NY COMIC CON Day 2 – 2 yaD NOC CIMOC YN
Tada! Well, that’s what magicians usually say anyway. As you can see, my second day at the NY Comic Con was in costume. Zatanna to be exact. I wouldn’t really call myself a cosplayer. I dressed up as Poison Ivy last year but that was only because that was my Halloween costume that year and I spent enough time on it to warrant wearing it multiple times. I did Zatanna this year because it was relatively easy. I didn’t have to make anything for it and my boyfriend already had the top hat for me to borrow. Plus, dressing up is loads of fun! I might skip the costume next year or at least dress as someone who wears, you know, pants.
Saturday was filled with lots of people and lots of picture taking. For me, scooting around the show floor was practically impossible. I couldn’t go five inches without someone walking into me, stopping abruptly or asking to take my picture. After a while I just gave up and hung out with my friends by the entrance. I kept it lighter on the panels this time around. I went to the second DC panel, “DCU: Countdown to Crisis,” but as I mentioned yesterday I’m holding off to report on those two alone.
“Spotlight on Grant Morrison” was my second panel of the day. I got a front row spot (lucky for me my seat travels with me) and settled in for what I knew was going to be a great time. Comic book art historian Arlen Schumer compiled a ten minute introduction made up entirely of quotes from Grant interviews and a slideshow of art from his books as well as a few shots of Grant himself. My personal favorite had to be the one with the kitten on Grant’s shoulder. I just about melted. Anyway, kudos to Mr. Schumer on a well thought-out and outstanding introduction. Plus, he liked my costume.
DC Editor Eddie Berganza also sat in but didn’t get a chance to talk after the crowd started in with their questions for Grant. A fan asked him what his plans were after Final Crisis. Besides some creator owned projects he’s working on he said, “I’m gonna keep doing Batman for a while. Superhero comics I think I’ll take a little break. I’ll try and rethink what I want to do with them and how I feel about them.” Speaking of Batman later on Morrison said he’d be taking him, “To the grave.” He was asked, of course, about the upcoming Batman R.I.P. He continued talking about the part he’s working on now, specifically Batman getting taken down. “When we begin to suspect the identity of the villain, I think it’s the most, like I said the other day, it’s possibly the most shocking Batman revelation in 70 years,” he said.
There were quite a lot of questions concerning Morrison’s drug use through the years and how it affects his work. Surprisingly he announced he was straight-edge until he was 30-years-old but then, “I kind of decided to treat myself as a laboratory and to become something else. I wondered how much you could mess with your own personality. So I just started to do all the things I never done before.” He even went so far as to admit, “I became like a Tranny for a while, I used to dress up like a girl once in a while. And I was beautiful at it!” That particular statement was met with extended laughter and applause. As to the drugs themselves, “I don’t do so much of that anymore,” said Morrison.
I said earlier I knew I was in for a great time. That became blatantly obvious when Grant decided to tell a joke about two Nuns and a Donkey. A fan asked about a reference to it in the script for Arkham Asylum and wanted to know if it was a real joke. He was reluctant to oblige at first telling us he was horrible at telling jokes, which in the technical sense he was. He started off with the punch-line but the way he told it was probably even funnier than if any other person had done it in the correct order. “That’s the only joke I know and I still can’t tell it,” he said. We don’t mind Grant.
A fan asked if Morrison would ever consider writing an autobiography, “Nah, you wouldn’t believe it,” he replied. He said that comics were more like real life to him anyway, “Have you seen this South American dwarf? Have any of you guys seen that thing? That’s the world we live in, it’s nuts, it’s filled with gaps and weirdness and strangeness. So I’m actually trying to be realistic in my stuff.” In case you have no idea what he’s talking about, check out this article from The Sun.
After Grant Morrison’s panel I made a failed attempt to get inside the “Voice Actors and the City” panel which was in one of the smaller rooms and had so many people they flowed out through the door. I was really looking forward to getting into that one seeing as how I do voiceovers but alas it was not meant to be. I took a trip back upstairs to see if the show floor had gotten worse since I last saw it. It had, so I stayed near the entrance and got this great shot of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett.
