WonderCon '17: The Panels

Aside from an excellent exhibit floor, WonderCon had several panels every hour and we ended up attending several on Friday and Saturday. On Friday we checked out a session on the pre-visualization of hit Wolverine movie Logan where guests discussed creating a non-superhero movie starring superheroes and how writer/director James Mangold pushed them to "make it real". Which is kind of weird when you think of it since the dude has a metal skeleton and another guy can control people with his mind but whatever. It did push the crew to be more creative and not fall back on tired tropes or exaggerated action sequences with lots of explosions. After that it was a celebration of Buffy and Angel to celebrate 20 years with a preview of an upcoming oral history book from genre writer and super fan Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross. This was a fun panel as the two talked about how they ended up writing a book on Buffy (their publisher wanted another book after their Star Trek themed oral history, anniversary was coming, one of their favorite shows) and the good old days of genre journalism of the 80's and 90's with Fangoria, Starlog, Cinefantastique and Cinescape. Gross told a funny story about looking up Joss Whedon and calling him and the young writer being so thankful of the early support. In the years to come, Whedon would make himself available to Gross for hours at a time for interviews but when Whedon landed The Avengers, the accessibility ended.

The Arena was pretty quiet and media presence was limited in general with only Warner Brothers putting on a studio panel that filled up quick as Annabelle 2 and Wonder Woman were previewed. But the cast and crew of Archie showed up to a full house with Luke Perry looking very scruffy and not knowing how to handle social media while the kid who plays Archie started talking and freaked everyone out. Turns out he's from New Zealand and has the accent too boot.

Jim Lee's WildStorm celebrated 25 years with a large panel of artists, writers, inkers and contributors. Highlight tidbits included learning that Lee now has 9 kids from two wives and that WS started off in a one bedroom apartment, then two bedrooms then an actual studio in a bank building. Lee and long time inker Scott Williams argued about who would pay for the fax machine and realized they needed assistants and finance people to actual run a company. It was a very familial atmosphere as Lee encouraged young artists to strive and become the next themselves, not a copy of him. Many were away from home for the first time and lived in a nice apartment in a nice part of town that was soon trashed and dubbed the "Crack house". Lee helped the young guys with money, buying cars, bailed them out of jail and to save time, hired someone to come in and cut all of their hair at the same time. Apparently they all got sweet bowl cuts. There was mention of Brett Booth who unfortunately couldn't attend, Damme it! I asked Lee if between WildCats toys, a video game and animated series if a film was ever seriously considered. He responded that it never got past the pitch stage and it would have just been too big a project for the pre-X-Men and Spider-Man era.

We caught the tail end of Valiant's panel on digital offerings that includes a Ninjak web series then sat in for the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary. Cleaned up versions of old games are on the way as well as additional upgrades to latest release Street Fighter V. E-gaming league, the Capcom Cup is also in full swing with hundreds of thousands of dollars up for grabs. I'd love to check one of these events some day to see some bitching gameplay and epic smack talk.

Workout of the Day: WonderCon '17

While the Double Tree is a great place to stay in Anaheim, one thing it lacks in is it's gym. You've got a few pieces of cardio equipment, some stability balls then a cable station with a chin up bar that's too close to the ceiling so you're warned not to use it. But making the best of what was available, I still got in a workout before each day of the show. Sure I'd be walking thousands of steps a day but let's face it, eating on the road and especially at a convention isn't always easy to keep clean. And believe me, it was Carl's Jr. for breakfast everyday, Munchie Mix and Cool Ranch Dorritos in the room along with a Costco sized bottle of Tullamore D.E.W. whiskey with Crabbie's ginger beer then nights out at California Adventure Park's Italian themed Wine Trattoria (hello, lasagna!) and local favorite Lazy Dog Cafe. So I working out needed to be part of my weekend, otherwise I'd just fall asleep on the couch all day! Friday was Chest & Biceps, Legs Saturday and Shoulders & Arms Sunday with supersets like:

Push Ups w/ Cable Flys
Push Ups on Medicine Balls w/ Cable Pullovers
Chins w/ Cable Curls
Face Pulls w/ Cable Preacher Curls
Deadlift w/ Front Squat
Goblet Cable Squat w/ Hip Thrusters
Standing Calf Raise w/ Lunges
Front Press w/ Rear Cable Raises

Some abs or planks and cardio followed each and I felt a lot better about the not great eating choices I'd have to make the rest of the day. And like Jean-Claude Van Damme believes, the only bad workout is the one you don't do, so keep pumping!

WonderCon '17: The Floor

After that tremendous Thursday of Extreme Studios anniversary, Irish pub happy hour and a quick trip to Disneyland's California Adventure Park, it was time to start the WonderCon! With badges being mailed out early, we breezed past a giant line waiting to pick up their badges outside. Inside, I had the immediate sense that the show was bigger than years prior and I think I'm right. For 2017, WonderCon was utilizing all four Halls A-D for registration, Arena queue and the actual exhibit floor. Compared to the first or second year where we shared with a large volleyball tournament which lead to some amusing co-mingling of athletes and cosplayers outside. While there weren't any huge installations or Hollywood showpieces, DC, Boom, Gold & Silver Age Comics, a pink unicorn looking thing, a sizable Artist Alley, Disney and Capcom were are all out in force.

