Comic-Con 2007: Day Four (and Final)

Inevitably, Sunday comes sneaking up on your Con, and you know that it's all just about over. Sunday at the Con means less in the way of panels, and the big stuff is mostly over with. You tend to see a lot of the frenzied Sunday-only-pass people running around, trying to squeeze everything they can into just a handful of hours, only to find that most of the big celebs are back in L.A. and much of the cool stuff has already been sold. For your reference, if you're reading this and plan to go to Comic-Con one day, you can still see a lot on Sunday, but you're cheating yourself if that's all you do. The stuff's there, but the excitement's gone. It's kind of hard to describe, but everyone who's been there since the start already has their brain halfway out the door. Artists you might meet are probably tired of answering the same questions from fans all week, and almost definitely aren't doing any more commissions (they may, in fact, be rushing to finish the last of their commissions on Sunday)...if the artist hasn't already left until next year. You're also forced to look through your schedule book and see all the cool stuff you missed the past three days. It's kind of like showing up with your family at Disneyland just a couple of hours before closing. Everyone else there is on their way out, tired yet filled with magical memories of the day, and the Friendliest Staff on Earth are already thinking ahead to getting everyone out of the park so they can go and out party (hopefully wearing the Goofy and Mickey suits when they do), and there you are, running around in a panic, checking your watch, trying to fit a couple of rides in and snap your photos and buy some swag while everything's closing down. In short, don't be that guy. If you're going to go to this thing, at least make it for the whole weekend. If you have a chance to make all four days, that's definitely the way to go to get the whole experience. There's just too, too much to see.

The good news for people with kids, at least, is that Sunday has become "Kids Day" at the Con. There's more stuff for kids, panels geared to them, free giveaway stuff, etc. Just be sure to cover your kids' eyes when you're having to walk them past the Erotic Comics booth on your way to the Sponge Bob panel... The Sunday's great for that because most people's kids don't want to be in any one place for hours on end, so you can take 'em around for a couple of hours, let 'em see some neat stuff, get 'em some freebies, and then take off when they start to get bored or cranky. And it's a hell of a lot cheaper than taking them to Seaworld and having the same thing happen.

Anyway, as for our group, our final Con day began with breaking off from Tony (for the moment) due to his son Christopher's birthday. A.T., Russ and I were heading out the door to the convention center as Tony and Wendy were getting the kids ready to head to Chuck E. Cheese for the birthday party (part one of it). Tony would meet us down there later, though, to bring the kids down for Kids Day. So while there was no panel stuff happening--for me, at least--it was going to be a good chance to roam the aisles and look for stuff that I'd missed. And I had another goal in mind, too. Every year I think about checking out the celebrity autograph area upstairs. There's a section up there (both a big indoor one and now an outdoor one) for celebs, big and small, to do their autograph thing. Usually, it's small. You will see some of the bigger names come out to this area after a panel. But for the most part, the area's populated by B- and often C-level (sometimes D...) celebs, often ones forgotten by history but still loved by a few. I usually see this area when I'm on my way back from or going to a panel. Sometimes you just shake your head and go oh, that's just sad. That's when you get, like, your Anson Williams-level celeb sitting alone behind a table, trying to sell autographed pics at $25 a pop when no one's coming by (except to shout "Sit on it, Potsie!" and snicker and run off or something). But there are some still-hot celebs showing up, the ones that get the longer lines. And sometimes there are some surprises...like a celebrity that may not mean a lot to many people but that means a lot to you. I've had a few of those moments, rolling on by the area, spotting someone I'd like to meet. But I'm always either in a rush to get somewhere or just dealing with my usual feelings about autographs and talking to celebrities. As a general rule...I just don't do it. Just has never made me feel good, being "that guy", going up to someone I don't even know and saying the same things hundreds of others have already said ("I'm a big fan! I loved you in (fill in the blank)". This is, of course, something in my own head. Other people do it just fine, and they walk away with a collection of celebrity stories. Most of my celeb stories end up being about being next to a celeb and having the courtesy to not talk to them. That is, what my brain tells me is courtesy, at least.

But I thought this year I might check it out up there and maybe talk to someone at one of the tables. So my goal was to do that. A.T. had a panel to go to (was this the animation voice-over thing? Can't recall), but he would head up with me beforehand. So the three of us were walking toward the convention center and past Petco Park, and Russ heard noise inside and noticed the gates were open. Giant Padres fan he is, he knew very well that there was no game going on. Suddenly, he remembered! That was the Sunday that Tony Gwynn was being inducted into the Hall of Fame! Russ quickly told us he'd catch up with us later and ran into the park, and ended up being able to be there for the San Diego ceremony that was happening. Very cool.

