As with my Thursday Comic-Con wanderings, my moment-to-moment doings Friday were so mundane and “taking care of business” that they’re surely of interest only to me and to my boss. After miles of hiking the floor, though, I did have to sit eventually before my feet burst into flame, and I chose to do it at a bit of programming in the late afternoon titled “That ’70s Panel.”

Whether you’re interested in Comic-Con or not, a few comments made there from the stage should be of interest to creators of any kind. The panel featured moderator Mark Evanier interrogating Jim Starlin, Joe Staton, Mike Grell, Mike Barr (who was given an Inkpot Award mid-panel), Bernie Wrightson, and Len Wein.

I have some history with the first and last of those men, in that I had the misfortune of following Jim Starlin as writer on Captain Marvel after his tremendously popular run on that book, and Len Wein was the Marvel Comics editor-in-chief who gave me a shot at writing the Marvel Bullpen Bulletins Page (save for Stan’s Soapbox, of course), among other things.

One exchange was about dealing with editorial interference and/or censorship, and how that tied in with the reputation of some ’70s artists and writers for almost missing deadlines:

Jim Starlin: “I always turned in things as late as possible so they wouldn’t have time to change anything.”

Mike Grell: “Did you ever take something back, sit on it for awhile, and then send it back without the changes? I did.”

Len Wein talked about trying to sell Jim Warren a story for either Creepy or Eerie back when Len thought he’d wanted to be an artist instead of a writer. He saw a badly drawn published story, thought he could do better, took the same script, drew his own version, and handed it in to Warren to show that he was the more talented artist. Warren agreed that Len had drawn the story better than the printed version, but then added something that’s important for writers to remember when they get disgusted with stories in magazines they feel aren’t as good as their own work:

Len Wein: “I’m looking for artists who are better than my best artists, not my worst artists.”

One other interesting quote was from writer/artist Mike Grell about the tendency for readers to confuse characters with their creators. When readers met him face to face and grew disappointed that he didn’t look like his popular character Warlord, he’d tell them:

Mike Grell: “I do—only I’m shorter, fatter, older, balder, and uglier. But on the inside …

After further exploration of the exhibit hall, I went to two parties Friday night, the first a SCI FI Channel dinner held at Chive restaurant, and the second a DC Comics bash at Deco’s nightclub. The coolest image of the night for me was that specialty menu up above, which featured drinks based on DC heroes and villains.

And now it’s off to see what Saturday will bring!