Comic-Con Sunday, in years past, was usually a day for things to slow down a bit, but since Friday and Saturday were sell-out days, the dealer floor remained as crowded as ever. And to make matters worse, Sunday is officially designated as “Kids’ Day” by the Con, which means the already-overpacked aisles were loaded with irritating parents charging through with their SUV baby strollers, oblivious children coming to a dead stop to look at something and not noticing the hordes behind them trying to get through, and –- my personal favorite –- kids coughing without covering their mouths. (Have I mentioned that I don’t particularly care for children who aren't related to me?)
Anyway, it seemed like a good day to go upstairs and check in on the panels. Since I don’t read X-Men or watch Jericho, I decided to give those a pass and look into some of the more academic offerings. I sat in on “Graphic Novels in Libraries” long enough to hear several teachers rave about how comics help kids learn “talk-reading” and “think-reading.” Also, one should apparently never give “unflipped Manga” (that is, a translated Japanese comic that still reads right-to-left instead of left-to-right) to a dyslexic child. I’d never really thought about it, but it makes perfect sense.
Then I wandered over to “Comics Are Not Literature,” moderated by author Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics), which wound up being one of the most fascinating panel discussions I’ve ever heard at Comic-Con. While occasionally getting into grad-school speak –- there was discussion about “the stranglehold of the 19th century novel” and “interpreting the narrative” –- the talk was both heated and heady, leading to lots of little clusters of animated chat afterward. I hope they do it again next year.
I capped off the day with the annual “Starship Smackdown,” featuring Mark Altman and Robert Burnett (two very nice guys, who made the must-see cult comedy Free Enterprise), which features a panel of “spaceship-ologists” refereeing mock throwdowns between the great starships, aliens, robots, and computers of film and television. Ever wonder who would win in a battle between Superman II’s General Zod and WarGames’ WOPR computer? You’re in the right room. (Bear in mind, however, that the geek references fly fast and furious, with many of them going right over this non-Trekkie’s head.)
A few last tidbits: The Henson Company is developing a new Muppet sitcom called Tinseltown, about an actor (who’s a pig) and his manager and longtime companion (a bull). Brian Henson told the Con crowd that since he, unlike Miss Piggy’s Frank Oz, can’t do female voices, he decided to make the show about a male couple. Also, Kevin Smith announced that he would be releasing a supplemental disc for his great queer-inclusive comedy Chasing Amy, featuring a new documentary and cast Q&A (the latter, presumably, is the one I attended at Vulgarthon 2005 at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood). Smith has also been tapped to direct an episode of the new NBC spinoff Heroes: Origins.
I’ve attended Comic-Con for years as a member of the press, walking by the many tables of artists and vendors and attending all manner of panels, but I’ve never known what it’s like to be on the other side. Until this year.
I’ve mentioned Prism Comics before – they’re a non-profit organization promoting queer writers and artists in the comics business and highlighting GLBT characters in mainstream and indie comics alike. They were kind enough to ask me to participate in this year’s annual “Gays in Comics” panel at Comic-Con – the 20th anniversary panel, no less – and to host a signing of my book 101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men on Saturday afternoon at their booth. Joining me was my husband Dave White, Advocate.com American Idol and Project Runway recapper extraordinaire, who was signing his hilarious memoir Exile in Guyville.
I met lots of folks during the signing, and even sold off some books, but I had that chilling moment of recognition when people would pass by the booth and avoid making eye contact so they wouldn’t have to feel guilty about not buying whatever I was selling. I’ve adopted that same duck-and-run strategy over the years with people eagerly pushing their new comic book, their T-shirt line, their action figure collection, you name it. And I’ll probably continue to do so in the future. But it’s always educational to find yourself on the receiving end.
The panel was a real treat to be a part of. Moderated by Andy Mangels –- a comics writer and journalist who first organized the panel back in 1988 and who wrote numerous articles about comics and other genre topics for me when I was arts and entertainment editor at The Advocate –- the group featured a great cross-section of professionals. Joining us in the discussion was Heroes writer Chuck Kim (whose work has also appeared in The Advocate), YU+ME creator Megan Gedris, Prism Comics’ Charles “Zan” Christensen, the great Alison Bechdel (who had won the Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work for Fun Home the night before), and surprise guest Paul Levitz, the president of DC Comics. That Levitz made himself available to fill what’s known as the “token straight guy” position on the panel tells you how much clout this panel and Prism have accrued over the years.