A.T. and I meandered upstairs and were just kind of talking and looking around the autograph area, when one of us spotted the sign up for Jane Wiedlin (can't remember which one of us). Now me, I'm a fan of Jane. A.T.? Uh...bigger fan of Jane. He was speechless, seeing her just sitting there by herself under a canopy, at her table, eating a sandwich. Let me go ahead and explain, in case you're not in the know, who Jane Wiedlin is, as I've had to do many times since returning from the Con. She's the bass player for the Go-Gos. She also played Joan of Arc in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. And she's had some recent new fame by being on VH-1's The Surreal Life. Based on all this, I just assumed people would know who she was. Very few people do. So, if you're one of those, now you know.

So A.T. was actually pretty nervous, and wondering if he should go over there. I told him he ought to go for it (which is advice I should probably give to myself in situations like that one, too). So he started walking over. I was just going to hang out and wait for him, but then I realized he might want a picture, so I went ahead and followed him. Give it up for A.T., folks. This was a big personal celeb moment for him, and he managed to come off totally calm and professional. As I said, Jane was having a sandwich at the time, and no one else was in line, so we got to just hang out and rap with her. Oh, and A.T. got to give laundry advice when she spilled mustard on herself, too. She talked about what was going on with her, and the fact that the Go-Gos would be touring next year. But A.T. (score) also happened to mention the Nice Guy to her, which interested her. We talked about that, and what we were doing with it (A.T. being our marketing director and all...well, he was THAT day, at least...). In the end, Jane Wiedlin ended up with her own copy of "The Nice Guy: Pilot". I KNEW I was carrying a few copies around for a reason. Better yet, she traded us for it with an autographed picture of herself, and we used that opportunity to get her to make it out to Lynn, A.T.'s wife, who's a huge fan of Jane's. Very cool. She was just as cool as I figured she'd be. We said our good-byes, finally, and as soon as we got around the corner and out of her line of vision, A.T. dropped his cool and jumped up and down like a little girl. Told you he was a big fan. What we didn't do was get a photo with her, I'm afraid, but doing so just didn't fit the mood of the almost-peer-like conversation we were having with her, so no loss.

A.T. then left to go do his panel, and I had some solo time to kill, so I figured I'd check some of the other celeb tables and see if there was anyone interesting. I spotted the aforementioned (if you've been reading all these reports) Richard Hatch at his table, with just a couple of people lined up to talk to him. I realized I'd seen him in a few panels the past three or four years, but had yet to actually meet him. And I also realized I was needing to get some goodies for my buddy Martin, and he's a huge Hatch fan. So this seemed like a good idea. So I got in line and got to meet Mr. Hatch. I mentioned the Nice Guy, and he had all kinds of questions about it, and had a few pieces of web page marketing advice for me as well. In the end, Mr. Hatch got himself a free copy of "Pilot", too (way cool). And I decided, since he offered, that I'd get my picture taken with him, so I've got that going for me. I also took the chance to buy a hardcover Battlestar novel he'd co-written and get that autographed for Marin. There was a funny moment after that. I was packing up my bag when he stepped away from his table and walked over to talk to Jane. I had to pass them as I was exiting, and I said, "You know, Richard, I don't mean to brag, but even JANE WIEDLIN has her own copy of the Nice Guy..." He turned to her and said, "Ah, but the question is, has she read it yet?" To which Jane explained to him that she'd just gotten it, so no, not yet. Kind of a surreal moment. I sitting there goofing with Apollo and the Go-Gos bass player. Which I could send a note back in time to myself in high school and tell myself THAT story.

I headed inside and checked the other tables. There was some people I knew, but that didn't interest me quite enough. Tim Thomerson, for one, who's been in many movies you've seen (I tend to remember him best, for some reason, as the CIA agent in "Volunteers" with Tom Hanks who named his knife "Mike"). Patricia Tallman of B5 fame (also from the Dawn of the Dead remake), who I considered. Oddly enough, Erin Moran (Joanie from Happy Days? Um...I was kidding earlier about that Potsie thing) was there. Cindy Morgan was there, too. She's probably best known in geek circles from her role in "Tron", but males from my generation all remember her way too fondly as Lacey Underall from "Caddyshack". She's still looking great, and I thought about getting an autograph from her for my buddy Justin at work, who still regularly talks about Caddyshack AND her.

But I spotted David Lo Pan first.

