Salutations friends!

Ben and I got to wander about the Long Beach Convention Center this Halloween weekend at the ever-flavorful Long Beach Comic Convention (LBCCon)!  In its sophomore year, this youthful con has come a long way over the last year and boasts a bigger space, more exhibitors and a much wider variety of people.  If you want the short review, here it is: Long Beach Comic Con is awesomesauce poured over a plate of yummy respect for comics, slow roasted with sprinkles of informative and a side dish good times with a sparse serving of mediocre attendance.

For those who like their reviews with a bit more information, read forth.

The space inside of the Long Beach Convention Center is ideal for the needs of comic book gathering — 35% bigger than last year.  Aisles inside are clean and easy to navigate, with publishers up front, just in front of the entrance, and copious aisles for the two artist alleys (which here, should be called the artist stages, as they seem to take center stage and highlight the talent as opposed to various other conventions), surrounded by various retailer booths in between and along the outsides.

Talent at the LBCCon is impressive, pulling out some of the finest in the area.  This year the convention stars include (bold indicates particular favorites of mine): Tim Bradstreet (who struck up a conversation with Ben and I at the beginning of the convention and is quite a pleasant gentleman), Max Brooks, J Scott Campbell, Amanda Conner, Scott Lobdell, Jeph Loeb, Mike Mignola, Dustin Nyugen, Steve Niles, Jimmy Palmiotti, Whilce Portacio, Tim Sale, Mark Waid, Bernie Wrightson, Joe Benitez, Joel Gomez, Eddi Nunez, Lord Mesa, John Narcomey Jr, Ruben Martinez, Dave Johnson, Thomas Jane, Michael Jonathon, Kit and Emma Steinkellner and Louis Leterrier.

Publishers were a much stronger presence than last year.  Aspen and BOOM! made a return, but they brought some industry associates like Arcana, IDW, Image and Top Cow.  We’d be remiss not to mention one of our favorite retailers 4 Color Fantasies (manned by owner Chris Brady) as well.

Oh, and Pitof.  The guy who made the Catwoman movie with Halle Berry.  Dirty Pitof…

The only part of the convention noticeably less impressive than 2009 was the programming.  It wasn’t the quality of programming that left me feeling a bit “meh,” but the distance I had to hike to get there.  Am I lazy?  Yes.  But it was a pain in the ass to have to leave the convention, walk down to street level, then up a block, down another block to the right and back towards the parking garage where a group of rooms completely detached from the Convention Center awaited with panelly goodness.  After talking to some of the LBCCon employees I learned that this douchery was the result of another Convention Center renter annexing all use of the convenient rooms because they didn’t want our geeky germs all over the place (or something like that).  Unfair, to be certain, but unexecusably annoying.

The programming itself, however, was fantastic.  I went to a few including:  Comic Book Writing 101 — Comic Book Sunday!, Listen to Jimmy Palmiotti — Amanda Conner Spotlight, Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics, Exclusive Premiere! Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam,  Webcomic Advocates Get-Together, 50 Questions in 50 Minutes with Mark Waid, Mike Mignola Spotight, Top Cow: We Create…Competition, and Getting Your IP Recognized with Jimmy Palmiotti.  Unfortunately there were several other panels I wanted to attend (especially the one with Louis Leterrier and Pitof the Destroyer) but time constraints and a small bladder kept me from listening in on all the goodness.

For some reason, despite all of this potential goodness, LBCCon wasn’t able to pull the crowds everyone hoped for.  It could be because the convention falls on Halloween weekend and most folks were out getting their ghoulish freak on.  Or perhaps a few fine fellows and gals got lost traveling from the con to the panels, never to be heard from again.  More than likely, the lackluster turnout could be a result of a second year convention feeling the empty pangs of growth.  Whatever the cause, it needs to get fixed.

Many of the presenters, exhibitors and professionals I spoke to were underwhelmed at attendance and disappointed at dismal sales.  Hopefully next year brings more fans to support our comic-labor of love because Long Beach Comic Con has the potential to be more than great -> It could be the greatest comic books convention in Southern California.

Check out the pics below (and a personal thanks to Zatanna, Ms. Marvel and the Invisible Woman — you were the bust best.)