Plus, I admit it –- I love a crowd. I don’t choke in front of the camera or in front of the microphone, and while I may occasionally babble, I certainly don’t ever go mum. And thankfully, the format of the panel was loose and conversational enough that I could toss Megan and Alison follow-up questions about topics they brought up.
Front row (l-r) Chuck Kim, Megan Gedris, Alison Bechdel; back row (l-r), Charles "Zan" Christensen, Andy Mangels, Paul Levitz, your humble blogger
The questions from the audience were smart and provocative, as well. A friend of mine who had been taking photos at panels all weekend told me that at the bigger, celebrity-packed panels, they had to have someone manning the kill switch at the audience microphone in case of three deadly Comic-Con panel questions: 1) Will you read my script? 2) How can I get a job in the industry? and 3) Can I have a hug?
The other educational aspect of panel service was finding out about the perks. No, we didn’t get a fancy, luchre-laden giftbag like the Oscar presenters are given, but by gum we got the specialty chocolate, and that was more than enough for me. -- Alonso Duralde
Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller (center) with series stars Lee Pace (left) and Anna Friel
One of the most glowingly-reviewed pilots of the upcoming Fall TV season is ABC's Pushing Daisies, from gay creator-producer Bryan Fuller (Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me) and out exec producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen (American Beauty). The show revolves around Ned (Lee Pace of Soldier's Girl and Wonderfalls), who is blessed and cursed with the power to bring dead people and animals back to life. The curse part involves the two downsides of his ability -- if he revives someone or something for more than a minute, something else has to die; and once he resurrects you, you'll die if he touches you again. So when Ned revives Charlotte (Anna Friel), aka Chuck, the woman he adores, they can love each other but never, ever touch.
After a huge audience at Saturday morning's Comic-Con screening gushed with enthusiasm over the visually extravagant, achingly romantic, and drily witty Pushing Daisies pilot -- with most of the questions going to co-star Kristin Chenoweth, thus proving that Comic-Con attendees are bigger musical theater fans than one might realize -- Fuller sat down for a bit and chatted about his delectable new show.
I think Pushing Daisies is the ultimate safe-sex show. Did that frame the way you looked at the central relationship? It didn’t occur to me until someone pointed out that it was a great metaphor for internet sex, because so many people are at their keyboards, clacking away with their fingertips, and their fingertips never touch flesh except their own. I like that there is a central metaphor about not having sex.
Are you getting nervous that the show is getting so much buzz before having aired yet? No, it’s fantastic, and it doesn’t really change the agenda with how we’re doing the show, because we’re all OCD and want it to be as good as it’s going to be, so even if just a handful of people watched it, it wouldn’t affect how we’re approaching the storytelling than if a million people watched it. But it certainly doesn’t suck. Do you see yourself as a cult TV guy? No, I just see myself as doing stories I would want to watch. So I guess that makes me culty, because I like culty television, and the goal is doing something that I would watch, first and foremost. And if it’s something that I wouldn’t watch, then I have no business writing it. I think that’s kind of the definition of hackery. Or fuckery, as Amy [Winehouse] would say.
So working with Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen on this series, do you feel like you’re working your way into the Hollywood Gay Mafia? Uh…I guess so. The Gay Mafia, I get and I don’t get, because it’s really just about rolling up your sleeves and doing the work, as opposed to socializing. I don’t understand the socialization and the networking aspect, because I’d rather just concentrate on the show and doing the best job with the show, not necessarily going to the parties and doing the Gay Mafia thing. And that’s why I like Dan and Bruce – they are about the work, and they are about the show, and that’s the basis of our relationship. And if I can somebody whacked out of that – or whacked off, since it’s the Gay Mafia – then more power to me. And what was your toy goal for this year’s Con. Star Wars figures. Old ones. There’s a handful from the 1985 “Power of the Force” series that Kenner put out that had little coins with them. And there’s nine of those that I need to track down, including some Ewoks. -- Alonso Duralde
Bill Corbett (left) and Kevin Murphy of The Film Crew
Fans who miss the wit and bad-movie-mocking of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (me included) were thrilled to hear that MST3K veterans Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett have reunited as The Film Crew, releasing a new series of DVDs that feature the veteran funnymen ripping into awful movies with gusto. I had the good fortune to talk to Murphy and Corbett, at Comic-Con to promote the Film Crew's debut release, Hollywood After Dark, which stars Rue McClanahan as an aspiring actress who gets led astray in Tinseltown.