I was a huge Big Trouble in Little China fan back in the late 80s. Can't tell you how many times I saw it. If you remember the film, you remember the film's main bad guy, the evil, otherwordly David Lo Pan, played by veteran actor James Hong. James Hong was also in Blade Runner, and it turns out there was some Blade Runner stuff going on at the Con to celebrate the release of the Blade Runner "final cut" on DVD. And I noticed there were three tables together, with people lined up to talk to all three actors there. The first was Joanna Cassidy. Another was Joe Turkel. And third in line was James Hong. This was big for me. I'd actually run into him a couple of days before, waiting for the elevator with the guys. James is in a wheelchair now, and was with his people, and they were waiting behind us. I almost said something to him then, despite my usual rule about that, but they got tired of waiting and took off to find another elevator. And now here was a second chance! Figured I'd better not blow it again. So I got in line, totally ignoring Joanna Cassidy and Joe, and got to James. He had a number of color 8x10s
from his different films, but it was the big David Lo Pan shot that drew me in...and I knew exactly who I needed to get that for. My friend Jon and I were obsessed with this movie in college, and watched it together and quoted it at each other all the time. I would call him a bigger fan than me, so I knew he'd appreciate the autograph. So I got to meet James and request the photo for Jon, which he signed not only in English, but then took out a gold pen and signed it in Chinese characters as well (which was good, because I had to wait around an extra couple of minutes for it to dry, per his request). I also loved the fact that in the English part he signed it "To Jon - I love Miao Yin's blood" (see the movie if you don't get the reference). Great guy. I did have to get a couple of pics with him, and he had his people get out his camera and get a shot of us, too. Like I said...while that wouldn't have meant a lot to some people, to me it was a big moment, and that's the fun of the autograph area. I'll have to make more of a habit of that. I've now found the secret to doing so without feeling like too much of an annoying fan--get autographs, but get them for OTHER people. And while I was talking with James, I'm afraid Cindy Morgan got up and left. Sorry, Justin. And I was going to have her autograph the shot to him with "To Justin - You want to tie me up with some of your ties?". Funny if you've seen Caddyshack as many times as I (and Justin) have.

So Russ showed up, back from his sports geek happiness, and joined up with me and A.T. We did a final prowl around the aisles downstairs, where I got a chance to drop in and say hi to my bud Dan Cooney, a fellow Sacramento comic creator, and the creator of "Valentine". Got to see Brian from A-1 Comics, too, the #1 supporter of the Nice Guy (who bugged me again about getting a second issue out. He's going to keep on us, and we need that...). We met up with Tony and his kids, and soon it was time to leave the Con behind again. We headed back to the cars and then back to Tony's place for a night of barbecue and birthday fun for Christopher, who got to open up all his presents, while Emily entertained us with singing and the two-year old Catherine learned, from her dad, how to say "iPhone!" that night. Had a great final night with Tony and the family, and luckily, it didn't have to be too early of a night, since all three of us were flying out in the early evening on Monday. That Monday we all went out to lunch at Rubios (so Russ, now transplanted to Idaho, could get his fish taco fix), and then our traveling trio said good-bye to Tony and headed back to the airport to return our rental car and get ready to fly. We had some cocktails downstairs first, then said our so-longs. Russ headed for Boise, A.T. and I headed for Sacramento, sadly heading back to the nightmare of the auto claims business (both of us trying not to think about how many voice mails had probably piled up while we were gone), but armed with great memories, and creative inspiration, from another winner of a Comic-Con week in San Diego. Next summer? Of COURSE we'll be back again! Have you been reading? All that for either $25, or for free if I pre-reg in time? Very few chances in life to get THAT much for your entertainment dollar. We'll be back. And hopefully, we'll see YOU there!

And if you'd like to check out all my photos from this year's trip, feel free to do so at:

http://theniceguycomic.com/photos12.htm

Comic-Con 2007: Day Three

Saturday! As stated, this is the big mother day of the Con every year. This is, obviously, when most people show up. Most folks aren't nerd enough to be taking 4 days off work to attend a comic convention, and prefer to buy the 1-day Saturday pass (or maybe the 2-day to fit Sunday in) and try to cram in all the shopping and sights and events they can. As the Con organizers know this, they put all the big stuff on Saturday so the majority of attendees can check them out. So while you've just spent two days thinking how crowded the convention center and the panels and the city streets are, you get there Saturday and realize you hain't seen nothing yet. I think I just invented the word...the past tense of "ain't". Think I'll see any money from that?

If you're a 4-day person attending, though, you get all your shopping and sight-seeing done on Thursday and Friday, because, unlike the old days, you know that you'll be spending all of Saturday either standing in lines or parking your ass in either Hall H or Room 20 to sit through all the big stuff...or just to be sure you have a seat for your chosen event that comes later. So we showed up...um...not as early as we'd planned, but in time for Russ and I to get into Room 20 early, getting in the much, MUCH shorter wheelchair line to get in. Our target was what was arguably THE can't miss-event of the show--the panel for NBC's huge new hit "Heroes". To do this, we got into the TV Guide Preview panel in Room 20 at 11:30. Heroes would be at 12:45, Battlestar Galactica at 2:15, Futurama (which held no interest for me, as I'm not a watcher of that) at 3:30 and our other couldn't-miss one--the Joss Whedon panel (he IS my master now, after all...)--at 4:45. With the Futurama thing not being that important, I figured that'd be the time to break out, try to grab a snack (no time for lunch on Saturday, Dr. Jones), and kick it a bit before going back in for Joss, since it looked like the wheelchair thing was going to take away our leaving-and-not-getting-back-in fears.

