Drew: C2E2 is a great con, but one of the most exciting things for us was simply getting together to hang out with friends we haven’t seen in years (YEARS). That emphasis on the social aspect (as well as the preparations for Shelby’s costume) kept us up pretty late, so we didn’t get the earliest start Saturday morning. We arrived just in time for Marvel’s Original Sin panel. Heads up guys: there are a TON of issues tying in here, including some fun sounding team-ups — Hulk and Iron Man, Deadpool and Dazzler, Thor and Loki. That last one contained easily the biggest reveal of the day: Angela is Thor and Loki’s long-lost sister.

That panel was downright clogged with solicits and teases — kind of an exhausting pitch-fest — so we decided to cleanse our palates with a walk around the showroom floor. We managed to sit down with many of the folks we touched base with yesterday — Peter Tomasi, Chris Samnee, and Kyle Higgins (be on the lookout for those pieces in the coming weeks), and set up a few more interviews for tomorrow and beyond. It was fun to connect with some of our favorite creators over issues we already love. I don’t want to get too deep into those conversations (seriously, they’ll be posted soon), but I’d love to hear if you had a favorite moment in there, Patrick.

Patrick: Hahaha. We sound just like those panels! GOOD SHIT COMING SOON! One weird experience I had was trying to secure a copy of Nightwing 29 for our conversation with Higgins. I had planned to walk through it with him on my Kindle, but I was foiled by the “running out of batteries” fairy. But seriously, Drew and I had to check with like a dozen different retailers before we got our sweaty hands on a copy of the thing. But Con rewards patience, and I ended up getting it signed by both Higgins and artist Russel Dauterman.

Drew and I also stopped by the Press Lounge later in the afternoon, but that place was desserted. It did calm our minds long enough to remind us that we were missing a Vertigo panel. We rushed over in time to hear Scott Snyder adorably explaining the shift in tone and focus on The Wake and get the exact same pitch from Lee Barmejo for his Suiciders series we got at NYCC (it does still look cool…whenever it comes out). Drew asked a pretty insightful question about editorial loyalty, and why people stick with Vertigo when there are so many other options. Snyder and Barmejo’s answers spoke to the common refrain that the human relationships trump anything else. Drew, did you learn a little something about facetime with people today, or was that just me?

Drew: Oh, for sure. I was particularly struck by the talk about the emphasis on relationships in those answers — nobody even hinted at creative considerations — but the interpersonal aspect of the business has been an ongoing theme throughout the con. While Patrick was sitting down with Kyle Higgins, I was actually talking with Jen Aprahamian about the importance of schmoozing within the industry. C2E2’s emphasis on both comics and beer seems designed to lubricate those types of interactions.

Actually, the number of substantive conversations we had with creators today was downright energizing. I’m used to being slowly worn down by cons (in part because of the burning-the-candle-at-both-ends demands necessitated by those social aspects), but I’m neither exhausted nor bitter at this point. We joked yesterday about not hating the con or each other “yet,” but I honestly can’t wait for tomorrow.