SDCC 2007, Pt. 7: Jane Weidlin and The TonkTank Redemption

Hi, All. Thanks for hanging in there! So as I recall, we had just had a pre-Eisner dinner, bolted from the restaurant and heeled it over to the award presentation...which are already in progress. SHHHHH!

Bongotone's Bill Morrison is our Master of Ceremonies tonight (this is shot of his image projected on one of the twin Jumbotrons).


We grab our seats. On stage, Bill introduces the talented, fetching,only Go-Go that matters, Jane Weidlin. Ms. Weidlin will be doling out those Eisner trophies. Over the course of the evening quite a few of the Eisner recipients would "accidentally" try to exit the stage in the wrong direction, so that they could have Jane W. direct them in the right direction with tender, hands-on manner.


The Eisner Judges


OK, let's cut to the chase. As you know the Fable/Jack of Fables creative team is a force to be reckoned with. Between the two titles there are a total of 8 nominations for the Eisner; three of the nods for Jack alone.
The evening rolls out well here; Bill, Eisner in hand, gives praise and thanks to the assembled creators ("authors" as he puts it) of "FABLES: 1001 Nights of Snowfall".
Unfortunately, I don't know who the creator is on the far left of the photo, but you'll see James Jean, Shelly Bond, Jill Thompson and Mark Buckingham (with another Eisner).


This year's show was LOOOONG! 3 hours. Jonathan Ross, the "British Jay Leno (only funny)" was co-presenter with Neil Gaiman at the very end of the show. Ross thanked the audience and attendees of the 2007 Eisner Awards and told everyone that tickets for the 2008 Eisner ceremonies were on sale just outside, the sitting for which will begin in one half hour.
This is "The GOON" creator,Eric Powell and someone else doing a bit that k.i.l.l.e.d!


Brian Posehn contributed his mad Klingon language skills to his presentation; he translated all the names of the nominees in his selection of creators into Klingon. I think any names that were actually Klingon, he translated back into an Earth language.


Our Beloved Jill Thompson accepts another award! She gave a shout out to Bill Reinhold and Lenin DelSol for great advice when she was starting out.


James Jean with the first of his Eisners for the night.


As the show went on..and on, I became increasingly worried about the really irresponsible placement of STARGATE:Burbank directly above our table. During the "In Memorium" section of the show, I was anxious that a cross-town bus was going to careen through SG:B and take out even more creators.


Awesome!n I love "Reno911". Here are Thomas Lennon (Lt. Dangle) and Robert Ben Garant (Officer Junior), to present our catagory and shamelessly plug their new film "Balls of Fury".


OK, so we lost to Ed Brubacker's "Criminal". But the guy smokes and can't run very fast carrying all those awards. So this ain't over.


Bill Willingham with this years' haul (for his part, at least).


Bucky, natty in linen, with his Eisner bling.


Our Fabulous Fables Editorial Deity, Shelly Bond with James Jean with his nights' haul.


Here's Jane Weidlin and Andrew Pepoy.


Here's my favorite photo of the show; Thomas Lennon, Brad "Bluebeard" Thomte and Robert Ben Garant. Peas in a Pod.



So, all-of-a-sudden-like, everyone is tossing me their cameras so that I can take photos for them. It's a blur of ducking and weaving with real media photographers for a good spot. But when the dust settles I get these:

Brian Posehn of "The Sarah Silverman Program" with Andrew.


Brian with Yours Truly!


I got to hang a bit with Garant and Lennon outside the show. They're both the nicest guys and only the best should happen for them. "Balls of Fury" is high on my list.


So in the end, Jack didn't walk off with the "Best New Series" Eisner. But hey, of the 8 nominations, the Fables Family took home 6. Which makes us the Monster of the 2007 Show. In fact that number could be higher since Jill won for best Artist/Painter. We rock. And to top it all off...



I got me a lap/armful of Jane Weidlin! Whoo-Hoo!



Guess what? There's STILL MORE to come! Thanks to Budd at Fabletown.com for the clever title for this entry. I try to keep to satirical movie titles, but when he gave me "The TonkTank Redemption" I had to add Jane Weidlin. So I guess this is an homage to the book and not the film. Oh, well.
h.e!