The Venture Bros. had their first panel at NYCC last year. It was small but popular. They decided to invite the guys back this year. They weren’t nearly prepared for them. A line so long had formed outside their designated room, employees soon realized they needed to make a switch. They put us in the room that was used for the DC and Marvel panels and that was currently reserved for an Eli Stone panel. Sorry Eli, but you’ve got nothing on the Ventures.
Ken Plume (yes I just linked you to his wiki entry, get over it) moderated this years panel with Doc Hammer, Jackson Publick, Mike Sinterniklaas, and James Urbaniak in attendance. I missed last years more intimate setting that allowed me to chat with the guys afterwards. It was standing room only this time around and even that had to be cut off shortly after the panel started. It’s no wonder, the four guys showed up in semi-coordinated outfits that made them look like winners of Best Rock Album at the MTV Video Music Awards.
A video previewing clips from season three was shown. There were parts set to the usual Venture Bros. music (a soundtrack is finally in the works) and parts with dialogue. Inevitably at things like this you miss the best parts because people are still laughing about the last bit but it was still great obviously. The guys could probably talk amongst themselves for hours but eventually got around to taking questions from the audience. The guys said they had prizes to give away to the questions that entertained them the most. One asked if Kim was going to be back this season. Doc replied, “I have a theory on Kim. A lot of her stuff is cut out and I think the only reason people love Kim is because people want to be, or be with Kim.” He continued, “What happened that she was awesome? She’s like Triana’s dopey friend. She’s hot, admit it!” That fan, you might have already guessed, did not get a prize.
A prize did wind up going to a very unique couple. They were dressed as the Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend. What made them stand out was the fact that they asked Doc Hammer to perform their wedding ceremony. And they were serious, the girl had their invitation in hand. Doc quickly jumped in with questions like; “Where is it?” “Is it, like, an over-night thing?” “Are we gonna be on a boat? Cause I get mighty sea-sick.” Finally there needed to be an actual response, “I’m gonna give you a tentative maybe,” Doc said. He took the invite and in exchange gave the girl a random DVD.
Of course, for any fan of cartoon voice actors, the thing you wait for is the moment they slip into the character you know so well. More often than not, for whatever reason, it never happens. A fan asked James Urbaniak to give us a pick-up line in his Dr. Venture voice and end it with a “meow”. I had the forethought to record this one on video:
Someone near the end of panel asked why Brock can’t disable a simple chastity belt, referring to the one Molotov Cocktease wears. “Obviously he can do it but that chastity belt is a symbol for her virginity. It’s not like a physical shield that he can’t get through. When she opens that and gives the divine bounty of her delicious crotch to Brock, she will open up that symbol.” The fan still seemed unconvinced so Doc jabbed, “What is stopping you from having sex?” Getting more riled up as he went along he bellowed, “Brock can pull the thing off with his teeth! And he will! Swallow it whole and then go back for seconds.” I barely recovered from that one.
Well, there you have it, Day 2 of the NY Comic Con. Since I avoided the show floor for most of the day I missed most of the posing opportunities with other costumed folks. I had a lot of pictures taken of me earlier in the day though, if you have any please send them along to me. Fortunately on my way out I caught some of Batman’s Rogue gallery plus another Zatanna!
Stay tuned tomorrow for my DC panel coverage!
Wow! You make a hot magician! :)
I now have a new fetish. Thanks, thanks a lot! LOL
Awesome! I’m glad you found me. Harley Quinn is one of my favorites. Did you see one of the booths was selling a marionette of her? Expensive but cool.
Hey there!
I’m the Harley in the little DC group photo you posted. :)
It was very nice to meet you! (Plus, other DC ladies are all awesome. )
I do totally agree about the futility of trying to do anything at the convention though. XD our group got nowheeeere.
But it was incredibly fun and I will definitely be back in Feb
You’re welcome. I had no idea who he was either until I did a little searching.
Ken Plume (yes I just linked you to his wiki entry, get over it)
Thanks for doing it … we were there and didn’t know who he was.
Great post! Loved the pictures and your bodacious costume. I wonder if the Aqua Teen Hunger Force would do my wedding? ;)