The Vile One's Dungeon: San Diego Comic-Con 2009 Journal
Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 08.01.2009
What happens at Con, stays at Con . . . except what's in here! Take a journey with Jeffrey Harris as he braves Nerdvana yet again.
For the last week I've been wracking my brain on how best to deliver this year's Con experience coverage for you, readers. I've already been getting down the video game previews over in games. But there were all sorts of other cool stuff going down. So, in general, I decided to reflect on the experience with my journal recounting on what happened, plus some of the pictures of what took place and the people I got to meet.
It's hard to talk about my feelings for San Diego Comic-Con. The convention itself feels like it's practically broken the convention center and is becoming more disorganized and unmanageable. The Elite staff that works the convention all weekend seemed to be doing their best to make sure everyone would be as unbearably miserable as they are if not possible. In general, the staff is incompetent and seem to be selectively strict in some areas while overly strict and massively disorganized and chasing their tails in others. They don't know what the Hell they are doing. In the Exhibition Hall, Elite staff in their moronic way of trying to institute crowd control will close off some aisle ways if other booths are handing out giveaways. This only serves to make other aisle ways more crowded and harder to move through. And then people crowd and start trampling over each other even more.
Lines for events have gotten out of hand. People can't even get into Hall H anymore, and yet Comic Con International staff refuses to institute spill over halls where even if people can't make it into the main auditorium, they can still watch what is taking place in another room. CCI has the technology to do these yet they opt not to. Attendance was somewhere in the realm of 150,000 people last year, and they should have anticipated this. CCI needs to institute major changes in how the convention is run and executed in order to improve the Con experience because it feels like the chaos only rises every year.
The big exclusive items this year were the DC Direct/Graffiti Designs Green Lantern "Blackest Night" action figures. Each day of the convention, the Graffiti Designs booth would sell a different color Green Lantern convention exclusive action figure. However, the Elite staff designated that people couldn't wait in line to buy them downstairs, so raffle tickets to get in line had to be distributed upstairs in the Sails Pavilion Hall of the San Diego Convention Center. So a bunch of people are packed like a not so neatly pack of sardines into this hall while they wait forever for these stupid tickets to be handed out by the idiots at Elite Staffing. This does not work. Just let people get in line, and stop the line when the item is sold out. That simple. Making a separate line in a separate area to wait in another line is absolutely moronic.
With this device I can make Megan Fox's hammer thumbs look normal.
PREVIEW NIGHT
This night I was able to get most of my shopping done. Once again to show how idiotic the schmucks at Elite Staffing are, I was able to get into the Exhibition Hall before Preview Night opened to attendees. So I was able to walk around a fairly empty convention floor and take some cool pictures. Like this one:
The Hall of Armors including the Mark III and the Mark IV armors.
Marvel Comics had a whole Hall of Armors set up from the new Iron Man movie set up at their booth. An image of the Mark VI armor could also be seen at the Hasbro Toys booth.
Note the image in the upper right, that's Mark VI!
Besides Transformers 2, Hasbro was doing the hard sell for the new GI Joe: Rise of Cobra movie and had a lot of items from the movie on display:
I took a place in line at the Mattel booth first. However Mattel booth made some sort or stupid rule that people with Professional or Press badges couldn't buy on Preview Night. So I stayed in line and I gave my money to someone in front of me who bought my Masters of The Universe Classics figures for me. Much like the Elite staff, Mattel was equally moronic and selectively strict in how they enforce their stupid rules, as I did see people with Professional badges buying merchandise through the line. Oh well, Mattel sucks and I wouldn't deal with them at all if not for the Four Horsemen and making DCU and MOTUC figures. My friends and I wandered the floor and did some more shopping before the hall closed.
THURSDAY
Thursday started with all the video game booth tours of EA, SEGA, Bandai/Namco, Warner Bros. Interactive, and Capcom. The Capcom reps let me jump into their ring setup without waiting in line for me to try out Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Fate/Stay Night, and of course Tatsunoko vs. Capcom All Stars, which I've already been raving about incessantly on here.
