So... much... happy!
I'm brushing my teeth when I hear the news Ralph Nader is running for president, again. In surprise I nearly choke on my toothpaste, and reach out for the remote. My third day in San Francisco and things are pretty weird.
There is nothing wrong with third party candidates, of course. Other countries have them and many of those governments are formed from coalitions between different parties. Problem is the US invests heavily on the two-party system. A third party candidate would not be equal to a candidate of the major parties, and may have the power to disrupt political balance as seen in 2000. While it's nice to believe in Nader's quixotic quest, it's infuriating he's doing it again. Like that weirdo in class who, when the teacher's left the room during a test, insists everyone not cheat. That kid knows he's going to get beat up and scorned by his classmates, but does so anyway. You'd have some sympathy for him, if it weren't for the insufferable and holier-than-thou belief in his own stance.
Anyway, back to the second day of the Wondercon.
By the time I arrived at Moscone South, there was a long line of people queuing for Saturday's tickets. No wonder, since most of the main events were scheduled for that day. I breezed on by with my badge and head towards the exhibitor's hall to take pictures. I miss a couple of good shots when I find myself searching through comic bins: a middle-aged Sailor Moon and her Tuxedo Mask, Batman with a mask much too big for his face, a Supergirl who happily did not look like a torso with heels. My haul completed (issues of The Ray and a Superboy comic based on the show), I lug myself to the Kirby: King of Comics panel.
Mark Evanier started with a United Airlines rant, which I agreed with because they're absolute shite. Too bad two other panelists Kurt Busiek and Darwyn Cooke flew with United without any problems. Friendly ribbing ensued, and prompted Busiek to say 'I also eat coleslaw and candy corn.' Someone asked, 'Together?' Busiek looked taken aback. 'What do you take me for, sir? A Philistine?'
Hee. By the way, when it comes to comics I'm pretty much an ignorant young fool. But even I've heard of Jack Kirby. The man's an absolute legend, his style having influenced so many artists. A lot of the characters readers recognise and love are his. This panel gave a chance for artists and those who've worked with Kirby to stroll down memory lane. And it was informative: Kirby had this formula for laying out panels to make the book visually interesting and to seem it had more detail when there might not be. And that Kirby-era inkers used brushes. And Mr Miracle from Kirby's The Fourth World, was a personal character - someone who never got out of scrapes with tricks but instead with hard work and being faster, better. There was also a few heartfelt personal stories about Kirby. There was this great one recounted in Will Eisner's semi-autobiography where 'Jack King' threatens to punch out a 6 foot tall mobster! Keep in mind Kirby's around 5 foot. He sounds like a great guy :D
When I was younger, I used to watch the old timey Marvel cartoons. You know, the ones where the 'scene' would just be a single cell of the hero with an open mouth while the voiceover would explain the action? There was Thor, Fantastic Four, and Iron Man, but I loved Captain America the most. I could turn off the sound, look at the animation, and still understand the plot. Even when the 'animation' was just a minute of staring at Cap yelling, your eyes would be glued to the dynamic energy Kirby's style had. With the set jaw, the clenched fist, and the uniform: Cap was a HERO. There was never a doubt. I think Kirby had the talent to make us suspend our beliefs for a while and actually believe in the world he's created. And in the process, make us lifelong comic fans.
The moment after this panel was tough. I had to choose between the DC Countdown panel and the X Files panel. My first fandom was the X Files, so I felt like I had no choice but relive the 90s. Yeah, that sounds worse than it actually is. Problem was the organisers absolutely knew no one would stick around after the X Files panel, so they pushed up the panel for a new movie called Shutter. Having lived in LA and attending so many movie previews, I've become extremely jaded with this sort of thing. I'm aware the actors are only here to promote the film, and having to listen to them chatter on about the experience of filming has changed them really irritates me. For instance, Shutter is in its core, a ghost story. People take photos and when it's developed, see spectral shapes. Do they show up in digital format too? Ugh, so the lead actress and actor talk about how this phenomenon is big in Japan and how after Shutter, it might be big in the US as well. Trying their best to sell the film, they talked about whether they believed in ghosts or not. At least they tried their best; Rachael Taylor mentioned twice that Joshua Jackson wishes he was at the panel. I couldn't take the boredom much longer, so I slipped on my earphones and listened to the Stones.
