I don’t know whether it’s due to the brief, but awkward lull between Comic-Con and Wizard World Chicago, or because I’m pressed on some other projects, but I’m not seeing many items that grab me for full-fledged posts. So, here are some brief items, or “Small Bites,” as we like to call them:
Marvel’s Kyle talks animated Doctor Strange
It’s been known since last year that the Sorcerer Supreme would be Marvel’s fourth animated direct-to-DVD project, but details have been pretty scarce.
But at Comic-Con, Now Playing talked to Craig Kyle, Marvel’s vice president of animation, who discusses some of the challenges of bringing Doctor Strange to life.
“The credit goes to [writer] Greg Johnson,” Kyle tells the website, “and the beautiful job he did taking what was already there and finding a way to really make a wonderful story and figure out the laws of magic, so it’s not just, ‘A magic word can do anything I want.’ Because it’s really tricky. You’ve got a guy who can say and do anything he wants with a wave of his hand. What are you going to put him up against?”
Headline of the day
From TrekWeb: “Manga Artist Fearful of Star Trek Fans.”
The horrors of Comic-Con
Writing for Stanford University’s campus newspaper, Lisa Kerner relives the nightmare of attending Comic-Con solely to see the Veronica Mars panel, only to come face-to-face with, well … Comic-Con.
“My frustration increased when I scoured the autograph line after the panel,” Kerner writes. “Whereas the 4,500-seat auditorium was filled with teens and young adults, this line revealed mostly middle-aged men and women with the intense look in their eyes characteristic of outsiders anxious to sell their not-so-prized autograph on eBay the next day. Meanwhile, I couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the actors, as security was intently herding us away.
“At Comic-Con, I was suffocated by the sweaty throngs of people, aggravated by the incompetence of the staff and security and appalled by the lack of organization and the illogical approach to planning, but what perplexed me the most was fact that no other convention-goers seemed to care.”
July 27th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
Interesting. Quite frankly, I don’t know where she’s coming from. I have been to lots of professional conferences for half as many people that were not nearly as well planned out as Comic-Con. This was my first Comic-Con too. I read the FAQs on their site and found them to be very informative so that I knew what to expect/avoid/do/not do. Perhaps when she gets out of college and into the real world her perceptions will change (I know that sounded like a slam but it wasn’t meant that way).
July 28th, 2006 at 9:11 am
I’ve never attended Comicon, so I don’t know from experience, but this was obviously her first fan convetion (because she obviously wasn’t there for the Civil War panel) experience, and she was just overwhelmed.
She also evidently had impressions and expectations that were unfulfilled the entire day. I read the full story, and she complains about everything at the event from the parking to intelligence of cast members.
I like this quote best, from the reader comments to her story, and I’ll quote it here for truthfulness: “The very fact that you confess the only reason for going was the Veronica Mars panel… That’s like going to a breakfast cereal convention because you are interested in toys: the majority of the programming, the atmosphere… it won’t do a thing for you. This isn’t to say its bad; its simply that its not designed for you and your interests. The Comic Con is chiefly about, well, comics; everything else that is included is peripheral fare.”
July 29th, 2006 at 12:21 am
Wow, nothing like an informed response from someone who wasn’t there, Wesley.
I’ll tell you from being there three times in the past six years: it IS disorganized. It IS organized. I’ve seen both. Lisa had a bad experience, that doesn’t mean she’s not right.
That quote is obnoxiously stupid. CCI promotes SO MANY things other than comics, it’s truly the height of clueless to piss on someone for coming for one of those things, especially when the con itself, by sheer size and diversity of events and programming, means one does have to pick and choose.
And CCI is so NOT mostly about comics. A cursory look at the guest list, the programming and the dealer’s hall demonstrates this. It’s an entertainment convention.
I am so loving the comments here and at Lisa’s article, which clearly show a pattern of, “This is OUR Comic Con, stinky girl!”
July 30th, 2006 at 1:42 am
Lately SDCC has been looking more and more like E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), only with less emphasis on computer games and high geek tech and more on television/video/movie projects, and toys. And stuffed inside that is a comic-book convention.
In a way, it reminds me of the climax of Akira, where a wildly mutating Tetsuo envelops and absorvs the hapless Kaori.
However, I wouldn’t say it’s worse-managed than most other professional conventions of its size I’ve attended.
July 30th, 2006 at 1:43 am
Lately SDCC has been looking more and more like E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), only with less emphasis on computer games and high geek tech and more on television/video/movie projects, and toys. And stuffed inside that is a comic-book convention.
In a way, it reminds me of the climax of Akira, where a wildly mutating Tetsuo envelops and absorbs the hapless Kaori.
However, I wouldn’t say it’s worse-managed than most other professional conventions of its size I’ve attended.
January 17th, 2011 at 6:24 pm
haha you wrote a typo! other than that I’d say this is a great blog! Keep up the nice work