WARNING / DISCLAIMER: This may be, overall, the single nerdiest post I've ever done. And that's saying something. If you're interested in genre movies, comics, etc. - or just want to read about my day at Wizard World LA, read on. Everyone else, proceed with caution. OR just pretend that the OC's Seth Cohen is writing this and then somehow it may seem cooler than it actually is.
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Enough Already - Flame On!
It ain't easy being a geek. Because sometimes you just want to talk comics, sci-fi, or superhero movies and you feel like nobody else is on that same wavelength. Then you go to someplace like Wizardworld and it's like Halloween - you stuff yourself with geekiness and finally, you feel full, maybe even have a stomachache, after a long day of total sensory overload. Luckily, a few NBC pages and I were able to finagle free press passes to the event, and thus had VIP access to all the panels and screenings, including first looks at Fantastic Four, Batman Begins, and a talk with Jay and Silent Bob! Score! So let's get right to it. Here's a breakdown of the highlights:
Whole F'n Show! : Well, I met Mr. Monday Night himself, Rob Van Dam, and he signed a copy of his greatest hits DVD for me and we chatted a bit. He's on the injusred list for a while, but I proposed that next year he challenge Shawn Michaels to a ladder match at Wrestlemania, at which RVD got a gleam in his eye and said "yeah, I'd totally bust him open, dude." Nice. Also, Virgil / Vincent / Curly Joe was there, with few people in line to see him. Kind of comical. I talked to him for a few minutes and asked him if he was still wrestling, to which he said "Naw man, I'm using my brains to make a living now." Well, that and charging for autographs at conventions. But anyways, it was sweet to meet and greet the ECW legend, RVD himself. Some other notable people who were there signing stuff were The Incredible Hulk himself, Lou Ferregno, who still looked immensely jacked even at age 50-something or whatever he is. Do they test superheroes for steriods? Also I was very disheartened to see a very, very old and aged-looking Elvira signing stuff. Sure, I knew she had to be getting up there in age, but come on, she's the Mistress of the Night, and she always looks the same when you see her on TV. Maybe it was her uncharacteristically light-colored hair that threw me off.
Stan Lee: The line for him to sign stuff was way too long to wait in, but hey it was nice to see this comics legend still as exuberant as ever in his 80's. Excelsior!
Fantastic Four: Okay, I was VERY skeptical about this movie going in, Thought it would totally suck. But oh man, today's all new preview totally changed my mind as well as those of everyone in the room. Don't believe the negativity, this could seriously, seriously rule. I mean, they really knew their audience when putting together this reel. For the first time ever we saw: Johnny Storm plunging off a rooftop, plummeting towards the ground, yelling "Flame On!" and gloriously turning into the Human Torch and flying through the cityscape at night. Freakin' awesome! We saw a Julian McMahon in full Dr. Doom getup, looking straight out of the comic - metal mask, green cloak. Kickass. And then the kicker. Michael Chiklis as The Thing, taking o nan army of thugs. As they begin to get the better of him, he gathers his strength, yells "It's Clobberin' Time!" and punches a dude through a window with all his might. Stan Lee would be proud. This is in addition to some nice scenes of Sue Storm and Reed Richards using their powers, and a cool-looking battle between Sue and Dr. Doom. Afterwards, the crowd of jaded comic fans gave a rousing ovation that few would have expected moments earlier. "Play it again!" someone yelled. And they did. And it was even better the second time. After, Avi Arad of Marvel Entertainment and actor Chris Evans (Johnny Storm in the flick) answered questiosn and seemed very pumped for the movie. Not much other info was revealed about upcoming Marvel movies, but for this one, the Fantastic Four, expectations quickly soared through the roof.