Finally the gang from the X Files show up. It took a while and the moderator explains they've come straight from shooting. Bizarrely I felt guilty that they hadn't much sleep and had to use their day off to come to Wondercon. But they were all game, which made a very entertaining panel.
Someone yelled 'I love Xzibit!' who showed up at the trailer. The hell? I couldn't really tell much from it, other than some dude with white hair was helping the FBI track down something or someone in the icy wilderness. That dude with the white hair I'm suspecting to be Billy Connelly. And Amanda Peet's in there somewhere. But whatever, I had completely lost any memory of it as soon as Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny sat at their seats. It was like high school all over again. A nostalgic frame of mind, I mean. I couldn't help but grin as Gillian shielded her eyes from the glare in order to get a good look at us.
Question time and someone asked Chris Carter about religion and the X-Files. Carter replied he always felt the X-Files was a search for God. Cool, I guess. I never really thought of it that way, but the religious tones weren't hard to miss. There was a little talk about the differences between the show and the newer CSI-clones. The cast agreed what made the X-Files tick was the storytelling, not the visuals. Could a new X-Files type show make it in the current climate? Carter said yes in regards to the film, but who knows?
Quite a few questioners mentioned how they've grown up watching the show and thanked the cast for bringing it back. I had to swallow a couple of times then. I know exactly what they mean. There were such good vibes in that auditorium, from the audience and the panelists. Even when this lady said she named her kid so his initials are TXF and that she left her husband at the hospital to be at the panel. Kinda obsessed, but the vibe kept going.
Someone asked about getting back into the role of Mulder & Scully (ooh that felt so good to write!). Both Gillian and Duchovny had problems because it's been so long, although Duchovny also said 'I just say the words'. Cheeky bugger. There was another great moment when someone asked if Krychek would be back. In response Duchovny mimed dipping a tea bag into a cup (he called this 'Krychek's teabagging hand') over and over again. He then turned to Carter and said 'I could go all night'. He was seriously enjoying himself.
Another audience member also mentioned the movie Evolution and said Gillian should be in the next one. Evolution was terrible! I understood what that guy was saying though, Gillian looks so much like Julianne Moore it's uncanny. Julianne was in Evolution, you see. The couple beside me kept mentioning how adorable she was, especially the innocent way she said she always thought Mulder should explore autoerotic asphyxia in the show. Zing!
After the good buzz I headed out for lunch at a nearby pub. The waiter nearly mistakes my order of a Black & Tan for a bucket of beer, but I manage to stuff it all down and make it in time for the animation storyboard panel. This is where the audience throws out ideas for what might make it for an episode. In our case, it was Howard the duck vs the Green Lantern Corps. Oh yeah, that kind of episode. Personally the duck thing made me think of the episode where Daffy Duck temporarily becomes a Green Lantern. And I know nothing about Howard the duck other than Steve Gerber and the infamous flop of a film. Most of the audience didn't either, but we ran with it.
Once we had the scenario, time to externalise the conflict and establish the acts Since time was rather short, we quickly ran through the rest of the episode. Act I is who is Howard the duck? Establish the status quo and explain the conflict. Act II features the set piece and fight scenes! Act III has the ending and the resolution.
The panelists all came to their vocation through different means. One went to film school, another won a writing contest, one (Dwayne McDuffie) wrote a comic, and another knew a friend in the show. They were very encouraging towards those in the audience who wanted to do what they do, saying to meet up with peers at conventions like Wondrcon and help each other out. Two actually did that, offering their expertise as a animation teacher and another an animator-to-be.
The last thing on my to do list that day was watch The New Frontier. As I've mentioned before, I wanted to save my exposure to the material solely for the animated release and boy, was I blown away. My notes for the film is thus: HOLY SHIT! And a little scribble underneath that says 'Batman=scary motherfucker'. Seriously, go watch.
The action is tight, the mood is right, and I couldn't help but get a little teary-eyed at the end. There were times that day when I looked around and thought, wow isn't this weird to be so involved in superheroes and comics? But after the film, I remembered why I kept reading and why I kept caring about these characters. You should have heard the audience clap and holler for the good guys when they appeared on screen. It wasn't just that it was an exciting action animated film we were watching, it's the characters we're cheering on. When Hal Jordan kisses Carol Ferris (the girl) we all grinned happily. When the good guy gets hurt, we feel it. That's how I know that the film's done the original creators justice. Did those men ever think years after their death people would continue to believe in their characters? That it wasn't about simple wish-fulfillment anymore, that these characters were symbols of hope?
