See, here's the thing I love about Comic Con. Yes it's all about fandom collision. Yes it is about getting the spoilers and the bits of news and trailers and teasers to look forward to for the next year for all the new movies and TV shows. But above all, it's about the fans getting together and sharing culture, discussing it and dissecting it with panels.
For the fans, it offers the chance to go up to the creators and stars and ask them some really interesting questions, sometimes even hard-hitting questions in person. For example, someone actually got Joe Quesada to admit that they are only focusing on the white males in the comic book movies, and why is that? His answer was problematic (basically it amounted to "we're doing the icons first; we'll get to you later," which is problematic in and of itself because it assumes that figures like Storm or Phoenix are less iconic or obscure than Thor and Iron Man (which, really, did anyone even remember that Thor was a Marvel character before this year? The only reason I know that is because of the movie Adventures in Babysitting with Elizabeth Shue in the 80s.) but still, it generates conversation.
Another thing Comic Con does well is that it gathers a lot of different show actors and creators in one place, allowing them to do joint panels and interviews to really discuss some issues. There's a great article with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Maggie Q, Yvonne Strahovski, Jennifer Morrison, Anna Torv, and newcomer Britt Robertson where they talk about the challenges in being females in the genre, the problem of Wonder Woman and Comic Con in general. My favorite part was where they talk about stunt work for Buffy, Nikita, Sarah Walker and Olivia Dunham:
All in all, it's just a really cool time to geek out collectively and also for the actors to interact with the fans and say thanks. Plus, you get some pretty awesome stuff like this:
Auditions for Peter Bishop:
P.S. Joshua Jackson crashed the panel as an Observer. It was awesome.
LOL at Anna's rant about violence vs swearing and nudity. And I really enjoyed this interview with Anna about the logistics of next year. And booyah to more mythology eps for next year.
And the thing I am most excited about:
OH MY GOD ALL THE INFORMATION AND PICTURES AND JUST I CANNOT WAIT:
- TOPH HAS A DAUGHTER WHO IS CHIEF OF POLICE?
-I already love the brothers and might already be shipping Mako and Korra. Just based on their sparring bit in the trailer alone. Also, I wonder if they named Mako after the original voice actor of Iroh, who passed away after S2.
-Equalists. Oh man, the non-benders vs benders. Cannot wait. I see that both Toph and Ty Lee have revolutionized the world with metalbending and chi-blocking.
-I love the mix of old and new. It's like Asian steampunk, and I cannot wait.
-MOAR AIR BISON. And fire lemurs. Yay.
-Korra looks KICK ASS and I cannot wait to see where they take her because this is a writing staff that treats women well. I have high expectations for this.
-Finally: 12 eps of S1 and 14 eps of S2. Can it please be 2012 already? /whine.
For the fans, it offers the chance to go up to the creators and stars and ask them some really interesting questions, sometimes even hard-hitting questions in person. For example, someone actually got Joe Quesada to admit that they are only focusing on the white males in the comic book movies, and why is that? His answer was problematic (basically it amounted to "we're doing the icons first; we'll get to you later," which is problematic in and of itself because it assumes that figures like Storm or Phoenix are less iconic or obscure than Thor and Iron Man (which, really, did anyone even remember that Thor was a Marvel character before this year? The only reason I know that is because of the movie Adventures in Babysitting with Elizabeth Shue in the 80s.) but still, it generates conversation.
Another thing Comic Con does well is that it gathers a lot of different show actors and creators in one place, allowing them to do joint panels and interviews to really discuss some issues. There's a great article with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Maggie Q, Yvonne Strahovski, Jennifer Morrison, Anna Torv, and newcomer Britt Robertson where they talk about the challenges in being females in the genre, the problem of Wonder Woman and Comic Con in general. My favorite part was where they talk about stunt work for Buffy, Nikita, Sarah Walker and Olivia Dunham:
Q: The physicality is so hard. It is the hardest thing you can do. Then you also get a 60-page script every nine days, and you're the lead and you're doing action. It's almost impossible. I nearly had a meltdown in the first season.
TORV: You can surely get hit in the head and go into a coma, can't you?
Q: Right? Or do that to myself.
STRAHOVSKI: I thought it was illegal when I first came here from Australia. … Long hours make it interesting. You have to do a fight scene at like 5 a.m.
GELLAR: And it's freezing. Your muscles are completely tightening up.
STRAHOVSKI: And you're wearing a little, short skimpy thing with high heels.
Q: I'm just like, "No." It's my favorite word. Do you want this to be real? You want me to go and really beat someone's ass? I can do it in a real way, but I'm not going to do it in a skirt.
All in all, it's just a really cool time to geek out collectively and also for the actors to interact with the fans and say thanks. Plus, you get some pretty awesome stuff like this:
Auditions for Peter Bishop:
P.S. Joshua Jackson crashed the panel as an Observer. It was awesome.
LOL at Anna's rant about violence vs swearing and nudity. And I really enjoyed this interview with Anna about the logistics of next year. And booyah to more mythology eps for next year.
And the thing I am most excited about:
OH MY GOD ALL THE INFORMATION AND PICTURES AND JUST I CANNOT WAIT:
- TOPH HAS A DAUGHTER WHO IS CHIEF OF POLICE?
-I already love the brothers and might already be shipping Mako and Korra. Just based on their sparring bit in the trailer alone. Also, I wonder if they named Mako after the original voice actor of Iroh, who passed away after S2.
-Equalists. Oh man, the non-benders vs benders. Cannot wait. I see that both Toph and Ty Lee have revolutionized the world with metalbending and chi-blocking.
-I love the mix of old and new. It's like Asian steampunk, and I cannot wait.
-MOAR AIR BISON. And fire lemurs. Yay.
-Korra looks KICK ASS and I cannot wait to see where they take her because this is a writing staff that treats women well. I have high expectations for this.
-Finally: 12 eps of S1 and 14 eps of S2. Can it please be 2012 already? /whine.