Tony and A.T. didn't make it in with us, but did their own things, and would be meeting us back there for the Whedon thing (which they were going to get in line for, since I could only get one person in with me with the wheelchair excuse). This was a tough choice, doing the Room 20 thing, by the way. As I said, lots of big stuff was happening all day, which led to some painful decisions, such as missing the Hulk/Iron Man movies panel in Hall H. This was a big target of mine when I was planning for the trip, since Jon Favreau, of whom I'm a huge fan, signed on to direct Iron Man. The panel was going to show footage from the in-progress film, and have appearances by both Favreau and star Robert Downey Jr. Plus, the Hulk part of the panel, featuring the all-new "let's pretend the first one never happened" Hulk film's stars--Ed Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth and William Hurt, was going to be pretty sweet, too. But, as a testament to my love for Joss (and my hatred of Hall H), I had to choose Joss over that. Also missed a chance to see the pilot for the upcoming Sarah Conner Chronicles (which we've all decided is going to fail because 1) it's on Fox, and 2) it's too hard to pronounce the show's name. Try it five times. See if you don't find yourself calling it the Sarah Chronner Connicles. I'm just calling the show "Chronic", I've decided...). And other stuff, but hey...the price you pay for having too much cool crap to see.

The TV Guide "Hot List" panel turned out to be pretty damned cool. They were covering several shows, and for most, they had a combo of producer/star up there to represent. For example, we got ourselves a little Heroes pre-game fun with creator Tim Kring there with Masi Oka, who plays everyone's favorite Hero "Hiro" on the show (to say the crowd went wild for him was a good understatement). Other shows covered included Kyle XY (that whole "ooh, look, I don't have a belly button!" show), and its star Matt Dallas was there (yeah, I'm sure that's his real name...). Skeet Ulrich was there talking about Jericho, which has been big news this summer after its cancellation and rebirth (thanks to a very unusual save-our-show internet campaign that led to tons of nuts being sent to CBS (it's a Jericho thing. You'd get the gag if you watched it. I only know it myself because my friend Tim is totally obsessed with the show and was part of the campaign)). While he wasn't listed as being there, I got a big pleasant surprise when one of my favorite cult actors, Jeffrey Combs, showed up to represent the 4400 (a show I've yet to try but have heard very good things about). I think I most enjoyed the Bionic Woman stuff, though. In case you haven't heard, they're bringing the old classic back, but doing so in a way that's...well, in short, badASS. Looks to be dark and intriguing, and based on the stuff they showed us (and based on listening to the lovely star Michelle Ryan talking it up), I'm pretty psyched for it.

Ah, but like I said...Heroes was to be the big thing. And it was. Not only were producers Tim Kring and Jeph Loeb (whose comic writing I've loved for years) there, but the whole damn cast showed up! You talk about a crowd reaction and a whole lot of standing O's. Wow. With each one of their introductions, the actors were greeted with Beatle-esque cheers and adulation as they took the stage. And they were LOVING it. You can tell none of these folks knew what to expect from Comic-Con, as it was their first time there. They were having so damn much fun, and it showed. And for a 14-member panel, that took a while, and was worth every minute. We had Masi Oka again (Hiro Nakamura), James Kyson Lee (Ando Masahashi), Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli), Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli (vote for him!)), Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman), Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet (save her, save the world!)), Jack Coleman (Mr. Bennet), Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah Sanders), Ali Larter (Niki Sanders), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder Suresh), and Zachary Quinto (the magnificently evil Sylar (whom, they announced in a separate panel at the Con, has been cast as the young Spock in the upcoming J.J. Abrams-produced Trek movie). Also appearing was newcomer Dania Ramirez, who will be joining the cast in season two as a new "hero" named Maya.

They were just high on the excitement of it all. Joking around, high-fiving each other, working the crowd. A couple of the guys wore tee shirts under their other shirts. Masi wore one that said "Hayden is my Hero", while Greg wore one that said "Milo is my Hero". Though I think my favorite tee shirt was Jack Coleman's, reading "I'm just a paper salesman" (if you're hip to the show, you get that). It's amazing to see what a difference a year can make in someone's life. At last summer's Con, they were just showing a preview for the show, and no one had any idea who most of these people were. Now? Mega stars! I couldn't be happier for them, really. Because everyone behind this show deserves success, because they actually put out a great show. Not just a show that has fans because it's about super-heroes and nerds feel they have to watch it no matter how good or bad it is (there's probably still an internet campaign going to bring "Birds of Prey" back...). Give it up for Lost for raising the bar for television. Now everyone wants to do highly episodic, character-driven, mystery-fueled cliffhangers shows and seem to actually be hiring, in most cases, GOOD WRITERS to work on them. Heroes was a product of this movement, and, in my opinion, the best example.

