New York Comic Con Thursday, October 12, 2023
Thursday, October 12, 2023
The first thing I did when I got to the Javits Center was go to the Spoke Art booth on the show floor. I wanted to get the details about Pierce Brown's signing on Saturday. The glow-in-the-dark 16"x24" Red Rising Mars Institute map was $150 and he would not be signing any books. I knew not to carry Light Bringer around all day for nothing. While there I did get a bookmark. The next day I got the Circus bandana.
I then went to the Hallmark booth to check out the new ornaments. I didn't buy any exclusives from them this year. I was saving money for the glow-in-the-dark map.
Then I went to the Penguin Random House booth. There I found out Katherine Arden was signing ARCs of her new book The Warm Hands of Ghosts at 5:20pm that day. I got a ticket but knew I was going to have to hustle to do two book signings. At 5pm six authors from Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View were signing after their panel. I brought my copy from home and I didn’t carry that heavy book all day for nothing, so I was going to get it signed. I just had to make sure I was in the front of that line to then make it to Katherine's signing upstairs.
Since I had some time before Ewan McGregor's panel I went downstairs to autographing. I brought my photo with The Clone Wars cast from Celebration Chicago 2019 so Dee Bradley Baker (the voice of the Clones) could sign it. Ashley Eckstein, Matt Lanter, and James Arnold Taylor had already signed it at previous conventions.
Baker's signing was supposed to start at 11am. He was an hour and a half late along with some other attendees who were signing. We were told something about traffic. It was so frustrating.
When I was finally at the front of the queue Ashley Eckstein came around the tables to hug and take photos with a fan at her table. As she was returning to her side of the table I said, "Hello, Ashley," and she remembered me and said my name. She gave me a hug and said it made her day to see me. It was good to see and speak to her even just briefly.
Ashley spoke quickly and quietly to Dee and gave him a hug. I was next but gave them some space to talk quietly because whatever they were discussing seemed serious.
When I approached Baker I gave him my photo and called it a throwback to Celebration Chicago. He really looked at it, like was studying it. I said we all still look the same. He pointed to himself and said more silver in the hair and a few more pounds.
He then said he misses Tom Kane (the voice of Yoda) and that he saw him in Kansas a few months back. Now, the way he said it I wasn’t sure if Tom was sick or had passed away. And I didn’t want to embarrass myself or sound ignorant about not knowing of his passing. So I didn’t say anything and just made a sound of sympathy.
Then to not keep others waiting I just quickly said how I loved the scene when Obi-Wan is approaching and Rex covers for Anakin because he’s talking to Padmé on a holo call.
Baker said it’s a good light hearted scene and I agreed, adding that it was needed in such a dark season.
After all that I made it to the stand by queue for Ewan's panel. I forgot to register for his panel but in the end it didn't matter. The Empire Stage is in the new wing and it is huge.
With the exception of Artist's Alley, the whole convention was easier to navigate and more spacious with the new wing opened.
When I got in the Empire Stage I found my friend who was sitting in the ADA section. She chose a seat in front of the big screen but the actual view of Ewan on stage was blocked by the ADA sign.
I did take a video. I'm not sure mine is worth uploading so here's another person's video that is better positioned and less shaky.
It was an interesting panel because of the actor's strike Ewan was not allowed to talk about any of his movie or Tv roles. He did talk about his stage roles, like playing Iago in Othello. My favorite part was hearing the stories about that: like seeing Jude Law or Sir Peter Hall in the audience, and when his daughter, Ester, came to see him perform.
As for future roles I'd love to see him play The Scottish King. And I would also see him play Iago again since I didn't get to see Ewan play him the first time.
He also talked about:
-like how to make the perfect cup of tea (too much effort, and I like honey in mine)
-how he doesn't like NY bagels (I love everything bagels)
-how he has too many grey cardigans and just bought a new one because it's chilly in NYC
-his work with UNICEF
-his Long Way Round motorcycle trips (he is trying to plan another one), and the thrill he gets from riding motorcycles.
