This is Part 2 of my 3-part series on Comic Con. Since there's a lot to tell, I'm just going to get right into it.
7:00am - Wake up for another day of geek-tastic fun times. I am dressed and ready to go by 7:30, but need caffeine badly.
7:36 - My uncle meets me at my house. Yes, I have a cool uncle who's also a geek and loves comics even more than I do. He decides he wants to drive into the city. The adventure begins... but first, caffeine!
8:58 - Exit Lincoln Tunnel. Hello, NYC, I'm inside you now!
9:20 - Arrive at Javits Center and am approached by someone who recognizes my Jukebox the Ghost bag. I share my love of the band for a bit before proceeding.
It is madness and confusion. I am herded onto a line, but I know not what for. All I know is there are many people before me. I have to wonder at what ungodly hour they had to wake up to accomplish this feat. I mean, I thought I woke up early...
*costume sighting* - someone behind me is dressed as the 11th Doctor - complete with fez. I like fezzes. Fezzes are cool. I am inspired and start thinking of more costume ideas for Halloween.
9:50 - Doors open and everyone cheers. We slowly make our way in - back to where we started! Apparently before doors officially open it seemed like a good idea to our show-runners that they hide us in the basement. I do not question this and simply make my way to the next adventure.
10:23 - Stand in yet another line, this time for my second panel of the weekend with Stan Lee. This one is called "MTV Geek".
10:55 - Still waiting in line. Had another Doctor Who sighting, this one the 10th Doctor. It made me smile. The more I think about it, the more I want to do a DW costume for Halloween this year. I start planning how to make this work and get even more excited. I wonder if the glow forming inside can be seen by those around me.
11:12 - They finally let us in, and we take our seats. I'm happy because this time I'm actually allowed to take pictures AND I have pretty good seats.
11:17 - Introductions. The crowd cheers loudly for their Brigadier, Stan Lee. The panel begins. Stan Talks about his project with MTV called "The Seekers". It all seems to be very hush hush, but there is going to be a contest to win a chance to work on this thing with them. At least, that's how it sounded to me. I wish I was talented enough to enter: *sigh*
Next we got a preview of some other projects MTV Geek is working on. Some stuff looks interesting, including a comic called Hell Town. At this point Stan Lee leaves, I'm assuming to do his signing. More books are introduced, including a graphic novel called "Agent Mom" that looks like it could be cool and is brought to us by Alaina Huffman *aka* Black Canary on Smallville.
Another book that looks like it has possibilities is "The Gloom" by Tony Lee, which, among other things, involves a monkey with a fez. See, I told you fezzes were cool. And I seriously can't help but think of DW whenever fezzes are involved. Anyone else? Anywho, this book starts in November, and I do believe I will be checking it out. More info on all these things can be found at geek.mtv.com
11:48 - MTV panel ends. We move closer to the front for the next panel, "DC Universe"
12:10pm - DC panel begins to thunderous applause. The excitement energizes the room (although the Metallica music playing in the background certainly helps).
In the world of Superman we hear about "new Kryptonite" that affects us humans instead. *is intrigued* We also get news on Brightest Day and it is hinted that new things will be revealed, but no specifics are given. And in other news, Nick Spencer is taking over for Supergirl at Issue #60 (Jan 2011). And "Earth One" is announced, which gives us a look at Superman at the age of 21, when he makes the move to Metropolis and takes his final steps to becoming Superman. This is something that really peaks my interest, especially with Smallville coming to an end. The presentation concludes there and they open it up to questions.
1:14 - Panel ends. Time to eat.
*costume sighting* - Codex, from the webseries "The Guild". This girl looks enough like Felicia Day for it to be both scary and awesome. I promise the picture will be part of the photo post I plan on doing (most likely Monday).
2:20 - Now that HP levels have been restored, we decide to wander the exhibits. I happen upon previously mentioned Codex and compliment her on her costume. The people I have met so far have been super friendly. It's almost like a little nerd family.
Eventually a friend finds me amongst the masses. I later find out that yet another friend is here visiting from Boston.