Peace.

James

Hey, kids! It’s Wednesday, so your old pal Akatzen is back with another Book Report.

Today I want to talk about two books that, taken together, could immeasurably improve all of our lives. No, I’m not talking about The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, by Max Brooks (but don’t worry, there will be plenty of zombie discussions in future Reports). The two books I’m thinking of are The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan.

The reason why I want to talk about these books is because while our ability to grow and ship food around the world has improved immeasurably over the past century, people (especially Americans) don’t seem to be getting any healthier. In fact, people who live on a Westernized diet (which contrary to popular belief is not a diet consisting solely of Western Bacon Cheeseburgers) tend to have greater risk of heart disease and an increased tendency towards obesity and obesity related problems, such as Type 2 diabetes and certain kinds of cancer. Pollan’s books take a very interesting look at these problems, and presents to the reader some incredibly interesting solutions.

In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan begins with a simple question: Where does our food come from? Human beings, more than any other omnivore, stand at an incredibly interesting position on the food chain. There are an amazing amount of diverse foods that humans can eat, gather nutrients from, and survive as a species off of. We are incredibly adaptable, able to process foods that perhaps only a century or two ago we had trouble with.
But with all these options and adaptations, somehow there is still some psychological distress when we ask ourselves the question: “What do I want to eat?” (perhaps even because of all these options)
So Pollan goes on a journey, attempting to ease this Omnivore’s Dilemma, to trace food back to its source. What he finds is that he actually needs to go on four journeys: a journey through the industrial food chain, the organic food chain, the green (!) organic food chain, and the hunter-gatherer food chain.
Each journey offers not only incredible insight on how food goes from ground or forest or pasture to our tables, but also discusses the pros and cons of each type of food chain.

For instance, in the industrial chain, nearly all of your food comes from one source: the corn farms of Iowa. Corn offers amazingly high crop yields, cattle and chicken are fed corn to fatten them quickly and cheaply, high fructose corn syrup sweetens our food and beverages, and other corn derivatives find their way into foods, plastics, and many other consumables. The trouble is that corn doesn’t offer much nutritional value. As ruminants, cows can’t even digest corn with out a lot of medical help (in the form of steroids, hormones, and antibiotics). On the other hand, because it is cheap and plentiful, corn helps get a lot of food on a lot of tables for not a lot of money. In fact, most research shows that trying to feed the growing populations of the world without industrial farming is impossible. Organic farming just doesn’t have high enough of a yield.

But as Pollan explores the other food chains, it becomes increasingly clear that industrial farming obliterates the symbiotic nature of the food chain, how waste feeds the soil which feeds the plants which feed the plant-eaters which provide sustenance to the creatures that eat meat. Industrial farming arrogantly claims this symbiotic nature is unnecessary, and interrupting it couldn’t possibly cause dietary health problems.

In Defense of Food takes the next step. After following all these food chains back to their sources, Pollan wonders rightly if the industrialized, heavily processed items that line most of our grocery shelves deserve to even be called “food.”
Pollan takes an in-depth look at the history of nutritionism, and the simplification of food-processing, where nutrients are sucked out of the food products as they are made, and then nutrients get added back in chemically before they hit the shelves. But even with vitamin-fortified, low-fat, sugar-free etc. pumped back into our foods, the obesity rates of people on the Western Diet continue to sky-rocket. This suggests the importance of eating “whole” foods, and indeed, this is what Pollan means when he asks what “food” is. His conclusion (which he gives away in the introduction, so I’m not spoiling anything here) is to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
Those seven words become a compelling argument for a better way to eat, that not only will make us healthier, but also help us enjoy our time eating in a way our fast-food enriched tongues have a hard time understanding.

So I give a high recommendation for these books, especially for people who feel stuck in fad diets, or wonder about the value of organic foods, or the healthiest way to “lose weight”. These books are an invaluable resource, helping us gain a better understanding and deeper appreciation for the things we decide to put in our mouths (try to keep your mind out of the gutter, please).

Until next time,
Still paddlin’ the old knew…
_-Akatzen-_

PS. For young readers, Pollan wrote The Omnivore’s Dilemma for Kids: The Secrets Behind What You Eat.