Walking around for several hours, I realized we'd barely covered half the floor! There was a solid mix of comic books, action figures, Funko Pops, art pieces, mystery boxes, prints, movie posters and film soundtracks. For the older goer you had 50's and 60's Disney pieces or a frigging oil paint by numbers set featuring James frigging Garner as Maverick! With a Wild Storm 25th anniversary panel scheduled and Jim Lee being a guest of honor, I was hoping there would be some sweet 90's Image stuff and for the most part I was not disappointed. One booth had WildCats figures for $15-20 a pop while another had a beat up in package Zealot for $4, sold! On the hunt for a McFarlane Toys Shaft or Dutch figure from Youngblood but only saw the likes of Troll or Badrock, hello Amazon! Big Red Comics and another vendor had some sweet $1 bins, bagged, boarded and in alphabetical order.

Capcom had an awesome four sided installation with multiple Street Fighter games to play as it's the 30th anniversary but on one side was a real highlight, a faux bedroom decked out in 90's glory i.e. Michael Jordan and Home Alone posters along with tube TV's to play Ducktales or Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers! To top it off, you got a snap bracelet on the way out, 90's forever! On the new trinkets front, I grabbed some custom Cyclops and Captain America zipper pulls along with a bottle opener with Ron Lim Cap art. Cosplay wise you had Game of Thrones in groups, much Star Wars, stilted Transformers and Voltron and one Jack Frost.

While there were huge walkways in some of the hall, over in A things got narrow and crowded, cheaper real estate? Hand crafted hats, belts, phone cases and the like were on display along with prop weapons and real knives. Flash Gordon's Sam Jones was the most recognizable actor selling autographs. While there were a dozen food trucks outside, concession stands inside had surprisingly decent sustenance with usual offerings like pizza, deli sammiches, burgers and soft serve ice cream but no bars on the floor. All in, the best WonderCon floor I can think of in recent memory.

(Pre)Con-Man: Extreme Studios 25th Anniversary Signing

This past weekend, Comic-Con International's WonderCon returned to Anaheim after a brief stint in Los Angeles last year. Anaheim is great site for hosting cons due to it's proximity to Disneyland that provides a fantastic infrastructure of highways, roads, hotels and eateries. Even though the show started on Friday, we booked a suite at the Double Tree (gotta love WC pricing!) on Thursday so we could hit Disneyland before all the Spring Breakers showed up. A random Facebook post alerted me of something truly comic book distinct, a 25th anniversary signing of Rob Liefeld's Image Comics imprint Extreme Studios!

Liefeld and Jim Lee's WildStorm studios were the two Image brands I grew up on with multiple runs of Extreme's Youngblood, Brigade and Prophet being part of my collections around the country. I had just purchased the new hardcover edition of Youngblood (forgot to bring it) and was brought back to the 90's in your face showcase of muscles, exposed hair, hot bodies and being superheroes in a media obsessed society. Big Red Comics is located in picturesque old town Orange complete with roundabout and multiple eateries, bars and antique shops. There was already a line down the block but store staff walked the queue explaining how things were going to work. Once inside, you could buy an Extreme Yearbook with bios and artwork from all of the guests along with other titles and rarities like store only Youngblood #1 or Prophet graphic novels collecting the first seven issues. More and more guests showed up and raffles kept the atmosphere light.

The guest list was IMMENSE with Jeff Matsuda, Dan Fraga, Andy Park, Shannon Denton, Chap Yaep, Todd Nauck, Marat Mychaels, Norm Rapmund, Art Thibert, Danny Miki, Matt Hawkins, Dan Panosian, Shelby Robertson, Jon Sibal and Karl Altstaetter. I had already had a brief fanboy moment with Prophet's Dan Panosian at February's Long Beach Con so it was cool when he walked up next to us in line and sighed about Los Angeles traffic making him late. The signing was kind of what you made of it, chit chatting with each guest, I wish I had read the yearbook before meeting everyone! But stories of being 19 when they joined and it mostly being a blur or talking animated X-Men as someone moved into film and TV after comics. Panosian said there would be an anniversary panel at San Diego Comic-Con as there wasn't one at WC while I talked to Matt Hawkins about The Image Revolution being the best documentary of the four he did interviews for. Rob Liefeld was gracious, thanking us for showing up and waiting, ready to sign whatever I wanted. He flipped through the Prophet trade, laughing that he found a box of them so they were vintage!

To cap off a great event, O'Hara's Pub next door had $6 Jameson's...and we still had Disneyland later that evening. Wonder Con 2017 was shaping up nicely and it hadn't even started.

Con-Man: Anaheim VS Los Angeles

Last weekend, Comic-Con International's WonderCon took over the Los Angeles Convention Center. If you're keeping track, WonderCon spent many years in San Francisco at the Moscone Center before construction and schedules pushed WC to Anaheim for 4 years. Anaheim was under the knife this year so WC moved up to Los Angeles. The neighboring J.W. Marriott was the Con hotel and the nearby L.A. Live housed Microsoft Theater was the Hall H or Anaheim Con Center Arena for 2016. While proximity to Hollywood was closer, WonderCon was actually a smaller show than years previous in Anaheim with even less movie and TV panels and guests. Having the show downtown was fun as you have the L.A. Live complex next door with a movie theater and restaurants and lots of cool spots just an Uber ride away. BUT the Staples Center was still in full swing with a basketball or hockey game every night of WonderCon with two on Sunday. That lead to an extra influx of thousands of folks fighting for the same restaurants and surface streets leading to night time hordes and terrible traffic.