There is nothing wrong with third party candidates, of course. Other countries have them and many of those governments are formed from coalitions between different parties. Problem is the US invests heavily on the two-party system. A third party candidate would not be equal to a candidate of the major parties, and may have the power to disrupt political balance as seen in 2000. While it's nice to believe in Nader's quixotic quest, it's infuriating he's doing it again. Like that weirdo in class who, when the teacher's left the room during a test, insists everyone not cheat. That kid knows he's going to get beat up and scorned by his classmates, but does so anyway. You'd have some sympathy for him, if it weren't for the insufferable and holier-than-thou belief in his own stance.
Anyway, back to the second day of the Wondercon.
By the time I arrived at Moscone South, there was a long line of people queuing for Saturday's tickets. No wonder, since most of the main events were scheduled for that day. I breezed on by with my badge and head towards the exhibitor's hall to take pictures. I miss a couple of good shots when I find myself searching through comic bins: a middle-aged Sailor Moon and her Tuxedo Mask, Batman with a mask much too big for his face, a Supergirl who happily did not look like a torso with heels. My haul completed (issues of The Ray and a Superboy comic based on the show), I lug myself to the Kirby: King of Comics panel.
Mark Evanier started with a United Airlines rant, which I agreed with because they're absolute shite. Too bad two other panelists Kurt Busiek and Darwyn Cooke flew with United without any problems. Friendly ribbing ensued, and prompted Busiek to say 'I also eat coleslaw and candy corn.' Someone asked, 'Together?' Busiek looked taken aback. 'What do you take me for, sir? A Philistine?'
Hee. By the way, when it comes to comics I'm pretty much an ignorant young fool. But even I've heard of Jack Kirby. The man's an absolute legend, his style having influenced so many artists. A lot of the characters readers recognise and love are his. This panel gave a chance for artists and those who've worked with Kirby to stroll down memory lane. And it was informative: Kirby had this formula for laying out panels to make the book visually interesting and to seem it had more detail when there might not be. And that Kirby-era inkers used brushes. And Mr Miracle from Kirby's The Fourth World, was a personal character - someone who never got out of scrapes with tricks but instead with hard work and being faster, better. There was also a few heartfelt personal stories about Kirby. There was this great one recounted in Will Eisner's semi-autobiography where 'Jack King' threatens to punch out a 6 foot tall mobster! Keep in mind Kirby's around 5 foot. He sounds like a great guy :D
When I was younger, I used to watch the old timey Marvel cartoons. You know, the ones where the 'scene' would just be a single cell of the hero with an open mouth while the voiceover would explain the action? There was Thor, Fantastic Four, and Iron Man, but I loved Captain America the most. I could turn off the sound, look at the animation, and still understand the plot. Even when the 'animation' was just a minute of staring at Cap yelling, your eyes would be glued to the dynamic energy Kirby's style had. With the set jaw, the clenched fist, and the uniform: Cap was a HERO. There was never a doubt. I think Kirby had the talent to make us suspend our beliefs for a while and actually believe in the world he's created. And in the process, make us lifelong comic fans.
The moment after this panel was tough. I had to choose between the DC Countdown panel and the X Files panel. My first fandom was the X Files, so I felt like I had no choice but relive the 90s. Yeah, that sounds worse than it actually is. Problem was the organisers absolutely knew no one would stick around after the X Files panel, so they pushed up the panel for a new movie called Shutter. Having lived in LA and attending so many movie previews, I've become extremely jaded with this sort of thing. I'm aware the actors are only here to promote the film, and having to listen to them chatter on about the experience of filming has changed them really irritates me. For instance, Shutter is in its core, a ghost story. People take photos and when it's developed, see spectral shapes. Do they show up in digital format too? Ugh, so the lead actress and actor talk about how this phenomenon is big in Japan and how after Shutter, it might be big in the US as well. Trying their best to sell the film, they talked about whether they believed in ghosts or not. At least they tried their best; Rachael Taylor mentioned twice that Joshua Jackson wishes he was at the panel. I couldn't take the boredom much longer, so I slipped on my earphones and listened to the Stones.
Finally the gang from the X Files show up. It took a while and the moderator explains they've come straight from shooting. Bizarrely I felt guilty that they hadn't much sleep and had to use their day off to come to Wondercon. But they were all game, which made a very entertaining panel.