-his parents are teachers and he would teach drama
-he said he can't shave his beard, which makes me wonder if it's for a possible post-strike role. A guy from the audience who participated in the warm-up guy's game stood up to show off his beard to Ewan when the topic of beard oil came up.
Post panel audience photo:
I enjoyed the panel but as I was leaving these two guys were saying that SAG was close to making a deal but it fell through, and if only they closed the deal then Ewan could have talked about his film roles. I guess they were disappointed.
There was also no fan Q&A.
After Ewan’s panel I quickly made my way to the lower level for the From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi: A Star Wars 40th Anniversary panel.
The queue was very long and I didn’t think I would get in. I considered going straight to the queue for the signing but didn’t know exactly where that would be.
Luckily I stayed because I did get in and they announced where the signing would be.
The authors there were (left to right): Jason Fry (“Kernels and Husks”), Adam Lance Garcia (“The Veteran”), K Arsenault Rivera (“Kickback”), Tara Sim (“Reputation”), Sarah Glenn Marcia (“Everyone’s a Critic”), Danielle Paige (“The Chronicler”). Not pictured: moderator Tom Hoeler (a senior editor on the Random House Worlds).
This photo includes Tom Hoeler on the left.
They each talked about how they came to write their stories.
Rivera (“Kickback”) watched RotJ four times and picked the character who Skywalker kicks in the face. He's a minor character but a major gif.
Adam Lance Garcia (“The Veteran”) said the idea to write about Dexter Jettster after AotC was gestating in his mind since 2020. So when this project came to be he wanted to tell this story of a prequel character in the Original Trilogy.
In “Reputation” Tara Sim loves fan fiction. So she wrote about Boba Fett and what he's contemplating behind the mask by adding flavor to his thoughts.
Sarah Glenn Marcia (“Everyone’s a Critic”) thought of Salacious Crumb as having the intelligence of a pretty smart dog. Dogs are loyal and love their person no matter what, so he views Jabba as a magnificent being.
Jason Fry (“Kernels and Husks”) thought what does the Emperor need with these dudes in funny hats? In the past he has written about Star Wars lore as non-fiction fiction. Ok, I'm trying to make sense of my notes and as far as I know there's no recording so I think he said something about how he read this article about how the government had put down rules on farmers. And then he couldn't get this out of his head and he had to write about: could you murder someone in a silo?
Danielle Paige (“The Chronicler”) wrote from the POV of an original character, Dora Mar, who interviews the heroes of the rebellion for the archives. Paige had to step back and not make Dora a fan girl but the writer in the room. Tom Hoeler (a senior editor on the Random House Worlds editorial team that helped create From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi), said he liked how when Dora interviewed Luke Skywalker he turned it into a mirror of Dora.
Since I had two signings very close together I left the panel a bit early. But before I did they each had to pick 2 stories, that are not their own, that they loved. And Jason Fry pointed out that out of 6 authors no 12 stories overlapped.
At the signing Tom Hoeler really liked that I came prepared by bookmarking the authors’ stories by their names. K Arsenault Rivera and Tara Sim liked that too.
Sarah Glenn Marcia asked me who my favorite character was and I said for the whole saga Anakin. She said he’s her husband’s favorite too.
Since the line moved fast and there were so many authors I only got to say hello to Jason Fry and Danielle Paige.
Something Adam Lance Garcia mentioned in the panel was that when he was young he read the novel The Glove of Darth Vader, a Star Wars Legends junior novel written by Paul Davids and Hollace David. I have had a bookmark of that book since 1994 and I have never been able to find a copy. I asked him where to find a copy of The Glove of Darth Vader. He said eBay. I haven't used eBay in so long they disabled my account. What was interesting is that Garcia said the plot is similar to the Sequel Trilogy. There’s a mention of a granddaughter of either Kenobi or the Emperor. And he doesn’t think that J.J. Abrams and Co. got the idea from the book.
My review of From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi.
There were lots of great stories. Unlike The Empire Strikes Back where I thought some 1-2 star stories should have been swapped for other POVs, I didn’t feel that way here. The stories felt more balanced. There were only two stories that I felt were 2 stars. I had many 5 to 4 star stories on my list. I especially liked the Ewok stories. My absolute favorite story is "Brotherhood" by Mike Chen.
