Yesterday I attended Kansas City's annual PlanetComicon, which is a sci-fi, comic book, and pop culture extravaganza for all of us poor, culturally isolated midwesterners.
As expected, it was well worth the time and money...well, maybe not the money, but more on that later. Here are the highlights, lowlights, pros and cons, details, points of interest, and other noteworthy details:
KENNY BAKER!!!! R2-D2 himself! He's just the second victim in my brush with Star Wars greatness, after having met Dave "the real Darth Vader" Prowse last year. Mr. Baker was very fun and seemed genuinely happy to be there. $20 bought an obligatory autographed photo. Now I just need an Anthony Daniels C3PO autograph to go next to it. Maybe next year!
Walter Koenig--First of all, I realize that the chance of him reading this is slimmer than Karen Carpenter's waistline (too soon?) but I've got to say it. I can't apologize enough for what happened: I NEARLY ROBBED CHEKOV! Actually it's not as dramatic as it sounds. We asked for an autographed picture, personalized for my daughter. We posed for a photo. I was trying to get a 3-year old to smile while standing next to a stranger. We took the pic, shook hands, and walked away. Next thing I now, I'm awakening from a heavy phaser stun in the back of an ambulance and my wallet is missing...no wait, that was another time...don't you hate it when you get phasered and robbed?.....okay, actually, I heard a heavily accented "Excuse me" and turned to see him approaching rapidly behind us. I realized immediately what had happened, and promptly handed over another $20. So now Chekov thinks I'm a crook. Great. I'll put that on a resume some day. I really do feel sorry for it all though, and want to apologize again. He didn't seem like he was enjoying the show. I think there was a lot of Star Wars support and virtually no Star Trek support. Being bi-sci-fi myself, I like them both.
Kurt Busiek!! Great writer. I think he summed up Countdown...or Countdown to Final Crisis...or Countdown to Mediocre Storytelling....or whatever we call it now better than anyone I've heard or read. He pointed out the problems without excess trash-talking. Can't wait for Trinity.
This is getting long, so here's the lightning round: Brinke Stevens: okay, whatever, not for me...Tony Moore: great artist, looked busy....Cheap comics: they were everywhere. good stuff....Star Wars costumes: neat, but I detected a distinct "locker room" odor around some of the stormtroopers...there is a lot more to say, but wandering around the convention center has left me exhausted. Time to kick back with a classic issue of Justice League (only 50 cents!) and relax for a while.
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6 comments:
Lol! Man that Checov story killed me. I saw something similar on a show called 'Star dates' on E!where Butch "Eddie Munster" Patrick was @ an autograph show, his date showed up and as they were leaving they were stopped by a fan wanting him to sign a photo. Butch stops, digs through his case and starts to sign the picture then stops and says "10 dollars, okay? It's 10 dollars." :p.
I bet Koenig has been to so many of those things @ this point that even as an actor he can't fake the enthusiasm.
I've never been to a comic convention of that type before but I'd love to. I would seriously find it interesting to meet the key grip from 'Battle beyond the stars' or something. Seriously, I'd like to do the whole autograph thing. It would be cool.
You've seen Battle Beyond the Stars? (AKA John-Boy in space) I thought I was the only one. I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe we should start a support group.
As for autographs, we've got Richard Hatch, Dave Prowse, Kenny Baker, Koenig, Kurt Busiek, Tony Moore, Jim Lee, George Takei, and some PowerPuff girls artist in our collection.
Boy, Battle Beyond the Stars [AKA - Battle beyond the mole] was a real staple of my childhood watching. It seemed to be on TV like every weekend. I watched it again a few years ago on DVD and... I really like the score! :p.
Support group? Cool. I'll start. My name is Tony and I've seen Battle beyond the stars.
The only autograph I have is of Braves pitcher Tom Glavine and I got that by sending a card through the mail to him and got it back 3 years later! I'm not even a braves fan :p.
My name is Noel, and I, too, have seen BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS. I'm a James Cameron junkie. Couldn't resist.
It's been far too long since I've attended a local convention. My dad used to drag me to 4-6 a year. I say drag, because I sadly wasn't into comics at the time. Anyway, I'd get to attend all these shows and even the dinners afterwords between the dealers and visiting talent. Fun times, though, as I said before, I wasn't really into it.
Then me an dad made the trek out to San Diego for Comicon. Like many a religious experience, I had my eyes opened to the glory of the funny book and haven't looked back since.
Unfortunately, my dad no longer owns the comic shop. I kick myself. There were so many times I'd sit in his store for hours with nothing to do. Just imagine all the books I could have read.
Nice to meet you, Noel.
As a child of the 80's, I couldn't help but hearing "Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone" by Cinderella in my head while reading your comment.
A pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, sir.
Sigh. That song certainly does fit my predicament.
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