So Kevin, you helped put on two Conventio-Con-Expo-Fest-a-Ramas during the MST3K years. So when you attend these now, are you thinking, This is interesting, or I could have done this better, or So that’s how they deal with that? Kevin Murphy: They’re always a madhouse. I had to learn not to smile so much, because my face starts to get really tired. And I’m really happy to see people, but after a while, you go home, and your face is still…you look like the Joker in Batman. I come to learn how much people like the product, which is great. All these people come up and say hello; it’s gratifying.
Tell me a little about you guys deciding to regroup and continue. Was it something you knew you wanted to do immediately after MST3K ended, or did you need some away to think, Oh, I missed that? Bill Corbett: We’ve kind of been working together since the show went off the air. We did a couple of projects – we did a pilot for NPR, kind of a movie review show, and after that we decided that we kinda had to get back to the roots. When this opportunity came up, we decided we can do these at our own pace, we can do them a little more on the cheap, and get back to what we like doing and what we’re known for – movie commentary.
What have you learned from having done MST, from acquiring the movies to the structure of the show, that you’re able to apply now? KM: I think we’re quicker at choosing which movies will work and which ones won’t. The thing that remains difficult is finding movies that are either public domain or cheap for us to license. It’s amazing – even the crummiest movies in the world, people want these high prices for us to make fun of them. I don’t understand it! (laughs)
I can’t imagine. You guys have given whole new lives to movies that otherwise wouldn’t have had one. There would never have been a Manos, the Hands of Fate DVD release without y’all. Now you two are both also involved with Rifftrax, right? KM: Yeah, we’ve sat in with Mike a few times and done a few things along with that. It’s great fun.
Have you found that the hardcore Star Wars/Matrix/Lord of the Rings people are less amused when you go after one of their sacred cows rather than something like Catalina Caper? BC: Those people usually don’t show up and complain, because they know they’re outnumbered. That’s not a great concern. They can always watch it 7,000 times without the commentary. KM: I make it a habit not to go online to the chat groups to find out what people are saying, because it just becomes very scary very quickly for me.
I would imagine you guys would have had a history of web avoidance at this point. I wasn’t really online then, but one still hears about the legendary “Joel vs. Mike” flame wars among MST fans when the show changed hosts. Do you just not want to know half the time? KM: Here’s the thing: Those forums are for them and not for me. So it feels like horning in on a conversation that I’m not supposed to be involved in, so I really feel better not doing it. BC: Yeah, it’s really their business. We just try to do our best. You get too involved with that, and that way madness lies.
One last thing, and a friend of mine forced me to ask this: Kevin, are you aware that you’re an icon in the bear community? KM: (laughs) I have been told this! I guess it’s because I’m rather bearish – I’m bearish on America! I’m very flattered.
Coming up: A chat with Pushing Daisies creator-producer Bryan Fuller. -- Alonso Duralde
A promotional item for the upcoming Iron Man movie, at the Marvel booth. Only at Comic-Con would a packing crate (granted, a "Stark Industries" packing crate) be a roped-off photo-op object
Here's a few interesting odds and ends of the day:
An "only at Comic-Con" moment -- Marvel Comics paterfamilias Stan Lee stepping off an elevator, accompanied by Queer as Folk star (and comics fan) Hal Sparks.
Jaime Hernandez, of the extremely lesbian-inclusive Love & Rockets -- "I used to draw nothing but superheroes. When I was 13, [my brother] Gilbert made me start drawing women. And then I didn't want to draw anything else."
Valuable advice for Con attendees -- If you buy a bottle of water, save the bottle when you're finished drinking. Many of the meeting rooms have Sparkletts coolers, and you can refill your bottle. It's good for your pocketbook and for the environment. Alison Bechdel's terrific slideshow, which I had to leave early to do an interview, contained great tidbits like her reference to "1983, what I now like to think of as the halcyon days of the early Reagan administration," and "In a way, my Dykes to Watch Out For half is envious of my Fun Home half, but indirectly, Dykes to Watch Out For made Fun Home possible." She got a big laugh by recalling, about the origins of DTWOF, "I wanted lesbian visibility because I figured if people could see us, they couldn't help but like us."
Valuable advice for gay Con attendees hoping to flirt, courtesy of my friend Sean -- "Remember, 'fat, bearded, and nerdy' does not necessarily equal 'bear' in this context."
Juicy gay comics news of the day, courtesy of my friend Richard Neal of Zeus Comics: Marvel has announced that Terry Moore, creator of lesbian fave Strangers in Paradise, will take over writing duties on the popular Runaways book when Joss Whedon's current run ends. Marvel also has an exclusive deal with the very talented and openly gay writer-artist Phil Jimenez.
