Philly Comic Con
So yesterday I went to Philly Comic Con for one day specifically to see Matt Smith & Karen Gillan.
Despite this convention being in my city this was the first time I went. Probably I will only go again if there is a guest that interests me like this time but I had a pretty good time at this con.
First of all the Matt Smith & Karen Gillan panel was tons of fun. They were great with the audience, even allowing extra questions when they were told no more questions. Even when they got some weird questions (which is bound to happen) they answered with complete charm. You could tell Karen & Matt were close friends which obviously transported on screen. It was funny they kept trying to remember episode numbers but failing (not that I blame them I can't remember that either).
I wish I had taken better pictures but I think I am still getting used to my iphone, I only just learned to zoom at that panel. Although I did have pretty good seats in row 5. I also kind of regret not going for their autograph, but I made the decision that it was overpriced and I still feel that way. They also gave out a free poster of Matt & Karen at the panel but it got ripped by the time I got it home and I didn't have much use for it anyways. I am pretty picky what I put on my walls.
After the panel I left the con briefly to get my haircut and get lunch. Then I returned for a Doctor Who fan panel. But I had about a 1/2 hour to kill and went into the tail end of the Rob Paulsen panel. This might have been the best panel I ever walked into that I didn't plan to go to. I wish I could have caught the whole thing. Paulsen is the voice of such characters as Raphael in TMNT, Pinky as in Pinky & the Brain, & Yakko in Animaniacs. I walked in as he was singing the country of the world song". I was so impressed that I wanted to find him in the exhibit hall and chat a bit but I couldn't find him. :(
Afterwards I went to the Doctor Who fan panel which had guests like Ken Deep who is the showrunner of the Doctor Who Con I am going to in November, Deborah Stanish who talked about a feminist perspective of Doctor Who, and the creator of the Doctor Who puppets. I am not really into fan panels usually but this was a great panel and while I went in because of Ken Deep's Li Who connection but I was also very impressed with Deborah Stanish (who is also a guest at Li Who & I will try to go to her panel). The puppets were also adorable.
During the panel I also got one of the 3 trivia questions right (who was the Doctor to play the role the longest....Paul McGann, thanks Big Finish) and won some free postcards. :)
Lastly I just walked around the exhibit hall. Talked to one comic artist who wrote a Jewish superhero named Shaloman which I got a kick out of. I bought a copy for my uncle but apparently they already had a whole set, oh well! The comic wasn't really my thing but the guy was so sweet I couldn't help but buy something from him.
Other than that I bought a Spock Onesie for my friend's son & a Patrick Trougton lego man, which was the only Troughton thing I found in the whole convention. Didn't really see much 2nd Doctor representation. When Matt Smith said Troughton was his favorite, I might have screamed a little even though of course this wasn't new information (the dork that I am) & at the Doctor Who fan panel I mentioned he was my favorite and the guy sitting next to me said he was his favorite too, but in general it more a New Who friendly convention. Hopefully I will meet more Troughton enthusiasts at Li Who with so many Two era guests. While there I also saw Whoopie Golberg & Sean Astin signing autographs from afar.
So overall a pretty good con for being so close to home. I am a bit depressed because Otakon hasn't announced anything I am interested in and while I would love to go to another con this summer it's expensive to go to Otakon when nothing there really interests you. I guess that might mean my next con won't be till Li Who in November which is so far off.
Despite this convention being in my city this was the first time I went. Probably I will only go again if there is a guest that interests me like this time but I had a pretty good time at this con.
First of all the Matt Smith & Karen Gillan panel was tons of fun. They were great with the audience, even allowing extra questions when they were told no more questions. Even when they got some weird questions (which is bound to happen) they answered with complete charm. You could tell Karen & Matt were close friends which obviously transported on screen. It was funny they kept trying to remember episode numbers but failing (not that I blame them I can't remember that either).
I wish I had taken better pictures but I think I am still getting used to my iphone, I only just learned to zoom at that panel. Although I did have pretty good seats in row 5. I also kind of regret not going for their autograph, but I made the decision that it was overpriced and I still feel that way. They also gave out a free poster of Matt & Karen at the panel but it got ripped by the time I got it home and I didn't have much use for it anyways. I am pretty picky what I put on my walls.
After the panel I left the con briefly to get my haircut and get lunch. Then I returned for a Doctor Who fan panel. But I had about a 1/2 hour to kill and went into the tail end of the Rob Paulsen panel. This might have been the best panel I ever walked into that I didn't plan to go to. I wish I could have caught the whole thing. Paulsen is the voice of such characters as Raphael in TMNT, Pinky as in Pinky & the Brain, & Yakko in Animaniacs. I walked in as he was singing the country of the world song". I was so impressed that I wanted to find him in the exhibit hall and chat a bit but I couldn't find him. :(
Afterwards I went to the Doctor Who fan panel which had guests like Ken Deep who is the showrunner of the Doctor Who Con I am going to in November, Deborah Stanish who talked about a feminist perspective of Doctor Who, and the creator of the Doctor Who puppets. I am not really into fan panels usually but this was a great panel and while I went in because of Ken Deep's Li Who connection but I was also very impressed with Deborah Stanish (who is also a guest at Li Who & I will try to go to her panel). The puppets were also adorable.
During the panel I also got one of the 3 trivia questions right (who was the Doctor to play the role the longest....Paul McGann, thanks Big Finish) and won some free postcards. :)
Lastly I just walked around the exhibit hall. Talked to one comic artist who wrote a Jewish superhero named Shaloman which I got a kick out of. I bought a copy for my uncle but apparently they already had a whole set, oh well! The comic wasn't really my thing but the guy was so sweet I couldn't help but buy something from him.
Other than that I bought a Spock Onesie for my friend's son & a Patrick Trougton lego man, which was the only Troughton thing I found in the whole convention. Didn't really see much 2nd Doctor representation. When Matt Smith said Troughton was his favorite, I might have screamed a little even though of course this wasn't new information (the dork that I am) & at the Doctor Who fan panel I mentioned he was my favorite and the guy sitting next to me said he was his favorite too, but in general it more a New Who friendly convention. Hopefully I will meet more Troughton enthusiasts at Li Who with so many Two era guests. While there I also saw Whoopie Golberg & Sean Astin signing autographs from afar.
So overall a pretty good con for being so close to home. I am a bit depressed because Otakon hasn't announced anything I am interested in and while I would love to go to another con this summer it's expensive to go to Otakon when nothing there really interests you. I guess that might mean my next con won't be till Li Who in November which is so far off.