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Lauren and I just returned from Comic Con on Saturday. We flew out to Southern California on Wednesday and had a little vacation just the two of us. Lauren’s mom was kind enough to keep the boys.

Neither of us had been to Comic Con before, and we didn’t exactly know what to expect. We knew there would be big crowds, but I don’t think we anticipated crowds THAT big. There were well over 100,000 people there, many of them in some rather elaborate costumes. Lauren and I enjoyed the ecclectic mix of people as much as we did the actual conference. Here are a few of my favorite pix.

Lauren and Jabba the Hut. That’s a display, not an actual costume; no one is inside that thing. There was space for Lauren to climb up on the platform and lounge with the pillows for a better photo op, but neither of us was brave enough to suggest she do so.

This was my favorite costume of the trip, even though it wasn’t the most elaborate. I’d look to assume that these guys are actually father and son, but I can’t be sure. I didn’t ask. Dr. Jones Senior even had an attache case with an umbrella stuck it in (visible at the bottom of the photo). I thought that a nice touch. Young Indiana Jones looks very much like a friend of ours Warren Williams. In case you were wondering.

There’s nothing especially interesting about this shot. The LOST booth where this was hung turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment. I was hoping for an elaborate LOST display with cool trinkets, posters and giveaways, but no such luck. All that was there were a few couches and a flat screen TV showing one of Season Four’s episodes. I had Lauren take my picture with the banner anyway. There was, however, a cool LOST booth elsewhere on the convention floor: a Dharma Initiative booth was manned by a few DI’s in jumpsuits signing up recruits. I thought that cool, at least.

I loved the recent Iron Man movie, and so I couldn’t help but snap a shot of this bad boy, the evil suit worn by Jeff Bridges in the film. A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

Lauren and I went to a panel on adapting comic books to screenplays. I thought it very cool. The people in the photo are (from left to right) one of the screenwriters from Iron Man (who also adapted Children of Men, one of the best science fiction films ever), the principal screenwriter from this year’s Incredible Hulk, comic book legend Stan Lee, and the moderator, some guy from Creative Screenwriting magazine.

Stan Lee was incredible. Wonderfully self-effacing and absolutely hilarious. He had the crowd in stitches. A true delight. The man is a master of the craft. Seeing him was one of the highlights of the whole trip.

Friday was Star Wars Day. A lot of people dressed up as stormtroopers or scantily clad Princess Leahs. This group was one of my favorites. All the women were those go go dancers from Jabba’s palace, and the men were all pilots. A few of them didn’t look like they could fit in an X-wing, but hey, it’s all in good fun, right?

This guy’s costume was just downright amazing. I couldn’t tell if he had made it himself or stolen it right off the studio lot. Very realistic. We took this picture toward the end of the day and you would think that a guy like this would be sweaty and smelly after wearing this all day. Surprisingly though, the man smelled liked fancy cologne. And not too much of it either — proving once and for all that even evil undead half-human/half-octopus sea monsters can practice good hygiene.

Perhaps the best part of Comic Con was seeing old friends. Lauren and I had dinner with the Cards, which was great. And we saw two of our dearest friends from LA, Dagen Merrill and Chris Wyatt (pictured here), who had come to Comic Con to pitch a comic idea they had.

It was a wonderful trip.

I knew an audiobook was in the works–I signed a contract for it a while ago. I just had no idea when it was going to be coming out or who the reader would be. Well, apparently it’s finished because it’s available for purchase at amazon.com. I was thrilled to learn that Stefan Rudnicki did the reading. He’s one of the most talented readers in the business. Extremely fine actor. I could listen to him talk all day. I know Stefan well, having worked with him in LA on a series of one-act plays I produced for Scott. Small world. Here’s the cover of the audiobook. Pretty cool, I think.

The first signing was at the BYU Bookstore a few days before the book was released. It was wonderful to go back to BYU. I hadn’t been to campus in years. I got Jake a BYU t-shirt and Luke a BYU hat. Campus was even more beautiful than I remembered. Ah BYU. So many memories.

Here we are at the BYU signing. Kristine, Scott’s wife; Scott; and me. Notice the BYU bags in the foreground. Scott was kind enough to buy chocolate for everyone who came and stood in line. I thought that very kind. The signing was scheduled to go only for an hour, but it lasted three and a half hours. Most of the people in line didn’t buy a copy of our book; they were there for Scott to sign other books of his, which was fine with me. It was a thrill just to be there. I was really impressed with how kind and polite Scott is with of all his fans. Many of them expressed how much Ender’s Game (or other books he’d written) had influenced their lives, and Scott was touched every time. As a fan of Scott’s work myself, it made me love him as an author all the more. He’s really generous with those who read him.

Several of my dearest friends, who I hadn’t spoken to in far too long, were kind enough to come to the signing at BYU. Here’s me with three of them, all were in the the Garrens Comedy Troupe, a sketch-comedy/improv group I belonged to during my BYU days. We were quite the act, if I do say so myself. Pictured from left to right is me, Randy Tayler, Daryn Tufts, and the lovely Lisa Clark. A funnier yet classier group of people you will not find.

The great thing about the signing in Greenville, South Carolina was that a lot of my friends from work and family were able to attend. Here’s me with Aunt Vickie, Aunt Vonnie, and Uncle Steve. For some reason, the Barnes and Noble in Greenville held the signing at the very back of the store in the music section, hence the CDs there behind us.

Here we are at the signing in Greensboro. The Barnes and Noble there did a wonderful job of promoting the event. There was quite the crowd. We sold out of copies of the book, even. It was great.

Several of our friends from our Greensboro days came to signing. I thought that a very kind gesture. It was wonderful to see them all. From left to right: Leighanna Lindsay, Shena Arellano, Andy Lindsay, Cheeto Arellano, Ella, and Adam Lindsay.

Lauren took this picture the day the book was released. As a family we went to the Barnes and Noble near our home in Greenville. We found the book on the new-releases shelf in the science fiction department.

I’ve been fighting bronchitis and a killer cough over the past week, and until a friend of mine at work suggested these delicious wonders, I had been sprayinig my throat with nasty Chloroseptic. Halls Breezers are precisely what you want as a sick person: good medicine that doesn’t taste like medicine. In fact, Breezers taste more like a candy version of those orange vanilla popsicles I used to love as a kid. Or at least the flavor I had did. There are several kinds, Cool Berry and Cool Citrus Blend and Cool Creamy Strawberry (all cool, I guess). I can’t recommend these enough. They’re a safe bet even if you aren’t sick. Think of it as candy that’s good for you.

Sky High didn’t get a lot of attention at the box office last year, which is a shame since I think it’s one of the most entertaining films of the year. The film gets its title from the fictional high school for the sons and daughters of today’s superheroes. To keep it hidden from the super villains of the world the high school floats in the clouds and is constantly in motion.

The story surrounds one Will Stronghold, the son of Earth’s most powerful and beloved superhero husband-and-wife team: The Commander and Jet Stream. But unlike his parents, Will doesn’t seem to have any powers or any way of filling the shoes of his over-achieving parents.

Kurt Russel, who plays Will’s dad is downright hilarious. The man hasn’t done comedy in a while (maybe since he and Goldie Hawn went Overboard), but the absence from the genre isn’t evident in his performance. I was laughing out loud throughout.

Great stunts. Real human emotion, including some genuine teenage angst and adolescent rivalries. This one’s a homerun, folks. A solid A.