When my wife and I attended C2E2 last year, I only made time for two panels: the Marvel NOW! panel that spotlighted their Infinity event and other upcoming new series; and a themed panel comprised of various creators with music-based projects on their comics resumé. I was more excited about the latter panel and its guests. When we got home and uploaded our photos the next day, I was chagrined to discover that this photo set, above all others, was the least impressive. I forget which happy album eventually cheered me up — possibly They Might Be Giants — but eventually I recovered. The experience gave me fond memories while serving as an unwanted learning experience.
Despite the morose expressions, I promise there was much joy and music-geeking to be had from listening to these fine talents:
Seated left to right are:
* Matthew Rosenberg, writer of Twelve Reasons to Die, based on a concept created by Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan
* Dirk Wood, Marketing VP at IDW Publishing
* Vivek Tiwary, a Broadway producer who brought several pages to show us from his graphic novel The Fifth Beatle (illustrated by Andrew Robinson), which was later released in November 2013
* Kieron Gillen (Iron Man, Journey into Mystery, Young Avengers), co-creator of the must-read Phonogram in which magicians derive their power from music, particularly ’90s Britpop (in the photo, he may or may not be imagining himself choking a random member of Kula Shaker)
* Writer/editor Renee Witterstaetter
* Attorney/writer Charles Soule, writer of the music-thriller 27, now in charge of roughly thirty or thirty-five different Marvel and DC books (I’m partial to She-Hulk and Swamp Thing)
* S. Steven Struble, co-creator of Li’l Depressed Boy, which unfortunately went on hiatus this same month.
We arrived early, before any of the guests and most of the audience. No early harbingers of doom.
We sat in the second row, got comfortable, and prepared to enjoy ourselves…until we turned around and realized we were sitting in specially marked spots, no doubt for VIPs or proud possessors of powerful press passes or whatever. No biggie. We politely moved to the front row before anyone could come and lecture us.
Shortly after that, the other seats filled up, the panelists lined up, the discussion proceeded, and we learned the hard way that front row was the absolute worst possible place to sit. Even back row would’ve been a better vantage point.
This was our only shot of the moderator. Notice how Gillen appears to be napping, possibly due to transatlantic jet lag
The entire panel is reduced to severed heads, but at least they’re visibly engaging with each other.
Objects on the table were our worst enemy. I’m almost certain I saw this microphone stand up and deliberately wave itself in front of Rosenberg.
Rainbow-colored multimedia cords amuse and delight the severed head of Dirk Wood.
Is the laptop cord photobombing Tiwary, or is Tiwary photobombing it?
This one was resized smaller and smaller until Struble almost wasn’t blurry.
We’ve seen Renee Witterstaetter at other conventions, usually at Michael Golden’s table. Regrettably her pic didn’t turn out any more flattering than anyone else’s.
I later bought a copy of Strange Attractors from Charles Soule after seeing him here and coincidentally at the Marvel NOW! panel. A small gap between the equipment and the podium gave us a window into the world on their side of the table. Not much different, as it turns out. Fortunately, better C2E2 pics of him and Gillen exist elsewhere on this site.
If you thought these never should’ve seen the light of day, Marvel NOW! was even worse: I was in the distant back row with terrible lighting and without my wife as backup while she pursued something else on her own itinerary. I used one of those photos sarcastically in a previous MCC entry about the ongoing decline of American photojournalism.
Lesson learned: in public gatherings, front row isn’t always the best place to be. Maybe someday I’ll be old enough to buy a press pass and then I/we can plop down in those reserved seats with dignity and usable results.
Looking forward to a much better C2E2 experience this weekend, Lord willing.
