If yesterday was all about comics, today is all about… Well,
theoretically about Star Wars, since it is Star
Wars day. But the Star Wars vibe just isn't that
strong, even with the upcoming Clone Wars coming out.
Instead it's Watchmen that's captured the buzz. Which makes
me wonder: Is the mainstream fascination with geeky entertainment entering a
new phase? A certain amount of self-awareness has crept into the films, via Hancock and the forthcoming Watchmen,
which, if it's anything like Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' original
series—and it at least looks a lot like the original
series—will be more commentary on superhero adventures than a superhero
adventure itself. Scott Tobias once told me that he's sorry that Watchmen was the first superhero comic he ever read since
it's kind of like starting with Gravity's Rainbow. A
newcomer won't get the references. Have the years of superhero movies leading
up to 2008 prepared an audience for a new, self-conscious form of superhero
entertainment? TBD. Meanwhile, I'm at the con again.
10:35 A.M.: A man in a Batman costume and
a Russian hat with an accent to match is talking to a film crew. I'm geeky enough
to spot this as an homage to the Mark Millar-penned series Superman:
Red Son, an alternate universe
story in which Superman grows up in the U.S.S.R. instead of the States. Does
the film crew know this? Does it matter?
10:55 A.M.: On my way to get in line for
the Watchmen panel, I swing by Hellboy-creator Mike Mignola's table and buy a sketchbook.
One of the best things about the continues to be exclusives like these, both
the personal interaction with artists and the items provided for those of us
who take the trouble of stopping by. Not that the sketchbook is free or Mignola
and I form a lasting friendship or anything. But I do take the trouble of
throwing in some extra money for the ASPCA, for
whom Mignola has set up a collection jar.
11:05 A.M.: I'm in line for the Watchmen panel and not feeling too good about my chances.
Hall H, this biggest facility at the San Diego convention center, holds 6000
people but there are rumors buzzing about the truly devoted showing up at 8:30
A.M. I think showing up nearly an hour early is excessive, but apparently this
year is redefining excessive. At least there's the illusion of movement. I
circle through the line for a little and become target for marketing. A
semi-trailer drives up and down in front of the convention center emblazoned
with art from Joy Ride 2. (Yes, Joy Ride
2.) It's followed by a flatbed promoting the video game Mortal
Kombat vs. DC. And another promoting Lord Of The Rings
Online. And a truck advertising Tru Blood. After a
while, a man in a suit with the numbers "8-4" on the jacket walks up. Pauses
for photographs, and declaims "I am NOT a number." I guess someone is remaking The Prisoner.
11:25 A.M.: A security guard arrives and
shout that anyone waiting to see the presentation on "Watch
Man" will not be admitted. The
venue is at capacity. I head back into the convention center past some
Ghostbusters offering marshmallow-flavored lip balm. That's fine. I was going
to Watchmen more out of an obligation to follow the big
story. I wanted to go to the panel on the British sitcom Spaced instead. I'm a big fan. It's a cult hit here at best.
This should be no problem. (Sidenote: Spaced fans should
look for an interview with director Edgar Wright on the site next week.
11:57 A.M.: Of all the people in costume
here, the one I keep running into is a woman dressed as Barf, John Candy's character
from Spaceballs.
12:02 P.M.: The line for Spaced stretches down the hall, around the corridor,
outside, across the patio, down some stairs, and across another patio. I wait,
for a while, in front of a man telling his companion that he feels good wearing
his kilt around the house but is still self-conscious wearing it outside. After
a while, I bail. I'm not getting in. So I head up to the line for Joss
Whedon, where I commiserate with someone else who hasn't gotten into
any panel all day. Will this break our streak?
1:40 P.M.: Score. The hall is full for
Whedon, who's no stranger to Comic-Con. After some brief words of introduction
and the announcement that he and Drew Goddard would soon begin work on
something called Cabin In The Woods, Whedon brings out the
cast and co-creators of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, his
recent, three-part, Internet-only (for now) musical tragicomedy. This includes
three co-writers (two of them Whedon's brothers) and stars Nathan Fillion, Neil
Patrick Harris, Felicia Day, and Simon Helberg. Whedon moves immediately to fan
Q&As.; He's used to this and clearly loves it.
