MICHAEL DAVIS: Get a Clue
I don’t get it.
The San Diego Comic Con is a yearly event.
Every year for almost 20 years (since I was 5, Jean) like clockwork I give a party at Comic Con.
Every year like clockwork I host a dinner at Comic Con.
Every year like clockwork I host The Black Panel at Comic Con.
Every year like clockwork I hear from people I have not heard from since last year looking for an invite to my party.
Every year like clockwork I hear from people I have not heard from since last year looking for an invite to my dinner.
Every year like clockwork I hear from people I have not heard from since last year looking for me to put them on The Black Panel.
Every year like clockwork I hear from people I have not heard from since last year looking for me to get them a hotel room or a pass to Comic Con.
Comic Con is in July. It’s only February. The requests don’t usually start until a couple of weeks before Comic Con so I’m a few months ahead of the game.
Well, this year I’m nipping all that bullshit in the bud.
No.
The answer is no.
No.
No. No. No.
NONONONONONONON0NONONONNONONONO.
Hell, no.
No, if I don’t know you, you cannot come to my party or my dinner and you certainty cannot not be on the Black Panel.
Regarding the party and dinner, I don’t care who told you they could get you in. You can’t.
They lied.
Let me explain something to those who are among the many who ask of me the above. Like I said in last week’s article, the Comic book industry is a business. It’s part of the entertainment business. Comic Con is not a place where those who are serious about business come just to hang out.
Comic Con is where deals get done, relationships are cemented, partnerships are explored, opportunities are exploited and money is made.
When you operate at a certain level Comic Con is not a place where you hang out with friends and look for that copy of Spider-Man you had as a kid.
No, Comic Con is a place where you come to solidify and grow your business.
So, no, you cannot come to my annual party, person I don’t know, because it’s business.
Do you think the club my party is at is free?
No, no it’s not. So why, person I don’t know, should I grant you admittance when you don’t even know what I do? What possible reason is there for me to do that?
Do you think the dinner I have is free?
No, it’s not. That dinner costs thousands of freakin’ dollars.
Do you think that the ash can book you drew makes you worthy to sit on The Black Panel?
Really?
Go to www.theblackpanel.com and check out the alumni. Once you do, ask yourself if you really think you belong in that group.
I’ll help you out with that one, no.
Like I said last week, comics are a business. Yes, I have fun at Comic Con. That fun is usually at around midnight while sitting at the bar at the top of the Hyatt with 30 or so other hard working comic professionals getting blazed on shots of tequila.
But before I can have that fun I have to spend months setting up the party, the dinner and the panel and that is not fun.
That’s business.
So the answer is no.
However, if Mark Turner (Yes you, Mark) is at Comic Con this year he is invited to anything I’m doing because he gets it.
WEDNESDAY: Mike Gold Stays Put
Michael Davis. The Graydon Carter of Comic-Con.
Ellery Queen!
Jim Hutton as Ellery Queen? In a column aimed at people that don’t get it, shouldn’t you have used a more obvious illustration?
Don’t look at me, I don’t pick the art dude. I would have used Peter Falk as Columbo. That said, Mike Gold has a endless knowledge of such things and Ellery Queen is no joke when it comes to detectives.
I’m guessing the party you host makes Mardi Gras look like a book club meeting at a Starbucks.
Mardi Gras…on crack.
We’ll have to talk sometime. But not here.
Tony, it’s the GOOD crack too!
Yeah, like I’m stupid enough to hit the ‘post comment’ butto…
Michael, I am indeed working on being at Con 2012 (doing my best to move mountains to make it a possibility)! After attending Image Con here in Oakland this weekend and reading your past few articles, it reminds me why I truly want to be a part of this business. We’ll talk soon.
Best Regards!
And we WANT you to be a part of this business, Mark!