There have been rumblings that Comic-Con will leave San Diego in the next few years as they've outgrown the convention center space and hotels are trying to rip off attendees by pre-setting steep prices and some kind of tax deal. SDCC overtakes the 11,000 hotel rooms in the area, accounts for over 60,000 stay nights and brought in a whopping $177 million to the local economy in 2014 alone. Ever the non-profit just putting on the best celebration of the creative arts, CCI has been courted by the likes of Anaheim, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. After WonderCon in Downtown, I can firmly say I vote Anaheim. The great thing about San Diego Comic-Con is that it takes over the ENTIRE downtown area. The baseball stadium, library, local parking lots, the marina, on and on there's things to see and do, many for free without a ticket. But Downtown, Los Angeles is just spread out a little too much so having those pop-ups would be difficult. Parking is already a b*tch, there's half as many hotel rooms then throw in extra sporting events just leads to a less special feeling. Las Vegas in July? Woof. No thanks. Again, things would have to be spread out and mainly held in hotels.

Even though Anaheim is in our backyard and feels less like a vacation, is simply set up to handle crowds. Highways lead directly to Disneyland and the Convention Center with few spots for bottle necking. Even when a big show like WonderCon or Star Wars Celebration is in town, you don't feel the Disneyland crush really at all. There's the Gardenwalk full of restaurants and many more just a short ride away in Orange or Fullerton. There's 13,000 hotel rooms in the area, many just a few blocks from the convention center (that's 200,000 square feet bigger than San Diego) and it's placed at the end of a street so traffic moves in and out pretty easily. WonderCon has already announced it will return to Anaheim in 2017 and for the first time in a while not be held on Easter weekend. Comic-Con has signed a deal to stay in San Diego for 2017 and 2018 so we'll see what happens after.

WonderCon! Saturday & Sunday

This was a very chill con for us as once you've been to 22 shows in a year and start putting on your own events, seeing the same vendors and panels just doesn't carry the same can't miss cache. It's more about seeing con-rades, soaking up the energy and having an excuse to hang out somewhere you usually don't. The weekend was more of an in town vacation, a stay-cation if you will or in our case, a con-cation. WonderCon was just a gateway to live the Happy Hour and Hotel life as we didn't focus on the show but it was just a part of the long weekend. Starting with dranks, pizza and Batman V Superman in 4DX to the show, to video games at 82, more show and over to Hollywood for Silent Rage then our final day at the Con before heading home. Walking around sold out Saturday, WonderCon only felt crowded at certain intersections and in one case when a bunch of Star Wars cosplayers stopped traffic to parade through. I wanted to crash straight into their little ego trip but the lady requested I didn't. Another attendee next to me said something along the lines of "they're cosplayers, not f*cking royalty", exactly my friends, exactly!

Looking at the map I thought we only covered about half the floor Friday but I was wrong and we had taken in about 2/3 already. So we checked out Artist Alley, Small Press and more vendors. Capcom had Street Fighter V tournaments going on and I talked to a guy working the floor who should have been in Ken costume as he had semi-long blonde hair and was in shape. We flipped through more graphic novel boxes that were 60% off cover price and picked up some Ka-Zar and more Captain America. Cosplay wise there was an excellent Hellboy walking around with plenty more Reys, a couple of them men, along with Deadpools and Disney princesses galore. Like Friday we had oh so many panels lined up like Spotlight on John Romita, Jr., Star Wars VFX and more but like Friday, didn't attend a single one. Timing just didn't line up for us and we didn't feel like sitting around the convention center waiting. So it was back to the hotel for some relaxing and Captain America: The First Avenger on FX. I cracked up that with BatsSupes in theaters, cable had Man of Steel, Batman Begins, Spider-Man and more in rotation for the weekend.

It was another late night as we ventured to Hollywood for Cinematic Void presenting Chuck Norris flick Silent Rage and Dammaged Goods co-presented. Coming back to L.A. Live I was feeling ravenous but Yard House was jammed and most of the other joints had closed the kitchen at 10:00 PM. We ended up at the overpriced Mexican spot but it hit the spot before crashing out at 1:00 AM. Looking out the hotel window we soaked up the neon soaked view where you could see a Jesus Saves sign as well as the Eastern Building, you know, from Predator 2?! I woke up at 7:00 AM Sunday and contemplated taking a swim to get loosened up as I was creaky and sore from working out, walking and not getting a ton of sleep but opted to stay in bed and watch YouTube videos instead. Including an episode of the not good 90's USA Network Street Fighter cartoon set in Final Fight's Metro City. After an all star breakfast that included coffee, bites of a croissant and protein bar, it was back to the convention center for Sunday, which sold out as well.

It was still pretty easy to navigate without much of a crowd so I played some Street Fighter V, redeeming my horrid performance at 82. V has vibrant design and color along with pretty smooth gameplay, lots of new moves and specials that I had no clue how to execute. But my days spent at the arcade in the 90's served me well as I won two matches and stepped down to do some more walking around. Right next door was the Capcom booth who had a deal too good to turn down, two soft tees for $15! We saw a guy get turned into the purple faced, big chinned Thanos at a cinema make up school booth and did a little people watching out in the main lobby. Outside, an Easter Egg hunt was supposed to start but the little plastic shells were already out so we picked up a few that had candy and Halloween style trinkets inside. The J.W. held on to our bags after check out and we watched security shoo away some little punk kids trying to sell candy. I say punks because they were warned that they couldn't sell on the premises, started cursing then walked up to us acting like angels. A suit clad official walked them off and told them it wasn't worth it when you could tell they wanted to try and be punks. Our last Uber ride for the weekend took us home and back to reality as con-cation aka our new age version of summer vacation for pop culture loving adults came to a close.