And the democratic experiment seems appropriate. A
superhero-themed musical with a [SPOILER WARNING], downer ending, it's the kind
of project that could never get financed or distributed through conventional
means. He knows it, too, and knows it can get made thanks to
the goodwill of people in this room and people like them elsewhere. Whedon
admits it, too, saying that Dr. Horrible is an experiment
with a new model "putting power in different hands." Or, put another way,
entertainment involving "all of you guys and all of us and maybe not so much
some other people." Applause follows.
Other panel members take their turn in the spotlight. Fllion
and Harris are particularly charming. No huge surprise.
2:50 P.M.: I hit the floor again for a
signing by Darwyn Cooke, the brilliant writer and artist
behind The New Frontier. Cooke signs my copy of his
retrospective book and we talk about his adaptation of Richard Stark/Donald
Westlake's Parker books.
3:10 P.M.: There's a bald guy here in a
wheelchair and a tweed suit who looks uncannily like Patrick Stewart. Is he
dressed up like Professor Xavier or is he a wheelchair-using comics fan who
happens to look the part? Shortly after spotting him I see an African-American
man dressed up as Batman. A white guy tells him he's truly the Dark Knight.
"That's right," the Batman replies.
3:15 P.M. Overheard: Two teens passing by
a stand promoting NASCAR comics:
Teen 1: NASCAR comics?
Teen 2: Oh my God.
Teen 3: Um, epic fail!
3:30 P.M.: Two hours before it starts,
the line for the Venture Brothers panel is already
ridiculous. People are lining up to get in the panel before it, an X-Box
presentation, in order to save space. At least I'm guessing that all those
people in Dr. Girlfriend costumes don't happen also to be huge X-Box fans. I
had planned to attend. Epic fail.
3:45 P.M.: I decide to spend some time
visiting the too-easily-neglected independent publishers area of the exhibit
floor. I talk to Alex Robinson, creator of Box
Office Poison and the new Too Cool To Be Forgotten.
Leigh from Top Shelf, Robinson's publisher, steers me toward the company's new
online venture, Top Shelf 2.0.
At the First Second booth, my wife gets a sketch from Gene Yang, writer/artist
of the award-winning American Born Chinese. The Hernandez
Brothers are signing over at Fantagraphics. Everyone's accessible and the
atmosphere is pretty chill. It's what the whole con could be like if, you know,
there weren't so many people here. Still, I can't help but think that everyone
benefits from the crowds and the proximity. Getting a Green
Lantern reader intrigued by wandering by the Fantagrphics' area is
how you end up with new Love And Rockets readers.
5:10 P.M.: I'd like to meet Eric Powell,
creator of The Goon, but his table is mobbed. Again.
7:00 P.M.: I've left the con to take in a
screening of the Judd Apatow-produced Pineapple Express. I'm
interviewing the film's director David Gordon Green tomorrow. Unfortunately,
I'm going to miss the big Mystery Science Theater 3000
reunion hosted by Patton Oswalt. Bah. I'm talking to some of the MST3K guys
tomorrow, too, so it's not like I won't get my fix. But this is still a bummer.
This movie had better be good. Before the screening, David Gordon
Green encourages us to laugh because his parents are here and it's
not really their style of comedy. He adds, "But I got them baked in the van."
Also in attendance: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson)
from Spaced. It's a meeting of the comedy teams from
opposite sides of the Atlantic. I half expect a rumble.
9:15 P.M.: It is pretty good. I'm a bit
resistant to action comedies—apart from Midnight Run, Beverly Hills Cop and the films that followed never did much
for me—but Pineapple kind of addresses the problems I
have when gags and bullets mix. I still have to keep reminding myself that the
director of George Washington directed this, too, but there
are at least a couple of unmistakably Green moments. Seth Rogen and James
Franco make for a memorable buddy team, too, and everyone at the Q&A;
session after the screening clearly enjoys hanging out with each other.
9:50 P.M.: I'm supposed to see Tropic Thunder tonight too, but I'm not reviewing it or
talking to anyone involved so I'm ending the day, filled-to-capacity panels,
endless lines, stoner comedies and all. More tomorrow.