Coolest obscure* costumes of the day, neither of which I had the chance to photograph, unfortunately -- Male: Usagi Yojimbo (and it was all makeup, not a furry-head job); Female: Venture Bros. assassin Molotov Cocktease. -- Alonso Duralde
*But not so obscure that I didn't recognize them, obviously. Some of these outfits running around? I have no idea.
Today was supposed to have begun with the Warner Bros. panel, and I had hoped to bring you dish about the upcoming film versions of two comics I love -- Watchmen and Whiteout -- as well as tidbits about the Get Smart movie (starring Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway, the latter perfectly cast as Agent 99) and Invasion (there was a "special surprise guest" rumor floating around, and I thought it might have been Nicole Kidman and/or Daniel Craig, since they should really be here shilling their Christmas release of The Golden Compass to this fanboy crowd).
Instead, I got to see the loading docks of the San Diego Convention Center for the first time. Because the line for Room H (part of which is pictured above) extended all the way around and across most of the back of this very large building. And while I've never actually seen the inside of Room H, I figured there was no way that all of these people were going to fit in there.
Mind you, the morning wasn't a total loss -- I did get to meet one of my heroes, the very talented lesbian writer and cartoonist Alison Bechdel, in the Marriott lobby this morning. (We've been e-mail buddies for years, but this was our first real-life encounter.)
So, my hopes of Warner Bros. dashed, I instead roamed the exhibit floor and took pictures of Large Things and Cool Things for your entertainment. (The Large Things, by and large, are also Cool Things.)
Large Bart Simpson
Large Lego Chewbacca
Cool Pokemon Character
Large Sci Fi Channel...Thing (UFO? Submarine?)
Cool Batmobile
Large Batman Lego
Large Boba Fett
Cool Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, impersonator (although why grown men would wait in line to get an autograph from a random actor pretending to be a cartoon character totally eludes me)
Large Armored Bear and Cool Doohickey from The Golden Compass (and if you've never read Philip Pullman's extraordinary His Dark Materials trilogy, do yourself a favor and put them on your summer reading list before Compass, based on the first book in the series, hits theaters this Christmas).
Large Pirates of the Caribbean ship (large enough so that people could walk around in it)
Large Display/Arcade Competition to promote the upcoming documentary The King of Kong
And finally, of course, Large Jabba the Hutt
OK, off to grab some lunch. Hoping to catch one or both of the Love & Rockets panels this afternoon, assuming I can get anywhere near the room where they're being held. -- Alonso Duralde
The first of the queer panels took place Thursday afternoon, under the auspices of the fine folks at Prism Comics and hosted by comics writer and pro wrestler Terrance Griep. It was a rousing discussion with some exciting new faces, including Megan Gedris (YU+ME), Sean McGrath (Frater Mine), and Tommy Roddy (Pride High).
My two favorite quotes of the day:
Steve MacIsaac (Shirtlifter), responding to a question to the panel about feeling the need to "push" their sexuality in their comics: "If you took the queer content out of my work, there would be two pages left."
Jennie Breeden (The Devil's Panties): "People ask me what it's like to be a girl in comics, but I don't know what it's like to be a boy in comics, so I don't know how to answer that question." -- Alonso Duralde
My first stop on Thursday was at the Inkworks booth, where Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Amber Benson was doing a signing to promote a new line of trading cards tied into the show's 10th anniversary. Benson's portrayal of lesbian witch Tara garnered her a fervent lesbian and gay fanbase, and she's always been a good friend to the Advocate. Accompanied by her adorable boyfriend, actor-musician Adam Busch, we spoke a little about her Comic-Con experience:
You’re a genre star. So events like this are your bread and butter, right? Well, I wouldn’t quite call myself a genre star, but I’m definitely in the genre world. And I don’t know if it’s my bread and butter per se, but it definitely keeps you in the public eye, coming to Comic-Con and to other conventions. You sort of reconnect with your fans, especially when a show that you were on has been over for a while. You still have the hardcore people who want to see you every now and then, it sort of renews that relationship a little bit. But for me, coming here is really about all the other things that are new and happening that I’m totally unaware of, living in my little apartment in L.A. So do you shop, do you browse? Oh yeah! I look at all this stuff. Love to go down the artists’ alley and look at all that stuff.
And can you move about freely, without being stopped a lot? You know, the first couple of years, it was a little crazy. But I think it’s pretty mellow now. I can get around pretty well without my R2D2 mask or anything.
[Mind you, a few minutes later I was waking with Benson and Bausch through the lobby, and an excited fan stopped them for a photograph.]
