With Comic Con over and done with, and after a day of rest and thought process, I can finally post what my best experiences this year were. Unfortunately, I didn’t attend every panel, see every celebrity, get every autograph, and buy every collectible I could. Still it was one of the best conventions I’ve ever attended. So here’s the rundown:
#6. Disney Panel
Even waiting outside for about an hour just to get into Hall H was quite a fun experience (more on that later). Got to meet cool people, and take a few cosplay pics as well. They showed a clip of Toy Story 2 with the 3D effects, and it looked great. Can’t wait to see it in October. There were more clips shown as well, from the 3D version of Beauty and the Beast (to be released on Valentine’s Day), and a few clips of The Princess and the Frog. Finally, Hayao Miyazaki appeared, and showed an amazing clip of Ponyo. After being interviewed for a bit by John Lassetter, they both received the Comic Con Ink Pot Award.
#5. Masquerade
Masquerade was a lot of fun this year, mainly for 3 reasons: 1) first time I was able to watch the whole thing, 2) first time I was able to watch it in Ballroom 20 rather than a satellite room, and 3) watching it because we had friends competing in it. They were also able to give us tickets, allowing us to not have to wait in line to get them. Being able to take a break in between the con and the masquerade was sooooo relaxing. Would’ve ranked higher if it weren’t for the really boring part between the masquerade skits and the announcement of winners. Luckily, our friends, members of Gomu Gomu no Cosplay and Sakura Cosplay, won an Industry Award for a cash prize for their Batman skit. They even used voice-work similar to Mark Hamill’s Joker and Arleen Sorkin’s Harley Quinn, who in my mind will always be their voices whenever I read comics. Sorry, Heath. Batman: The Animated Series holds a huge place in my heart.
#4. DC Animated Universe Panel
One of the main reasons I’ve wanted to attend Comic Con in the first place has finally happened. After a 6 year hiatus, Kevin Conroy finally made his return to Comic Con. Was only able to see him during the DCAU Superman/Batman: Public Enemies panel. It was so cool hearing him talk as Batman’s voice, IMO the definitive Batman voice. As an added bonus, Clancy Brown was there as well, the voice of Lex Luthor (IMO definitive also). Saw a few clips, and it looked very similar to the comic it’s based on. Can’t wait for the movie. Also, it was very entertaining being able to listen to their stories while they were doing voice recordings.
#3. Hanging out with Convention Friends
In this picture, I’m on the far right, dressed as the Crimson Avenger from the animated series Justice League: Unlimited (JLU for short). To my left is Katie, dressed as Jayna from the Wonder Twins. She’s holding Zan as a bucket. The story is that Zan wasn’t able to buy a badge in time, so we’re sneaking him in as his bucket of water form. Katie and I are both members of Suupaa Kaizoku Cosplay, and I’ve actually attended everying convention over the last year (from last year’s Anime Expo to this year’s Comic Con) with her, though last year’s AX and Comic Con I still wasn’t a member of SK Cosplay. To our left are two members of Gomu Gomu no Cosplay, whom we were able to meet and befriend at this year’s Fanime. Before this year, every Comic Con I’ve attended (including with my friends) I’ve mostly been left to my own devices. Going to a lot of big conventions, I’ve somewhat mastered what’s known as the “con-walk”—being able to weave through a large crowd at a convention because I need to line up for an autograph/panel/any other time constraint. Doing this myself was easy; doing this with my friends meant I left them in the dust. However, Katie and the others pictured know the con-walk as well. It was awesome just doing normal convention shenanigans. They helped us out by giving us masquerade tickets. We were able to help them out by giving them autograph tickets to Moment #2. Hanging out after the convention for dinner at Ruby’s was a blast as well, but that’s a story not for this blog. Sorry. =p
#2. Browncoats Panel
