MegaCon 2016

[The NZA]

So, as most of ya'll saw on social media stuff, donny & I head out to MegaCon last weekend, and i wanted to give details! first: Space Cowboy is a champ, and though he couldn't make it, passed on his Frank Miller experience pass, allowing a seat at his panel, lithograph & an autograph, for which i properly thanked him & let dude down on nearly every level, but more on that

 

we were waiting to meet up with donny's friend Brian, and she found a delorean with some really good cosplay going on, and promptly jumped in on that

 

i'm here remembering i don't wear watches

 

this was immediately followed by donny asking OH MY GOD CAN I HOLD THE HOVERBOARD

 

 

we went around the floor a bit & i didn't pick up much yet (always wanna hold out to see what your options are!), gaming stuff was there but pretty much ebay priced, as expected. few atari games id've bought for a buck but i mostly passed on everything but an Earthworm Jim figure for my sega shelf, haha.

 

then, it was time for my Stan Lee pic!

this was a mess, huge mob of people but once it got going it was pretty exciting - i was waiting for my turn & not expecting much, since a) donny mentioned Stan's kinda hard of hearing and b) he was pretty quiet for the few people ahead of me, but they yelled NEXT! and i said Hey Stan! or something that im sure came out with a voice cracking and he goes "hello, true believer!" and i kinda died and tensed up and clearly missed where the camera was in that moment

 

 

...so, par for the course! i thanked him for Daredevil & was on my way, haha.

 

more walking, then donny pointed out the time & i realized i only had a bit before the Frank Miller panel, so i head over to the voice actors section (huge line for Kevin Conroy! he was near Oppenheimer, who's done a ton of stuff), and was waiting about 45 minutes for David Hayter to get off his break. i wasn't too far behind in the line, but he felt bad & was talking to his fans for keeping them waiting (no pun), and the gal ahead of me literally paid $40 for him to call her friend in his Solid Snake voice and taunt her for not being there, which was awesome.

 

when it was my turn, i got autographs for me & Space, and told him my friend was still boycotting MGS5 because of his absense. we talked about how The End (in MGS3) was his favorite boss battle of the series, and why 4 kinda stunk. he was cool.

 

 

...but now i was late for the panel! which you totally didn't need VIP to get into, as donny & brian went in and held me a seat.

 

 

that's him inna middle, and Brian Azzarello on the right! it was a big Q&A, and i apparently missed Frank not giving an opinion on the Netflix DD show, haha. he was fairly short with a few fans, most questions were on batman & one poor bastard wanted to ask about the rumor on newsarama of dark knight IV, to which frank basically said "nah, we're just skipping to part 20" and the other guys told him to get off the computer. harsh!

 

there were a few spoilers for DK III, but that came from the crowd. he talked a bit about working with Will Eisner, cinematography with Robert Rodriguez, rooting for Affleck-bats in the recent mess of a film (which he didn't seem to mind, i guess? more on "don't believe the internet" or the like) and closed out with a gal asking him about why he chose to portray commissioner Gordon the way he did in Year One:

 

"...uh, as a good guy, fighting back against a corrupt institution? I don't know *snicker* seemed like a good idea at the time?"

"well, i meant specifically, when he cheats on his pregnant wife."

"..look, batman's the ideal, okay? gordon's a regular guy like us, and..."

 

oof - sorry axels, that was as close as we got to his views on muslims i guess, but it was a fun closer.

 

so now it was time to get his autograph! the line was stupid-long and might still be there, i don't know...but skipping into the VIP line was great! sadly, i was surrounded by dudes bragging about how much their book would be worth with his signature after hitting the CGC booth to reseal them (...). i should mention at this part that i brought space's books, but not my own, because we left early and i am not a clever man. Hayter had that cool print to sign, but Miller's booth had nothing, and we were being shoved through...i was hopeful i could get 2 autographs, but space wasn't really hyped about his trade of DKR or Hard Boiled, and asked if i could find something Sin City related. sadly, i'd only found 2 TPB tables - one was a garbage "BUY 5, get 20% OFF THE NEXT" and another was 1/2 off but with a lot less selection - and no Sin City or miller DD. i panicked that i was gonna blow this chance! fuck, wished newt was there to help me go through trades, he's awesome at that

 

a dude in the line mentioned he saw DD # 183 (which has such a great cover) at a nearby stand, and donny ran off in a flash! the line starts moving & she literally zips past just as i reached the point you can't get at outside people, drops off the issue and goes "HEREYOUGOILOSTBRIANOKAYBYEEE" and really saves my bacon. i'm texting space to ask what i should do, and he says go for it with the DD book, which felt shitty but i'm not a great person so here we are!