WonderCon! Workout

Even though I'm technically on a convention vacation or con-cation? Con-a-cation? And would be walking miles upon miles a day, you still have to keep up with the working out to fight off deliciously poor choices like Jameson and Ginger Beer at noon, a croissant and Belgian Waffle for breakfast, nachos, chicken strips, a club sammich and clam chowda for lunch, on and on. The J.W. Marriott Downtown at L.A. Live has you covered though with a spacious pool and fitness center. On Friday morning I went for a nice 7:00 AM swam doing laps back and forth alternating with high knees, backwards running and a little water karate for resistance. It's extremely peaceful in the morning as the sun rose and the later for pool party scene played tranquil techno tunes.

Today I hit the shared with the Ritz Carlton Fitness Center where there's ample weights, machines and cardio equipment to get the ol' morning pump on. And after seeing Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck in Batman V Superman, you had to keep up the superhero requirement of slamming weights. Tackling the whole body I completed:

1) Dumbbell Swing 2) Chins 3) Dips 4) Leg Press 5) Incline Push Up 6) Incline DB Curl 7) DB Lying Triceps Extension 8) Seated Leg Curl 9) DB Lateral Raise

9 exercises for 3 rounds had me pumped and I finished off with 30 reps of Rope Pushdowns then Rope Hammer Curls, Forearms, 5 sets of Calf Raises on the Leg Press Machine and neck. After that it was a mile on the Elliptical done in intervals and some stretching. I've always been a chins advocate and not saying I started a trend but 3 dudes who were already lifting and not doing any chins started to after I was into my circuit. Just saying... I briefly chatted with another con-goer about my Big Trouble In Little China tee and his Wolverine tattoo, gotta love con folk. Feeling good, now it's time to find a Downtown joint for breakfast before heading to the show and Hollywood for Silent Rage!

WonderCon! Friday

Badge check in was quick and painless but then a line built up by the doors. Why? Because the exhibit hall wasn't open yet! I don't know how the 12:00 PM opening time slipped by me after I had just read through the Quick Guide but here we were with an hour to chill so we just walked back to the hotel for some relaxing. After a noon cocktail we headed back to the show. This is the first year they're testing out RFIT, a crowd tracking dealy where you swipe your badge going in and out. Horrific visions of broke down technology and bottlenecks filled my mind but it was fine. We'll see how Saturday goes though as that's when the crowds really show up. I believe the exhibition space for WonderCon is smaller than last year and it definitely felt spread out as you had registration in one hall, a few program rooms in a random hallway, the exhibit hall, more panel rooms upstairs, big media presentations at the Microsoft Theater across the street, etc.

 

We crisscrossed aisles checking out toys, comics, pins, action figures and the like. Nothing too new to the convention scene but half off trade bins weren't crawling with people so we flipped through several booths. I don't go to these shows with goals for items to purchase anymore but I did have my eye out for Captain America: Man & Wolf, a 90's multi-part collection where Cap turns into a werewolf. I have single issues in my collection but those are halfway across the country. While most booths have graphic novels in long boxes you have to flip through, one had them displayed horizontally so you could just skim the spines and voila, the lady picked it out for me. Nintendo had a booth set up touting a new version of StarFox! The polygon filled flying game with animal pilots I played on the N64 in the 90's. You also had a booth for the new Ninja Turtles flick (Knock knock, you're about to get shell shocked!), IDW, Nerdist, DC, Sideshow Collectables and many more. After a couple of hours on the floor, we were famished and headed to the Yard House for Happy Hour. Sure beats waiting in line for a food truck out in the sun!

Panel wise we had a list as fall back options but our first one, a reading of James Cameron's unmade Spider-Man movie treatment, ended up being changed to some 1950's sci-fi flick so we bounced. Spotlight on Jim Lee would be good but we've seen the guy multiple times and run into him randomly around shows. I wouldn't mind seeing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows presentation but this comfy hotel bed has me in it's clutches. Rey from Star Wars was hands down the most popular cosplay of the day, transcending all ages and even genders. I actually had to look to find a Dead Pool. A fun start to the weekend/con-cation. Maybe we'll hit Eighty-Two for some video games as seeing a statue of super yoked Ryu has me hankering for some Street Fighter...

WonderCon! Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

To really kick off the Comic-Con spirit of the weekend, we took in DC Comics cinematic slugfest BatmanVSuperman: Dawn of Justice at L.A. Live's 4DX theater. If you'll recall, 4DX is a 3D projection with seats that move, vibrate, punch you in the back, spit air at you with wind and water effects to give you a more immersive experience. BatSupes has been fighting bad press since it was announced as it just seemed like a less thought out cash grab of Marvel's connected cinematic universe. Warner Brothers is guilty of only seeing films as franchises and products but hey, you're getting a $250 million adaptation with two of the most popular superheroes in the world with A-list stars and resources. So let's just remember we've come a long way. Affleck's casting as Batman was a surprise, I like the guy but saw someone like Josh Brolin in the role since he's physical and a little crazy in real life, like Christian Bale and Michael Keaton which the character needs. Early fan reaction was positive while reviews have been eviscerating. I went in with low expectations, anticipating a wall to wall action fest with bad CGI and lofty self serious drama.

