As indicated in last week's column (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--New Looks For Old Staples") I once again didn't attend Comic-Con this year. As regular readers of these things know I've never gone and seeing as how I turn 56 this week it's looking less and less likely I'll ever get to go to the big show. Even if I had the time and money (which I mostly certainly don’t) sadly I honestly don’t think I have the energy anymore to easily endure all that walking around and standing in line. Going now would require either a month of physical training or foregoing all dignity, swerving directly into the fat guy cliché and renting me one of those Jazzy Scooters.
Another factor, of course, is attendance is no longer an impulse decision. Last year tickets for 2015 sold out in an hour and while I can't imagine how it could possibly get any worse history suggests it almost certainly will. I say next year they should try a lottery; buy a ticket for a chance to purchase the actual tickets. Not that my participation is in any way mandatory; given the speed in which they post video of the panels and movie trailers on YouTube it seems more and more sensible to just stay at home and follow it online.
It's not like I had to be there to get the latest comic book-related announcements. I was most intrigued by news DC was bringing back the miniseries. Probably because given the speed and frequency that so many "New 52" titles crashed and burned I sort of assumed all DC comics were miniseries, intentionally or otherwise. It's was also nice seeing underutilized characters (Metamorpho, Metal Men, Katana) being authored by writers whose work we don't see nearly often enough (Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Gerry Conway, Mike W. Barr). Being me my favorite one of course was Sugar & Spike revamped as adult detectives. First Prez, now this; Angel and the Ape next, please.
While admittedly a bit cheesy, this 80s-to-the-extreme space opera was, I grudgingly have to admit, one of my favorite comics at the time, primarily on the strength of the absolutely stunning artwork of the great Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. So I can only hope that since the publishing deal is with Dynamite Entertainment that the collection of the original series will come with the apparently now prerequisite painted Alex Ross cover.
But this year I kind of wish I could have gone, if only to have been in proximity of some of the more usual attendees, like The Muppets. According to a piece in Variety by Elizabeth Wagmeister titled "'The Muppets' Woo Over Comic-Con; Kermit & Miss Piggy Reveal ABC Series Details," the panel for their new ABC TV series was a lot of fun. It "kicked off with a full house of cheers--louder than the room for 'The Walking Dead'--and wrapped with a standing ovation." When asked about their reaction to their first Comic-Con Kermit apparently said, "It's a little dangerous. We're quite small."
Here's a confession for you. I love Bill Murray, not so much the comedian or character actor but the man famous for making unannounced appearances doing exactly what he wants wherever he wants. This can range from tending bar uninvited or crashing somebody's bachelor partiy to spending a week at an archeological dig off the coast of Cyprus to help clean up after the very last Grateful Dead show. Murray made a surprise appearance on a panel to help promote his upcoming movie Rock The Kasbah. According to an Entertainment Weekly piece by Darren Franich, "Comic-Con 2015: Bill Murray shares 11 life lessons with Hall H" at one point someone in the audience dressed like a unicorn sang "It's a Small World." Murray's response; "Oh, God, I wish I could do this forever."
In the piece Lewis is quoted as saying:
"But the people have been amazing--they've been wonderful," continued Lewis, appreciating the open-armed response he'd received while attending comics events. At "Comic-Con, and just moving around America--the children, the young people."
And then we have Jesse Eisenberg who's playing Luthor in next year's Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice who didn't care for the experience quite so much. According to an AP piece by Linda Zhang titled, "Actor Jesse Eisenberg compares Comic-Con to genocide." In it:
Jesse Eisenberg compared his experience of facing screaming fans at Comic-Con to genocide, saying the raucous crowd was "terrifying."
"It is like being screamed at by thousands of people. I don't know what the experience is throughout history, probably some kind of genocide. I can't think of anything that's equivalent,"
"Maybe on some cellular memory level, that's the only thing that seems like an equivalent social experience," he said. "Even if they're saying nice things, just being shouted at by thousands of people, it's horrifying."
"Yeah, it's a mob. Yeah. They were one torch away from burning me," Eisenberg said. "I'm a normal person with like normal reactions to things, so of course it's going to be terrifying. If you like that kind of thing and feed off of it in some way, you must have a miserable life."
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
