Made it into the preview night. I’ll be doing a more detailed report for Scryptic Studios after the con, but here are some quick bits from today.

• Finally met Ryan Ottley in person. Ryan and I worked on the Dungeon Bears story (you can read it up there in the published section) and an unpublished little one-pager called “Time Travel Management” (which he gave me the original artwork for today). Looks like things are going well for him with Invincible… a fun book (be sure to check it out).

• Chatted with Todd Roy, creator/producer of Kwoon. Kwoon is a new series coming from the Martial Arts Channel (which launches later this year… if you’re interested in having a channel dedicated to martial arts 24/7, be sure to call your cable/satellite provider and ask for it). It looks like a fun show… basic concept is “bad acting, good kung fu.” Quick note: what stood out about Kwoon was that amidst the flurry of press emails for Comic Con, they actually sent out a physical letter. That really stood out (and was probably the reason it was the first booth I visited).

• Chatted with my boss at the ‘Shoot, Chris Ryall. He also works for IDW Publishing along with Hero Happy Hour creator Dan Taylor.

• Also hanging around the IDW booth was Ben Templesmith and his wife. Ben’s really excited about his new book coming out in September called, Fell (written by that Warren Ellis fella). The interesting thing about Fell is the format. Each issue will be a self-contained 16-page story in a 9-panel grid format. And even though each issue is its own story, they will build up a larger story over time. Kind of like episodic TV… and those classic comics I read as a kid.

• Another person at the IDW booth (it was a gathering) was 24 (comic adaptation) writer, Mark Haynes.

• Chatted with Justin Peniston and Matt Filer from Quixotic Comics.

• Scott Kurtz was there and already burned through a box of his Skull plushes during preview night.

• Stopped by to talk with Rafael Navarro of Sonambulo. I met Rafael at the STAPLE convention in Austin. He has lots of great stories, so if you get a chance to stop by his booth here in San Diego, head on over and be entertained.

• Write Bros, Inc. is there and showing off their software (Movie Magic Screenwriter is what I use for writing comics and screenplays). If you’ve wondered what screenwriting software can do for you, they have a presentation where you can see it in action.

• Digital Webbing is all over the place. Echo 3 Worldwide had a booth and selling off BloodRayne comics left-and-right (and I got my comps… yay!). Epic Proportions is set up near by, and so is the main Digital Webbing booth.

• John Gallagher of Buzzboy was set up with some cool new t-shirt designs.

• Penny Arcade had a nice set up right across from Penny Farthing (I wonder if the Penny’s were placed next to each other on purpose). They have some cool CTS prints for sale… ask them about it. They’re also near the Keenspot booth, which looked packed compared to how spacious the PA booth was.

And that’s it for now… I gotta head out and do some drinki… socializing.

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