I'll be off to LAX in a couple of hours. Buddy Sergio Aragones and I will be guests at this weekend's Motor City Comic-Con. This will be my fifth or sixth time there. It is a nice convention, just outside of Detroit.

It used to have the best Green Room of all the conventions. Guest could drop in to relax, or have a hot meal, sandwich, sweets, or something to drink. There were three kinds of brownies. I really liked the chocolate-chili brownies. Unfortunately, as the MCCC got bigger, they had to seek out bigger venues. They are currently in a convention center that does not allow outside food, so we will have to make do with convention pizza. Motor City is also the only place I had lobster at the convention sponsored dinner. Again, as they got bigger and added a lot more guests, these intimate con dinners are impossible to coordinate.

Speaking of guests, I am looking forward to seeing Guy Davis again. Guy and Rosemary took Sergio and me to a neat Thai restaurant the last time we were there. We have dinner plans again, and this time Trilogy Tour 2 mate Mark Crilley will be joining the four of us. In 1998, Mark and I, along with Jeff Smith, Charles Vess, Jill Thompson, and Linda Medley toured the US together as Trilogy 2. I got to know Mark really well, but lost touch when he left his Akiko comic and became an acclaimed prose author with his teen series Akiko and Billy Klikk. He is coming back into comics with a series of graphic novels from Dark Horse.

I am also looking forward to the Saturday night dinner with a group from the UY website. They found a great Japanese restaurant the last time with great sushi--buttery uni, melt-in-your-mouth fatty tuna, etc. We are all going back again.

Sergio and I always bring work with us to these things. I remember when we were flying to Detroit, and Sergio was up against a deadline for Mad. I talked to the gate attendant: "That is Sergio Aragones. He does the marginals for Mad magazine (everyone knows Mad). He really has a tight deadline, and will have to work on the plane. It would really help us a lot if you could bump us up to first class so we will have more room to draw." This was a time before everyone used milage points to upgrade. We not only got to ride up front, but they gave us a bottle of champagne as well. As soon as MCCC driver picked us up, we drove to the FedEx office and Sergio sent off his gags.

If you are in the Detroit area, see you there!