Lots of highlights at the panel, many of which I can't now recall. A personal favorite moment was when one of the mics went out and Masi actually crawled under the table, up to the front of the stage (on hands and knees), fixed it, then crawled back. There was a moment when Greg took off one of the two tee shirts he was wearing to give to an audience member to give to his wife. Lots of laughs, lots of cheer-inducing moments. But the big moment was the special surprise guest. They took some time to talk about this new mini-series coming up in the spring, something called "Heroes: Origins". I believe the idea is to introduce six new heroes into the Heroes universe, and then viewers will get to vote on which one gets to join the regular show. Anyway, they're having different well-known creator-types come in to write and direct them. And they said they already had the first one picked, and he was backstage. The cast themselves didn't even know about this, or who this was supposed to be, so we got to see them all lean back and crane their necks and try to see who it was before he came out. And we got to see their reactions and hear things from them like "no way!" when he started coming out. And out walks Kevin Smith. Yeah, big crowd reaction. Good stuff. He sat down for just a minute to talk about the offer and what he was doing, without giving anything away. And, of course, he did it in his usual Kevin Smith style. He talked about how they first called him up and offered him a chance to do a Heroes episode, and he told them, "Yeah, great. Can I do an episode about the two gay guys? (The what?) You know, the gay couple? The Japanese guys?" Lots of laughs at Hiro and Ando's expense there. He talked about his wife giving him crap for watching Heroes when it first started, and then she got all into it, and he'd said, "See? Who's the fag now, huh?" You had to be there. It was funny. But he got out of the way quick and let the focus be where it should, on the Heroes themselves. Great panel that got us all very hyped for the upcoming season. And they had a little giveaway going, too, a free handout of a Comic-Con exclusive DVD cover that, I guess, you would replace your actual DVD cover for the season 1 DVD set with when it came out (which it since has). I wanted to get some goodies for my pal Martin, who couldn't make the Con, and he'd asked for something Heroes-related, so there it was. Sadly, I couldn't find where people were getting the "Vote Petrelli" buttons I kept seeing.

After that things got Galactic, and the Battlestar panel began. Producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick were there (love those guys...), and this time, female cast appearances only. They brought on Mary McDonnell (President Roslin), Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck...who's also going to be a Bionic nemesis on the new Bionic Woman show, by the way) and Tricia Helfer (Number Six). And a surprise, as Lucy Lawless showed up, too. To surprise us by saying she'd be back for the next (and final) season. The good news out of this panel was that while we have to wait until January for the final season to start, we've got a mini-series coming out in the fall to tide us over, one we got to see clips from that looks pretty damned cool. So...we got SOME info. But frankly, just wasn't that great of a panel. You would think that having all the hotties...uh, ladies...from the show there would be a good thing, but it really just broke down into a lot of just them giggling and being unable to talk much during the fits. They were cracking each other up just fine, but the rest of us were kind of left out. So since I'd been sitting in Room 20 WAY too long, it just seemed like a good time for Russ and I to head out, before that one ended, and hook up with the others before the Joss thing happened.

We went back out to the "sweet spot" and I made a cell call. My old pal Mike Taylor was to be showing up for Saturday, and we hadn't got to see each other yet with all my paneling. Mike's a guy that I lost track of almost 20 years ago, and we by sheer chance happened to bump into each other at LAST year's Galactica panel. We've been in touch and emailing ever since. He'd emailed me his schedule, so I knew this was a good time to track him down, so I buzzed him and he was on his way up to where we were. It was right then that Russ pointed out that Seth Rogen was walking by across the way. You have to understand that I've been ranting to people about Seth Rogen (and Judd Apatow) for like the past month before the Con, just because I've been watching my DVDs for Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, and I went out and saw Knocked Up in the theater. Judd and Seth are like my two biggest creative heroes right now. So there was Seth walking by, obviously coming from a "Superbad" panel (I hadn't even realized there was one) since he was with costar Jonah Hill. They seemed to be walking over to the latest addition to the upstairs of the Convention Center, a new bigger tarped outdoor autograph area. I could have gone and talked to Seth and Judd both. Damn. And I thought maybe I MIGHT try it after a while, but, as it turns out, I didn't. That's cool. I'd be busy with celebrity meetings the day after (foreshadowing...).

So Mike showed up and we got to catch up for a while and hang out up there overlooking the bay and yet another perfect San Diego day. By the way, you know what's hilARious fun? Ever sit between two people with just polar opposite views on things? There was Russ, there was Mike. Russ was talking about Watchmen, and Zach Snyder directing it, and what an amazing job he'd done with 300. Mike had to point out that he HATED 300. You could see Russ twitch. That discussion led to Frank Miller, and the Dark Knight Returns came up. Mike hated that, too. Russ...huge B5 fan that thought the spinoff series "Crusade" was a horrible piece of crap. Mike? Thought Crusade was a great show, and a much stronger show than B5 ever was. Like I said...comedy.