Katie and I arrived at the Browncoat Panel late, and it filled up to capacity. So we had to wait outside for people to leave. While we did, an unannounced guest arrived: Nathan Fillion! I was extremely jealous of everyone inside because Katie and I were next in line to go in when he arrived. We figured no one would leave now that Nathan arrived, but we waited anyway. About an hour later, we were finally able to go inside, while he was still speaking. I got to ask a question about his relationship with DC and Warner Bros. and if he’d do more voice work for them again (Vigilante on JLU, Steve Trevor on Wonder Woman), and he said he definitely would. Also, he asks that people stop asking him about more Firefly/Serenity. He’ll never be the first to know the answer, and he’s already happy with what they’ve done with it. As a Browncoat, I’m both glad and sad to hear this. We’ll still have upcoming comics, and we’ll always have the awesome single season and movie sequel. It’s good to know that he (along with the other cast members) are at peace with no more Firefly/Serenity, but I’m sad that I won’t get to see more in the near future. As a testament to how much more awesome Nathan can be, he took a group picture with everyone in the room. Two rows of people were able to stand with him while they were photographed. The pics are all posted on the California Browncoats website. Ignore my costume for this picture…I was dressed up as a douchebag version of Luffy from One Piece (an original costume). And as a last gift, everyone in the panel was able to get a ticket allowing them to jump ahead of the line for an autograph signing at the Browncoats Booth in the exhibit hall. Not knowing Nathan was going to make an appearance, I left my Dr. Horrible dvd in my friend’s car, and my Mal Reynolds Maquette at home. Katie didn’t have anything either. Luckily, we met up with our friends from Gomu Gomu no Cosplay and were able to give them the tickets to use. While some waited in line, we con-walked to the middle of the exhibit hall to buy the Dr. Horrible dvd for her (the one dressed as Ice) to get signed. We made it back in about 20 minutes, which should technically be impossible to do. It was fun, tiring , and awesome, and I’m glad we were able to help our friends out.
#1. Meeting Dan Riba
So how was the Nathan Fillion moment not #1? Especially since he’s my *cough*mancrush*cough* Ahem, excuse me. What could possibly top that? Well, this experience is actually related to ALL 5 other experiences, and pretty much made this convention for me. I was able to meet Dan Riba. Currently, Dan is a director for the hugely successful Cartoon Network series Ben 10. However, prior to this gig, he was also a director and story board artist for all of the DCAU under Bruce Timm. He’s had his hand in from Batman: The Animated Series to Justice League: Unlimited. So that’s related to Moments #5 and #4. In need of a really obscure Justice League character to cosplay as for our Fail!JL group, I remembered the JLU Episode “Patriot Act” which has a cameo of the Crimson Avenger, and showcases other League members who were originally a part of the Seven Star Soldiers of Victory, like Vigilante and Green Arrow; so that’s related to Moment #2. Seeing the cameo made me do the costume for our Fail!JL group, Moment #3. The real kick was how we met. Katie and I were waiting in line for the Disney panel in Hall H, and Dan recognized my costume as being the Crimson Avenger from JLU. After he told me it was because he was a director for the series, I pretty much flipped my lid. We talked for a while as we waiting in line while it wasn’t moving. He told me some amazing stories, like one from the recording session for “The Great Brain Robbery” from JLU season 3. He autographed my Batman Vol. 1 dvd, I told him about the DCAU panel where Kevin Conroy was appearing, and was able to meet up with him again after the panel (the picture above). He noticed Katie dressed as Jayna, and when we told him the backstory of her carrying a bucket, he almost fell over laughing! It was the greatest thing ever! He’s one of the nicest industry people I’ve ever met at a convention. Thank you, Dan for those wonderful stories and great memories.
Well, that’s it. My Top 6 Moments at Comic Con. I took a lot more convention pictures, mainly of cosplayers. Also had a couple of videos for both research and lulz, but we’ll see if I decide to post those. To see the rest of my Comic Con photos, click here.
A big thanks to Mike, Dariane, and James from ThePopcornKids. Fun hotel room times, and sadly we didn’t all get to enjoy our free happy hour together. Granted, Comic Con was extremely busy for everyone. And a last big thanks to Edward, for both attending Comic Con with me again for the past few years and for giving myself and Katie a ride. We’re definitely going to go to Arcade Infinity and Riverside for some carne asada fries soon. Because those carne asada fries from Downtown SD sucked.
