The Week Ahead, Random Thoughts, and a Recommendation

We've got a busy week planned here at Exfanding Headquarters, with various personal projects and adventures lined up and ready to go. In addition, Wednesday is the big Exfanding Introduction to the Films of Akira Kurosawa, where Nathaniel and I will be watching his movies for the first time, thanks to our 10,000 hit poll and, well, you guys!

We're both looking forward to delving into a fandom we should have checked out a long time ago, and we'll be posting about our thoughts on the films in the very near future.

Also, even though it was thoroughly trounced in the poll, I'll be busy trying to convince Nathaniel that we should still go on a ghost hunt, possibly reading Lovecraft on the way over.

Just because it should be stupid, hilarious fun. (The ghost hunt. Not Lovecraft. There's nothing stupid and/or hilarious about Lovecraft.) And, since Nathaniel hates anything even remotely related to Halloween/horror/um...ghosts...it would make me happy to make him so miserable.

So, yeah. Fingers crossed on that front.

And now, to transition flawlessly into the Random Thoughts segment of today's post, I present you with this transitory sentence. Speaking of fingers, you'll need zero of them (fingers, I mean) to count the number of 4-day passes that are available for Comic-Con 2010 in San Diego.

That's right, all 4-day passes (both with and without the Wednesday preview night) are completely sold out. As reported over at The Beat this weekend, the San Diego show has reached a new milestone. They've managed to sell out of fan passes before guests and retailers have even been issued their badges.

Think about that for a minute.

It's early November. The last show ended only a few months ago. And all weekend passes for next summer's show are already sold out. There's no guest list yet. No retailer list yet. Not even a hint of what the programming will be yet. And...wow. That boggles the mind.

I guess comics aren't a dying industry. Yay!

Still, I don't think there's a snowball's chance in Mephisto's living room that I'll ever find my way out to that show. Now, sure, I know that San Diego is the mecca of geekdom, and everyone who's ever been there always says the same thing--you have to do it once.

Well, in theory, that would be fine.

But, in practice? Yeah, not so much. First of all, I don't like big crowds. Second of all, I don't like big crowds of fanboys. Third of all, I don't like big crowds of fanboys in July, when the weather really doesn't help that whole "Con Funk" thing.

Throw on top of that the fact that I'd need to cross the country, find a room, transportation, and then have some money left over for the show (and food)...and yeah, too much of a hassle at this point in my life.

And, most likely, at any point in my life.

I think the only way I'd ever go out there would be if I had a book of my own to promote. Then I'd go in a heartbeat, I think. But to go as a fan? I doubt it'll ever happen. I watch the coverage of the event on G4, and I scour the sites online to keep up with the news, and I can honestly say that keeps me satiated.

Never once during those shows on G4 have I said, "Man, I wish I was right in the middle of that giant mass of people."

Still, I have to say. I am very happy that the Con has gotten such huge numbers already. That means there's something Very Right with comics these days, and that is something I am all for.

And, finally in this scatter shot post, a quick review. I've mentioned many times that Charlie Huston is one of my favorite prose stylists, and his Joe Pitt series of vampire/noir books are some of my favorite in the genre.

Well, his fifth (and final) Joe Pitt book, My Dead Body, came out a couple of weeks ago, and I finally had the chance to read it this weekend. As I expected, it's the perfect ending to the Pitt series, and it further cements Huston as one of the most unique voices in fiction today.

It's certainly hard-boiled, but if that's your thing, then you really need to check out this man's body of work. Do an Amazon search on him and read the Pitt books from the start (Already Dead is the first one). They present an all-new, all-different take on the post modern vampire, and they will one day be considered classics.

Oh, and if you're into crime/noir (and I mean heavy duty crime/noir so hard-boiled it burns your hands as you turn the pages), then move on to the Henry Thompson series.

But don't say I didn't warn you.