What really sucked about the previous day was that the Twilight fans, or Twi-tarts as they are called starting lining up outside of Hall H in the evening to camp out just to get into the Twilight panel event on Thursday. And there wasn't a single Y chromosome among this group. Disney held their panel before the Twilight panel, and supposedly, Disney was furious that they had to curtain jerk to Twilight because the only thing the people in the Disney audience panel had on their mind was probably seeing their Robert Pattinson eye candy. Even worse, I couldn't even get into the Avatar panel when I waited in line for that. Thanks for nothing, Twi-tarts.
Green Lantern: First Flight Sneak Preview
The Green Lantern animated movie was previewed on Thursday night. God among men and living legend, Bruce Timm, who is also the producer, introduced the movie and led 4,000 fans in the reciting of the Green Lantern oath which was crazy. Timm also introduced a video introduction by voice actor in the movie, Tricia Helfer, who couldn't make it to the convention. Helfer's joke fell flat though. The movie was great and a lot of fun. Finally a good solo animated Hal Jordan story, well worth the wait. I was a little disappointed with the lack of the Yellow Sinestro Corp. at the end, and I feel a few of the characters could have been fleshed out more, but overall a very satisfying animated movie.
MGM/Stargate Universe Party
There be liquor that goes down those ice sculpture chutes!
On Thursday night, MGM invited me to their party at the Hotel Solamar for the new SyFy television series, Stargate Universe, which begins in October. In this new series, a team led by Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) along with civilians and military personnel are trapped on the other side of a Stargate and an old ship built years ago called the Destiny that is billions of light years away from Earth. Not to mention the crew barely has any resources to survive with left. An extended promotional video for the series was shown at the party which featured members of the cast and crew in attendance as well. The show itself looks similar to Battlestar Galactica since there is that group lost in space, struggling to find their way home element. Most of the footage looked pretty gritty, cinematic, and realistic. From the video, there seems to be little in the way of rubber masks and aliens in this new show. But it's still very much a sci-fi show.
The party was a lot of fun. The food was delicious not to mention free as well as a free open bar. I saw Kevin Sorbo walking around, and I also ran into the one and only ROBERT CARLYLE! I actually interviewed Carlyle and one of the show's other lead actors, David Blue. Those will be going up later.
Get me away from these ferocious nerds.
FRIDAY
Warner Bros. Press Conferences
Friday actually started out pretty good when I got to talk to the voice cast of the Batman: The Brave And The Bold animated series. Following that, I got to watch the Warner Bros. press conferences for the new movies The Book of Eli, Jonah Hex, Sherlock Holmes, and the new Nightmare on Elmstreet remake. Unfortunately this meant foregoing the actual Warner Bros. panels and seeing all the new footage from the movie. But, being a few feet away from these people sort of makes up for it:
From L to R: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes, Mila Kunis, Gary Oldman, and Denzel Washington
I did briefly speak with Denzel Washington who told me this was his first SDCC and that he was a "virgin" to comic con.
Kunis and Oldman.
The new A Nightmare On Elmstreet producer Andrew Form, director Samuel Bayer, and star Jackie Earle Haley as the new Freddy Krueger came out next to talk about the new movie and what we can expect for the latest classic horror movie franchise reboot. At the very least, it will have a hard R rating. Haley said he hasn't met with Robert Englund yet, but hopes that Mr. Englund will sign his classic Nightmare (1984) movie poster.
1, 2, Freddy's coming for you.
A Nightmare On Elmstreet (2010) Producer Andrew Form (L) and Director Samuel Bayer (R) pictured with the movie's new poster.
After that, the cast and crew of the new Jonah Hex movie were ushered in including MEGAN FOX, sans entourage. Josh Brolin was also there and talked about his makeup which was one big horror story. But judging from the poster image, Jonah is not all that terribly scarred in this movie.
From L to R: Andrew Lazar (producer), Josh Brolin (Jonah Hex), Megan Fox (Leila), Michael Fassbender (Burke), and Jimmy Hayward (Director).
Brolin and Fox, sitting in a tree.
"OK, I don't want to do this anymore." - Megan Fox right after I grabbed this not so great shot.
Michael Fassbender as Burke.
Josh Brolin as Jonah Hex.