 

by milhouse rules, i'm pretty sure i get this on odd months, and space has it on even ones, so come pick up your comic wednesday man!

 

Mind you, they were rushing the VIP's since no one else could get signatures until we were done, but man the staff was kinda rude - they gave me jon's lithograph and literally dropped the one for the next dude in line while rushing us out to the guy who you hand whatever's being signed, right? apparently, you're not even supposed to talk to Frank, but nuts to that! he kinda smiled when he saw the book, so i thanked him for reviving the character & shook his hand, and he did the "thanks for reading!" thing, which was cool. he looks healthier, there's hair on his face again.

 

also? i totally banged up his nice lithograph walking around, and it now has a small tear. I'm so sorry man, you really gotta get better friends

 

that was most of the day - i'd swung by Peter David's booth, but he wasn't in a particularly chatty mood, and only had a novel he & his daughter wrote to sign, so i went with that & got both signatures. i said i'd loved Maddox & X-Factor, and would ANAD marvel have any plans for that? and he just kinda said nothing he'd heard yet and went back to whatever he was doing, so off i went.

 

Andy Kubert never seemed to be at his booth. i professed my love to Gail Simone, from afar.

 

we were all exhausted as fuck at this point, so we just resolved to hit up the local artist stuff we passed through earlier & pick up art prints we dug...i'll let donny post hers when she can, here's what i went with:

 

 

 

bummed i passed on some sonic glasses, but got a pac-man drinking one that lights up when you put cold beer into it - testing this out soon. really happy i hit all the major points on my list, and am planning to go get some frames at walmart tonight!

[Dag]

I loved your write up. Thanks for sharing this with us. It made me feel like I was there. Those pictures with you, Donatella, and those cosplayers was really cool.

 

I wish I went to more events like this. I'm going to try to go to the Supercon this year. The movie/TV personalities listed as guests looked pretty tight.

[Jumbie]

I will be in Barbados for AnimeKon at the end of August. Anyone want to join me for geekiness in a tropical paradise, feel free to fly in.

 

http://animekonexpo.com/

 

Thanks for the writeup Nick. What does Stan Lee smell like?

Edited May 30, 2016 by Jumbie

[Da Cap'n 2099]

Like Jack Kirby's tears.

[Dag]

Like Jack Kirby's tears.

 

Ha ha ha! Jumbie gave you the perfect setup for that joke. Well done, sir.

[Little Nemo McFly]

LOL! That BTTF pic w/ you guys checkin' your watches is great. I like the 'fffffuuuuuck...' expression on your face - Mr. No-Watch! LOL!

 

That pic w/ Stan is fantastic - it looks like an old high school pic and you looking off in the wrong direction completes it. Priceless. It's perfect - LOL!

 

That Hayter sig and personalized note is so damn awesome. That is bad-ass.

 

I've never been to a comic-con until last year. My first one was Supercon and I got a 'newbie-intro-tour' hosted by Panch - it was so overwhelming to see other 'geeks' n' die-hard fans concentrated in one place. I loved it. But - I find it weird to see 'heroes' and the like charging like, $40 for pics and sigs. I'd totally pay - but it's weird. It's like, 'OMG! So nice to meet you - I loved you in...blah!' 'Uh, buddy - there's the line and it's cash only. (shrugs) I get it - but, still kinda deflating...

 

LOL - speaking of deflating - me n' Panch had a pretty deflating brush w/ greatness: We were just standin' around, chilling and Dante from Clerks came walking right at us - I was star-struck and he saw me beginning to freak and approach...and he acted like someone behind him had caught my attention and just kinda dismissed my excitement, "What?! Do you see Darth Vader? Where is he?!" And he just walked past me - leaving me smiling like an idiot as he got himself a gyro. I was like, 'Awww...'

 

He wasn't on the clock, I guess. Clerks is up there in my top 10 fav films - kinda stung. LOL

 

[Da Cap'n 2099]

Proof of that story:

 

[Keth]

Thats fucking awesome. Ugh my first con was kind of a let down here, rushed through too quick. Dallas is getting better guests each year though. I gotta go again at some point.

[Iambaytor]

Proof of that story:

 

 

He wasn't even supposed to be there that day.