You may remember a recent post (July 17) about Craig Bartlett ’81 (Hey Arnold! Dinosaur Train, etc.) speaking on a Nickelodeon panel called “Nick Re-mix” at this year’s ComicCon. Ever the loyal Greener, Craig has sent a report straight from the front lines of geekdom:
Craig Bartlett ’81 on Nickelodeon panel at ComicCon 2013
I’ve been to the ComicCon between 5 and 10 times over the last 25 years. Last time I went was 5 years ago, and then the convention center was as crammed as it was this year, with 130,000 people attending. At the crosswalks leading away from the center, sometimes it looked like a thousand people were crossing the street and pouring into the neighborhood, all looking for lunch.
I brought my daughter Katie, who is also a Greener and has been coming with me since she was a kid. We took the train from Union Station in LA to the Santa Fe station in San Diego. It’s the way I’ll go from now on. Legroom even in coach, and bathrooms you can actually walk around in! You ride though kind of LA’s back yard for the first half of the trip. Then you get to the ocean at San Juan Capistrano, and the rest of the way is friggin’ beautiful. The train is practically on the beach for a while, clipping along so close to the ocean you’d think waves would hit it. I wandered around the cars and checked out my fellow passengers, half of whom were Con people and half going to opening day at Del Mar. The Del Mar people were much more dressed up. The women all wore hats, from really big to really small, like in-on-the-joke small. And they were all getting smashed. It was 11 in the morning.
Katie Bartlett ’13 with Trekies
We arrived on Wednesday, which is “preview day” at the Con. Even on preview day, there were so many people on the big floor that the crowd barely moved. Most of the Con-goers have that glazed, overstimulated look in their eyes, like they are trying to register 100 things in their heads at once. Many of them wear a long tube on their back for posters and big paper items, which make them look like they are wearing a quiver or one of those longsword scabbards out of Game of Thrones. As you get hit by someone’s tube, or stepped on by someone in costume, you think, “I can’t believe someone doesn’t start swinging and this crowd just turns into a melee,” but no one does – comics fans are lookers, not brawlers.
There’s nowhere to sit at the Con. You notice that after a few hours. You get a LOT of walking in. We stayed at the Westin, 8 or so blocks away. The only thing wrong with the Westin is it isn’t the Marriott, which is literally connected to the Con, and a totally swingin’ scene with pools and waterfalls and swim-up bars. But I’m not complaining — Nickelodeon put me up for the three days. They invited me to be on a panel with some other show creators to talk about how we got started, and what we are doing with Nick now. The other panelists created new shows “Sanjay and Craig” and “Breadwinners,” and rounding it out were the old school guys: me for “Hey Arnold!” and Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi for “Pete and Pete,” one of my favorite things that Nickelodeon ever did. It was fun to hang out with Will and Chris, even if only for a one-hour panel.
Unknown fans who came dressed as Arnold and Gerald, characters in Craig Bartlett’s hit animation series, Hey Arnold!
Our panel was held in a room that looked like it seated around 300. We filled it, which was nice – when you look at the Con’s schedule, there are like 20 other panels happening at the same time as yours, and you’re glad anyone made it! A friend of mine actually had a film premiere at the same time, way over in a ballroom of the Marriott. So you can’t possibly see everything, you can’t even see a fraction of what’s going on. Anyway, I showed some clips from “Hey Arnold!” and spoke about making the series, maybe for five minutes total. Then I pitched my new show I’m developing with Nick for like 2 minutes. I went first and didn’t want to glom too much of the hour-long panel. So then it was over, and we were out in the hallway again with the 130,000.
Katie and I spent the rest of our Con time trying to find friends in the mob out in the big floor. All the cartoon channels have a big presence with oversized multi-media displays, and long tables where people line up to get autographs from voice-over stars. I told Matt Groening [’77, Craig’s brother-in-law, Katie’s uncle] that I’d text him when I got to the floor Friday, and would meet him in the area where the small-press and independent graphic novel-type booths are. I was looking through the comics at the Drawn and Quarterly booth when I noticed that Matt was standing right next to me. I like running into Matt at the Con, because it’s the one place where 9 out of 10 people actually recognize him. It becomes a problem, though, because if he stops long enough someone asks for an autograph, and then people start to swarm.
Matt Groening ’77 (right) with Scottish cartoonist and artist Tom Gauld
Matt introduced me to the two comic book artists that were signing their books right then – Lisa Hanawalt with “My Dirty Dumb Eyes” and Tom Gauld with “You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack.” Matt told me how great their comics are, and that I should buy each of their books. Which I did, and they each personalized the books with amazing little drawings. Matt then sat next to them and posed for pictures – I have one of Matt with his arm around Tom, who has a reserved little Mona Lisa smile, probably thinking, “Matt Groening just said he loves my work, how cool is this?” I know that some people come for the panels, or sneak previews, or to walk around in costume, but for me the best thing about the Con is meeting artists and getting a little drawing from them in exchange for buying their stuff.
Katie Bartlett ’13 (right) with uncle Matt Groening ’77 (middle) and Princess Leia
We were about to go when Matt pointed out a guy dressed as Princess Leia. He had a scruffy beard and a missing tooth. We all posed for pictures with him, and it was probably my favorite moment of the whole Con. Like most of the other people who are dedicated to walking the Con in costume all week, he said nothing and merely posed, with a slightly stunned, long-ago-in-a-galaxy-far-away look in his eyes.
Unknown Mononoke fan who attended the “Nick Re-mix” panel.
On our way out, Katie and I searched the floor looking for stuff we’d seen in the last two days, trying to find them again. She wanted an “Uhura” Star Trek dress, and I was looking for a Chewbacca hoodie robe that caught my eye on preview day. But we found neither – the place is just that crowded, it’s hard to leave a trail you can follow later. Finally we retreated to the neighborhood to eat something. And then it was time to go to the train. The ride home was in business class, so I got to experience that version. Which seemed identical to coach, except they bring you wine and cookies and candy bars.
San Clemente Beach
We got the scenery in reverse – this time the sun was setting over San Clemente beach, and it still looked like one rogue wave would wash over the tracks and soak the train. We reached Union Station at dusk, and took a cab home. I recognized a couple friends in line at the taxi stand. The world of comics and animation is pretty small – around 130,000 people.