Because I can be talked into anything I’ve written a two part post detailing my experiences at WizardWorld: Chicago last weekend. Melissa has added commentary in italics rather than sit down and write her own.

Part I is here.

The next day we got to the con within an hour of the time we originally meant to get there. As a result, we still had a damned long wait, most of which was spent taking pictures of people in costume. When we were let in, we were ushered to an area on the other side of the dealer’s room. That was the end of the line for the DC booth. Most of the dealer’s floor was empty of shoppers. We waited and chatted and made it to the front of the line where we were quickly given Dark Knight T-shirts and wristbands. The attendant was very careful to let me lift my glove so that I wouldn’t ruin the wristband taking my costume on and off. After that, we went to the DC panel to get seats and that’s where we heard the Spiderman story. The two gentlemen behind us said that one of their friends had come in a full-body Spiderman suit, and that the DC guys had placed the wristband over the suit even though the glove was connected to the rest of the suit. He couldn’t go to the bathroom without cutting the wristband or the suit, and Bob Wayne had said yesterday that if they cut the wristband they wouldn’t be admitted. Their friend refused to cut the suit. I suggested it was because he wore a Marvel costume, which hadn’t occurred to either of them.

Comic company rivalries can be so petty. It was a nice costume though.

When it got closer to panel time, a woman in a Power Girl costume came in and got mobbed by people with cameras (including me). I was just getting a picture of her with a Donna Troy when Dan Didio comes over and asks “Who says there are too many blondes in the DCU?”

“I did!” I looked up at him while I snapped the picture. He grinned, laughed and backed away from the audience like he always does when he makes a joke at a panel (I wonder if anyone actually has thrown anything at him, because he seems prepared for it.) Several people laughed, and I wonder how many of them realized that the woman in the Green Lantern was the one complaining about an excess of yellow hair.

All Green Lanterns hate blonds. It’s a well known fact. Except Hal, but that’s because he’s a playboy.

There was more picture taking (in all, there were six of us in costumes at the panel) and finally they started the panel. This one was a bit more excited, partially because of all of the people who were speculating about what was going on at 6 PM, and partially because the DC suits (who never actually wear suits to these things) really seem to enjoy referencing the previous day’s panel during the second panel of a con. Amber suggested they were rubbing it in that some people missed it, but I think its just more part of the show. The second panel of a convention they have a number of in-jokes with the audience that they can fall back on when they need to avoid a question, get a reaction, or keep the panel moving.

Amber’s still new to the comics thing. I once tried to explain Hawkman and Hawkgirl to her. I’d feel bad, but she DID ask for it.

Of course, someone had to ask if Kyle Rayner was going to die. Didio polled the panel, and Van Sciver’s horrified “No” would have been the highlight of the panel for Kyle-fans if not for Levitz’s authoritative “No.” Not that this (or the previous panel’s announcement that Kyle would be in Countdown after this crossover) will stop the endless “Oh my god, they are killing/ruining/villifying Kyle!!” complaints from driving me insane, but I have a nice anecdote to fall back on when the argument comes up again.

Interrupting fan panic with logic?! Surely you jest. Besides, they could have been lying.

One of the better comments was about Didio’s “Dan Didio Must Die” shirt at SDCC. Paul Levitz interrupted the panel to explain that one. Apparently, when Didio was wearing that on stage Levitz was giving the head of Time-Warner a tour and the first time the major boss saw Dan Didio was when he was wearing that t-shirt.

Oops.

Didio ended the panel by asking who had the most important question that was “not about Stephanie Brown, or Blue Beetle, or JLI, or blondes.” On “blondes” he gave me a look that reminded me too much of my Uncle Al so I stubbornly continued to raise my hand even though I didn’t have a worthwhile question. The guy they called on was wearing a yellow shirt.

Hah, Didio doesn’t like you!

(Come to think of, neither does my Uncle Al)

He stood up to ask his question, which I think was the very good one about whether or not James Robinson would write for DC again but I’m not sure. I was distracted because he was wearing a Sinestro Corps/Parallax symbol on his T-shirt. I wasn’t the only one distracted by that. After the panel I went to get my picture with Van Sciver, who was positively obsessed with getting one of those T-shirts. He left me almost immediately after the picture to chase the guy and ask where he got it.

I was close enough to hear him say he made it himself. Which considering I have the sartorial skill of a three toed, color-blind ground-sloth, I was very impressed by.

Later, at the Dark Knight panel I noticed the guy in the yellow T-shirt again. He was two rows in front of me to the right, so I could very clearly see Ethan Van Sciver’s signature on the back of his t-shirt. That was one of the coolest moments of the weekend.

I wonder if he had to tackle him. A Green Lantern artist tackling some fan in a Sinestro Corps T-Shirt would definitely make my day.

