July 2010

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I know: in this day and age, you’re supposed to post a report within 24 hours of an event’s end, or, better yet, blog live. Sorry, I’m just a slow guy.

My first Comic-Con was a blast! Among other things, I learned that it’s “Comic-Con,” not “ComiCon.” (º∇º;)

Seriously, it wildly surpassed my expectations. Then again, my expectations were of something like a nerd mosh-pit, packed with unwashed, socially-challenged geeks with an average BMI of well over 50. Happily, it was nothing like that. (On the other hand, I never went near the notorious Hall H.) And I’m happy to report that Moto Hagio also had a blast. We both can’t wait to go back, preferably sooner than later.

And I must apologize to everyone who proposed such great questions to pose to Hagio. We ended up scrapping the interview and going with a very different format. Hagio described her career and showed slides (Sorry to those who attended for the minor technical difficulties), and then she took questions from the audience, which were translated by my dear friend Mari Morimoto. The “Spotlight,” with maybe one hundred or so attendees, went very well, and judging from the laughter, I succeeded in conveying Hagio’s subtle jokes. Since this was my first Comic-Con, and only my fourth con of any kind, I didn’t have much to compare it to, but after the panel Mari said, “I’m so glad there were no stupid questions.” After attending a couple of other panels, I realized what she meant. I suppose Hagio attracts a more sophisticated audience.

The book, A Drunken Dream, is even more gorgeous than I had imagined. Fantagraphics’ designer, Adam Grano, really went all out on this one. (The lettering that appears brown in the image on Amazon is actually gold leaf.) I believe the 150 copies they brought to the con were sold out by the last day. And Hagio probably did more signing over four days than she has done in the past four years.

Moto Hagio with Ray Bradbury

For me, and even more so for Hagio, the most moving moment was a very private one, in which Hagio was introduced to the great Ray Bradbury in a quiet room in the convention center. Mr. Bradbury has difficulty hearing and speaking, but the two of them were able to communicate quite well without words. (No interpreter required.) Ms. Hagio had tears in her eyes at the end of the meeting. For her it was a dream come true. Someday I will have to translate her manga adaptation of Mr. Bradbury’s “R” Is for “Rocket”.

Jo Chen and Moto Hagio

Another “Wow” moment for me was meeting the amazing Jo Chen and learning that she is a huge fan of Hagio. My traveling companion is a big fan of Jo Chen, so we lined up to get head sketches at the Udon Comics booth. Jo opened my friend’s sketchbook, and the first thing she saw was an autographed sketch by Hagio. Jo said, “Oh my God! How did you get this!?” Jo did not realize that Hagio was also at Comic-Con. So at Hagio’s next signing that afternoon, who was first in line but Jo Chen! Jo speaks some Japanese, but asked me tell Hagio that every year she rereads her old copy of Hagio’s The Poe Clan, and every year she is just as moved as she was the first time she read it many years ago.

So my friend, an aspiring manga artist herself, meets Jo Chen and goes all fangirl.

Jo Chen meets Moto Hagio and goes all fangirl.

Moto Hagio meets Ray Bradbury and goes all fangirl.

All fangirls at heart, and that’s the way it should be. Once you lose that sense of magic and excitement you had as a kid, I think you lose the ability to inspire those same feelings in others.

So I’m off to my first ComiCon. Tuesday I head to Tokyo, making a stop in Nagoya to check my sugar gliders into  pet hotel, and on Wednesday I fly to San Diego with Hagio.

I am absolutely frantic trying to finish everything I need to do before I go, and I don’t think I will find time to respond to the various people who have contacted me about meeting up in San Diego, so I am being shockingly lazy and using this space to tell ya’ll that you can track me down at ComiCon by asking for me at the Fantagraphics booth. And I should be able to check my e-mail regularly, assuming there is wifi at the convention center. (Big if?)

Anyway, see you there!

Oh, and thanks again for the suggestions for questions to ask Hagio!

In haste.

Party celebrating Moto Hagio’s 40th year as a professional manga artist

This month I will be attending the San Diego ComiCon (my first ComiCon ever!) with Moto Hagio. When I asked Hagio sensei what she wanted to do with her Spotlight session, she said she wanted me to interview her.

You would think that would be a no-brainer for me, but I’ve interviewed and spoken informally with Hagio sensei so many times over the past fifteen years or so, I find that I’m not sure what I should ask that would be interesting to an audience at ComiCon. Left to my own devices, I would probably ask her to expand on her ideas about left-brain/right-brain and how it relates to comics reading, or about the relationship between eating meat and the evolution of the human brain.

So I’m asking for help here. What would you like to ask Moto Hagio?

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