What was interesting is that Jason Fry said that these books are called From a Certain Point of View for a reason. If the stories don't match up, don't analyze it too much. Some narrators are unreliable. Which is funny because I mentioned for my ANH review the authors didn't communicate about continuity and I thought for ESB they did. I didn't notice inconsistencies in RotJ.
My favorite quotes.
In "The Light That Falls" Bright Eyes thinks, If the cave was darkness and he being's hut was light, then they'd been keeping each other in balance. But whatever made the birds cry out had tipped the scales.
The balance was faltering.
In "Then Fall, Sidious" Sidious reminisces, I raised you from the ashes of your pain; I built you on the backbone of my vision. and There is something in you that remains eternally undecided. The mark of a man who was chosen but never truly chose.
In "The Chronicler" Leia says, "Don't be sorry...be prolific."
Thoughts on the narrators:
Sam Witwer was great at Sidious and I don't know how he didn't ruin his vocal cords.
The narrator for "My Mouth Never Closes" had the Sarlacc sound like a surfer dude and it was so funny. He was also a vegetarian and didn't like people falling down his mouth.
"When Fire Marked the Sky" - great Lando voice.
4.5 out of 5 Second Death Stars.
Lastly on Thursday I went Katherine Arden's signing. As she signed my ARC she remembered me and my sister from past NYCC signings. It's a nice surprised to be remembered.
I told her congratulation on her marriage and that the wedding photos on Instagram looked very nice. She thanked me and was relieved that it finally happened after 3 years of planning.
I also told her I was approved on NetGalley and I started reading The Warm Hands of Ghosts. At that point I didn't get far yet, and now I would read the paperback copy instead. We both agreed that reading on a screen hurt the eyes and we much prefer physical copies. I did mention that I do also like audiobooks.
I was so tired at that point and I got so caught up in our conversation I forgot to take photos and ask for a new photo with her. Maybe in February when she goes on a book tour.
The first thing I did when I got to the Javits Center was go to the Spoke Art booth on the show floor. I wanted to get the details about Pierce Brown's signing on Saturday. The glow-in-the-dark 16"x24" Red Rising Mars Institute map was $150 and he would not be signing any books. I knew not to carry Light Bringer around all day for nothing. While there I did get a bookmark. The next day I got the Circus bandana.
I then went to the Hallmark booth to check out the new ornaments. I didn't buy any exclusives from them this year. I was saving money for the glow-in-the-dark map.
Then I went to the Penguin Random House booth. There I found out Katherine Arden was signing ARCs of her new book The Warm Hands of Ghosts at 5:20pm that day. I got a ticket but knew I was going to have to hustle to do two book signings. At 5pm six authors from Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View were signing after their panel. I brought my copy from home and I didn’t carry that heavy book all day for nothing, so I was going to get it signed. I just had to make sure I was in the front of that line to then make it to Katherine's signing upstairs.
Since I had some time before Ewan McGregor's panel I went downstairs to autographing. I brought my photo with The Clone Wars cast from Celebration Chicago 2019 so Dee Bradley Baker (the voice of the Clones) could sign it. Ashley Eckstein, Matt Lanter, and James Arnold Taylor had already signed it at previous conventions.
Baker's signing was supposed to start at 11am. He was an hour and a half late along with some other attendees who were signing. We were told something about traffic. It was so frustrating.
When I was finally at the front of the queue Ashley Eckstein came around the tables to hug and take photos with a fan at her table. As she was returning to her side of the table I said, "Hello, Ashley," and she remembered me and said my name. She gave me a hug and said it made her day to see me. It was good to see and speak to her even just briefly.
Ashley spoke quickly and quietly to Dee and gave him a hug. I was next but gave them some space to talk quietly because whatever they were discussing seemed serious.
When I approached Baker I gave him my photo and called it a throwback to Celebration Chicago. He really looked at it, like was studying it. I said we all still look the same. He pointed to himself and said more silver in the hair and a few more pounds.
