaged. It was a strange experience. As I recounted last time (click here to read it), my bosses had left me pretty much alone. However in my second year as head of programming, they paid a lot more attention... Continue Reading →
innocent bystander 
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