whedonesque.org • View topic - San Diego Comic-Con 2008: reports, vids, photos, etc.

I'm not fast or accurate enough to provide the blow-by-blow accounts (although, truthfully, I prefer a more considered, subjective take on such things). Also, I didn't strive to attend many events or panels on this occasion, being more concerned with spending a damn good time with wonderful friends. :-)

Thursday

Set off from LA in my car at 2:30. Arrived at my friends' house in San Diego at 6:40. Fun fun fun. But was in time to meet a passel of Goners afficionados at (the not quite as rowdy as I was led to believe) Buca di Beppo downtown. Cheers to Samatwich, cabri, Lioness, QuoterGal, Wiggs(sp?), and more for making it a very fun dinner. And I received wonderful gifts from two of the aforementioned, which now sit on my desk. B!x also showed up, and it was all rather merry.

Friday

We got into Hall H at about 10:30, surprised and happy that the (cavernous) room was still way less than half-full. And then realized that the Watchmen panel (and there was nothing before it) wasn't going to start for another hour and a half . . . grrrr. Three of us promptly got up and decided to try Ballroom 20 instead . . . there was almost no line there either, so we took seats in the rear half of the hall, right in front of one of the giant video screens, and got comfy. Comfy for a Stargate trifecta of fun (Stargate Continuum, online game Stargate Worlds, and then Stargate Atlantis). I've never seen any of the shows or movies, so it's probably not for me to judge them - on the strength of the clips that were shown, though, I'm not rushing to see or play. Several of the panelists, including creator Brad Wright and cast member Christopher Judge were pretty amusing. Robert Picardo was great in the Atlantis segment, but Jewel Staite was a little, I don't know, overly laconic. She had a nice riff about repeatedly being kidnapped "in the woods" in the show - to which one of the others replied that it's set in Vancouver, and where else are you gonna take someone? She did give the FF shout-out (missing "shiny" - but emphatically not missing "the ruffly dress." Hee.) She made some other comments that were plot or character-related and which I consequently didn't get or remember. Her hair was a bit off, I thought. /shallow musings.

After the last Stargate thing, the hall completely filled up for Dr. Horrible, and I had the same lovely thrill of expectation that I felt back at the Serenity panel in 2004. Especially because they were playing the Firefly score as a warm-up to the panel. It was clear that the crowd were here for Joss, and were totally into it. The panel was introduced by a slight, rather nervous-seeming young man, who turned out to be Scott Allie. Then Joss bounded onto the stage. I mean, really bounded, his energy was almost a little too strong for the first five minutes. He introduced the other writers - his family, - and then the cast. I was delighted to see that Simon (Moist) was included. Others have given the verbatim accounts, so I'll just jot down a few impressions: - Felicia's bit with the "twittering" was delightful, because she was genuinely embarrassed by the double entendre, and the physical comedy in putting her hands on the table was hilarious. - Nathan and NPH kept up a sort of faux-rivalry throughout, but Nathan was, for him, a little subdued/more of a team player (depending on how you look at it) this time around. - NPH was wonderful because he was somewhat more earnest than the others; the Whedons and Fillion can get a little too facetious and funny sometimes when one's looking for substantive answers to decent questions (but, no, not all of the questions would be classed as "decent" by many of the members, I know). - Zack Whedon, so far as I remember, said barely a word. Jed was funny, although his comments didn't generate as much applause as some others (felt like the audience was sounding him, a relative newbie, out). - I wish Felicia and Maurissa had spoken more; they were both articulate and sharp. - Also kinda wished they'd played a clip or two from the musical, to get the audience humming along. - The funniest bit was NPH singing "Brand New Day" in a chipmunk voice (they had to film the "Dr. Horrizilla" sequence speeded-up, and then slow it down for the physical effect, meaning that NPH had to sing the song double-quick. Repeatedly. Apparently Joss found it fun to ask him to keep re-taking . . . ) As the panel filed out, the music from the show was played. My lasting impressions: Joss was thrilled and proud of the work and of the audience response, and NPH immediately and effortlessly fits right into the Whedon pantheon.

After Dr. H, I met up with family members and spent the next few hours walking the teeming events floor in the crush. Always fun - but only in small doses, interspersed with oxygen breaks. Wandered to the Cal. Browncoats booth, which was happily being mobbed nearly every time I saw it. danregal and the others looked proprietorial and super efficient.

We didn't attend the screening on Friday night - it was a decision made earlier in the day, when it looked like 2,000 people were in line to get into a room with only a few hundred seats. So we opted for food and drink and frivolity at home instead. :-)

But I hear it was great. ;-)

I'll write a brief report about Saturday tomorrow.