Love them or hate them, conventions have become the industry standard for fan-engagement and giant announcements. Of course, very few fans can make it to any one con. Fortunately, Retcon Punch is there when you can’t be with our exclusive con coverage, ComicConPunch.

Drew: Our coverage got off to a casual start with the Deadpool Signing & Drink-Up at the near(ish)by Landsdowne, where we spoke individually with writers Brian Posehn, Gerry Duggan, and artist Declan Shalvey, all of whom were incredibly gracious. I was particularly excited to talk about the “BAMF SNIKT silence” sequence I raved about in issue 18. Shalvey hadn’t seen a lettered copy of that issue, so actually grabbed our copy and started flipping through it, explaining why he prefers widescreen panels, and expressing excitement that his colorist (and girlfriend) Jordie Bellaire elevated the art in that issue. It was a treat for us to get those insights — Patrick, I believe you called it a “dream come true”?

Patrick: That sounds like something I’d say. Walking through the issue, page-by-page, panel-by-panel with Shalvey was pretty rad, and it made me wish we could perform those surgical strikes with the creatives by our side on a regular basis. BUT THAT’D BE INSANE. Duggan teased an upcoming “inventory issue” and confided in us that he and Posehn have stories mapped through issue 32, which is like a billion years away. Super great dudes. The beer was fine.

As we were having such a good time with the boys, so we missed the Women in Comics panel that we had hoped to make it back to the Con for — glass ceiling and all that. So to kill time before the Superheroes PBS documentary panel, we cruised through artists alley. We said hi to Peter Tomasi and Jimmy Palmioti, who were characteristically jovial and cool. But we launched into bigger conversations with Brian Buccellato, James Tynion and Charles Soule (who’s last name Drew and I have been arguing about how to pronounce).  Probably the best part of that was Booch talking about his forthcoming run on Detective Comics. It’s a long way off, so he couldn’t get into specifics, but he did emphasize that he and Francis Manapul we focused more on Batman’s present than his past. Which is basically a perfect foil to Snyder’s history-heavy Batman.

Drew: It really is. I’m especially excited to see how Booch and Manapul are going to interact with that history. We’ve loved their Flash from the start because of its depth and intelligence, and Snyder has been nailing that over on Batman. Like Patrick said, it’s a long way off, and it hasn’t fully sunk in just what their Detective Comics would be like, but it was neat to get some insights into where they want to go.

Patrick: Oh, and because I mostly read my comics digitally, I don’t have a lot of relevant floppies for anyone to sign. Luckily, artists and writers are more than happy to take turns ruining my Kindle Fire with a silver Sharpie. Here’s how it looked after our run through the Alley.

Drew: From there, we rushed over to the preview/panel discussion of the new PBS documentary, “Superheroes!” The panel included the directors of the documentary, as well as Phil Jiminez and Denny O’Neil. Suffice it to say — it was pretty neat. I loved hearing Jiminez and O’Neil digging in to what makes the Joker an enduring character. The film itself also looks awesome, with interviews with basically every big name you could think of. It got me thinking about the context that comics are created in — something I don’t always consider when reading them week-to-week — and got me incredibly excited for the medium. It was one of the most stimulating panels I’ve been to at any con, thanks in part to the moderator’s policing of audience questions to keep the discussion on-track.

Patrick: The doc starts airing (in three parts) this Tuesday on PBS, and it seems like it’s definitely going to be worth watching. It’s jam-packed with interviews with the smartest people in comics including Mark Waid, who — Drew pointed out to me — is probably never wrong.

The night wound up with Brian Posehn’s Comedy Mutant show, featuring some great comedians. I will say that it’s weird to see stand-up in such a huge setting — turns out, I’ve become kind of a comedy theatre rat in the last couple years. Hey, that’s off topic!

Guys, we’re having fun – we don’t even hate the con or each other yet.

Drew: Yet.