July 21, 2016
Dear Flicker Fans,
Wow! That’s all I can say about today is WOW! I mean talk about such a productive day, that didn’t necessarily start out as one; let me lay it down for you;
I woke up early today not really knowing what to expect and get ready for my first full day of Comic Con. I arrived at the “big show” and started to ask questions about where to go, and what line to enter. I wanted to attend the singing for a new comic that’s being put out by Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Man, I couldn’t wait. I was so excited to get in line for this signing and meet with this person that I have been a fan of, I couldn’t wait.
I stood in line outside, just like everyone else. We waited (because that’s what we do) standing, waiting for that special opportunity to meet someone and get something signed (I should have tried for Stan Lee). Kareem was launching a new comic on Mycroft Holmes–cool idea, especially since I didn’t know that much about Mycroft. This was the process. Stand in line for 2 hours, to be shuffled around like cattle (imagine the DMV + Disneyland in summer (with grownup kids around you), multiply by one of the hottest days of July = thoughts of suicide and immediately contemplating your decision to be here. Yup, that’s what this experience was like). So, you stand in line, to move into a building so you can (guess what?), stand in line. Once inside for this particular event you get to do a drawing to see if you get a ticket to actually MEET the person you wanted to meet. It took me 3 tries before I got my ticket. Can you imagine the anger and frustration that I was feeling when I didn’t get it the first time. Scratch that, the all out “fear” that I was waiting in line to do something that I might not be able to do??!??!
After I got the ticket, I seemed relatively lost. The euphoria and thought of, “ok, well that’s done, now what?” It’s almost like you don’t really know where to head next because you’re just accustomed to (excuse me) conditioned to “wait”. I have nothing right now. So you wander around looking at costumes and people that are in your ten foot diameter radius and just get lost in thought–at least that’s what I did–for about 5 min. A text from David snapped me back to reality, “Going to the Masters of the Web panel, room 7AB.” Cool, I have a destination, now where the hell was that!??!?!
After wandering around the massive convention center (which blows my mind because the talk of moving the Con to another place is because, “this one has gotten too small”). The hell!??! I’ve been around this one for a day and a half and it’s so damn easy to get lost. Well, I found my way to David and we both reveled in the air conditioned room and listened to people dart questions at podcasters and youtubers who know what they’re talking about when it comes to this “comic stuff” (ie, they’re super geeks like us). It was fantastic. The knowledge that was coming off that stage was just….well, just fun. These people were all interesting and fun to listen to, I still couldn’t believe that I was there for this.
By the end of the panel, David and I seperated. I headed back to where I was going to take part in a meet and greet and David went to meet up with Michelle and Bobby Jackson. While I didn’t want to leave his side (yea, this place is intimidating like THAT), I wanted to go and meet someone that I had watched growing up and was a true fan. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I was first in line. No seriously, I was the first one in line for this signing and I couldn’t believe it. While waiting I was approached by someone who was working his booth and he commented and admired my Shaun of the Dead shirt. He was from London and wanted to know if I knew about some of Simon Peggs other work–before he was big in the US. I did and we chatted and cracked jokes about how brilliant his comedy is and how amazing this movie was–he was a really nice guy. Kareem was supposed to show up at 1:30pm. He didn’t arrive until about 1:50. So now, I have waited for a total of about 3 ½ hours to meet this man and have him sign my Mycroft comic–still excited. I walked up after all the announcements about no Laker memorabilia, which is fine because I didn’t really care about that. I tried to engage with him and start a little conversation about his time in the Dyckman projects and barely made eye contact with me. He asked my name, how to spell it and then shuffled me along my way–with barely a glance. I can’t remember the last time I felt so dismissed. I just stood there, holding his comic in my hand and wanted to just toss it. He was rude, abrasive and dismissive. Wow….thanks for such a memorable encounter.
But let’s move onto happier moments. Lunch with the crew today. Man we have a good time together. Just chatting away and enjoying each others company. It’s so much fun to have all of them here, enjoying all the things we enjoy and just loving every minute of it. It was amazing. I mean, honestly, how do you go wrong with good food, good company and good weather (even though it was a little hot for me).
After lunch David and I decided to go and try and get into the Luke Cage panel. We both felt like this was a long shot since it was of course Marvel. Everyone wants to go into a Marvel panel–they’re amazing (so I’ve heard). We walk up to Ballroom 20 and ask the line attendants, “So where does the line for Luke Cage start?” To our surprise the answer was, “Well, there really isn’t one just yet. But go ahead and line up over there.” 20 people were in front of us, MAYBE (and I stress maybe). We looked at each other and though, “hell yea, let’s do this.” But to our surprise, all good things come with a caveat. We were going to have to sit through a Teen Wolf panel (and the end of The Strain–which was awesome) in order to get to the Luke Cage one. Sweet mother of God….pain….frustration….coupled with undying boredom about characters that I have no idea what was happening with were flashed on the screen followed by question after question by teenage girls asking questions like, “What would your characters twitter handle be and can you relate to it?” FU*K….me…..my misery was shared by a couple of guys sitting next to me twisting and turning, followed by the occasional moan in their seats as they too, did not care. One of them even started to snore a little as he dozed off during this panel–God I envied him.
But the waiting paid off. A giant screen with a countdown starting at 2 min popped up on the screens. The lights went dark and the clock started racing towards zero. As soon as 10 seconds hit, everyone started the countdown; you would have sworn it was a New Year’s Eve party. 5, 4, 3, 2, WOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!! It’s here, it’s finally here!!!! Wait….what’s here exactly? Oh yes, they’re going to come out and just TALK about the show. We’re not going to watch it, we’re just going to TALK about it. We don’t even get to answer any questions, we’re just going to listen to them talk. And you know what, it was awesome!! I mean, everything and I mean EVERYTHING that Bobby Jackson had told me about Marvel panels did not disappoint. They showed clip after clip, introduced bad guys, brought out actors we loved (The Punisher was in attendance and he didn’t need to be). We got a good feeling about who the characters are going to be, the action to expect, the tease for the Iron Fist show they’ll be doing and the The Defenders!! Goosebumps. I mean absolute GOOSEBUMPS and excitement radiated through my very being. This is what we wait for, this is what we stand in line for, get up early for, battle the heat for, this is Comic-Con and Marvel gets it. They understand what it means to their fans that these characters are done right. They understand how, if you stay loyal and true to the characters, we’ll come out and support. It’s like an unwritten agreement and contract. “Do right by us and we’ll do right by you.” And man, oh man, are they doing right by us.
So with that being said, the day ended with us doing a show on the grass and enjoying the breeze from the water as it cooled us down from the day’s sun. It was an awesome feeling, and an awesome day. I can’t imagine what tomorrow will bring.
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