Batman Begins: This was it - the one I've been looking forward to for sooo long. It was introduced simply as "the Batman movie you've all been waiting for." So true. But I had nagging concerns. So how was it? Well, for the first 5 or so minutes of the preview I had chills the entire time. Holy crap it was amazing. We see a young Bruce Wayne, innocent and naive, playing with a friend. He suddenly stumbles and falls into the dark caves below Wayne Manor, and for the first time, he knows true fear. Simply awesome. We see young Bruce go to the theater with his parents. Scared by what he sees, he asks to leave early. They exit, and suddenly the boy is changed forever. His parents are murdered before his eyes. Sure, we've seen this scene before, but here it was done amazingly. This was a new spin on Frank Miller's classic version of the origin from Batman:Year One. It was dark, stylish, and chilling. Then we see a young adult Bruce Wayne seeing his city fall into ruin. Then a number of scenes of Bruce training in some far away land, with Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard ruthlesly training him, until finally, Bruce becomes the more skilled of the two. Then we see him making the suit. Again, awesome, perfect, chilling. Finally, he is Batman. And this isn't stupid Joel Schumaker Batman. This Batman can fight, jump, swing, he is mobile and ready to kick some ass. Christian Bale is going to own this part. My reservations come with Ken Watanabe as Ra's Al Ghul. I just don't like the direction they are going with his character, seemingly making him a large part of Batman's origin story, and without one of the most compelling pieces of the character from the comics - his daughter Talia - who Batman loves but who is torn between the Dark Knight and her father. Then we saw the Scarecrow. Nice. Truly scary and grotesque looking. This Batman was dead-serious. Darker maybe than anything we have seen in the comics save Dark Knight Returns or Year One. There was some shakiness in the villains and training sequences. But what this movie did right in the preview, it absolutely nailed. The origin. The transformation into Batman. The whole look and sound and voice of Batman. The dark atmosphere. It's by no means certain, but this just might be what we've been waiting for.
War of the Worlds: We were then treated to a special preview of this film with an exclusive intro by Spielberg and Tom Cruise. Still didn't show any of the big-money f/x shots, or the aliens themselves. But hey, I'm sure this will rule.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Excellent preview / making of video shown. This should be really really good as well.
Me and the NBC crew gobbled down and some pizza to recharge, and then headed back, where we plunged headfirst into the View Askew-niverse when we sat down to listen to Jay and Silent Bob themselves ...
Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes: And now for something completely different. Vulgar, brash, and hilarious, Smith and Mewes did a Q and A that had the crowd in stitches from laughter. In terms of news not much was revealed (There will be a DVD only animated Clerks movie, Mewes is set to be in a movie with Paris Hilton, Smith had problems with the studio while trying to make Green Hornet, Smith actually liked the new Star Wars movies, he's optimistic about Superman, his comic projects are still on the way, etc.), but the sex jokes were plentiful and the verbal jabs between creator and his fans were pretty funny. I left a little early because I wanted to catc the end of the ...
DC Comics: So I actually saw Dan Didio and Joan Hilty who I interviewed with at DC Comics in the fall. They did kind of remember me, funnily enough - pretty odd that I'd bump into them now in LA. I also talked with Jeph Loeb, who in addition to writing comics is a producer on Smallville. He gave me some contact info for the show and told me to send in my resume! Sweet. I was kind of just staring because I was surrounded by some of my absolute favorite comic writers - people like Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns, Gail Simone, and Mark Waid. I wish I could have talked to all of them and gotten stuff signed and all that, but the crowds were too big and there just wasn't time. Oh well, still pretty cool. I actually wrote up some pitch ideas for DC but didn't really have the opportunity to show them to anyone. It's funny, at NBC I've met big movie stars who I don't care about but it was hard to not sound like a raving fanboy in front of people who's work I've been so inspired by like Jeph Loeb and Grant Morrison.
After this panel we kind of roamed the show floor for a bit. Saw some people dressed i ncrazy costumes. Tested out some upcoming videogames, including the incredible looking God of War for the PS2, and was handed out a bunch of free demo discs by a Sony rep -- free stuff = good. Talked with a bunch of indie comic publishers, asked them for advice on getting into comics and doing small press publishing -- many of these peeps were very nice and had lots of useful tips. Also spent some cash on comics of course, picked up a few discounted trade paperbacks, so I've got plenty of reading material for a long time to come. Funnily enough I randomly ran into Jason Sarlanis from BU as well while at the show. Pretty crazy.
So that was it, we were drained from a full day of geektastic goodness. We retreated to the parking lot and ended our day with a visit to Downtown Disney. We played some games at the ESPN Zone there, grabbed dinner, and returned home, exhausted, satisfied, and filled with images of Human Torches, Batmen, and Jason Mewes making shadow puppets of various obscene sexual acts before a crowd of hundreds of fans. It was a good day. A good day indeed.
Tommorow I'm going to sleep really late.
Up up and away.
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