Once a year, the Southern California city of San Diego, which normally plays second fiddle to Los Angeles, gets the spotlight. That time of year is only known as Comic-Con International, the biggest convocation of pop culture of the year. This year’s convention took place from July 24 to 27, bringing together all media and bringing only the most colorful characters out of the woodwork. Here are but a few highlights from the madness.
“˜How to make webcomics’ panel
Ten years ago, when we were dialing up, logging on and worshipping Pokémon in chat rooms, Scott Kurtz was cartooning. A pioneer in webcomics and the much-lauded author of “Player vs. Player” (pvponline.com), Kurtz participated in a live version of his popular podcast Friday, alongside fellow cartoonists Brad Guigar, Dave Kellett and UCLA alumnus Kris Straub. The presentation gave aspiring cartoonists valuable advice while showcasing the artists’ offbeat humor. Keep a regular schedule, have unique but legible lettering, write for yourself, not your audience, and build a community through blogging and other bonus features, said the panelists.
In addition to his appearance on the panel, Kurtz displayed his work in a booth on Comic-Con’s main floor. When joined by colleague and friend Straub, he joked around incessantly, the carefree pair attracting attention from countless passersby as they shared a few high-fives and ego strokes. “We’re self-celebratory. Often,” Straub said.
““ Christie McCollum
Awesomecon
A surprisingly large crowd showed up at the Embarcadero Marina Park North to Awesomecon, a celebration of the output of cult comics and Adult Swim all-stars Tim and Eric, creators of the TV shows “Tom Goes to the Mayor” and “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!”
A satellite event to Comic-Con, Awesomecon took its cues from a company picnic, with a tug-of-war, a wheelbarrow race, a costume contest, karaoke, a barbecue and an “Awesome Show!” trivia contest, with the grand prize winner receiving a WaveRunner ride with none other than Tim and Eric.
Like the content of “Awesome Show!” Awesomecon was thoroughly bizarre, even by Comic-Con standards. Beloved “Awesome Show!” affiliates Richard Dunn and Ruth Carr made appearances, as did fans wearing papier-mache heads of recurring characters Carol, the put-upon and overweight secretary, and Spaghett, a would-be TV prankster. The sheer wackiness of the event and the accessibility of Tim and Eric made Awesomecon a welcome respite from the sometimes overwhelming convention center.
““ Jake Ayres
“˜Big Frakkin Bags’ at the Sci Fi booth
There’s nothing fans like more than useless free items from their favorite show or movie. One of the most popular giveaways this year was an oversized bag emblazoned with “Big Frakkin Bag,” a reference to “Battlestar Galactica,” which uses the word “frakkin” instead of the f-bomb in order to avoid censors.
Despite the fact that the bag is really too large to hold anything reasonable, fans angrily demanded their bags, their appetite unsatisfied by the numerous pins and fliers with which Sci Fi workers tried to appease them. One angry fan in particular went on a 30-minute tirade against the management, claiming that he sat through a panel of a show he didn’t even watch to get his bag and now had been waiting for 10 minutes with no sign of the purple bags. As he blocked the workers’ doors, the obsessed fan got into an amusing escalated verbal confrontation with a manager, insisting there was no difference between the workers and the fans and so everyone should be able to have a bag.
When it looked like people were ready to break down the storeroom door, workers emerged with the much-awaited item. One poor overwhelmed worker at the Sci Fi booth explained he didn’t understand why people wanted these plastic bags so much. If only they knew that they were giving away free T-shirts at the next booth …
““ Michelle Castillo
“˜Lost’ panel
The show might still keep raising questions without answering them, but ABC’s “Lost” is as popular as ever. Since it was too early to have any footage ready from the upcoming season, executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and surprise guest Matthew Fox opened the panel up for any and every fan question. Keeping in tune with the show’s secretive nature, the three did not directly answer anything, except for assuring the audience that Vincent the dog, will survive until the final episode.
However, fans didn’t go home empty-handed ““ the trio gave away show props and merchandise to anyone brave enough to pose a question. Lucky fans were treated to items such as an Oceanic Airlines bottle of water, an “I asked a Richard Alpert question and all I got with this lousy T-shirt” shirt, a six-pack of Dharma drinks, a set of “Heroes” DVDs (given to a fan criticizing a seemingly pointless episode of the show) and a bottle of Dharma ranch dressing.
Finally, the panel ended on an even more confusing note: A secret video, apparently from the 1960s, was shown, featuring Dharma Initiative scientist Marvin Candel (apparently really named Edgar Halliwax), who urged viewers to put back the Dharma Initiative or face impending doom.
““ Michelle Castillo
“˜Terminator Salvation’ panel
Long-awaited sequels can go either way (compare the horrifying “Star Wars” trilogy of prequels to the genius way in which director Christopher Nolan re-imaged the “Batman” movie franchise, for example). Fans filled the panel, concerned that the new “Terminator Salvation” was in the hands of director McG, whom one fan lovingly referred to as “the man who hates movies.” McG is infamous for directing one of the most fan-loathed remakes of a classic television series, “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.”
Supported by most of his cast, minus a much hoped-for appearance by Christian Bale, who had been off promoting “The Dark Knight” in Japan, McG tried to reassure fans that he talked to James Cameron and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who directed and starred in the “Terminator” trilogy, respectively, before filming and took their opinions into consideration.
Those in attendance were treated to a promising, never-before seen montage from the movie, which takes place before the current “Terminator” trilogy and after the television show “The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” Placed in a post-apocalyptic world, the new movies will show how Skynet came to be, McG promised. It was also strongly hinted that the new upcoming films might feature a cameo by Schwarzenegger.
““ Michelle Castillo
“˜Battlestar Galactica’ panel
Fans desperate that the show was not entering the second half of its fourth and final season soon enough were desperate for news about “Battlestar Galactica” to put them at ease until the show comes back. Hilariously moderated by director Kevin Smith, the “Battlestar Galactica” panel turned into a comedic hour, punctuated by Smith’s sexual remarks about the show and the cast’s personal anecdotes about what happened on set.
Although teasing the crowd that they might reveal the name of the fifth and final cylon at the panel (to which the crowd angrily responded, “NO!”), the cast and crew only revealed that it was someone who had been on the show before that fans would definitely already know; they also revealed that despite rumors that it wasn’t any of the main principle characters, Gias Baltar still may or may not be the final cylon.
On an interesting note, the cast and crew also revealed that Lieutenant Gaeta was almost a cylon, instead of Starbuck’s husband Anders. They also said that filming the final episode was similar to filming “Apocalypse Now.” As a goodbye present, audience members were shown a new upcoming trailer for the new series, which promisingly seems to keep the same political and ethical questions that the current series poses.
How fat will Lee Adama get this season? Will we find out more Galactica equivalents of popular swear words? Will Starbuck and the Number Six have a steamy make-out session? Will Gias Baltar continue to have the most sex out of the cast? Stay tuned: “All will be revealed.”
““ Michelle Castillo