Someone yelled 'I love Xzibit!' who showed up at the trailer. The hell? I couldn't really tell much from it, other than some dude with white hair was helping the FBI track down something or someone in the icy wilderness. That dude with the white hair I'm suspecting to be Billy Connelly. And Amanda Peet's in there somewhere. But whatever, I had completely lost any memory of it as soon as Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny sat at their seats. It was like high school all over again. A nostalgic frame of mind, I mean. I couldn't help but grin as Gillian shielded her eyes from the glare in order to get a good look at us.
Question time and someone asked Chris Carter about religion and the X-Files. Carter replied he always felt the X-Files was a search for God. Cool, I guess. I never really thought of it that way, but the religious tones weren't hard to miss. There was a little talk about the differences between the show and the newer CSI-clones. The cast agreed what made the X-Files tick was the storytelling, not the visuals. Could a new X-Files type show make it in the current climate? Carter said yes in regards to the film, but who knows?
Quite a few questioners mentioned how they've grown up watching the show and thanked the cast for bringing it back. I had to swallow a couple of times then. I know exactly what they mean. There were such good vibes in that auditorium, from the audience and the panelists. Even when this lady said she named her kid so his initials are TXF and that she left her husband at the hospital to be at the panel. Kinda obsessed, but the vibe kept going.
Someone asked about getting back into the role of Mulder & Scully (ooh that felt so good to write!). Both Gillian and Duchovny had problems because it's been so long, although Duchovny also said 'I just say the words'. Cheeky bugger. There was another great moment when someone asked if Krychek would be back. In response Duchovny mimed dipping a tea bag into a cup (he called this 'Krychek's teabagging hand') over and over again. He then turned to Carter and said 'I could go all night'. He was seriously enjoying himself.
Another audience member also mentioned the movie Evolution and said Gillian should be in the next one. Evolution was terrible! I understood what that guy was saying though, Gillian looks so much like Julianne Moore it's uncanny. Julianne was in Evolution, you see. The couple beside me kept mentioning how adorable she was, especially the innocent way she said she always thought Mulder should explore autoerotic asphyxia in the show. Zing!
After the good buzz I headed out for lunch at a nearby pub. The waiter nearly mistakes my order of a Black & Tan for a bucket of beer, but I manage to stuff it all down and make it in time for the animation storyboard panel. This is where the audience throws out ideas for what might make it for an episode. In our case, it was Howard the duck vs the Green Lantern Corps. Oh yeah, that kind of episode. Personally the duck thing made me think of the episode where Daffy Duck temporarily becomes a Green Lantern. And I know nothing about Howard the duck other than Steve Gerber and the infamous flop of a film. Most of the audience didn't either, but we ran with it.
Once we had the scenario, time to externalise the conflict and establish the acts Since time was rather short, we quickly ran through the rest of the episode. Act I is who is Howard the duck? Establish the status quo and explain the conflict. Act II features the set piece and fight scenes! Act III has the ending and the resolution.
The panelists all came to their vocation through different means. One went to film school, another won a writing contest, one (Dwayne McDuffie) wrote a comic, and another knew a friend in the show. They were very encouraging towards those in the audience who wanted to do what they do, saying to meet up with peers at conventions like Wondrcon and help each other out. Two actually did that, offering their expertise as a animation teacher and another an animator-to-be.
The last thing on my to do list that day was watch The New Frontier. As I've mentioned before, I wanted to save my exposure to the material solely for the animated release and boy, was I blown away. My notes for the film is thus: HOLY SHIT! And a little scribble underneath that says 'Batman=scary motherfucker'. Seriously, go watch.
The action is tight, the mood is right, and I couldn't help but get a little teary-eyed at the end. There were times that day when I looked around and thought, wow isn't this weird to be so involved in superheroes and comics? But after the film, I remembered why I kept reading and why I kept caring about these characters. You should have heard the audience clap and holler for the good guys when they appeared on screen. It wasn't just that it was an exciting action animated film we were watching, it's the characters we're cheering on. When Hal Jordan kisses Carol Ferris (the girl) we all grinned happily. When the good guy gets hurt, we feel it. That's how I know that the film's done the original creators justice. Did those men ever think years after their death people would continue to believe in their characters? That it wasn't about simple wish-fulfillment anymore, that these characters were symbols of hope?