SFMoMA, viewed from Yerba Buena Gardens

A lot of people complain about the overcrowded, over-popularized atmosphere of San Diego Comic-Con, but after dropping in for about half a day on San Francisco WonderCon, I have to admit: I kind of prefer the hustle and bustle of America’s Finest City’s summer nerdfest.

As an editor friend noted, WonderCon is more of a true industry convention, where colleagues from different publishers can actually get together without the eyes of the world so intensely upon them. And admittedly, it was nice to be able to have quieter conversations and not wait in lines to meet with people. But the palpable energy of Comic-Con is truly a unique experience — one that, after some consideration, I’ll likely endure again this year.

Still, the three-day excursion to the Bay Area was good. Sara and I met up with her friends from Michigan, spent a too-short lunch at the Metreon with pals I hadn’t seen in easily a decade (super-couple Frank and Jill Beaton, down from Portland for the con) and enjoyed a tasty meal at Ponzu with another buddy and ex-Las Vegan, Leo (and his fab boyfriend). I spent some time exchanging comics industry and Vegas stories with Steve Englehart. Paul Horn and I finally connected and I picked up a collection of his engaging and funny strip Cool Jerk. I did more walking in three days than I typically do in six months — which was OK, aside from the vagrants, junkies and whores every 5 feet. Most of the photo-snapping was left to our party’s resident amateur shutterbug, Aaron, but I did capture a few moments from the “It Was the Age of Marvel Comics” panel, Alcatraz Island and Yerba Buena Gardens, if you’re interested.

I also did something this weekend I haven’t done in about four years: turned over a freelance assignment to another writer. Without going into details, a few other stories that should have been wrapped up weeks ago bled over into time set for this other story, which then crashed into WonderCon weekend, before which I had to scramble to tie up other loose ends. Thankfully, I not only had a star writer to pick up the ball running, but I also have a good editor who (I think) understands the circumstances (right, Michael?).

That being said, the results of tying those loose ends will hopefully make themselves evident sooner than later. Stay tuned, true believers, because as always, news is forthcoming.