Eric AD’s Comic Con 2011 Journal -Days Two and Three
My first day at Comic Con was all kinds of awesome….so would the following Friday and Saturday live up to it?
Yeah, not so much. But all was not lost. After essentially getting no sleep at all the night before, Friday was a late start day, and I missed the first panel I wanted to go to. So by the time I wander into the Convention Center, it is like 12:30 or so in the afternoon. So I get some lunch, wander around the floor for a bit, and get in line for my first panel of the day…
Friday, July 22nd, 2:00 P.M. Green Lantern The Animated Series Panel
The one and only place in media where DC Comics kicks Marvel’s ass is in the realm of animation, and almost all thanks to the work of one Bruce Timm. His 90’s versions of Batman and Superman are ageless. In contrast, try watching the 90’s X-Men and Spider-Man animated shows today. And Justice League Unlimited remains the finest example of how to do a super team in almost any media.
So know Warner Brothers has handed Timm the reins of Green Lantern for what is his first CGI animated series. The designs for the characters are strictly Timm-esque, and while at first it was a little off putting seeing his style in 3D form, I got used to it quickly. The clips they showed were light and fun and had great action. It seems the show is kind of a buddy cop show with Hal Jordan and Kilowog. Just watching the few scenes I saw at the panel made me wish we got this version of Hal Jordan instead of the whiny ass version that we got in the live action movie.
Apparently, the chief villains of the first season will be the Red Lantern Corps (the producers were forbidden to use Sinestro or the Sinestro Corps, probably due to the live action movie producers assuming they would be in Green Lantern 2.) Eventually, if the show proves to be a hit, we will see the other colored Lanterns emerge, as well as characters like John Stewart, Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner.
And then came the big surprise. Conan O’Brien crashes the panel. And all of a sudden this becomes the Conan show. Green Lantern who?
He and Timm debut their new cgi trailer for the super hero character that Timm created on a skit on O’Brien’s show “The Flaming C.” The trailer is pretty hilarious, and all of a sudden, this panel becomes an outright carnival show, with Conan trading barbs with the audience and the audience eating it up with a spoon. The whole thing was just a blast, and I feel like I’m starting off Day 2 in a good way after all.
Friday, July 22nd, 3:P.M- 6:P.M. The True Blood Debacle
If there is one panel I do not miss every year, it is the True Blood panel. I love this over the top show, with its over-sexed southern trashy vampires and other supernatural hotties. Most importantly, the panels for this show give me an excuse to act like a 15 year old girl at a Beatles concert in 1965 (or I could say a Justin Bieber concert now, but I’ll stick to my cooler Beatles analogy) I get to scream and holler and yell “OW!” at really hot men who play vampires and werewolves and were-panthers and gay witches and shit, just like a little girl, and I love it. I also get an awesome goody bag (really, HBO does hand out the best swag. I still wear my V.I.L.F. shirt I got at last year’s True Blood panel) So no, I don’t wanna miss it. I get in line at around 3.PM. for a 5:30 panel. Just like I did last year and the year before. I meet a bunch of Comic Con newbies in line, who I assure (as a long time veteran of Ballroom 20 lines) that our place in line is solid and we should get in all right.
And then we get to the area right near the entrance to Ballroom 20…and we’re denied. I’m super pissed. They could have at least come to us earlier (as they have in years past) done a head count and said “Ok guys, if you’re at this point in the line, you’re not getting in, I’m sorry” But they never bothered. Shit, at least at Disneyland, when you wait two hours in line for a ride, you know you’re getting on fuckin’ Space Mountain at the end. At Comic Con, ya just never know, you might get jack. And worse, I felt awful for these people whom I stood in line with and assured they’d get in only to get denied. I feel like a tool. And now I’ve got a screaming headache to boot.
Word of Advice to the organizers of Comic Con: The HBO shows True Blood and Game of Thrones are HUGELY popular. Please start putting them in Hall H instead of Ballroom 20. It is absurd. Hall H seats 6,500 people over Ballroom 20’s 4000 or so. Both of these shows could easily pack Hall H. I know that Ballroom 20 is mostly for TV and Hall H is for Films, but in this day and age, those distinctions don’t matter. Fans pay a lot of money for Comic Con and don’t wanna waste their time standing in line for nothing. End of rant.
I choose to stay in line and get decent seats for the next event, which happens to be in the same room, the Premiere of Batman: Year One, the latest DC Universe animated film.
Friday, July 22nd, 8:00 P.M. Batman: Year One Animated Movie Premiere and Q&A
After several hours of standing in lines and then just plain waiting around, the Premiere of Batman Year One begins at 8:00 P.M. The movie is 75 minutes long or so, and afterwards there is a fairly entertaining Q&A with producer Bruce Timm and members of the cast like Bryan Cranston, Katee Sackhoff, and Ben McKenzie. Lots of off color jokes were made about Sackhoff’s last name and I would have found them all funnier if I wasn’t so tired and hungry and cranky at this point. If you’re wondering just what I thought of this new movie, check out my review right here.