I enjoyed the film, it wasn't an overwhelming action or video game looking spectacle. The action was actually surprising subdued and the CGI looks a lot better on the big screen than in the commercials. Ben Affleck is solid as Bruce Wayne and Batman, disconnected, calculating and brooding while poor Henry Cavill's Superman/Clark Kent isn't given nearly as much to do and does most of his acting through his furrowed eyebrow. Going in, I was on #TeamAlfred as you just knew Jeremy Irons would bring some class to the proceedings which he delivered on. Gal Gadot was excellent as Wonder Woman and a highlight of the film. Amy Adams is her usual spunky self while Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor got a little Joker for me. Both leading men get to show off all that time in the gym as well. Being a 3D film, director Zach Snyder really missed some opportunities to take advantage of the format. With so much driving, flying, sliding and crashing, a few POV shots would have been awesome. The final battles are excellent as Batman takes on Superman then they team up with Wonder Woman to fight the giant Doomsday. I found it funny they made a point to announce the city streets were mostly empty after many a complaint have been leveled at tentpoles like Man of Steel and The Avengers for their wanton destruction of populated cities. I appreciated the more intimate fight scene with just a few figures instead of having them battle an endless army of faceless Storm Troopers.

I'm not chomping at the bit to see the film again but I dug it and would experience it on the big screen again before it goes out of theaters. 4DX wise the wind machine element was way overused and you felt a little beat up during fight scenes with the jostling and back pokes. But it does put you into the movie more and as soon as you think it's going slowly, boom! Bats fly out and your seat jerks you back to attention. But poor Superman, he's never really been done well in a film as his character is just too bland and a supporting character in his own sequel. He's supposed to be invulnerable yet he's brought to his knees by both Lex and Batman. While Bats' suit is practically indestructible as he's thrown through walls, shot in the head and stabbed but keeps on kicking. Ah well, bring on more Batfleck, we all knew he was the more interesting character.

WonderCon! The Falls

It's another Grip & Rip Weekend as we venture back to Downtown, Los Angeles for WonderCon! San Diego Comic-Con International's sister show was held up north for many of it's 30 years but moved to Anaheim when the Moscone Center underwent construction. After several years near Disneyland, WC has moved to Los Angeles for 2016 as Anaheim is going through a makeover. Many patrons express their ill will for Downtown, LA being one of the future homes of SDCC if it leaves San Diego as there's half the hotel rooms available as Anaheim or SD. It's already been announced that WonderCon will move back to Anaheim next year which is fine by me, it's a nice little staycation and there's lots of eating and entertainment options around the area. Plus hotels feel a bit closer to the convention center than in Downtown.

Anywho, we Uber'd over Thursday night, fighting pre-weekend traffic and had a terrific conversation with our driver who was an actor between gigs. Here's hoping his indie film does well. The J.W. Marriott by L.A. Live is beautiful and glistening and shares space with the Ritz Carlton. We somehow ended up on the 19th floor with a great, Blade Runner style neon view. We ventured over to The Falls for happy hour which ended up being next door to Beelman's Pub, another joint we discovered downtown. A cool joint with a wood and nature motif, The Falls has happy hour til 9 that includes cocktails and light grub like flatbreads and hummus platters. The bourbon based Hunter was a bit sour for my taste to the next rounds were old standbys Jameson and Ginger Beer. Evan Williams is the well label but we opted to treat ourselves and taste buds. Nice service and staff, chill vibe and they were warming up a projector to screen a flick. 

Con-Man: LA Comic Book & Science Fiction

As you know, we hit an astounding 22 comic book and popular culture themed shows last year. After a short reprieve, we're right back on the trail as the semi regular Los Angeles Comic Book & Science Fiction Convention kicked things off downtown. Held at The Reef, access is pretty easy, there's paid lots of street spots, food trucks and it's only $12.00 to get in. There were posters and swag for the likes of upcoming The 5th Wave as well as released flicks Hunger Games and The Night Before. The show isn't huge but enough to keep you busy for a couple of hours. Transformers artist and Sunbow Celebration friend Livio Ramondelli was a featured guest and it's always great to see him on the circuit. The LA show always has actors and artists signing and this week it was Lando Calrissian himself, Billy Dee Williams along with much of the cast from Aliens including Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Mark Rolston, Jeanette Goldstein, Carrie Henn and Ricco Ross. It would be cool if the show hosted a panel or Q&A with the guests instead of just having them out charging but it's their show.

Towards the end of last year I felt like all the cons were blending together, selling the same stuff and hocking the usual swag. But this time I quite enjoyed seeing what was on offer as new items and fads have arrived. Right away there was a guy selling DVD's for $2 so I grabbed Season 4 of Two and a Half Men along with the Mel Gibson-Richard Donner paranoid thriller Conspiracy Theory and the special edition of Witness. Once upon a time postcards were all the rage leading to buttons and now you've got booths full of branded metal lunchboxes. The Predator themed mini-mates hit the shelves so of course I picked up Dutch, Dillion and the creatures. I'll grab sweaty shirted Harrigan next month. A few years ago I grabbed some awesome laserdiscs from a guy at WonderCon as the oversized covers are like a vinyl piece of art. A gent had a crate full of Stallone titles but at $5 each my walls were fine without them. The dollar and fifty cent comic bins were calling my name but we didn't have time to flip through too much stock. I ended up with a short stack of the Jim Lee and Frank Miller All-Star Batman, isn't that the one where Bats says "are you retarded? are you dense? I'm the god damned Batman!"? I shall find out. A new line of Funko surprise Science-Fiction icons were around the floor and using the ol' box weight trick I figured I'd pulled either the Queen Alien or Godzilla. It was the fire breathing green machine.

