Okay. Today was pretty interesting.
Had the Activision panel promoting “Spider-Man: Edge of Time.” Not only did I get to reconnect with Scott Porter (“Friday Night Lights,” “The Good Wife,” voice acting in the next X-Men game and costarring in the upcoming “Hart of Dixie”), whom I first met six years ago at Dragon*Con when he was simply an aspiring actor and a comic book fan, but I met (again) Katee Sackhoff and (for the first time) Laura Vandervoort and the one and only Val Kilmer, all of whom are doing voicework for “Spider-Man.”
The panel went fairly well. Interestingly, most of the questions from the fans were directed to me and the creative team. But afterward when the “real” press showed up to conduct interviews, they only wanted to speak with the voice actors. I found that amusing. Also Katee and Laura were adorable, and Val was…unusual. Posing for photographs later, standing arm in arm with two gorgeous blonds, both of whom have played characters named Kara…it was one of those moments where I really liked my life.
Caught some of Mark Evanier’s “Quick Draw” panel. This time I didn’t participate in “Hidden Words,” which was fine by me. Let someone else be put on the spot in front of a couple thousand people.
This was followed by a general panel about Marvel video games. I returned to my room to take care of some things and then headed back downstairs. And who should step onto the elevator but Misha Collins, “Castiel” of “Supernatural.”
What a terrific guy.
Not only was he perfectly willing to chat on the phone with both Kathleen and my sister Beth, but he was interested in walking around the dealer’s room, something apparently he had never really done. But it can be overwhelming for someone unfamiliar. I had another signing at Marvel, but not for half an hour, and so I spent that time basically being a tour guide, showing him where everything was and describing how it was laid out. Some people recognized him and were nervous about coming close, others approached and asked for pictures, and I became Misha Collin’s camera man. Some people recognized him and me and wanted to be photographed with both of us. And this went on for half an hour.
He was starting to get noticed quite a bit, and so I brought him into the staging area of the Marvel booth that was for employees only. The guys did a double take when we walked in and within moments they were busy having their picture taken with him.
If you ever have a chance to meet him at a convention, take it. He has a real appreciation for the fans.
After the Marvel booth signing and a dinner with the Activision folks, I headed over to Michael Davis’s party, sponsored by Wayne Brady. Noisier than I’m used to, but I had a nice chat with Barbara Kesel plus, hey, I met Wayne Brady.
Time to pack so I’ll be ready to check out tomorrow.
PAD
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Hmm…feeling a wee bit conflicted here. On the one side it’s nice to have all this news from a Convention. But by the same token, it’s also a salt in the wound. Yours truly lives in the Netherlands, where there are never big Conventions like that. They’re always more to the West – the UK – or to the East – Germany, and always either to far away or to expensive. It feels like the TPTB – both in publishing and TV land – feel like the only fans (of any show) are in the US, UK, Canada and Germany. And that – apparently – is it.
(If you want proof that this not true, look up the A-Team’s only visit to the Netherlands. I was to young, but I hear things went crazy.)
You’ve got multiple things that influence these things – it’s generally not a deliberate choice. First question is the ease of access to industry centers – California, New York, Toronto, London. Next is population, and ease of access by larger populations. After that is the organization of the events.
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SDCC appears to me that it was just a normal fan convention that had the benefit of access to the industry and a popular tourist destination. Eventually, it got a good reputation, became very popular, and the cultural industry then started coming to it.
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I could be mistaken. But the reality is there’s only so many of these huge events that are possible, and you simply can’t put one in every country (or in multiple parts of the same country, which would be necessary in Canada or the U.S.) Heck, it may even be cheaper for you to get to Germany than it would be for me to get to Toronto (I’m in the prairies). Certainly cheaper than getting to San Diego.
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But basically, if you want it, start a con and figure out how to make it popular. 🙂
I’m also from the Netherlands. And I agree. I would love to go to Comic Con once. I decided to go to Asylum7 though, which takes place in Birmingham. And I’m happy to read this story, as Misha Collins will be there. As a big Supernatural fan I can not WAIT for the event. But the Netherlands is just to small. It sucks and I know that. But there is no other way then.. travelling for conventions. Once I’ll go to America to visit a couple conventions in a short time and add a roadtrip to it.
One thing we do have is amazing Fantasy conventions. (like the Elf Fantasy Fair, Castlefest etc.) But for other and bigger conventions we have to visit other country’s..
Btw loved this story! 🙂
Re: Ms. Sackhoff and Ms. Vandervoort – a good life indeed.
Re: Mr. Collins: The Supernatural folks certainly played up the Misha-is-a-fanboy stuff in the episode where the Winchester lads got transported to the set of the show. Refreshing to know that he’s as nice in real life as he came across in that episode. I’m sure you’re more than ready to get back to Kathleen and the family…but I’ll bet they’d rather be coming out to cool, pleasant San Diego after the week under the Heat Dome.
Just as an FYI, both Misha and Laura will be at Dragoncon this year.
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San Diego Comic-Con 1995
“I missed Elvira at the Claypool table on Saturday. Now my life will never be complete.”
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She was at SDCC this year. Did you make your life complete this time?
She’ll also be at Dragon*Con in September.
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Yeah, I know. I’m going to Dragon*Con this year. Originally, I was only going to throw rocks at Micha and harass him, but it’s been brought to my attention that some other stuff may be there that’s worth seeing and doing that getting thrown out of the con could keep me from seeing and doing. So I’m going to do that instead.
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And then I can throw rocks at Micha.
Afaik, Elvira is at SDCC most years, if not every year now. I got her autograph there for my dad in ’07.
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So, PAD has had plenty of opportunities for completeness. 🙂
Please please tell me Spidey Edge of Time is coming out for PC. I can’t find any solid evidence one way or the other and Amazon doesn’t have it listed for PC either. The only mention I see is the wikipedia page which I’m skeptical to trust.
I don’t have much faith in Activision to not screw this up, especially after their ‘Walmart only’ fiasco for Spidey Shattered Dimensions PC version.
We finally get a Spidey 2099 focused game, with the added bonus of being of being personally written by you, and I’m going to be royally dissapointed if we PC gamers get let out.
“Oh $%@!, it’s Wayne Brady, son!”
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Sorry, Chapplle show reference. It’s automatic.