So got some hang-time with Mike, but soon it was time go get ready for the Joss thing, so we said out good-byes. And I'm sure we'll be seeing each other at next year's Con, too, which is actually right on schedule with how often (and where) I end up seeing a lot of my other friends, too. Once a year in San Diego. Hey, including friends like...Joss Whedon (see what I did there?). A.T. and Tony did their line thing, Russ and I went and did our own line (which seemed to go much faster than their line...hmmm...), and we all made it in for a meeting with...the master. I mentioned Scott McCloud before? If I can get both him and Whedon in each year, it's a great thing, but I have to get some panel time with at least one of them each Con, just to get me creatively inspired enough to make it through the year to come. So Joss was back, but, sadly, not really for any new project. Which was cool by me...I'd rather have a panel with Joss just talking about writing and creating and the business and all that. Which is pretty much what we got. He talked on a lot of different subjects. And, of course, he had to deal with some wacky audience questions. Why is it at every panel there's someone who wants to get the celeb to either sing or dance? And the celebs never do it (because, I'm sorry, they're celebs, not your personal whores), so it's a waste of everyone's time and pretty annoying. Some chick tried to get Joss to do some dance, which, of course, he didn't. Wonder if it was the same chick who tried to get Boreanaz to sing at a Bones panel I was at a couple years back? Anyway, Joss was Joss, entertaining and enlightening as ever, and I really enjoyed the apology he made...stating that he was sorry that it had been so long since he'd made any stories for us, and that he planned to turn his life toward fixing that, now. The big announcement--big for me, at least--was that the long-discussed "Ripper" series he had planned to make with the BBC, starring the Giles character from Buffy, looks like it's finally going to happen. Not as a series, though, but as a film, but I'll take that. I've been looking forward to that for a long time. Great to see Joss, as ever, and I plan to keep doing it, year after year, as long as he keeps showing up.

That ended our Con day, and we ended up going out to dinner by Tony's place at one of our old favorite haunts...Oggi's Pizza and Brewing Company (which Russ still insists on calling "Stuft", since that was its old name (it was "Stuft", right, not "Stuffed"?) before they had some radio contest to rename it for some reason a few years back). Tony's pal (whose name I still can't remember) joined us, and we had great chow and lots of pitchers. And we had a waitress who we're all probably going to remember for the rest of our lives. Just one of the most perfect faces I've ever seen. And we all soon realized we were so enthralled because she looked like the younger sister of Morena Baccarin (whom Firefly/Serenity fans may recall as the most beautiful space ho to ever boldly go...well, you know...). Classic Tony moment here. Someone had mentioned to her the actress similarity, and she didn't know who it was. So when she came back with some more pitchers, Tony whips out the iPhone, pulls up IMDB on the internet, and says here, this is the actress they were talking about. And Apple employee Tony got exactly the reaction he was aiming for. "Oh, wow, is that one of those iPhones?" Always on the job, that guy. No wonder they pay him the big bucks. Or we assume they do, based on his house...

Speaking of his house, we all headed back there to end up our night with cigars and more beverages on the back patio, while Wendy (wife o' Tony) was readying things for the next day's birthday festivities for their son, Christopher. This was the chance for both Tony and pal (both of Apple) to pass the iPhones around to us all. Wow. I had idea just how totally badass those things were. If it wasn't for the price point that I just can't justify meeting right now, I would totally have one. People talking smack about them are just doing so for the sake of smack-talk. They don't know what they're talking about. These are the real thing, and the future of what we're all going to be carrying. Get yours today. And now I'll wait for Tony to send me my check...

And for all our good times had thus far, there was still one more day of Con adventure coming!
One with shocking celebrity moments! Stay tuned!

Comic-Con 2007: Day Two

You know what the problem is with putting off writing one of these things until over a month after the event? The memory does tend to fade. Especially at my age... Which, I should point out, is younger than Russ. It's not pertinent to the point, but it just makes me feel better.

