Wow... Comic-Con was fun. As the days in San Diego wore on, I spent less time at the NG booth and more time wandering around.

Some quick background info: during my college years, my interest in comics waned. Later, soon after college, I started getting back into older stuff, and now, thanks to San Diego, the web, and recommendations from friends (and blog commenters on here), I'm pretty much back. It seems like there's so much good stuff coming out right now - I'm way behind, and there's so much I can't wait to read.

Here's my Comic-Con rundown:

Panels I attended:
1. Discussion with Matt Wagner (Grendel) - cool, Wagner seems like he really "gets it". I need to read more Grendel.
2. Discussion with Joe Matt (Peepshow) - super cool, I was amazed to find out that Joe truly is as neurotically pathetic (pathetically neurotic?) as he portrays himself in his comic.
3. Remembering Valiant Comics - mostly lame, a bunch of third-rate (other than Bob Hall) Valiant creators who mainly contributed to the company's post-Unity downhill slide.
4. Scott McCloud's Tour Recap - terrible. I was hoping for some comics stuff from Scott, but instead it was his two daughters and his wife recounting their recent "world tour", accompanying Scott on his talks. His daughter was beyond annoying and I had to leave after ten minutes of her frantic, screechy voice.
5. Q&A with Joss Whedon - I had no idea who he was before Comic-Con, but a friend I met up with on Saturday is a big fan. Sounded like some big announcements for fans of his - but I guess that's every panel at Comic-Con.

Comics I bought:
1. Astonishing X-Men TPB vol. 1 & 2 (Marvel)
2. Fortune & Glory: A True Hollywood Comic Book (Oni)
3. Clumsy (Top Shelf)
4. Scott Pilgrim vol. 1-3 (Oni)
5. Bone: One Volume Edition TPB (Cartoon Books)
6. I Shall Destroy all the Civilized Planets: The Comics of Fletcher Hanks TPB (Fantagraphics)
7. The Walking Dead TPB vol. 1 & 2 (Image)
8. Y: The Last Man TPB vol. 1-3 (DC/Vertigo)
9. Fables TPB vol. 1 (DC/Vertigo)
10. Ultimate Six TPB (Marvel)
11. Grendel #23, 26 (Comico - completes my run)
12. Captain America #200 (Marvel)
13. Marvel Spotlight vol. 2 #? (Marvel - completes my run)
14. Scout #1-24 (Eclipse)
15. Some classic Marvel (Hulk, Ghost Rider, Avengers) t-shirts

As you can see, I got a TON of good stuff to read, and there was a lot more I could've bought (I have no idea how I got all this home on the plane). What I've read so far:

Ultimate Six TPB - Started great (I always enjoyed the Sinister Six), some truly amazing art, but thought the ending was lackluster. It had such a great build-up, but ended with a generic fight scene? And why did they suddenly attack the White House? I don't understand the motivation there.

Y: The Last Man vol. 1 TPB - Very cool so far - I love high concept stuff like this (a mysterious event leaves Yorick, the protagonist, as the last living male human on the planet). Can't wait to see where the series goes.

Scott Pilgrim vol. 1 - I have a friend who thinks Scott Pilgrim is the greatest thing ever (he even plunked down a few hundred bucks for some original Scott Pilgrim art at Comic-Con). I like it - it's fun, it's got style, it's entertaining, it's a neat combo of American (actually Canadian) comics and manga. Looking forward to reading the next two.

Clumsy - I have a soft spot for books like this. Crudely drawn, autobiographical, lots of emotion. I feel like I'm the guy pouring his soul out on paper. If I ever did a comic, it would probably be in this vein (though I can't draw at all).

Fortune & Glory - I expected more. I thought I'd get some real harrowing tales of mistreatment by Hollywood nutsos, but instead it was more of a run-of-the-mill "My project didn't get picked up" type of story. Still, I need to read more Bendis.

Astonishing X-Men TPB vol. 1 - Not even done with it, but wow. Can't wait to read more. Some great old-school X-Men comics. Just not sure how I feel about the White Queen being a good guy now (as well as her near-nakedness - come on, that get-up just isn't practical in any way).