It was the day after the convention. There was a garment bag in our closet at the Sofia hotel, and we had thought it was provided by the hotel. Curious, I looked inside, and found a dress!

Realizing it had been left by the previous tenant, I took it to the front desk and left it with a woman named Amanda.

Dana and I went to breakfast, then returned to the room. Dana plopped onto the bed, and her hand fell…onto the garment bag.

We both did a quick double-take, then joked that maybe the dress’s owner had been murdered in the room, and the dress was forever doomed to return to the closet.

I took it back to the front desk. Amanda wasn’t there, and her co-worker convinced me to wait until she returned. I hid the garment bag, and when Amanda stepped back behind the desk, she was told that I had something I wanted to show her.

Slowly I lifted the garment bag, and Amanda just stared.

We all laughed, and I joked that we didn’t want to pay the “haunted room” surcharge.

A fun end to the trip. After that, it was off to the airport.

It’s 10:30 Sunday, and the convention has been over for more than five hours. I can’t believe how exhausted I am, but what a sense of accomplishment.

In the past Sunday was the calm day, but not this year! The floor was as crowded and bustling as on any other day, and everyone was doing their last-minute shopping. Fans managed to grab all of the signed copies of THE BEST OF SIMON AND KIRBY, and most of the copies Dave Gibbons signed of WATCHING THE WATCHMEN. My own shopping spree encompassed three terrific Golden Age comics, including the FIRST issue of DARING MYSTERY COMICS from January 1940, featuring Joe Simon’s first “Fiery Mask” story.

To celebrate the end of the convention, Dana and I went to dinner with a whole bunch of family and friends. Per tradition, we headed up the hills to the Hillcrest section of San Diego, where we ate at El Cuervo–a genuine, tiny dive of a Mexican restaurant. On other words, a REAL Mexican restaurant, with terrific food. It was an excellent way to decompress.

Massive thanks to Fae Desmond, John Rogers, David Glanzer, Gary Sassman, Mary Sturhan, Mark Yturralde, Robin Donlan, William Pittman, Eddie Ibrahim, and all of the rest of the wonderful folks who put on this incredible event. From our point of view, it went like clockwork, and was a terrific roller-coaster ride of a weekend.

It’s a bit early to be thinking about next year, but Titan booth volunteers Barry and Tam both have their pre-registrations, and Dana and I already booked our hotel. So I guess we’re locked into coming back!

For me it will be the beginning of my second quarter-century with San Diego Comic-Con.

Pardon the brevity of this post. Not only are we suffering from day four sensory overload, but the laptop battery is running low.

This morning’s tribute to the legendary Jack Kirby was quite an emotionally-charged gathering. Titan’s BEST OF S&K editor Steve Saffel spoke about Titan’s plans for the Simon & Kirby Superheroes volume and played a recorded personal greeting from Joe Simon! Others recalled their first encounters with Jack Kirby and how he inspired them.

Panelists arriving for the Jack Kirby Tribute

Steve is at center in the photo above, and you can just make out a copy of the book standing on the table next to him. Response to THE BEST OF SIMON & KIRBY has been excellent at the show!

Steve Saffel with Lisa Kirby

Later!

Dana