There's lots of talk about ComicCon these days in all the social media I follow, and it's been on my mind a lot these days.

Con is still five weeks away, but everyone is gearing up for it. The schedule that they put out is being figured out now. I know this because Scott is being contacted for panels. It's not finalized yet. I know this because when Scott was asked to moderate two panels that turned out to be scheduled at the same time, the Powers That Be were able to change the time of one of the panels so that Scott could do both.

So far, Scott has been tagged to moderate/host/whatever the Spotlight panels for Kurt Busiek and Larry Marder (who are two of our closest friends, both were at Scott's party, both are special guests this year, and both asked Scott if he would do the honors). James Sturm (who is also a friend and also a special guest this year) has tagged Scott for a panel where the two of them will talk about teaching comics. Scott's also been asked to be on a tribute panel for Will Eisner (who was also a friend and who is sorely missed). Scott will be busy this year. I think this is more panels that he's been on in a long time, and amusingly, none of them are about him.

And the three special guests that he's going to be talking to are all kibitzers on his new book, so yet another connection.

This is not what I want to talk about though.

There has been a lot of talk about Con moving to another location. It seems more and more likely these days, and it saddens me. Lot of reasons. I like San Diego. I like the excuse of visiting, and I've been doing Con for so many years I have all sorts of traditions and favorite places and things, I never get out there any other time, so I would miss them all. I agree that the con has gotten too big for the venue, and it hurts that so many people get turned away. On the other hand, there are too many people there already. Making it bigger means that there will be even more people, and wow, I can't even imagine that. (to give you a comparison, I live in a city that is considered a "big city" by the FBI, that means there are over 100,000 people who live here. I just checked, the population of our city is 2 thousand more than the attendance at ComicCon last year. Wow.)

But the saddest part of Con moving (if it does), in my opinion is that then it loses any pretense that it is about anything other than Hollywood. Why is it thinking moving? Because it needs to get bigger to accommodate all the fans of the TV and Movie properties that they are hawking. Why does it want to move to Anaheim or Los Angeles? because then it will be closer to Hollywood, and they don't have to transport all the names that they want there, it will be an easy drive, no need for hotels, etc.

These are all facts. There's nothing I can do about it.

But.

I've decided that I'm not going to take it anymore. So I have made a promise to myself. I am not advocating that everyone do this, I know many of you going will not understand me at all, but that's ok. I'm actually looking forward to Con more this year than I have for several years.

My promise? This year I am only going to panels that have to do with comics. I've chosen to interpret that fairly broadly, in that I will go to a panel on a movie that is based on a comic book (Scott Pilgrim I'm talking to you!), and I would allow myself to go to a panel about a comic that is based on a movie (though, I honestly can't think of one that I would want to see). But movies and tv shows, even ones that I like? I will not be there this year.

Torchwood, is a show that I adore. I have gone to the Torchwood and Dr Who panels ever year that they've been at Con. I will not be seeing them this year. I'm ok with that. I'm still not recovered from the last season, and I'm not all that interested in the new one that looks like it will happen. I will be sad if it turns out that it is a very cool panel, but the one last year left a very bad taste in my mouth, so I'm figuring I'll be ok. And this way I don't have to wait on a huge line to get into a theatre that I will then wait in all day for the panel to start so that I can be in the front row (Yes, I have been in the front row of the Torchwood panel every year it's been at Con, call me crazy).

Ok, if Neil is at Con, which, as far as I know, he's not planning on being, and he calls me up and says, "Ivy, I'm doing this panel about *fill in some NOT comics project here*, please come see me", I'd probably brake my rule for that. But since that's not likely to happen, I think I'm pretty safe.

I predict that this year, my experience at Con will be very different from the "average" con goer who is only going to see the famous actors and clips of upcoming media. I will have shorter lines (sadly), which means I'll likely get into more things. If I want to ask questions I'll have a better chance of doing so, and I'll get to see bunches of panels that I've always wanted to see, but didn't because I was too busy waiting in line to get into Ballroom 20 or Hall H.

Think I'll spend more time in Artists Alley, Small Press Pavilion and the online area (who's name I can't remember).

And of course, I will blog about it all.

It's still five weeks away, but I'm getting excited about it now!

Oh, and tonight, at midnight we are seeing Toy Story 3! How awesome is that?!