Comic cons

I should go to one of those things in Vancouver some time, but I've not to this point.

Unfortunately, it seems James Marsters has cancelled due to a scheduling conflict. That said, it turns out that the Buffy panel overlaps with Monica Rial's panel, so I miiiiiight skip the Buffy panel and go to hers now. I figure if I have to choose, I'll get more out of seeing a more obscure guest in person than someone who I can probably find several TV interviews for. Plus, all due respect, but given his rather, er, colorful history with comic cons, I can't say that Nicholaus Brendan is someone that I'm desperate to see.

I'm back from the con, and it was a blast. David Tennant was cool, though his panel was extremely packed and felt just a bit rushed and sterile as a result. Catherine Tate's panel was smaller and a bit more laid back, and seemed more personable; she was able to stay on a single question longer and gave more detailed stories about her time working on all her shows and her fellow cast members. The best panel I saw all day, though, was John Barrowman's. It was less a structured Q&A and more stand-up comedy, and let me tell you, that guy can put on a show. Extremely funny, very enthusiastic and exuberant, and very good at engaging the audience. One thing I was impressed with is that he spoke directly to a deaf audience member who was with an interpreter for a few minutes, and did it in a way that suggested he was actually familiar with sign language and deaf culture, making jokes about his experiences with sign language and interpreting at other panels and getting the whole room to do that twisting-wrists motion that deaf people do instead of clapping. He came despite being in pain from a recent appendectomy, too. All in all, he just seemed like a cool guy who really cares about his fans.

Besides the Doctor Who headliners, I saw Monica Rial, an anime dub voice actor from shows like Tokyo Ghoul, Assassination Classroom, and Saga of Tanya the Evil. Before her panel, I went to get her autograph, and there was no one else in line, so I got to talk to her briefly. That was cool, but also a little trippy, because her normal speaking voice sounds exactly like Tanya Degurechaff. Anyway, I got this:



Sweet! Though, now I have to explain to everyone I know why I have a picture that says "Being Eater FTW!" displayed in my home.


The one panel that was a bit disappointing was Emma Caulfield and Nicholaus Brendon. I only saw the beginning, but Nicholaus Brendan had this weirdly raunchy sense of humor that seemed to make Emma and the moderator uncomfortable. Neither of them seemed all that into answering questions, either, and the audience seemed really low-energy compared to every other panel I went to. It didn't help that it was in the same huge ballroom where David Tennant and Catherine Tate had a packed room not two hours ago, but only a few rows of the closest chairs were filled and the rest of the gigantic room was empty. It felt uncomfortably like a Galaxy Quest situation.

I will say that there was this weird moment I had later on in the day where there was no line at Emma Caulfield's autograph booth and she was just talking to her assistant, and I happened to walk by on my way to somewhere else and was less than five feet from her when I passed. Which, I dunno, that shouldn't really be all that unusual, but there was something odd about being that close to an actor on one of my favorite shows when she wasn't actually doing anything in her capacity as a celebrity guest.

Oh, is that supposed to say "being eater" ? I thought it said "binge eater," haha. Not that that's much better!

And I always got the impression Emma Caulfield never really dug being on BTVS, hence her asking to have Anya killed off so she wouldn't have to come back and reprise the role later, and her iciness about being on the show all these years later.

Had Marsters been there, I imagine the attendance would've been notably better. And while I'll agree that Nicholas (why do you keep adding the "u"? Inside joke?) Brendon hasn't had much success since the show left the air, Caulfield's kept pretty busy with guest and recurring roles on television.

I was at New York Comic-Con yesterday - my first time getting the full experience. (I was planning to go last year, but that was before the Con schedule interfered with my midterm schedule. Bleh.)

The place was packed - I could barely move from one exhibit to the next. Eventually, claustrophobia got the better of me, and I migrated over to the comic book section. There were some amazing sales (it was the last day, so clearance sales were common). It'll take me years to read this stuff. But worth it.

An elder friend of mine decided to incorporate the cane he walks with into his costume. And the only cane-bearing characters he could think of were Grunkle Stan and Mr. Poopybutthole. He ended up going as Grunkle Stan, because you really don't want to spend all your time at Comic-Con explaining that you're Mr. Poopybutthole.