One of the things I've always wanted to do was travel to the West Coast old-style -- taking the train from the Midwest, through the Rockies, and down to Los Angeles. Star Wars Celebration IV gave me the chance to do that -- and get a little writing done along the way.

And unlike the anonymous shuffling through airports that air travel has become, you get to meet some interesting people. At one point an older gentleman was seated at lunch with us -- and in conversation I learned he was Tony Vaccaro, a soldier-photographer during World War II who later photographed everyone from Pablo Picasso to Frank Lloyd Wright for Life and Look magazines, among others. Amazon sells Mr. Vaccaro's book, Entering Germany -- and he has another coming soon.




I met a number of people on the way to Los Angeles who were headed to Celebration. You can kind of tell -- one young woman I met was working on a poem in Huttese.
Summer runs The Complete Wermo's Guide to Huttese, a fansite for that and other Star Wars languages -- and if she hadn't told me what she was dressing up as, I never would have recognized her when I spotted her later at the convention center. At left, you can see her as I first met her...


And then you couldn't have missed her at the Convention Center, dressed as Darth Talon from Legacy!

Most of the Dark Horse folks stayed in Little Tokyo, and as I haven't spent much time in Los Angeles before, I got to go exploring. Perhaps the most interesting thing was the plaza right outside the hotel memorializing Ellison Onizuka, one of the seven astronauts killed aboard the Challenger in 1986. It's a huge scale model, with plaques on all sides around it. I never knew such a memorial existed, so it really was a surprise to walk right up to it!

But I digress. You're looking for more costumes. Coming right up -- in the next post...

Sorry... so tired after Star Wars Celebration that's the only joke I can think of.

I have a nice batch of photos from the con (including two Jaraels and a Lucien in costume) -- and I also will be posting production notes for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #17, which with the holiday is out on the 31st. I also have to get the April comics report onto Comichron.

But after I get some sleep. Stay tuned..

Just arrived at Celebration, but there are two interviews about my work to alert you to:

Newsarama

Dark Horse

Funny how they're all coming this week...

And the second trade paperback for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is out: Flashpoint. Follow our heroes as they stumble right into the start of the Mandalorians' war against the Republic!

Grab a copy, then drop back here to check out  production notes about the volume, which, among other things, restores the originally planned running order for the stories!

Well, there's no "may" about it. Updates coming pretty quickly this month...

I have a nifty interview up here on Silver Bullet Comics, as conducted by Matthew McLean. It's been a while since my last Silver Bullet interview, so there was a lot of ground to cover.

And it's May, so it must be...

And the "Nights of Anger" begin in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #16, as Jarael takes us on a quest to save Camper -- one that will ultimately reveal the truth behind one of our mysterious fugitives!

All this plus the special guest stars, glaring nastily at you on this issue's cover! The answers lie within, so be sure to check it out and share your thoughts.

Then check back here — my production notes for the issue are now online!

I've gotten a sneak peek at an article Star Wars comics fans will definitely be interested -- check out Alter Ego #68, going on sale next week from Two Morrows. Roy Thomas, editor of the magazine, provides a multi-page retrospective of how he helped bring the movie adaptation to Marvel's attention back in 1976. If you've seen bits and pieces of this story before, you'll find lots of photos and new material here -- and if you haven't, it's an invaluable part of your comics education. Check it out!

Thanks to Lin Workman, creator of Bushi Tales, I have finally located some photos from Midsouthcon 25 which are not only from events I attended, but where I'm at least semiconscious, to boot. Surprisingly, while I felt lousy in the morning of the day I had four panels, I perked up as we went along — and the Star Wars 30th anniversary panel, speaking between Memphis Fan Force President Tim Brown and X-Wing Rogue Squadron artist  Jim Hall (seen below) was probably the most fun I've had at a panel in a long, long time. The room was packed and there was a lot of energy. Just goes to show I should schedule my first panels no earlier than 7 in the evening, and then go from there...

Check Lin's site for more pix including of  Mark Waid's signing that weekend at  Comics & Collectibles.



By the way, Greg Mitchell  (alias Hedec Ga, a poster on this site) dropped me a note at the convention to check out Outsider, and online zine he's been working with. Be sure to check it out!

And we've lost another cool actor, no pun intended. I first saw Roscoe Lee Browne when he played Box, the robot who worked in the freezer section (and took his job a little too far) of the City of Domes in Logan's Run, but he also played in two of the best episodes of All in the Family (the elevator episode) and The Cosby Show (the card game, where he utteres the immortal "I'll bump your rump with my trump!") as well as following Robert Guillaume as the Tates' butler on Soap. An unmistakable voice, that will be missed...

Hard to believe, isn't it? But that's what you'll find in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #15, the climactic chapter to "Days of Fear"!

The production notes are now available — click the link above. Then be sure to click back here and share your thoughts on the issue!