The guests weren't scheduled to start signing until noon but 20 minutes before hand, lines were already formed and moving as Biehn, Rolston and Henriksen were rocking and rolling. I was hoping Mrs. Biehn, Jennifer Blanc, would be attending so I could ask about when their next films were coming out but looks like she didn't make it. The Biehn was rocking a knit cap to fight the winter chill which probably made for some interesting selfies. We had to get moving to LA Live to catch Star Wars in 4DX but walking out I was very happy with my haul and am looking forward to their next show in February along with Long Beach and then WonderCon in March. See ya at the show!

Con-Man: WonderCon 2015 Sunday

Although total attendance for WonderCon is less than half of San Diego, the great alternate show still managed to sell out 3-Day badges as well as Saturday. I always tell people who are discouraged by the coordinating commitment that is SDCC to check out WC as it's a fantastic show in it's own right with plenty of swag, comics, art, games, panels and special events to keep you busy with little of the headache. Sunday we rolled in for the annual Nerdist panel as they keep expanding and have recently moved into new office space. New shows, podcasts, even an improv class is on the way. We found some better convention center food near the arena with sammiches and fajita bowls next to burgers and hot dogs. Some more walking around the floor led to more flipping through comic boxes where it became Liefield Sunday with a haul of The New Mutants as well as finding the last issue of the 2004 6-part mini-series relaunch as well as the Shatterstar mini-series. Back to the Arena we went to catch WB's The Flash panel that had cast members Danielle Panabaker, Candice Patton and Carlos Valdes joined by executive producer Andrew Kreisberg. A cool sizzle reel played first showcasing some end of season craziness featuring the Rogues teaming up as well as Gorilla Grodd and another crossover with Arrow. The panel was a lot of fun and they mentioned an Easter Egg I missed. Apparently in a recent episode where you see The Flash fighting Professor Zoom with his mom in the middle, the Flash emblem has a white circle around it versus Gustin Grant's current red. What does that mean? That there's still a mighty big chance that John Wesley Shipp will be revealed as an alternate Flash from the 90's show and give us what we all want! YESSSSSSS!

Some fun cosplay included a Predator and a female Terminator along with a first sight for me, U.S. Agent! When Captain America gave up the mantle under government pressure, Johnny Walker stepped in, a former pro wrestler who had been suped up by the Power-Broker but was also kinda crazy. When Steve Rogers battled and defeated Walker for the title, Walker donned the black Captain outfit Steve adopted during his non-Captain America crime fighting. Thus becoming The U.S. Agent, a more aggressive and maybe psycho version of Cap who would butt heads with Cap's buddy and West Coast Avengers leader Clint Barton aka Hawkeye. The dude was surprised as nobody knew who he was but he looked great. Coolest swag of the day had to have been the comic book and movie themed rugs that included Cap's shield, the Millennium Falcon, Han frozen in carbonite and Space Invaders. I feel like we should have picked one up cause it would have really tied the room together...

Some more walking around Artist Alley and we decided to call it a day. It was another great show and some big news hit at the very end as Comic-Con International announced that they would be moving WonderCon to the Los Angeles Convention Center in 2016 over the March 25-27th weekend. This year that would put it up against Seattle's Emerald City Comicon on the west coast but ECCC is expanding to 4 days in '16 and moving to April 7th-10th. It'll be cool to have WC in downtown but I dunno, Anaheim's a lot easier to get around than downtown. There's also only 5,000 some hotel rooms within walking distance of the convention center compared to 13,000 in Anaheim and 11,000 in San Diego. There's not much to walk to as L.A. Live will quickly be overrun and the surrounding area doesn't make you feel uber safe as gentrification is butting up right into Skid Row. It's only a one year contract though as Anaheim is scheduled to undergo renovations and expansion. The show has moved before, starting in Oakland, moving to San Francisco then down to Anaheim. It will be interesting to see if there's an uptick in Hollywood studio presence since it's literally in their neighborhood. Until then, see ya in San Diego!

Workout of the Day: On the Road Again

Another weekend, another convention. With WonderCon being in our backyard down in Anaheim we could pack a few snacks and dranks like Jack Daniels, Crabbie's Ginger Beer, Hershey Chocolate covered Marshmallow Eggs, mini Cadbury Eggs, cookies and more. It's Easter right? Saturday started with a workout at the Red Lion's pretty decent hotel gym where I got in:

Dumbbell Clean & Press/Chins/DB Bench Press
Concentration Curl/Cable Pushdown/Seated Cable Row
DB Lying Extension/Side Raises/Seated DB Curl
Zottman Curl and Seated Calf Raises

                            Each tri-set was done 3 times to get that total body pump.

For calves, just prop up the end of a flat bench, put some dumbbells on your knees and work those calves! A mile on the Elliptical machine followed by 8 flights of stairs made me feel marginally better about the less than stellar meals and dranks to be had throughout the weekend. Before heading over I swung by Subway for at least one light meal with roughage for the day where they had Hulk branded Doritos Jacked 3D?. Remember when Hulk came out in 2003? Tie-ins for pudding, pens, popcorn, pop and so much more was everywhere! Then the movie hit and didn't do so hot...ah well, I liked it.

