SDCC ‘07: NBM at 30
NBM publisher Terry Nantier threw a 30 year anniversary party during the NBM panel, complete with a birthday cake and a terrific lineup of NBM authors. NBM Creators on hand were Rick Geary, David Axe, Ted Rall, Adam Rosenmund, Rob Volmar, Quills nominee Brian Talbot and Phil Yeh. Nantier gave a brisk recap of NBM’s beginnings at a time when there were few comics publishers emphasizing book-format comics. NBM began with European imports like Loro’s Racket Rhumba and later, Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese, said Nantier, in addition to publishing original works by Americans. Nantier said NBM’s mission has always been and “to expand the market,” for graphic novels beyond the hardcore comics fan.

NBM was also an early pioneer of high quality book collections, reprinting classic comics strips like Tarzan and Roy Crane’s Washtub. NBM was also one of the earliest publishers to shrink oversized comics albums down to a general bookstore trimsize. The NBM panel also highlighted forthcoming works by the NBM creators. After nin books, Geary is ending his Victorian murders series to begin a 20th Century murder series with a book on the notorious Lindberg kidnapping case; Rall is working on The Year of Loving Dangerously, an autiobiographical work that will be illustrated by Pablo Callejo, about a point in his life when he was virtually homeless in New York. David Axe is working on a sequel to War Fix, his autiographical account of working as a war correspondent in Iraq.—C.R.

SDCC ’07: Graphic Novel Panel; Paul Pope
Moderated by First Second editorial director Mark Seigel, the Many Faces of the Graphic Novel panel, featured Jeffrey Brown, Jim Ottaviani, Runton, Renee French, Doug TenNapel and Becky Cloonan. The panel touched on the need to develop a new kind of editor for a new generation of long-form comics. The panel also debated the future of the serial publishing—Doug TenNapel and Runton voting for graphic novels(most people just don’t go to comics shops) while Cloonan expressed support for single issue periodicals (“I read monthlies and then get rid of them”). Other than Ottaviani, most of the creators noted that they did not use agents to negotiate their book deals, although TenNapel uses agent for film work.

Fresh on the heels of the announcement that First Second will publish a complete version of his sci-fi epic THB, Paul Pope was interviewed at SDCC by DC Comics editor Bob Schreck. Asked by a member of the audience how he began working in so many different areas of art and design, Pope said, “It helps to live in New York.” Pope also took note of the increasing numbers of casual comics fans noting that there are, “fewer and fewer civilians in the comics world,” and that “no matter where you are almost everyone who has an interest in comics has access to everything now.” Pope was also concerned that competition from TV, film and digital media was keeping young creators from wanting to make comics. Schreck told him not to worry. “If you judge by the number of submissions DC gets,” Schreck said, “I don’t think that’s a problem”

Friends of Lulu Award Winners
The 2007 Friends of Lulu award winners were announced at San Diego Comic-Con. Colleen Doran was inducted into the Women Cartoonist’s Hall of Fame. The Lulu of the year award went to Abby Denson, and Rachel Nabors won the Kim Yale Award for Best New Female Talent. Jennifer De Guzman won the Women of Distinction Award. MK Reed and Robin Enrico were named volunteers of the Year. More information can be found at the Friends of Lulu website.

San Diego Comic-Con Coverage
Various wrap-up coverage of San Diego Comic-Con can be found around the internet, including an overview of the SDCC’s record breaking attendance at ICV2.com.

Check out PWCW's Heidi MacDonald and her videoblog coverage of the San Diego Comic-Con on PW The Beat.

Tom Spurgeon has a report commenting on the pros and cons of this years Comic-Con with numerous San Diego related links at The Comics Reporter.

Newsarama has compiled a listing stores about San Diego Comic-Con various publishing announcements, panel reports and creator interviews is at the Newsarama website.

Christopher Butcher offers his opinion on the show at his blog Comics212. And a wide range of videos of events at the San Diego Comic-Con can be found at Stage 6.

The Comic Foundry gives you the Comic-Con 2007 experience A-Z.

G4TV has a page highlighting all the stuff you care about at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con.

USA Today's Whitney Mattheson blogs direct from the floor of Comic-con.

Rotten Tomatoes provides comprehensive coverage of the movie scene at SDCC.