Last for me, but definitely not least was the press conference for the new Sherlock Holmes movie with new Sherlock, Robert Downey Jr., the lovely Rachal McAdams (Irene Adler), producers Joel Silver and Susan Downey (Robert's wife), and writer Dan Lin. The funniest thing was when Downey talked about calling Jude Law Hotson instead of Watson. Figure out why.
From L to R: Joel Silver (Producer), Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes), Rachel McAdams (Irene Adler), Susan Downey (Producer), and Dan Lin (Writer).
Following the Warner Bros. press conferences, I hit up the press room for Green Lantern: First Flight and talked to the cast and crew there. After that was the awesomely awesome Marvel Animation panel. The trailers for Planet Hulk and Thor: Tales of Asgard looked great. Also big were the new anime test/teaser trailers for the new Studio Madhouse Iron Man and Wolverine anime shows being written by Warren Ellis. I'm sort of iffy on the character design for Wolverine in his clip, but we'll see. The Iron Man clip was unbelievably great.
Following the end of the Marvel panel and interviews, I headed over with my friend Jason to the Omni Hotel and Art Gallery for the Ubisoft/Splinter Cell Conviction party. While going there we ran into this person:
CHUCK'S(!!!) Zachary Levi!!!!!!
Levi was super cool and couldn't have been nicer. We talked a little bit about the show, and he's very happy they are getting one last crack at it. Hopefully if the third season really is the last one, they will wrap things up nicely.
The Ubisoft event was cool. No food, but there was open bar, and oddly enough, free haircuts. Ubisoft was showing off the new Splinter Cell: Conviction video game, which I'll have a more comprehensive preview up later in the games section. The Ubisoft folks gave us a really nice giveaway item though, which is like one of the backpacks Sam Fisher uses and wears in the game:
The backpack is a lie.
After that we were right next door so we went over to McCormick's and Schmick's for some happy hour and then with our devil's luck we ran into this person:
Is that just sharpie marker or something sinister coming out of Robert Englund's hand?
We ended up talking to and having drinks with Robert Englund for half an hour. Englund has no ill will at all about Haley playing the new Krueger since he's too old to do it now. Englund told us his favorite Nightmare film though will always be Wes Craven's New Nightmare where he also played himself. Englund told us about a deleted scene in that film where he's caught in a web by a spider-Freddie, where it was about Englund's fear of being typecast and where Englund "dies" in the film.
SATURDAY
We got up really earlier because we were following a Twitter that said the first 200 "Basterds" that waited in line at a certain address would get to go to an advanced screening of Quentin Tarantino's INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS(!) at the convention. We got there, and the line was already pretty long. So I did a count and we were about at the 165th place or so in line. What really sucks though is that as people were arriving they were cutting in line with their own group, so people didn't get in because of this. By the time we got our dog tags which were our tickets, we were further back than where we started before, but we still got our dog tag passes for later in the evening.
After this, we had breakfast at the extremely ritzy Hotel Ivy for an industry/press only event for IMAGI's Astro Boy movie. We headed over to the convention center, and I had to stop in the Marriott Hotel for some roundtable press interviews with the cast and crew of the new BBC series, Being Human. Those interviews will also be coming soon. After this I went to the Hall H line for the Iron Man 2 panel. And I was confident at first because I was pretty far up ahead almost 3 hours before the panel started. Unfortunately that was deceiving. It was deceiving because Hall H was already full to the brim and no one was leaving. My group had made it in before me. So I roasted in the sun for several hours, and no one let out for the other panels so anyone waiting in line for Iron Man 2 was SOL. This is why they need spill over auditoriums to watch the really big events. Its time for CCI programmers and the people who make the schedules to get wise. People who pay good money to be at the convention should not be punished.
All was not lost. I went back to the Exhibition Hall and I picked up the entire first wave of the excellent Indie Spotlight action figures from Indie Toys. If anyone remembers the Legendary Comic Book Heroes figures that Marvel Toys made, these are very similar. Finally a good SCUD, THE DISPOSABLE ASSASSIN ACTION FIGURE! Maxx, Shadowhawk, Katchoo, and Kabuki are all in the first wave and very nifty figures.