Con-Man: WonderCon 2015 Saturday

A little late but here comes my wrap up of Saturday at WonderCon this year. Last year Saturday was packed, like felt similar to San Diego packed. With organizers expecting 60,000 attendees this year I was prepared for the crush but honestly it wasn't too bad. The first panel I wanted to check out started at 10:00AM, same time the exhibit hall was supposed to open, but by the time I got there at 9:45, everything was flowing. In a new development, turnstiles and gates were installed outside the convention center so the religious protestor types couldn't mingle too much with attendees. I wonder what their schedule is like, I mean there's crowded sports events every weekend, do they show up to those?   

Superman: The Richard Donner Years Celebrity Super Reunion kicked things off with a massive guest list that included actors Margot Kidder, Valerie Perrine, Diane Sherry, Marc McClure, Jack O'Halloran and Aaron Smolinksi. Sarah Douglas got a flat tire on her way while producer Ilya Salkind was running late and eventually missed the panel. CapedWonder founder and Superman expert Jim Bowers co-hosted and there were several behind the scenes photographs projected to go with the panel. Apparently a book is in the works so I'll be sure to keep my eye out for it. Much love was directed to Donner for making the crew like family during their years together and for being an excellent director who handled each actor individually. Kidder was told to cut loose while Superman Christopher Reeve needed more precise direction which Donner provided. A great story came up when Marlon Brando thought the crew could use a rest but the producers balked at the cost it would take to do so. When pressed for the day to day cost of the shoot, one of the producers answered $350,000 to which Brando said he'd pay. Not sure if that day off actually happened...It was a great panel made even better by a video of Donner who couldn't attend because of Easter weekend and family commitments. A very heartfelt tribute to the films, cast and crew, Donner is always the man.

I wanted to check out Capcom's panel but it was filled and a line had already formed for the session afterwards featuring some podcasting type. That is one of the frustrating parts of these big shows, you never what kind of crowd is going to show up for a panel and then you get people just waiting through one for another. Anywho, some more walking around the floor followed and it wasn't too bad. Maybe the aisles were bigger so there was only congestion in a few spots. Walking around Artist Alley I spotted Captain America and Silver Surfer artist Ron Lim as well as his 90's Marvel mate Rob Liefield. Lim is one of my favorites as I grew up on his Cap work, I wish he would sell some postcards, buttons or some kind of swag so I could support him. Maybe I'll commission a full on Cap sketch to go with the quick freebie he did for me at another show. It was time for Warner Brothers' panel in the arena. Last year WB, Fox and Universal trotted out the likes of Bill Paxton, Gareth Edwards, Simon Kinberg, Gary Oldman, Andy Serkis and Luc Besson but this year film was way subdued with only WB showing Mad Max clips and San Andreas. The Mad Max scenes and trailers look great though; visual, violent and a bit weird. San Andreas director Brad Peyton and lovely co-stars Alexandra Daddario and Carla Gugino were on hand to discuss the film but energy was really lacking. The trio talked about a lot of the practical f/x employed but watching the clips it still looks like a CGI fest and I can't say I'm all that pumped for the flick. Just me? Afterwards we met up with The Arnold Fans maestro Randy who was in town for WonderCon and a fan meetup. It was great to chat with him and here's hoping we collaborate on something in the future.

The bar at the Hilton was SLAMMED so we headed to the Marriott for some snacks and dranks. A couple of whiskey gingers, mac n' cheese and a burger later we were energized to hit the floor again. We checked out Inside The Writers' Room, a panel assembling scribes from shows like Hannibal, The Big Bang Theory, Terminator, The Flash and Firefly. It was an informative session talking about what exactly is a writer's room, how it's good to either know what you want or what you don't want, having to recast actors, writing for certain actors, feeding you formulaic stories without making you feel it's not (cough, Mad Men, cough) and whatnot. We snuck out towards the end to check out Tarzan, John Carter, Doc Savage, The Shadow and Alley Oop: The Martian Legion Arrives! A look at the work of Edgar Rice Burrough's and a new book featuring his most famous creations along with other popular pulp heroes. Burrough's set up shop outside Los Angeles and the town of Tarzana was born. The ranch is now an archive as Burrough's threw nothing out, including a letter from Theodore Roosevelt denying Burrough's membership to The Rough Riders! Several Burrough's projects are in the works as the Tarzan live action movie is in post production, a TV mini-series is in development and a new novel by comic book distributor Jake "Buddy" Saunders is ready for release that teams up John Carter and Tarzan with The Shadow and Doc Savage?!

Even more walking around and we hit up some dolla, dolla bins, ya'll where I picked up some awesome Wonder Man, Incredible Hulk, Sgt. Rock and The Shadow comics. Also got one of those little Mystery Sci-Fi figures looking for The Rocketeer but got a frigging E.T., Damme it! Better luck was had with some Avengers mini bobble heads where we got Captain America, naturally, cause I'm charmed. A fun but tiring day, apparently we walked about 7 miles, phew!

Con-Man: WonderCon 2015 Friday

We only got about an hour of floor walking in for Friday but it proved very lucrative. It didn't seem too packed around the Anaheim Convention Center yet as most people were walking out as we were headed in. Lots of cosplayers outside by the fountains with Elvira, Xena, Rocket, Groot and Wheeljack from Transformers among them. Inside seems extra cavernous this year but having wider aisle ways isn't a bad thing, at all. Ran into the vendor I bought my Bishop from Aliens from at Long Beach Expo that Lance Henriksen signed. This time they had Neca's Robocop VS The Terminator figures for cheap so it was my first buy of the night. More walking around and we ventured into Warner Brothers' San Andreas Experience which was basically the trailer with 4D f/x, aka The Rock, Carla Gugino, Mr. Fantastic and that guy from Sideways surviving a huge earthquake complete with vibrating and moving chairs. I'm still not sold on the flick but it was a nice addition to the floor. Elsewhere I picked up some issues of awesome movie magazine Cinefantastique with Demolition Man, Captain America, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Robocop II in their extremely deeply researched and reported sights.

