Comic Con 2008 recap

As hinted at in my previous blog entry, I did not enjoy this year's Comic Con as much as the 2006 edition. In short, the desirable panels were inundated by attendees due to a lack of overall quality, a theory that Alex supports. I also suspect that there were more attendees in 2008 than in 2006 since the exhibition hall was hard to walk comfortably through from Wednesday to Saturday with the exception of Sunday.

In two incidences, I can blame the exhibitors directly for creating a bad situation. The Warner Bros. booth handed out free bags and instigated a stampede. Rather than relieve what was becoming a safety hazard, the Warner Bros. vendors created a bottle neck by insisting that attendees pick up the bags at a narrow stretch of counter space. It is understandable that Warner Bros. did not want flailing arms to knock over displays on the counter but they should have foreseen the freebie frenzy and been better prepared. People who had obtained a free bag had to fight their way out of the surging crowd, rugby style.

A second horrible freebie experience was with Imagi Studios and Summit Entertainment, who were promoting the new AstroBoy movie by handing out a free AstroBoy bag. Rather than simply giving out the bags like every other vendor, Imagi Studios and Summit Entertainment forced everyone to wait in a line and chant "AstroBoy" at regular intervals. We had waited for 30 minutes when I asked the lead cheerleader what we were waiting for. The lead cheerleader first chose to mock me with, "You don't even know what you're lining up for?" Then, when I had clarified my question, she chose to ignore it and instead, handed me the AstroBoy bag she had been waving provocatively at the lineup, and asked, "Are you happy now?" By her defensive stance and lack of explanation, I can only assume that we were being forced to sing and dance for our payoff, much like minstrels. We left soon after and I gave my AstroBoy bag away because it was ill-begotten loot.

The few panels that we were able to get into, because I was not willing to line up for hours beforehand, were entertaining enough. "The Comedy Central TV Funhouse" panel with Robert Smigel, Dino Stamatopoulos and Tommy Blacha was pretty funny though they all came across as competitive geeks. When Doug Dale showed up via webcam, it got even better as Dale used a variety of props to protest being ignored (i.e. miming a genial conversation with a Lambchop puppet or chewing on an egg that suddenly produces a new friend). It made me sad though that Dale could not make it in person to Comic Con because he was now a music teacher and therefore, had unglamorous responsibilities.

Immediately after the TV Funhouse panel was the "10th Annual Superhero Kung-Fu Extravaganza" hosted by Martial Arts movie academic, Ric Meyers. This panel produced an unexpected gem in Mark Zaror (seen on the left), the South American martial arts star of Chinango, a movie that featured two gratuitous masturbation scenes and whose rental my friends have never forgiven me for. I was clearly one of few people in the audience who knew who he was so I am regretful that I did not ask him about Chinango even though he was promoting Kiltro.

Also entertaining for all the wrong reasons was the live broadcast of the Masquerade on Saturday evening. This was the live remote screening of the Masquerade for people who were either not able or not willing to obtain tickets for the actual event venue. Because none of the masquerade participants could hear us, the remote screening audience resorted to heckling early on. Three themes emerged from the masquerade entries:

1. Skin show - Young flesh seemed to make up for many an uninspired costume. This became entertaining when one Emma Frost wannabee ended up revealing the stuffing in her chest while one mannish jungle queen's outfit prompted one of the emcees to quip, "I love the Masquerade!"

2. All's well that ends with a dance - No matter how stiffly you may dance as a result of your costume or your natural lack of rhythm, you will end your stint on the stage with pelvic gyrations to "I'm Too Sexy" or another equally overused joke song.

3. The never ending story - One of the worst entries was a group of vikings whose costumes were lackluster but whose showmanship was on par with a kindergarten recital. For over five minutes, the vikings danced poorly to an inexplicable selection of contemporary songs. This marathon of mediocrity was matched only by the half-time show, "Heroes vs. Villains: A Battle Royale," which was supposed to be a martial arts demonstration. It ended up being a soap opera with an indecipherable storyline and dialogue, and very little action. This was the point at which Joe and I, as well as the majority of the remaining audience, decided to call it a day.

All was not lost at Comic Con 2008. The costumes outside of the Masquerade, a small selection seen below, were actually pretty impressive. One Batman, whose outfit I sadly did not photograph, was fully committed to his role. At the panels that he attended, he would alternately growl, "Swear to me!" or "Be quiet!" at other attendees. He also stood up and spread his cape whenever he was referred to by the panelists. This approach to cosplay is definitely preferable to the serious and self-conscious display some attendees offered.

My trip to San Diego ended up being made worthwhile by activities outside of Comic Con 2008. More on San Diego and my trip to San Francisco coming up!