A few choice announcements were made at this panel, where Timm revealed 2012’s series of Animated DC Universe movies. First off will be Justice League: Doom, which will be a re-imagining of the JLA story Tower of Babel. It was the last script turned in by the late Dwayne McDuffie, so I’m really looking forward to this one. After that, we are getting Superman VS. The Elite, which is very likely an adaptation of the Action Comics story where Superman faces off against thinly veiled versions of The Authority called The Elite. “Truth, Justice and the American Way” is considered one of the best Superman stories ever done, so I’m curious to see how they tackle this. And then came the big announcement: Warner Animation will be doing their first two part animated movie-Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. The audience loses their shit. Timm also hints at The Killing Joke in the not too distant future as well. The only thing that bums me out is that it seems Warners is making sure all we get from now on is a constant rotation of Batman, Superman and Justice League movies. This is kind of a bummer, but expected.
It is now 10pm, and I finally put some food in my stomach and head back to the hotel for some much needed aspirin. Most of my Geekscape roomies are off partying, but I’m in no mood for such things. I am grateful they let me use the bed tonight, I can say that much. Thursday I was having such a good time I was considering forgoing my train ticket home Saturday night and just staying through Sunday as I normally do, but now all I want is my own bed to sleep in. I’ll also admit, with most of my fellow ‘scapists off on assignment or doing their own thing, and most of my other non Geekscape friends unable to attend the Con this year, I’ve spent most of my time alone (with the occasional bumping into friends) …..and it sorta/kinda sucks. Comic Con is meant to be shared, and although it was fun making new friends in various lines (Hi Holly!) I really miss my peeps.
Hopefully, Saturday (my last day) will be better.
Saturday, July 23rd. Last Day At Comic Con
Saturday is remarkably light on major movie panels this year. Last year, I was in Hall H the entire Saturday, which showcased things like the Green Lantern panel, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s Paul, and Marvel Studios One-Two-Three punch of Thor, Captain America and the cast of the Avengers assembling together for the first time on stage. Oh, and there was even a stabbing! This year…Hall H is stuff like Snow White and the Huntsmen and The Immortals. *yawn* With stuff like The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, Battleship, Dark Shadows and John Carter coming out next summer, you’d think Hall H would be overflowing on Saturday with marquee stuff, but nope. But that’s ok, it let’s me go to the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton across the street to see the one panel I care about this Saturday: Joss Whedon.
Saturday, July 23rd, 2:00P.M. Joss Whedon
I’m a huge Whedonite, and one of my earliest Comic Con memories was seeing Joss Whedon talk up his upcoming Buffy musical episode (which is now ten years ago. I’m old. And so are you.) Joss Whedon always makes for an entertaining hour of fun. He’s not here under the Avengers movie banner, but instead under the Dark Horse Comics banner promoting the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 and Angel & Faith comic book series.
On Season 9, Joss addressed some of the issues fans had with Season 8, which had larger than life stories due to the unlimited budget (and less censors) that a comic book has over a television series, which many fans felt left Buffy and her Scooby gang in less relatable circumstances. “I know many of you have been generals in mystical wars and had sex that created universes.” cracked Whedon when talking about Season 8. in fact, it seemed much of Season 8 was about the “bigger budget” so to speak “It’s season 8, it’s a comic and we can do these things! That became a bit of an albatross……people were more interested in Buffy’s life than the fact we can draw bigger things. Having discovered that I can do it differently than the TV show, I’ve discovered I don’t really want to” This comment drew much fan appreciation.
A fan asked how Joss felt about the LGBT community being fans of his shows. “I’m totally against it. You’re making the Lord angry!” After his quip, he said “It absolutely means everything to me that the gay communities have embraced the shows. They are for them as much or more than anyone else.” In addition, he said he wants to add a strong gay male character to a future series because there’s only so many times he can write lesbians. “This isn’t feminism, this is Cinemax! It’s time for equal opportunity? Besides, who doesn’t love cock?! I Heart You, Joss Whedon.
Other random tidbits thrown out during the panel was such news as final confirmation that a Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long-Blog part 2 is indeed happening soon (probably post Avengers) and that the Firefly/Serenity universe might finally go forward in comics and novels, as until now all Firefly comics have been “Lost Tales” set during the time of the series. When asked about whether or not there was still life in the Ripper series for the BBC (a long proposed series set around the Buffy character of Rupert Giles, set on his home turf in England) Joss didn’t sound very enthusiastic, but said some of those stories might find a home in the upcoming Angel and Faith series, as those characters are living in Gile’s estate in England and inheriting some of his cases. And finally, Joss would like to do a Buffy musical on Broadway…. as long as it plays across the street from the theater where Dr. Horrible is playing. I’m so down for that.
I can’t think of a better way to end the Con that with this Joss Whedon panel, so I decide to end my convention experience on a happy memory and get ready to go home. (after snapping a few last minute pics) Thursday was great, Friday coulda been better, and Saturday has been pretty good. A solid B for my Comic Con 2011 experience. Here’s hoping next year is an A+.