We skipped out on the Marvel panel again in favor of lunch, but after reading a few reports about the Mary Jane-Peter stuff and the audience I almost wish I’d seen it for myself. We were a bit too lazy at lunch, though. We only got back with an hour and a half to spare before the evening panel, and I had another mission. It was time to get a photograph of myself in costume with Pat Gleason, because I had one with Van Sciver and I jus had to have a set. Amber wanted to stop at the corset booth. I made it to Gleason’s booth and we posed for the picture, and the camera shut off. The battery was dead. As if to assure me the universe wasn’t just laughing at me, Gleason said the exact same thing had happened to him earlier that day. I vowed to return the next day, and we bustled off to buy a corset.

It probably would have been a little awkward going to a Marvel panel dressed like a Green Lantern anyway. Just sayin’.

Here’s where things really got fun. At a convention, particularly one with a lot of people from different states, credit cards can spontaneously become allergic to out of state purchases. Guess who got to sit in the booth while her friend ran to get cash? While the ATM machine was out of money. And while her friend had to go upstairs to another ATM machine, leaving her convention badge attached to an overshirt in the booth. Guess who didn’t have time to change out of her Green Lantern costume before the evening panel.

Whine, whine, whine. What she’s not telling you is that while she and Amber went corset hunting and had ATM adventures, I was trying to hold our place in line. Sending a sick and miserable person to go stand in line and probably infect everyone else around her is seriously bad karma.

We did manage to get a spot in line for the Dark Knight panel, just not a very good one. I sat next to a guy who bet me a dollar that Christian Bale and Heath Ledger would be here, a bet which I took gladly because if I lost it meant we were seeing something cool enough to be worth waiting so damned long. I tried to pay him when Bale came out, but he refused. (Ledger wasn’t there, so I supposed neither of us officially won.) The panel started late, and I swear I did not realize that I would ever be so excited to see actors but I think I lost my voice when they introduced Gary Oldman.

Hey, at least we GOT a place in line. And we sat about halfway in, so we weren’t too bad off, you’re-welcome-very-much.

Aaron Eckhart’s surprisingly cute when scruffy.

This spared everyone one of my inane questions, which is a good thing because the Hollywood guys are not nearly as efficient at running a panel than the comic-book professionals are. Levitz tried to keep things moving, but the panelists tended to give long-winded precise answers whenever they could. We came up with a theory afterwards that Hollywood people are used to interviews where they will be quoted endlessly so they have to get everything right, but comic book people are used to dealing with fans (even among the journalists) who want to be heard by the professionals and will take whatever they want from what you say no matter how you phrase it. The important thing at the comic book convention isn’t what the professionals say, but making sure as many fans as possible get a chance to talk as possible, and everyone keeps laughing and joking.

Mostly because everyone’ll paraphrase and misquote you endlessly anyway.

(We also speculated afterwards that they brought Aaron Eckhart to show him that comic book fans really would like him and we weren’t all evil internet trolls who would throw things at him for not being the perfect Harvey Dent. But I think we were mainly dwelling on him because he is an absolutely beautiful man.)

We like talking about pretty men. I’m sure this shocks everyone.

They only got through half of the people who wanted questions (I was very amused by the Wizard reporter trying to trick poor Aaron Eckhart into giving away what happened to Harvey Dent) but the last one got a short answer. A woman asked about Mark Hamil’s animated Joker, and how Heath Ledger’s would compare. It was effectively something they couldn’t answer. She also asked if someone would find her Cobra Commander action figure (Someone did.) We finally got to the footage. About ten minutes of Dark Knight footage, which went by far too fast but I remember that untrustworthy heart of mine swelling in my chest again and making considerably more noise than I meant to. I also remember nearly jumping out of my seat when I saw a coin spin and actually jumping to my feet on the words “Only Half.”

Ohhh, yeah. I think it’s safe to say Eckhart’s going to acquit himself quite well. The cheering at the end of that was tremendous.

The rest of the night was spent gushing over Aaron Eckhart, handwashing my costume in the hotel sink and searching for lost car keys and room keys.

Shut up. I found them. Eventually.

Really the most amusing thing on Sunday was the guy at the Guardian Comics booth who yelled out “Hey Green Lantern, I’m not wearing any yellow!” when we walked by. There’s something funny about a really cheesy pickup line coming from a guy trying to sell Christian comics. When we finished giggling about that, we bought the rest of the dealer’s room and I finally got my picture with Pat Gleason. Jamal Igle drew me sketch of Kilowog. I managed to find action figures of all six Earth Green Lanterns (counting Alan and Jade) and Parallax, and run out of cash just before the long trip home.

Actually her Guy figure was the one I bought. I decided to trade him for some really bad movies involving Matt Salinger and David Hasselhoff. Besides, he’d have been lonely with me, whereas she has many other Lantern figures to annoy.

Yes, I did get lost again. Twice.

It was a fun trip!

This entry was posted on Friday, August 17th, 2007 at 9:54 am and is filed under Conventions, DC Comics, Fandom, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.