Comic-Con 2009: Swag/Purchases

It was a great con for new reading material--besides the tons of free reading from random pass-outs and gift bags, I got plenty o' swag and merchandise from friends and creators at the convention. Notables include:

Joelle Jones - Okay, besides being an effing prodigy of an artist, Joelle is an extremely generous person. She gave me not only copies of her new sketchbook based on the 7 Deadly Sins and a copy of Token, but an original page from You Have Killed Me, her latest graphic novel written by Jamie Rich, AND sketches from a new project (I so wish I could tell you about but can't). :) They are great, though, and that project is going to be fantastic! Joelle gets +1000 fan points. <3

Steve Lieber - Steve gave me a copy of the promotional first issue of his and Jeff Parker's series Underground, coming from Image this fall (for free!! Can you believe that guy??). You can preview the first issue online, but it was nice to read it in book format. I don't know...something about turning pages. I do know that I am very excited to see the 5 finished issues!

David Hahn - I picked up David's new "Late Nighter" sketchbook, which is full of his character designs, new ideas, and practice panels. It's a great demonstration of his skills, and fun to read!

Ted Naifeh - I saw the cover for Polly and the Pirates at Oni Press's booth, and was immediately curious. After Terry explained the basic premise, I was like, "Let's go, I already know I want to buy this." xD; It's awesome--a great premise with a lot of cute and exciting elements, and all done in a very fresh and readable way. I liked Naifeh's Courtney Crumrin series, and Polly and the Pirates is great in the same way, without repeating material from CC.

Warner Brothers - WB put together a great gift bag for people who attended their panel on Friday and redeemed a ticket at their booth. The bag contained a Whiteout carabiner, paper hat mimicking Max's crown from Where The Wild Things Are, a small plastic toy version of the box from The Box, a Nightmare on Elm Street T-shirt (sadly about 8 sizes too big...), and a Final Destination 3D button.

Top Shelf - Top Shelf was handing out their 2009 catalog, chock-full of samples, reviews, and info on their publications.

VIZ - Viz Media put out your basic Sneak Peek book, with chapters from 6 manga titles. I enjoy these things a lot, because I love having a wide variety of art on hand for reference and inspiration, without weighing down my bookshelf with an entire volume of a single series.

Yen Plus - Again, I love my anthologies. I buy Yen Plus from time to time to have on hand for a sampling of new art in many styles. I do this with Japanese manga magazines as well, and just recycle the old volumes.