My first Comic-Con experience has been pretty exciting so far. I can’t say that generalization applied to standing in the Press and Professional line to get my badge—though it can’t actually have been more than about 25 minutes and was handled pretty efficiently. The line of people waiting to get their purchased four-day passes seemed to stretch to the horizon. Once I had my badge, I headed inside for the Wednesday night preview of the contents of the enormous exhibition hall.

Inside I was confronted with pretty much what I expected—company logos as far as the eye could see. Naturally I headed for the exhibits of those that had Lord of the Rings associations. Weta Workshop may be sharing a space with Dark Horse Comics, but its side of that space was pretty prominent. Banners hung overhead, and a Jane and the Dragon figure advertised the forthcoming DVD of the first series. (It has been released on DVD in other countries, but not in the U.S. so far.) I didn’t see anyone from the good old days of the research on my book, but Richard Taylor was due there to take part in a joint interview with John Howe, with questions from TheOneRing.net. So I drifted on toward the large Sideshow Collectibles display.

I’m sure most of you know that during the period when the trilogy was coming out, Sideshow and Weta Workshop teamed up as Sideshow-Weta to produce and distribute a large number of polystone collectible figures and objects. Eventually the two companies finished their series, with Weta going on to work on figures for King Kong and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, among others. Sideshow has continued to create new LOTR figures.

Three new ones were on display: a large Moria orc, the “Dark Counsel” diorama with Théoden and Gríma, and “The Duel of Light and Fire.” I hadn’t seen pictures of the latter, an elaborate vertical piece showing the Balrog falling head first and Gandalf clutching one of his horns and preparing to strike with Glamdring. The Balrog’s flaming whip snakes up, still coiled around the wizard’s ankle. That one is still pending final approval. The comments I overheard suggested that fans love it.

I also checked out the booth shared by Slave Boy Films and TheOneRing.net. There The Frodo Franchise was on display. It was the paperback edition, which I hadn’t seen yet. I bought my TORN T-shirt, wandered around a bit more and staggered back to my hotel exhausted. (I had gotten up at 4:30 am to catch my first flight and then spent the afternoon at the San Diego Museum of Man, looking at ancient Egyptian statuary and relief fragments from the site where I do volunteer work each year.)

Fortunately I got a good, solid eight hours of sleep in preparation for Thursday, when the con began in earnest. The first event on my calendar was the “Masters of the Web” panel, including Eric “Quint” Vespe, whom I had interviewed for my book. I thought I had arrived with plenty of time to allow for a crowd, at 9:40 for a 10:00 event, the first of the day. There were many people there already, though, and the walk to the back of the line was long enough to convince me that I had little hope of getting in. Appearances were deceiving, though, and I had no problems finding a seat. Nothing on LOTR, but it was interesting to hear how webmasters who had essentially begun as fans, as opposed to aspiring film reviewers, had ended up running powerful sites that had seized the attention of the film industry.

Early in the afternoon I had my first of three booking signings. John Howe’s autograph session overlapped with mine by half an hour, so once I was off duty, I hurried upstairs to the autograph area with my copy of his Fantasy Art Workshop. Because of the timing overlap, I was lucky enough to be last in line when the chain went up about fifteen minutes before the end of the signing. I had exchanged email messages a few times with John while working on The Frodo Franchise and was looking forward to meeting him at last.

When I eventually made my way to the table, I started to introduce myself. Instead, he recognized my name on my con badge and embraced me. He had read the book and loved it. It’s great when two people already know each other’s work and can start off talking as friends. I think that was the high point of my first three days here, and is unlikely to be topped. We had a chat. I didn’t interview John for The Frodo Franchise, since I started my research at the tail end of the film’s production, but if I ever get to do a book on the Hobbit films, I would definitely make up for that.

At 4:00, I was at the Weta booth to watch the interview with Richard and John, with questions from Larry “MrCere” Curtis. It was a crowded affair, with onlookers squeezed between the upright square display cases that line the perimeter of the exhibit. I couldn’t hear John’s responses well, since he spoke softly and very close to the microphone. I am assured, however, that the recording was excellent, and we are promised a transcript on TORN in the near future.

I took that evening off to relax after two packed days and to write the beginning of this entry.

First thing the next morning (Friday) was the TORN panel. After a seemingly endless shuttle-bus ride through morning rush-hour traffic, I met Larry in the lobby of his hotel. We went through the powerpoint presentation that he and our fellow panelist, Chris “Calisuri” Pirrotta and Cliff “Quickbeam” Broadway had put together and talked about things we might talk about after that.

By the time we got to the room where the panel was being held, the place was packed. There was still a line of forty or so people outside. Later I heard that one fan was so disappointed at not getting in that he or she had to be arrested. I expect “arrested” was a bit of an exaggeration and it was simply a matter of security guards having to step in. Still, it shows that passion for the films still runs high.

The panel itself was a treat for presenters and audience alike. Chris ran through part of the powerpoint program, which succinctly wrapped up the history of the project to date. Then the speculation about casting began. If it’s of any interest to the filmmakers, suggestions of James McAvoy and especially Martin Freeland for Bilbo met with applause, while Shia LeBeouf (!) was roundly booed. Doug Jones was a popular possibility for Thranduil, though the notion that Ralph Fiennes would be good for the role met with some startled but definitely intrigued oohs and aahs.

It’s sort of assumed that Bard has to be a handsome hunk. Clive Owen was a popular choice, but Gerard Butler and Hugh Jackman even more so. Lots of names were tossed around for the dwarves. I mentioned Mark Ruffalo, who I think would be a good choice for Thorin or any of the others. (Well, not Bombur.)

(For Larry’s account of the event, including figures on attendance and the news that New Line and Warner Bros. representatives were present, see here.)

That afternoon I went to the ponderously titled “Action Figure Insider: Behind the Plastic: The Golden Age of Marvel Toys/Toy Biz” panel. Toy Biz produced the mass-consumer action figures for LOTR, so I hoped to learn something about that. Toy Biz recently purchased the bankrupt Marvel, so there was a lot of nostalgia for the good old days. One panelist mentioned having been thrilled to be working on the LOTR series, which fits in with the pattern I had observed several times: licensees were often also fans.

We panelists had invitations to the Gentle Giant/Lucasfilm/Weta/Sideshow Collectible reception that evening. It was a modestly swanky affair (if there can be such a thing)—drinks and finger food served on a terrace of one of the big hotels. Guests wore everything from evening dress to T-shirts. The place gradually grew very crowded, and if my fellow panelists ever arrived, I couldn’t find them. I did get a chance to chat with John again and to greet Richard.

Today the only LOTR-related event was “Spotlight on John Howe.” John showed slides of a large selection of his paintings and drawings as he discussed his methods and inspiration, naturally refusing to answer any questions relating to The Hobbit film project. Just as naturally, he hopes to again participate in the production, and I think it would be safe to bet that he will.

Three days (plus the preview) down and one to go. There’s nothing LOTR on the Sunday schedule, though I’ll be doing another round of signings at 1:00 at booth 5424. I’m also hoping to attend the “Muggles, Wizards, and Fans in the World of Harry Potter” panel tomorrow, to get some insights into another hugely popular fandom. If anything Tolkien-related happens, I’ll report again. Otherwise, I’ll just be writing up a more general summary of Comic-Con on “Observations on Film Art and film art” after I get home.