By Jimmy Palmiotti

San Diego was a blast this year. Amanda and I got there a day early because I had to do a live interview on San Diego CW 6 TV about my work and the con. When doing something like that, it can be nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time and for me it was a bit of both. What most worried me was that I was going to say something stupid on air and hear about it the whole con from my buddies, but really… other than an awkward shout-out to Amanda, it went without a hitch. The people there were so kind and generous and even gave me a six-pack of local beer afterwards. Honestly, I just figured it was on so early that no one would catch it, but that wasn’t the case because it seems that’s the TV station of choice in all the hotel gyms, so I found out who my healthy buddies were quite quickly because of it. My reviews were good… and again, I am not a “TV” guy by any means, so I am glad I never have to watch it. Here it is on YouTube… watch how the reporter keeps going back to Jonah Hex… I thought it was funny. Amanda’s shout-out was funny as well. Next time I do any TV, I want it to be a reporter interviewing me for winning the lottery.

THE HEX PANEL AND BROOKLYN BRAVADO: This explains Comic-Con and how big it’s gotten in a way, so read on. I wanted to get a seat in the big hall to watch the Hex trailer. I had tried a week before to be included in the panel, after all its Comic-Con, but was told it’s for the film people only. OK… I understand that, but I wanted to be there at least part of the audience because director Jimmy Hayward told me he and his crew put together some cool footage that they were going to show. Well, you got to get there hours in advance to get on line for the WB panel, but thank God Fletch from DC had a ticket to get me reserved seating so I was able to just get there beforehand and relax. So… I’m walking to the main hall when I see some people I know from Warner Bros. walking into a room and I figure its for the panel so I just follow them to a deck where its extremely obvious I do not belong. It’s the holding area is for all the celebs… and I got to tell you, almost every celebrity guest was there, hanging out, talking to each other and waiting for their cues. So there I am, and I figure, hey… I’m a celebrity, I can be here… (LOL… I know, Brooklyn balls) and I finally spotted some friends, said hellos, then saw Josh Brolin and went over to him. He gave me a big hug, we spoke a bit then I spotted other people I know from the film set and said hi to them. Seemed that the panels were running late and everyone was just relaxing. I also saw a guy I know for years, a photographer for the stars, rich Buxo and we chatted as he shot pictures of the celebrity guests in front of us, like Mila Kunis [STUNNING], Robert Rodriguez [TALL], Gary Oldman [SO FRIGGING COOL], Denzel Washington [TALL AND THE MAN], Cameron Diaz [BEAUTIFUL AND GOOD SKIN, so kill that stupid rumor already], as well as a boat-load of directors and producers.

Josh and I took some photos together for the press, which was ultra cool of him… and then Megan Fox walked over. I introduced myself, got a big smile… we spoke a bit about some artwork and then she was whisked away to around 300 photographers. After that, again, I made my way to the green room where I managed to walk in without the special green band on my arm (I asked the guy at the door if my panel started yet, he said which one, I said “Hex” and he said in 20 minutes… yeah, the old bait and switch) …and I sat and saw the end of one panel, Cameron Diaz and a few others make their way to where I was, and then saw Josh, Jimmy, Megan and  Michael Fassbender hit the stage. I was able to watch the fantastic footage but I had to run across to the other side of the con to make it on time for a Radical panel to promote our new title with them called “TIME BOMB” and make it I did, by the skin of my teeth. I have to say, it was a pretty exciting morning and the bonus was the amazing footage of Josh as Jonah. I can’t wait to see the final product. Watch the panel, minus the footage, right here.

Also, at the Con, I made it through the entire show and only actually bought one book, and it was for Amanda. Don’t get me wrong, there were tons of things I wanted and some I turned down from other pros… but I hate carrying anything, so I got home and ordered a bunch of stuff online and am getting it delivered. Yes, that’s how lazy I can be.

THE POWER OF POWER GIRL: The best part of writing the book and working with Justin and Amanda is all the wonderful people we meet who love the book at the shows. Just wanted to shoot a big “thanks” to all the loyal fans and keeping the title in the spotlight.

MAXIM MAGAZINE… NICE REPORTING: So they do a piece on Marvel and interview a lot of Marvel people and they credit Marvel Knights to just Joe Quesada. Boy, am I glad my name is on each and every one of those books… revisionist history really blows. And Maxim… part of reporting is fact-checking…

KEVIN SMITH: Yeah, I know Kevin, worked with him, hung out with him and a long time ago even helped him here and there with some stuff for his films. Most of you know my interaction with Kevin from his amazing run on Daredevil when Joe Quesada and I created Marvel Knights. I don’t see him as often as I like, but when Amanda and I see his wife and him at screenings or at parties, it’s like running into old friends, and we just take up where we left off last time we were together. Anyone who knows me, knows I think the world of him and his talent and consider our friendship a special one… and then someone sent me this list and I got to say… what a damn sweet thing to say about Joe and I. Its funny, I admire so many people its sickening, but Kevin just shot up the list here. Thanks for the shout out, brother… and right back at you. We never could have launched Marvel Knights without you and the book all three of us worked on together is still one of the top examples of my inking at its peak, and still one of the best Daredevil stories done to date. Give it a read right here…

A cool interview done here with me for Graphic NYC. I love these guys and their work and I ramble a bit here, so be prepared to be dizzy. While at the site, give it a look around, you will be totally hooked. Chris and Seth are golden in my book.

DRUNK DRIVER: So Amanda and I come back around 1 am after a bowling charity for AIDS and we hear a car screeching, a bang, and another bang down the street, maybe a football field away it sounded. We took our car over because we really didn’t know how far away it really was and pull up to see a Hyundai wrapped around a palm tree, window cracked, bumper in the road and a ton of groceries all over. A skinny dude in his late 20’s is fishing for something inside when we got there and we asked if he was OK. At this point a car pulls up and calls the police to report the accident. Well, the dude is rambling about his cell phone and then tells us he is fine and says he lives right down the road and is going to go to his house. We are watching in amazement that anyone walked away from the wreck and I was suspicious from the beginning when we saw him… my Brooklyn intuition. I got in my car and went down the road to see what house he was going in to and he saw me and started running like he was on fire away from me down into the town. Yeah… the asshole was a drunk driver, it was his car and yeah… the law, that funny weird thing they quote in court all the time, says that unless someone “sees” you driving and crashing the car, you will not get charged with anything… yeah, unless you hit a pedestrian I guess, or kill another family in another car… this guy got off easy in my book. I have a friend who lost his brother due to a drunk driver and it changed everyone’s lives forever. Long story short, the cops come, take a report from us, ignore me when I am telling them he is running right down the street and then tell me I can go home.

GEM OF THE CON: Got a movie ticket-sized little book from Shannon Wheeler called Postage Stamp Funnies that is just plain awesome. Filthy comes to mind when describing the gag cartoons inside this little gem. If you see that sweet man around, shake him down for one. I laughed my ass off.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Listen to Jimmy Palmiotti, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.