So, I'll try to recall Friday as best I can, but there may be some discrepancies. We got ourselves downtown again (I remember that much...), and I believe we all split up a bit. This being Friday, the bigger celeb stuff was starting, but really, with the big crowds, I was less and less interested in hitting Hall H. It's a funny experience...you look through your schedule, you circle all these things that you just HAVE to see and can't POSSIBLY miss...and then you get there and realize you just feel like roaming around and doing some shopping or something. Maybe that's just with people who've been to this thing enough years to have kind of seen it all, like myself. I clearly remember my first year, the 1990 Con. So young, so naive, so star-struck nerdy. The "celebrities" back then didn't include, like, movie stars. These were celebs only comic nerds knew. Guys like X-Men writer Chris Claremont, the biggest comic super-star of his day. And X-Men/Fantastic Four/Alpha Flight/You Name It artist John Byrne. And a host of smaller names. But they were big to me. That was my first! I'd never been to anything like Comic-Con (and compared to what Comic-Con has become, that one might as well have been the Flint, Michigan Comic-Con and Knife Show. But I, and my other traveling pals who were experiencing it for the first time, didn't want to miss a moment. We went to every panel, every workshop, even went to the Saturday night annual Masquerade (the costume contest that I haven't been to in many years). Quick very embarrassing story? I was part of a Champions APA back then (you're thinking that's enough of an embarrassing story right there, aren't you?), and I wanted to make a videotape for all those who were members of the APA who couldn't make it. And I, and my friend Joel (I'm taking him down with me) went around and thought it'd be a SWELL idea to stick our video camera in the faces of comic celebs and ask them to say "Hi" to the members of the Clobberin' Times. Dear...God. I was young, okay? That tape still exists, as do such "Hi to the Clobberin' Times" moments from Erik "Savage Dragon" Larson, Phil Foglio, Evan Dorkin, Joshua Quagmire, Mike Leeke, and even Chris Claremont himself...a very obviously annoyed Chris Claremont, who paused long enough to just say "This is Chris Claremont, saying Hi" and give us that look that said asking such a thing of him was not a good idea. Yeah? Well...I'm glad Jim Lee forced you out, then...ya...jerk. While we deserved no graciousness from any of them, thumbs up to those who were gracious anyway (for those of you Dorkin fans out there? Don't be disappointed....Dorkin was not gracious either. I know, you were worried there for a minute).

But now, there are the actual must-see panels, there are the hey-I'd-maybe-like-to-see panels, and there are the I'll-see-it-if-I'm-not-hungry-and-others-are-going panels. Good news is that there's something of some type going on in the panel rooms all day, so you can pick something (if it's not so popular that you should have gotten in line three hours beforehand) that sounds good at the moment and drop in and follow your fancy. I had considered doing the Hall H thing for the Warner Bros. presentation, but decided on something else (that I can't recall right now...I think this may have just been my solo wander time, something that's a must to pencil in for yourself during the four days somewhere. Yes, you go there to hang with your buddies, but you and your buddies all have different interests, too, and someone may want to be digging through back-issue stacks looking for old comics while someone else may be wanting to get an autographed paperback from that favorite author at one of the book publisher tables. You need at least a couple of hours to fly solo in there somewhere). But Russ made it in. Quite an impressive panel, too, with the likes of Joel Silver, Edward Burns, Kate Beckinsale (meow) and suddenly-all-the-rage director Zack "300" Snyder there. Russ was only there for the Snyder, because at this part in the panel he was there to talk about his in-progress project, the 20-years-overdue Watchmen film. For those not in the know, Watchmen is one of the most influential graphic novels in comic history. The Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons masterpiece was, I believe, the first graphic novel to be reviewed in Rolling Stone Magazine. It, along with Frank Miller's The Dark Knight returns, caused a major shift in the industry, and nothing's been the same since. And the task of making it into a movie has been talked about (and then fallen apart) many, many times in the two decades since. Though there are fans, like myself most times I consider it, who think it probably SHOULDN'T be made into a movie. How can you fit a 12-part opus like Watchmen into a two-hour film? I've been afraid of seeing it destroyed. However....now Zack's directing. I've been a fan of his since his remake of Dawn of the Dead came out (fast zombies rock!), and then became an even bigger fan when I sat through the 300 panel at the Con...and then letter sat stunned in the theater with everyone else when the film came out. Zack proved what he can do adapting graphic stories to film by translating Miller's tale into something so amazing. If he's on Watchmen, I'll give it a shot. And from everything Russ told me from the panel, I don't think we're going to be disappointed.

Other things I missed on Friday: Might have liked to have seen Clive Owen talking about the new film Shoot 'Em Up, which looks like a lot of fun, or have seen director Frank Darabont (hey, I'm directing another Stephen King film!) and star Thomas Jane giving us a sneak-preview of the upcoming film The Mist. Would also, if I had more of my SG:1 peeps there with me, liked to have seen the "SG:1, The Movie" panel, with some of the stars there pushing the upcoming straight-to-DVD movie spun off the series. And would like to have seen Scott McCloud (and family), my biggest inspiration in comics creation, the guy who I try to see every year to get that big boost of creative whammy from. But other stuff got in the way of those. But hey...I've seen panels with the SG folks before, and I've seen Scott a number of times. And I'm sure both those groups will be back again.

