SDCC 2009 COVERAGE SPONSORED BY
Goonies Never Say Die, But I Do
Friday was a litmus test for my patience and standing-in-line skills, as well as proving that that no matter how much advance-planning you do, Comic-Con will always triumphantly mess with your best laid plans. (On a lighter note, it was also a crazy day to have random celebrity sightings.)
When I arrived at the line-up for the Warner Bros. panel first thing Friday morning, it already snaked up and down the entire Hall H lawn, across the street, and down to the boardwalk area. And then, waaaaaaay down the boardwalk area. Luckily, the Whip It! roller-girls were there to quell my boredom a bit. But as the line moved forward I was stuck in my own private hell of nerd-herding.
As the line inched slowly forward, I had to weigh the odds that I’d get inside in time to see the Where The Wild Things Are panel, which was the only thing I was near-rabid to see out of the entire two-and-a-half-hour WB panel. (Although, The Box and Jonah Hex have definite potential.) Josh Brolin made a brief, but cool appearance, running over to take a picture with one of the dozen groupies hanging out by Hall H back-entrance. However, despite being momentarily inspired by the Goonies’ credo, I cut my losses on the verge of getting in, so I could make The Prisoner panel instead.
Rorschach Signs Some Inkblots
I was hoping to make the Attack Of The Show panel, but was greeted with the second-longest non-Hall H lineup I saw all weekend. (The victor by my watch was the Venture Brothers on Saturday, with a lineup starting at least four hours before the panel.) As far as any discussions about who “won” the convention are concerned, it’s hard to dismiss the panels that got the longest line-ups (yes, even New Moon), as the obvious victors. A massive, dedicated fan-base beats buzz any day.
So, instead of getting in line, I walked the floor and saw my second random celebrity appearance of the day: Morgan Spurlock (Super-size Me), who seemed to be filming something. I walked the floor until leaving for The Wired Café at the Omni Hotel to interview the Mystery Team crew.
Since they’ve built as much as they can onto the convention center, it’s interesting to watch con-activity infect and spread in the very trendy Gaslamp District. On my way to the interview, I passed Syfy’s Cafe Diem restaurant and the Heroes carnival. In front of the Hard Rock Hotel, I walked passed Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach) signing autographs for a mini-swarm. I hrm’d to myself and kept on.
My day ended with failure, not getting into The Dollhouse panel (or the following Joss Whedon one) and not noticing that there was a Wednesday Comics panel until entirely too late. As I trekked back to my room, I noticed that I was walking amidst the Angel of Death crew, including comics-writer supreme Ed Brubaker, Ted Raimi, with Zoe Bell not to far ahead. I thought for a second about gushing like a fanboy, but I didn’t, clearly have met my limit of nerd for the day.
The big comics news of the day was that Marvel had bought the rights to Marvelman (known as Miracleman stateside) from creator Mick Anglo. It was unbelievable at first, but still has me pretty confused. A week later, and there’s been no announcement of a new story, or a re-printing of Neil Gaiman’s fabled last issue, or (fingers crossed) collected reprintings. So far, it’s just shirts.