He then said he misses Tom Kane (the voice of Yoda) and that he saw him in Kansas a few months back. Now, the way he said it I wasn’t sure if Tom was sick or had passed away. And I didn’t want to embarrass myself or sound ignorant about not knowing of his passing. So I didn’t say anything and just made a sound of sympathy.
Then to not keep others waiting I just quickly said how I loved the scene when Obi-Wan is approaching and Rex covers for Anakin because he’s talking to Padmé on a holo call.
Baker said it’s a good light hearted scene and I agreed, adding that it was needed in such a dark season.
After all that I made it to the stand by queue for Ewan's panel. I forgot to register for his panel but in the end it didn't matter. The Empire Stage is in the new wing and it is huge.
With the exception of Artist's Alley, the whole convention was easier to navigate and more spacious with the new wing opened.
When I got in the Empire Stage I found my friend who was sitting in the ADA section. She chose a seat in front of the big screen but the actual view of Ewan on stage was blocked by the ADA sign.
I did take a video. I'm not sure mine is worth uploading so here's another person's video that is better positioned and less shaky.
It was an interesting panel because of the actor's strike Ewan was not allowed to talk about any of his movie or Tv roles. He did talk about his stage roles, like playing Iago in Othello. My favorite part was hearing the stories about that: like seeing Jude Law or Sir Peter Hall in the audience, and when his daughter, Ester, came to see him perform.
As for future roles I'd love to see him play The Scottish King. And I would also see him play Iago again since I didn't get to see Ewan play him the first time.
He also talked about:
-like how to make the perfect cup of tea (too much effort, and I like honey in mine)
-how he doesn't like NY bagels (I love everything bagels)
-how he has too many grey cardigans and just bought a new one because it's chilly in NYC
-his work with UNICEF
-his Long Way Round motorcycle trips (he is trying to plan another one), and the thrill he gets from riding motorcycles.
-his parents are teachers and he would teach drama
-he said he can't shave his beard, which makes me wonder if it's for a possible post-strike role. A guy from the audience who participated in the warm-up guy's game stood up to show off his beard to Ewan when the topic of beard oil came up.
Post panel audience photo:
I enjoyed the panel but as I was leaving these two guys were saying that SAG was close to making a deal but it fell through, and if only they closed the deal then Ewan could have talked about his film roles. I guess they were disappointed.
There was also no fan Q&A.
After Ewan’s panel I quickly made my way to the lower level for the From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi: A Star Wars 40th Anniversary panel.
The queue was very long and I didn’t think I would get in. I considered going straight to the queue for the signing but didn’t know exactly where that would be.
Luckily I stayed because I did get in and they announced where the signing would be.
The authors there were (left to right): Jason Fry (“Kernels and Husks”), Adam Lance Garcia (“The Veteran”), K Arsenault Rivera (“Kickback”), Tara Sim (“Reputation”), Sarah Glenn Marcia (“Everyone’s a Critic”), Danielle Paige (“The Chronicler”). Not pictured: moderator Tom Hoeler (a senior editor on the Random House Worlds).
This photo includes Tom Hoeler on the left.
They each talked about how they came to write their stories.
Rivera (“Kickback”) watched RotJ four times and picked the character who Skywalker kicks in the face. He's a minor character but a major gif.
Adam Lance Garcia (“The Veteran”) said the idea to write about Dexter Jettster after AotC was gestating in his mind since 2020. So when this project came to be he wanted to tell this story of a prequel character in the Original Trilogy.
In “Reputation” Tara Sim loves fan fiction. So she wrote about Boba Fett and what he's contemplating behind the mask by adding flavor to his thoughts.
Sarah Glenn Marcia (“Everyone’s a Critic”) thought of Salacious Crumb as having the intelligence of a pretty smart dog. Dogs are loyal and love their person no matter what, so he views Jabba as a magnificent being.