After my roaming and Russ's Zacking, Russ and I took off for lunch in the Gaslamp. We tried to get our buddy Andy to hook up with us (mentioned before? Husband of Jo?), but he was wrapped up, and I think this is when A.T. was doing his animation voicing contest thing. Can't remember what Tony was doing. So Russ and I hit Trophies for food and beverages. At this point, our only panel plans for the rest of the day were to see J. Michael Straczynski's panel on Babylon 5: The Lost Tales...the upcoming (as in coming out a couple days after the Con) straight-to-DVD B5 film. Russ and Aaron were the guys who were big B5 fans back in the day, and I came into the game late. I had just moved to San Diego with Aaron, and medical thing knocked me out of work and kept me on the couch, mostly, for a couple of months, when TNT picked up B5 and was just started to show the reruns from the beginning. So Aaron would come home from work and we'd kick it and watch a B5 every day. So I got to check it out from the very start, and watch it all the way through, and it was, in fact, a hell of a ride. We even had a get-together over at Russ's place when the final B5 episode aired. Between myself, Russ and Aaron, I won't say which one of us got teary-eyed at the end...but I can tell you it wasn't me or Russ. Just sayin'... It was a great show for four seasons, pretty weak for its fifth season (long story, but it wasn't actually supposed to HAVE a fifth season, so that was understandable), and ended with a great finale. It then followed with a couple of...um...questionable attempts at spinoff series (depends on who you ask. If you ask me, they were HORRIBLE!!!), and I kind of figured that was the end of it. But our man J.M.S. was apparently trying again, and testing the straight-to-DVD waters with something new for us. So, being the fans we were, we couldn't very well miss out on that. Even if it meant me missing Scott McCloud.

But first it was back to the Con to kill time before the late B5 panel, so we headed to our usual "sweet spot" for cigar smoking. Have I mentioned this spot yet? I think I did but didn't go into detail of why it's so "sweet". Aside from Hall H (downstairs), all the other big stuff happens upstairs...the bigger celeb stuff, as they have bigger panel rooms up there (including Room 20, which is the next best thing to Hall H). There's a spot there where security walks the celebs around to get them to their panel rooms. So, knowing the spot, we kick it there, enjoy the sun, and watch famous (and semi-famous) people go by us. And sometimes even say hi. Maybe it's the cigar-smoking that makes it feel more casual, but there's none of that "Ooh, look, it's so-and-so!" fanboy vibe happening. We're just chillin'. A celeb will walk by. For example, a couple or three years back, we were smoking, and security was walking the cast of "Invasion" by, which included Brent Spiner (you know, Mr. Data? If you're reading a blog called The Geek Side, you had BETTER know that). So Russ looks over and says, through the cigar in his teeth, "Hey, it's Spiner". Just casual. Spiner hears this, looks over as he walks by, smiles and says "How are you?". To which all us smokers just nodded and said "Doing good" or some such. Like, you know, we were just celebrities like him. Yeah, it's got to be the cigars...

Tony and A.T. joined us out there, along with Tony's pal...damnit, I forgot Tony's pal's name. Or was that the following day? Garrrr! Memory loss be evil! This is why I need to take more photos like I used to. That used to help me remember the details and help me set a timeline. I'm lucky if I remember to pull out the camera these days. Ah, well. But we kicked it and smoked. A couple celeb sightings. I mentioned that Stargate SG:1 thing. I got to see Amanda Tapping (mmmm) from that show on the way to that panel. That's always nice. She's purty. But eventually we did make our way to the B5 panel, which was a lot of fun. B5 stars Bruce Boxleitner, Tracy Scoggins and Peter Woodward were up there with them, and we got to see a preview of the "film". It's actually more like two episodes of a series. "The Lost Tales" will hopefully be a series of "films" (depending on the sales on this one), and stories will focus on individual B5 characters. In this first one, there are tales with Sheridan and Lochley). The only thing that made me doubt that we're going to get a series is when (I think it was) the moderator started things out by asking the audience "So, how many of you have already pre-ordered yours on Amazon?". It was one of those questions asked with an expectation of a certain response. Hey, it was a room filled with B5 fans, right? You'd expect thunderous applause all around. Uh...not so much. I was pretty shocked at the lack of applause there. Hey, maybe it was the marketing. I'll be honest...I knew nothing about this until the Con (actually, Russ had emailed us about it a couple of months before, but I had somehow completely blocked that out....). I got online right when I got home and ordered mine. And watched it. It was...okay. I liked it. The Sheridan one was better. The only dismaying thing is that they're having to do this on a SERIOUS shoestring budget. It's the only way they could get it done. And it shows. They don't have the old sets anymore. I think they just have one greenscreen room, from the look of things. And apparently they couldn't afford extras, either, because it looked like this 5-mile long space station had about four people living on it. But you work with what you got, and that's what J. Mikey did, and did a pretty good job with what he had, I think. We'll see what happens with it.

At this point (If I'm not getting my nights confused) we headed back to La Jolla to grab some dinner at the Rock Bottom Brewery, where we did get to hook up with Andy this time. Fun and feast and liquid nirvana was had. Mmm. Rock Bottom. Titan Toothpicks GOOD. I do like to hit that place whenever I'm back in the old Diego. We had a good time, but not TOO good of a time, because the BIGGEST day of the Con was coming. Saturday. Not only the biggest panels with the biggest names, but the most populated day at the convention center. NIGHTmare crowds! Adventure awaited after a few hours of sleep...