Photo Count: 49 (36 on Saturday and 13 on Sunday).
Total Photo Count for the entire con: 105 asked for my picture. Not as many as the 127 I got last year as Yuna from FFX-2, but a decent number considering Chobits is a manga.
This is the Chi from Chobits costume I designed and sewed myself. I attended Comic-Con on Days 3 and 4 in this costume instead of participating in the Masquerade. I'm really proud of my costume. It came out exactly how I envisioned it. There's a design on the train as well that you can't see: a criss-cross on the train echoing the corset in the front.
So what happened on Day 3? Let me try to remember. It's been a while... Hmm...
I did skip the orientation for the Masquerade and instead, I went to the panel with Tori Amos and David Mack. It was a great panel for Comic Book Tattoo. Tori Amos is tiny! And gorgeous. And funny. And articulate. I like my artists to be articulate. I also like my artists to say "fuck" every now and again. Ever since I just said to hell with watching my language, I haven't been necessarily cussing up a storm, but I definitely say fuck a lot more. My favorite moment during the panel actually came during the Q&A at the end and this girl came up and was like:
"Oh my gosh, Tori you look so beautiful and I love your work. Thank you so much for being here. So Tori you're an artist. And all of you are artists [to the other writers and illustrators on the panel], and I'm an artist. And so I was wondering, what has been your most favorite moment in this existence?"
WTF?
Tori Amos was like, "You mean in this lifetime? Well, in this lifetime: cussing."
Tori Amos looked so good at Comic-Con, too. She looked like her own comic book character.
And I never regretted skipping the orientation because I got way more compliments on the costume I made than the pink one I commissioned, which made me really happy. Because for every picture that someone took of me, I got about 3 compliments on my costume in the pink dress and about 5-7 compliments on my white dress.
After Comic Book Tattoo, we went to the Joss Whedon Dollhouse panel and stayed in the room for the Battlestar Gallactica panel. Apparently they finished filming three weeks earlier. There are only 10 episodes left of show. But luckily Caprica looks fucking amazing, so I look forward to that.
We went to an Oni Press panel talking about the new titles we can expect in the coming year. There's a really cool sounding series coming out called Ghost Projekt that I'm excited about. It's set in the former Soviet Union, the story follows a weapons inspector who finds some of the Soviets' research on supernatural weapons of mass destruction from the cold war. He partners up with a Russian investigator looking into the deaths of people involved with the project.
But then there's "The Hashishian" which follows two Brooklyn stoners that, when they find a stash of magical marijuana and smoke it, are transported back in time to one of the first assassins' guilds called the ashishians. When they return, they discover a member of that dangerous guild is hunting them. Yeah... I'm so not into stoner books. Unless they're the subject of movie fodder such as Bluntman and Chronic in Chasing Amy.
Afterwards, I was meeting B at the Sci-Fi channel lounge-ish area, when I walked by and I saw three guys sitting in a U-shape near some Star Trek art. And I look closer and I see Avery Brooks! Captain Benjamin Sisko! If there was one person from DS9 who I would want to see the most, it was Avery Brooks! It turns out autographs were $25, but it seemed like a bargain. So, it turns out the line for the autographs went around the table, and on the first stop was Robert Picardo, the hologram doctor from Voyager, then in the middle was Jonathan Frakes (or number two, as I call him), and on the other side was Avery Brooks. Well, B and I were confused at first because it looked like there was no line to see these guys (the line was just cleverly broken up into two different waiting areas so it appeared as though there was no line). So, I couldn't help myself and while Avery Brooks was waiting for the next fan I said, "Avery Brooks. I love you. You're so talented. I never watched Star Trek until I saw you and you were simply magnetic." He smiled and bowed at me. Then we waited in line.
When it got to be our turn, B and I were like, so how does this work? (Because we were afraid that we'd have to purchase everyone's autograph, and, sure, the other guys are alright, but we were there for Avery Brooks, but at the same time we didn't want to be, like, rude.) So we just nonchalantly walked over to Avery Brooks and Jonathan Frakes said to me, "You love Avery don't you!" (Remember, I'm in my costume, so I'm kind of memorable.) And I said, "Yes, yes I do." And he turns to Avery and says, "Can't you feel the love in here?" And B is like, "Oh, Jonathan we love you, too." But I had to catch myself before I said, "But not as much as Avery Brooks." And then Avery Brooks elbowed Jonathan Frakes.