Jason Fry (“Kernels and Husks”) thought what does the Emperor need with these dudes in funny hats? In the past he has written about Star Wars lore as non-fiction fiction. Ok, I'm trying to make sense of my notes and as far as I know there's no recording so I think he said something about how he read this article about how the government had put down rules on farmers. And then he couldn't get this out of his head and he had to write about: could you murder someone in a silo?
Danielle Paige (“The Chronicler”) wrote from the POV of an original character, Dora Mar, who interviews the heroes of the rebellion for the archives. Paige had to step back and not make Dora a fan girl but the writer in the room. Tom Hoeler (a senior editor on the Random House Worlds editorial team that helped create From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi), said he liked how when Dora interviewed Luke Skywalker he turned it into a mirror of Dora.
Since I had two signings very close together I left the panel a bit early. But before I did they each had to pick 2 stories, that are not their own, that they loved. And Jason Fry pointed out that out of 6 authors no 12 stories overlapped.
At the signing Tom Hoeler really liked that I came prepared by bookmarking the authors’ stories by their names. K Arsenault Rivera and Tara Sim liked that too.
Sarah Glenn Marcia asked me who my favorite character was and I said for the whole saga Anakin. She said he’s her husband’s favorite too.
Since the line moved fast and there were so many authors I only got to say hello to Jason Fry and Danielle Paige.
Something Adam Lance Garcia mentioned in the panel was that when he was young he read the novel The Glove of Darth Vader, a Star Wars Legends junior novel written by Paul Davids and Hollace David. I have had a bookmark of that book since 1994 and I have never been able to find a copy. I asked him where to find a copy of The Glove of Darth Vader. He said eBay. I haven't used eBay in so long they disabled my account. What was interesting is that Garcia said the plot is similar to the Sequel Trilogy. There’s a mention of a granddaughter of either Kenobi or the Emperor. And he doesn’t think that J.J. Abrams and Co. got the idea from the book.
My review of From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi.
There were lots of great stories. Unlike The Empire Strikes Back where I thought some 1-2 star stories should have been swapped for other POVs, I didn’t feel that way here. The stories felt more balanced. There were only two stories that I felt were 2 stars. I had many 5 to 4 star stories on my list. I especially liked the Ewok stories. My absolute favorite story is "Brotherhood" by Mike Chen.
What was interesting is that Jason Fry said that these books are called From a Certain Point of View for a reason. If the stories don't match up, don't analyze it too much. Some narrators are unreliable. Which is funny because I mentioned for my ANH review the authors didn't communicate about continuity and I thought for ESB they did. I didn't notice inconsistencies in RotJ.
My favorite quotes.
In "The Light That Falls" Bright Eyes thinks, If the cave was darkness and he being's hut was light, then they'd been keeping each other in balance. But whatever made the birds cry out had tipped the scales.
The balance was faltering.
In "Then Fall, Sidious" Sidious reminisces, I raised you from the ashes of your pain; I built you on the backbone of my vision. and There is something in you that remains eternally undecided. The mark of a man who was chosen but never truly chose.
In "The Chronicler" Leia says, "Don't be sorry...be prolific."
Thoughts on the narrators:
Sam Witwer was great at Sidious and I don't know how he didn't ruin his vocal cords.
The narrator for "My Mouth Never Closes" had the Sarlacc sound like a surfer dude and it was so funny. He was also a vegetarian and didn't like people falling down his mouth.
"When Fire Marked the Sky" - great Lando voice.
4.5 out of 5 Second Death Stars.
Lastly on Thursday I went Katherine Arden's signing. As she signed my ARC she remembered me and my sister from past NYCC signings. It's a nice surprised to be remembered.
I told her congratulation on her marriage and that the wedding photos on Instagram looked very nice. She thanked me and was relieved that it finally happened after 3 years of planning.
I also told her I was approved on NetGalley and I started reading The Warm Hands of Ghosts. At that point I didn't get far yet, and now I would read the paperback copy instead. We both agreed that reading on a screen hurt the eyes and we much prefer physical copies. I did mention that I do also like audiobooks.
I was so tired at that point and I got so caught up in our conversation I forgot to take photos and ask for a new photo with her. Maybe in February when she goes on a book tour.
