See You at San Diego: An Oral History of Comic-Con, Fandom, and the Triumph of Geek Culture (released next week by Fantagraphics Books) is a fantastic, exhaustive look at the rise of geek fandom and culture over the past century through the lens of San Diego Comic-Con. This hefty 480-page paperback tome gathers together reminiscences and behind-the-scenes gossip about Comic-Con through the years. Contributors include Ho Che Anderson, Sergio Aragonés, Scott Aukerman, Bruce Campbell, Felicia Day, Kevin Eastman, Mark Evanier, Neil Gaiman, Lloyd Kaufman, Frank Miller, the Russo Brothers, Stan Sakai, Scott Shaw!, Kevin Smith, Brinke Stevens, Trina Robbins, Tim Seeley, Maggie Thompson, and many more.
See You at San Diego also includes forewords by Usagi Yojimbo creator Stan Sakai and Bone's Jeff Smith, with an afterword by the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA. The book is uniquely laid out, with typewritten style pages and a series of graphical tabs along the edges that make it look like folders in a filing cabinet. Sections include "The Characters," "The Scene," "The Plot," "Conflict," "The Expansion, and "The Future." There are also lots of scrapbook style photos, posters, comics, zines, badge art, and other convention ephemera peppered throughout.
Boing Boing was given this exclusive excerpt of Part Five "The Expansion" and the book's Afterword by RZA.