Moving onto more of the floor there were big set ups for Valiant and IDW like at last week's Emerald City Comicon along with Image which has several panels this show to highlight their creative owned genre divisions. Boutique Bait had some awesome Street Fighter shirts along with Bruce Lee and Voltron socks! They were right next to Nerdist who had quite the display set up for interviews and podcasts while La-La Records has a show exclusive Masters of the Universe soundtrack featuring 2 CD's of music from the beloved Filmation cartoon. I'm on the fence about picking it up but the bastards also had scores to The Flash from 1990, The Warriors and The Phantom on sale! Arrrgh, choices. I ended up with The Phantom and will contemplate the other titles over the weekend, don't wanna blow my wad on the first night, amirite? Ran into La-La representative and #MovieBro Mike Joffe whom I met through my #ActionBro David J. Moore at Conan the Destroyer as we chatted about all the awesome soundtracks La-La puts out.

It was time to eat but nobody told this guy a frigging Mighty Ducks AND Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Game were going on so getting over to Orange staple The Lazy Dog Cafe seemingly took forever. Luckily their Whiskey Ginger (Jameson & Ginger Beer) along with lots of mac n' cheese, edamame and a burger solved all our problems. Our Lyft driver back was a cool guy, a vegan chef inbetween gigs who loved sci-fi movies too boot. We talked Aliens, Blade Runner, DC versus Marvel, Masters of the Universe and how Dolph Lundgren was a perfect He-Man. Tomorrow will probably be crazy but I'm stoked to walk the rest of the floor as well as check out some panels on writing, pulp heroes, Warner Brothers' presentation and Capcom! See you at the show!

Con-Man: Spring Circuit

While it's cold and snowy across much of the country, Spring Time is nearly here and that means conventions! This weekend is The Long Beach Comic Expo, sister show to The Long Beach Comic Con. They're pulling out all the stops to make this their biggest Expo ever with lots of comic book and media guests as well as some back to back stacked programming.

Long Beach Comic Expo | Saturday & Sunday, February 28 - March 1 | Long Beach, California

Looking forward to the G.I. Joe animation panel as a nice primer to next week's Sunbow Celebration double feature. The Gargoyles panel is a nice touch as is the spotlight on legendary X-Men scribe Chris Claremont. Cool to see Magnet and Magnolia previewing new movies as well as the Eat. Geek. Play. Studio hanging out with Stan Sakai and Gerry Conway among others. Genre movie favorite Lance Henriksen is attending but I'm disappointed a panel wasn't scheduled. Lots of topics covered though with writing, diversity, cosplay, webcomics, marketing and more over the two days.

Emerald City Comicon | Thursday - Sunday, March 27-29 | Seattle, Washington

We're heading back to the great green north to check out Emerald City for a second time. This will be our only out of state show we're attending again as Calgary Expo and Salt Lake City were fun but just not as convenient or special enough to lure us back. Hoping to get out to Arizona or Nevada for a new show in 2015 though. ECCC is shaping up to be another great time with guests across the Artist, Writer, Cosplayer, Novelist and Celebrity spectrum. Comics guys like Kevin Eastman, Tim Sale, Humberto Ramos and Dan Jurgens will be on hand while celebs Hayley Atwell, Michael Bell, Levar Burton and John Wesley Shipp will be sure to provide some great spotlight panels. The Cinema Series is back with Karen Allen, Stan Lee and Brandon Routh attending screenings of Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Avengers and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Congratulations to Jennifer Blanc and Michael Biehn as they're expecting a child together meaning we won't be seeing them on the flight up again like last year. Biehn will be participating in an Aliens reunion panel at Monsterpalooza in Los Angeles the same weekend of ECCC.

WonderCon | Friday - Sunday, April 3 - 5 | Anaheim, Calilfornia

Coming back to Anaheim for it's 4th year is San Diego Comic-Con International's less crazy but nearly as awesome sister show WonderCon. First tip for attending, don't stay at the Clarion. Stay at the Hilton since it's connected or if you feel like walking a couple blocks, The Red Lion, cause they have mini-fridges in all their rooms. Anywho, WonderCon is great, it really is like Comic-Con junior. You've got the huge exhibition floor, tons of vendors, lots of guests and programming with literally half the madness. The show is still being put together but the likes of Darwyn Cooke, Jae Lee, Dustin Nguyen and Rick Remender caught my eye on the Special Guests list. Warner Brothers is bringing latest DC animated flick, Batman vs. Robin as it holds it's world premiere during WonderCon. Also announced is special event Superman: The Richard Donner Years Celebrity Super Reunion with producers, actors and writers.

Star Wars Celebration | Thursday - Sunday, April 16 - 19 | Anaheim, California

Two weeks after WonderCon it's back to Anaheim for the show I bought tickets for 20 months ahead of time, Star Wars Celebration! Originally scheduled to coincide with the release of the new films, Star Wars Celebration is now hitting early as the flicks won't be ready until the holidays. No matter, it's still looking like a fantastic show with Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and so many more guests scheduled to attend. On top of that, they're screening all 6 Star Wars movies! There's also an art show, cosplay contest, speed dating, podcasting and much much more lined up.