Avery Brooks is... [insert girly sigh here] sublime. And he maybe a stoner. (He was wearing sunglasses in the exhibition hall--but they were those cool tiny circle beatnik sunglasses.) But whatever. He said he liked my costume, too. (Yes!) B asked if the rumors were true (that he taught his classes in his Star Fleet uniform) and he kind of scoffed and said no. And I said, "I knew it! He's a professional! I wouldn't teach my students in my costume." Then Avery Brooks asked what I did and I told him I was in a Ph.D. program and he was impressed. (Double yes!)
The day wrapped up with a 24 panel, with an appearance by Kiefer Sutherland! Sometimes I wonder how some of the programming is justified for Comic-Con--because there's a steady increase towards the catch-all "entertainment" as opposed to a focus on comic books and comic book related media. But I suppose the argument could be made that Jack Bauer is the modern day Batman of sorts. Instead of a utility belt, he has that messenger bag!
Sunday: Even though we just spent an hour and a half to two hours walking around the exhibition hall making last minute purchases and getting last minute signatures, it did have the distinction of more people asking for my picture during that time period than every other day.
I finally got back to see Colleen Doran at the Image booth and I have to say that she is one of my new favorite artists. She's really thoughtful and well-spoken about comics--plus, I think she's cute and funny which is a definite win. Anyway, she said my costume was fantastic and her friend took a picture of me in it.
But one of my favorite displays this year was the 25th anniversary of My Little Pony (I can't help myself, I love My Little Pony--a lot of girls loved Barbie, I loved My Little Pony). There was a Comic-Con exclusive pony (the top right--the black, white, grey and pink one with the cute superhero mask) offered by Hasbro. But the Hasbro booth line was excessively long. On preview night, they closed the Hasbro line down at 6:30 (it opened at 6 o'clock), and I spoke with people in line at 8:30 and they said the line hadn't move in two hours. (Yowza.) I kept checking the Hasbro line all weekend, but the line was always really long, and the line always conflicted with panels I wanted to attend. So I decided to just wait on the pony until Saturday when I'd have some free time--and when I finally had some free time it was sold out! (Thank goodness for eBay, though, because I just bought one NIB [New In Box].) The price of the pony steadily increased all weekend during Comic-Con. On preview night, it was $8.99, by Saturday it was like $13.99. Luckily the pony wasn't marked up too much on eBay at $19.99, so I feel lucky.
Anyway, that was my Comic-Con. Last year the exhibition hall felt like three unyielding football fields. This year, the x-hall didn't nearly seem so hard to handle, so hopefully it'll get easier to navigate every year. A slide show of the photos and video clips will be available soon, so keep an eye out.
Labels: 2008, chi, comic book tattoo, comic-con, cosplay, my little pony, san diego, sewing, tori amos
said...DS9 is my favorite Star Trek series for a reason, and that reason is Avery Brooks. Damned cool you got that autograph, I want to see it someday.
I think I'm going to start watching that series again.
Oh and good job snubbing Frakes, he's terrible. =P
ish said...Thought you might enjoy this.
http://www.pvponline.com/2008/07/29/stewards-of-the-moment/
Hope your New York experience goes well, but also quickly so you can get back home.
said...So sad! Everyone always snubs Jonathan Frakes. They forget just how sexy he is...
said...P.S. What is Tori Amos wearing? It looks like she's either wearing a beanbag chair or a garbage bag... hmmmmm...
said...DS9 is the only series I feel like I can take seriously. It's really phenomenal. The characters are actually complex, which is a hard thing to come by not just in the Star Trek universe, but on TV in general.
I loved the Stewards of the Moment. That made me happy. But also sad that we don't hang around the downtown San Diego area after Comic-Con or else we, too, could have had a RABS (Random Avery Brooks Sighting).
And Tori Amos is wearing something that I can only describe as evil genius cool.
said...Jilly, I remember you. Weren't you the one giving me the eye and didn't you slip me your phone number? You said "I love you" to Avery, but you and I know your true passion is for me.
Maybe I'll give you a call.
XOXO, J. Frakes
said...Well Jfrak, your powers of persuasion know no bounds. I am seduced.
Do me.
charlie said...omg it's a tori post! well, part of it is. I've enjoyed your comiccon posts so much! it sounds like you had a great time.
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