I met some interesting people on the convention floor this year, established companies, promoters, services, and the ground level publishers.
At the Soulgeek booth I met Ben Paddington, co-creator and head writer of the online comic Jump Leads http://www.jump-leads.com/. This is a futuristic story of dimension hopping with cynic Richard Llewellyn and the enthusiastic Thomas Meany. Stranded in a faulty dimension hopping craft Llewellyn and Meany are left to their own wits to find their way back. I’ve read the hard copy of issue 1 (they’re up to issue 7 on the website) and it’s hilarious. When you read this, the in jokes and play on words is reminiscent of a certain Main Man. Give this a look and tell Ben I sent you.

Sharing a booth with Ben was Dino Andrade, President and CEO of The Soulgeek Network. Have you dated someone who doesn’t understand why Wednesday is a sacred day? A person who can’t find Stan Lee in a Spiderman movie? Or a potential mate that can’t see the point of going to Preview Night, much less all four days of Con? Then The Soulgeek Network is for you. Dino Andrade was getting tired of meeting people that had little in common with his idiosyncrasies, so he created The Soulgeek Network to meet geeks of the opposite sex. While at their booth I met one of his success stories, a couple that are to be wed soon, that gave an anonymous testimonial. Go check out The Soulgeek Network at http://www.soulgeek.com/. My wife frowns on me dating but those of you frustrated singles should check this site out. Richard Hatch is looking for love in all the Soulgeek places, maybe you should too.

I also met new writer Maxwell Alexander Drake who is promoting book one of his Genesis of Oblivion Saga, Farmers and Mercenaries. Drake (as his friends call him) has been writing as a hobby for 27 years and didn’t get serious until two years ago when he started with this six part series. He assured me that there would be a book released annually, and there will be a special edition at each Comic Con. I picked up a copy and am about halfway through and I’m impressed with the world and characters Drake has created. When I finish I will post a review, but you may not want to wait so check out http://www.maxwellalexanderdrake.com/ and http://www.genesisofoblivion.com/.

If you were at Comic Con this year and heard a woman screaming, then you were probably near the After Dark Films booth. After Dark Films releases the annual event Horrorfest http://www.horrorfestonline.com/. The Horrorfest event takes place in select cities around the country, over three days, and shows the 8 Movies to Die For series. 8 Movies to Die For is eight films from small production companies and a variety of new writers, and covers a range of themes from horror, thriller, slasher, gorefest, and supernatural. If the film festival doesn’t come to your town, Series 4 takes place in January 2010, you can buy the series on DVD in the spring. Some may be better then others, but the previous three years have been great and the fourth season looks to be the best yet. As well as the movies there’s also a Miss Horrorfest  contest. That’s who you heard screaming at the convention, this years Miss Horrorfest III, Victoria “Vic” Timm. More info on Horrorfest 4 as January approaches.

Last but not least was the Tonner Doll Company booth. These aren’t your sisters dolls. Tonner has the high fashion dolls but what brings them to Con the past three years are their character lines. These include DC characters, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tomb Raider, Harry Potter, Disney Princesses, Torchwood, Dr. Who, Twilight, as well as various movie franchises and introduced this year – Miss Piggy. Tonner makes 16 – 17 inch sized figures which allows for a greater amount of detail in the costumes, and personality in their facial features. Tonner also has levels of collectibles, from quantities as low as 25 to 5000. For example their San Diego Comic Con exclusive was the Black Canary doll limited to 200. So go check them out at http://www.tonnerdoll.com/, and remember that these may not be your sisters dolls, but they could be yours.