Howdy! Today is the official opening day of the largest comics convention in America. I'm writing this newsletter for you right in the middle of the convention hall, at one of the six online computers we have in place for fans to enjoy browsing our website. Business is incredibly brisk today, continuing the trend begun last evening. I have no idea of our overall sales for today at this point in the afternoon, but we were approximately 120% of last year on Wednesday evening. Given that last year's convention was our best ever for sales, we're feeling pretty darn optimisitic right now! Sales are also rather astounding on our website, as my announcement last evening that I was going to provide all of you with a special 30% off SANDIEGO codeword caused our online sales to instantly skyrocket by over 300%! As I mentioned last evening, the 30% off SANDIEGO sale is my way of providing all of you who can't attend the convention with the opportunity to purchase back issue comics and magazines from our website at prices equal to, or below, the prices being asked her in the dealer's room in San Diego. Because the additional 30% discount provided by the SANDIEGO codeword drops the cost to you of the vast majority of our online comics inventory to between 65%-86% off, however, I am forced to end this sale next Tuesday, at 10 AM Mountain time. Otherwise, we'd be causing actual harm to our overall selection of comics by selling off so many back issues in such a short period of time. Please enjoy this incredible sale with our genuine thanks for all of your support during the past year! (click on image for larger view) As regards my observations from this year's convention, I'll start by mentioning that this show has become so huge that it has become a city in and of itself. Given the extraordinary complexities of logisitics involved in pulling the show together, I am continually amazed that such an immense undertaking takes finished form in a mere 72 hours. I have been particulurly struck this year by the number of support personnel required to keep the convention operating smoothly. The security guards are easily the most visable of the support crew, but when you focus on measuring and evaluating that aspect of the convention, you find that there are literally thousands of bus drivers, warehouse staff, crossing guards, police, fire, EMT, janitorial, and management staff scrambling to keep everything running smoothly. My hat is off to the organizers of this wonderful convention for making this show come together and run so remarkably smoothly. During my observation segments about the convention during the past two years I've frequently made note of the fact that the convention has become quite a symbiotic gathering of exhibitionists and voyeurs. On Saturday in particular, great numbers of fans come to the convention in outrageous and wonderful costumes, and a seemingly equally large number of people come to observe the festivities. What struck me this year is that the convention has also apparently become an arena in which the evolution of fashion also plays a considerable role. This is quite interesting to me, as it was in the not-so-distant past that it was quite unusual for a young woman to come to a comics convention unaccompanied. The huge growth in interest in Manga and Anime clearly opened many doors for young women to come to comics conventions. Initially, this resulted in many of them wearing costumes related to their favorite characters. Where this now seems to have led is to an environment where young women and girls feel quite comfortable in being delightfully experimental at comic shows in terms of their personal clothing, hairstyles, piercings, tatoos, jewelry, and accoutrements (handbags, backpacks, etc.). Taking this all one step further, I beleive that the mavens of the fashion world, as well as more conservative young women, are now coming to comics shows to pick up ideas and visions from the women with the courage to be on the cutting edge. Who would have ever guessed that this entirely new form of social interaction would ever occur at a comics convention? I think this is all tremendously cool! (click on image for larger view) Another new trend at this year's convention is the rapid growth of text messaging. This is a tool that I don't use at all, as I have unlimited minutes with my cel phone. It was pointed out to me, however, that actual phone calls are now considered to be risky at a convention, as the recipient might be in a panel room, or some other public place, where the sound of a phone would be considered obtrusive and inappropriate. Text messages spare the recipient from being potentally embarrassed, and are thus becoming increasing popular. (click on image for larger view) My final observation for today is about use of the Internet at the convention. Several booths have Wi-Fi hooked up, and if you can obtain their access code, you can get online darn near anywhere in the building. In part, this has led to the odd circumstance where you can receive e-mail messages from a good friend at the far end of the immense dealers' room whom you have yet to see in person during the entire convention. Very spooky... That's it for today. Pam has a slew of nice photos for you today, mostly focused on the diversity of booths in the show. Tomorrow, the costumes will begin.. Happy collecting! Chuck Rozanski, President - Mile High Comics, Inc. Advance Previews of next weeks comics from Marvel and DC Thursday Pictures Our busy booth! Bud Plant's busy booth! Replica of Darth Vader at Gentle Giant Studios. Dark Horse booth DC Comics booth Jhonen Vasquez signing autographs. Line at Slave Labor for Jhonen Vasquez. Star Wars Death Star Nintendo Pokemon display Sideshow Collectibles Image booth Lions Gate Studios promoting Devil's Rejects. Fantastic Four display Promoting Aeon Flux-The Movie Top secret transformers-Optimus Prime