After much browsing I discover two deals I could not pass up - the complete Dresden Files for $6 and the Dark Phoenix book for $7 (75% off!). Add 1 to the win column.
5:11 - I think I have covered just about every inch of this place. HP drained to the lowest amounts, I rest to bring levels back up.
(Sidebar - I don't have to tell you "HP" refers to "hit points" and not "Harry Potter," right? We're all geeks here? Good. Moving on...)
5:46 - Bored, I start taking pictures of whatever is around me. I'm getting some good shots when, suddenly, my "low battery" light starts flashing. Glad I brought my spare ones. W00t for preparedness!
6:48 - Waiting in line for the "Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep" panel, I chat with a couple of people about the blog (among other things). Might be seeing them tomorrow at the Walking Dead panel.
6:58 - I am joined by friends from yesterday and we enter the panel before ours, "LGBT Comics, Creators, and Characters". The room is packed. I am pleasantly surprised that this is an issue many people seem to care about. I guess if anyone is going to be accepting of a group that happens to be "different" though, it would be this community.
7:44 - The zombie panel is about to start. They coax people in by saying, "The more of you we can pack in, the more of a threat we can pose to the convention when the apocalypse comes." I know right away that this panel is going to be amusing.
7:50 - With everyone seated, the panel begins. The title of the panel is explained to be a chapter in the book "The Proper Care and Feeding of Zombies" by Mac Montandon, who was leading the panel. He introduced the rest of the participants, all of whom have their own zombie books out. One author had this to say - "Don't buy internet small pox. If you take nothing else away from this, let it be that."
The author of "Paul is Undead" (Alan Goldsher) credits Stephen King for giving him zombie fever. That and Shaun of the Dead. "Zombies and funny - count me in," he says. Robin Becker, the author of "Brains"credits Dawn of the Dead to her indoctrination.
All of the panelists have a great sense of humor about their craft, especially Goldsher and Mira Grant (author of "Feed"). Grant had us in stitches as she described her background in zombies. Best quote came from her - "The zombies are the universal health care of the monster world. There's no participatory stupidity on your part. They're just gonna come for your a$$". She actually had a lot of great quotes, too many to account for all of them. I wish I had my video camera and could have recorded most of this panel.
Eventually "Zombie Strippers" comes up and the moderator takes it as a cue to turn to the audience for questions. The panel offered free books to those who had a question to ask. When free things are mentioned, everyone jumps up. Well, maybe not everyone, but a significant number of them did. I thought the whole panel was really amusing and exceeded my expectations. Kudos to everyone involved.
8:45 - Panel concludes with one last word - Braaaiiinnss! I stay put for the next panel, "Roddenberry is Back".
8:58 - Panel starts by feeding the audience. They figured since it was 9:00 we could use some food, so they got us pizza. I am oddly hungry after the zombie panel.
After everyone gets their food, the real panel starts with a video introducing us to the worlds Roddenberry has created. Next they talk about continuing the legacy that Gene Roddenberry started. One of the big projects mentioned was "Days Missing" - a graphic novel series they are working on. There is also talk of "keeping the spirit alive," which refers to the spirit of their founder, Gene Roddenberry. They mention the documentary "Trek Nation" which was announced is finally done and will possibly be shown at the Star Trek convention in Las Vegas. The documentary is an "autobiography of Gene through the lens of his son". We got a good look at all the projects they're currently working on. Personally, I'm especially excited about 'Days Missing". It involves a character whom nobody knows but is apparently very important in history and has been a part of many critical events ranging all of time. Intrigued? Yeah, I was too. In fact, I thought the whole panel was really interesting, both smart and funny. The only thing that was disappointing was that more people weren't hearty enough to stick around for this one last panel. Oh well, it just meant more food for us...
10:10 - The final panel of the evening comes to a close. Another great end to another great night.
That about wraps up this post. The rest is travel time and writing the actually blog. Gonna go to sleep now and recharge so I can do it all again tomorrow. One day left!
PS - In editing this post I read "travel time" as "time travel". Yes, this is where my brain goes at 2am.
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