At the Ant-Man and the Wasp premiere!

With Meredith and the "Hot Wheels" car

I haven't blogged much at all this year, because I've been busy writing — five different projects at various stages, none of which can be announced — and I've also been traveling, including to another fun Joliet Star Wars Day and a very successful All-Star Comic Con in Tysons Corners, Virginia. But it's the most recent trip that's worth a photo journal!

As I mentioned here last year, Marvel Studios included Sonny Burch, the technology-stealing nemesis of Tony Stark from my Iron Man comics run, as one of the main villains for Ant-Man and The Wasp. This was the second major character to come from that story, as reporter Christine Everhart appeared as the reporter both in the first two Iron Man movies — and also in the teaser material for the original Ant-Man film, where she interviews Paul Rudd as Scott Lang.

Did you ever get the feeling you were being watched?

Actor Walton Goggins puts his own spin on the character, but operating inside the law — as he mostly did in the comics — or outside of it, Burch remains a technology thief, and it's a much more substantial role. So it was that Marvel invited my wife and me to Hollywood to see the World Premiere.

My first one of these, and it was a complete blast. The studio had closed off Hollywood Boulevard in front of the TCL Chinese Theater and the El Capitan, which simultaneously debuted the film.

Jorge Lucas, Ant-Man, and JJM!

You can see the official footage from outside the premiere here — but some personal highlights included seeing Tony Isabella, whose work I had edited at Comics Buyer's Guide; he'd worked on the Bill Foster character, who was played by Laurence Fishburne, many years earlier. It was good to see Bob Layton, who'd created another movie character, The Ghost, and whose comics with David Michelinie had gotten me into Iron Man in the first place.

And in possibly the biggest surprise, who should sit down beside me in the theater but Jorge Lucas, the artist with whom I had created those Iron Man comics fifteen years ago. We had never met, in all that time, and had not really had a chance to talk since. It was a bit of a surreal experience for both of us to be there, but a fun adventure nonetheless.

A few more photos follow from the trip. Ant-Man and the Wasp was a fun movie, and is definitely worth seeing — and I'm not just saying that because Jorge and I are in the credits. (But that's fun, too!)

Mark Hamill had asked fans on Twitter to clean his star. Mission accomplished!

When you ask for a grande at Starbucks in Hollywood, this is what you get.

On the red carpet, in front of the TCL Chinese Theater.

And at the afterparty. A night to be long remembered!