In the Venn diagram where one circle is your geek fanbase and another is your queer fanbase, how much overlap is there? It’s a pretty big overlap – not surprisingly, but kind of surprisingly. There’s a little bit of a kitsch quality to Buffy that I think really appeals to the queer audience. Plus, it’s this girl who goes in and does all this amazing stuff, she kicks butt, and she’s got emotional problems at the same time, which really appeals to everybody. There’s definitely an overlap between the two.
And do you think the folks that are more on the Comic-Con end of the spectrum are following you to movies like queer indie Race You to the Bottom? Some of them. A few people are. Not, on the whole, a lot. When you leave the genre world, the genre audience tends to not go with you. There are some hardcore people who will follow you and see whatever you’re in. But for the most part, they don’t follow.
What’s your oddest fan encounter? Well, the grossest fan encounter I ever had, I was signing at the Inkworks booth, and this girl – she was so sweet, so cute, but SO nervous – she’s wearing a tanktop, and she’s just like shaking and sweating and so nervous to be meeting anyone from Buffy. And I signed for her, and she wanted to take a picture, so she came over and put her arm around me, and we took the picture. And when she left, I realized I had a huge white deodorant smear on my arm! And I was all, “I gotta go to the bathroom and wash my arm – be right back!” -- Alonso Duralde
Remember that old board game "Don't Spill the Beans"? The object was for players to keep adding plastic beans to a teetering cauldron; you lost if you were unlucky enough to add the bean that finally made the pot spill over.
Comic-Con 2007 may quite possibly go down in history as the year that the beans spilled. Here's the thing -- Comic-Con has already, in years past, been a huge event. More than 100,000 fans, professionals, and media in everything from movies to TV to anime to video games to, yes, comics, pack themselves into the 460,000 square feet of the San Diego Convention Center each year. And for the last several years, attendees have heard rumblings that the event was getting too big for the convention center and even the city of San Diego to handle. (Hotel space alone is a major issue -- my partner and I booked our room for this summer's Comic-Con back in September, and I've heard that people are staying in hotels across the border in Mexico because everything in the city is occupied.)
So why does this year seem like the one that's going to break the Comic-Con camel's back? Well, for starters, Comic-Con has already had to stop selling passes for Friday and Saturday, since capacity has been reached. That's capacity in a 460,000 square foot convention center, folks. Also -- and this is purely anecdotal evidence, I realize -- my inbox is choked with e-mails from publicists about movie stars, DVD launches, video game announcements, and tons of other Con-related press releases. (I was going to give you an exact count, but my eyes started blurring after the first hundred.) Mind you, in years past, the number of such pre-event releases I received totalled about zero.
Anyway, whether or not the convention center becomes a big crater by the end of the weekend, things here at the Con are rolling full blast. Opening Thursdays in years past had tended to be a tad slower, just an amuse-bouche for what's to come, but already the main floor is crowded and the lines to get into the higher-profile panels and presentations are daunting.
For those of you who have never attended Comic-Con, the whole event is basically broken up into two main parts -- the floor and the panels. The main floor contains 51 aisles of vendor booths, featuring a variety of wares, from T-shirts to toys to armor to books to zines to ... well, think of anything of interest to fans of comics, science fiction, horror, Japanese comics and animation, or role-playing games, and you'll find it on the floor. The big comics companies like DC and Marvel have huge areas staked out where their better-known artists appear to sign autographs and draw in people's sketchbooks. (Shameless plug alert: This writer will be signing copies of his book 101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men at the Prism Comics booth -- that's #2148 for those of you attending the Con -- on Saturday afternoon at 2:00pm.)
Upstairs in the meeting room and ballrooms, there are the panels on subjects ranging from "Podcasting 101" to "Ball-Jointed Doll Collectors Meeting" to "Confessions of a Game Designer." Comics writers and artists hold forth about their work and industry legends like Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen tell stories, while other panels celebrate the 25th anniversary of Love & Rockets or the 100th birthday of Tintin creator Hergé. The panels are also where the major studios come to build buzz for their upcoming movies among the nerdigentsia -- part of the reason why things get so crowded around the Con these days - so audiences will have the chance to see Clive Owen talking about Shoot 'Em Up and 300 director Zach Snyder outlining his plans for the hotly-anticipated Watchmen movie.
OK, so now you know what we're dealing with here. I'm exhausted but already having a blast. Check back for my stories of crossing paths with an icon of queer TV and of attending the first of the weekend's GLBT panels. -- Alonso Duralde
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