I hung around till the Exhibition Hall closed, and we ran into Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, Cung Le, who was signing autographs at the Wizard booth for his new First Round MMA action figure. Cung Le then agreed to do an interview for our website which will be coming soon. We talked a lot of MMA with Le who said he would like to fight Nick Diaz and Jake Shields. Le said that Scott Smith's game-plan for Diaz wasn't smart, and the key to Diaz is by not standing in front of him.
Cung Le being awesome.
After the convention hall closed, it was time to head back and stop at our hotel, the Hilton Bayfront, really quick before Basterds. Once again our Devil's luck struck again:
Joss Whedon, who was scarfing down the energy drinks and speaking of Puppet Angel being gold, "Gold I tells ya!"
Jackie Earle Haley was staying at our hotel . . . whoda thunk it? Umpossible
Inglourious Basterds
The dog tag passes they gave us made us honorary Basterds. Dominic Monaghan and Elijah Wood were both in attendance for the screening. Actor Eli Roth introduced the movie to a jam packed and rabid crowd as the Gaslamp Theater. Roth said that he needed us to get online and get the buzz going for the movie after it was over. Following the screening, Roth stayed to sign posters, autographs, and take pictures. The screening reps gave everyone these giant one sheet posters.
On the way back to the hotel we ran into Mark Valley of all people. Valley saw that I had an inflatable sword which was a giveaway item from Dungeon Fighter Online. He seemed to like the sword so I offered to give him the sword for a picture and a possible interview later.
So Valley did swindle me out of my sword, but oh well, I still have the Grayskull sword of power from last year's convention. The Human Target series does look good, and Mark Valley is a total badass. So hopefully Valley playing Christopher Chance works out well.
SUNDAY
Doctor Who
The Doctor Who panel opened up the final day events strong with the first ever United States and SDCC appearance for David Tennant, the 10th Doctor. Russel T. Davies, Euros Lyn, and Julie Gardner were all on hand for the panel as well. The panel started with a preview of the Easter Doctor Who special which will soon be airing in the us, The Planet of The Dead. Even greater was the special preview clip for the FINAL special starring Tennant's 10th Doctor. The clips revealed a lot including the return of Donna Noble and her family. John Simms' younger Master is also coming back which will most likely figure into the fate of Tennant's Doctor and the ushering of Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor. I was happy to see that there appears to be NO ROSE IN THIS SPECIAL! Fingers crossed.
Kamen Rider Dragon Knight
Kamen Rider!
The cast and crew were on hand for the panel for the CW4Kids series, Kamen Rider Dragon Knight. The big announcement was that the show's been picked up for a second season on CW and new episodes start on August 1 (which is this Saturday). I actually got to speak with lead cast members Stephen Lunsford (Kit/Dragon Knight), Matt Mullins (Len/Wing Knight), and Yvonne Arias (Maya) before the panel for an exclusive interview. Interestingly enough, Mullins was familiar with our sight and said he was a fan as well as how the site was organized. So let it be know, Kamen Rider Wing Knight is a 411mania reader. That will also be coming later. This panel also featured a little bit of live performance art with in costume Kamen Riders:
Following the end of that panel, I reconvened with my group and we headed back to the Exhibition Hall floor to check out all the booths before closing. And then we saw this dude walking around:
Fallen Angel, Christopher Daniels.
CON WRAP-UP
Seriously?
Don't get me wrong. Much fun was still to be had this year in San Diego. Its just that the Convention which in 2005 felt like a cool once in a lifetime event where you could get into everything you waited in line for, is starting to wear thin. CCI and everyone need to sit down, put their heads together, and actually address the problems or things are only going to get worse while they are still in San Diego. That's another thing, the talk of a possible move from San Diego in a few years remained present. Ultimately, I would hate for the convention to leave San Diego because San Diego is such a beautiful city, and I love going there every year. I would probably be more bored if the convention was in LA, even though I already live here. Putting the convention in San Diego lets me get away from the grind of LA for a while. Las Vegas and Anaheim were talked about as other possibilities. Another rumor I heard was expanding the San Diego Convention Center. Dunno how that would work.
See you next year, Number 6.
UP NEXT: The SDCC interviews.
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