San Diego Comic-Con: Days Three and Four

All week at Comic-Con, I’ve been trying to provide a post each evening covering the highlights of the day (Day One and Day Two). I’d known all along however, that I would probably fail at trying to complete one Saturday night. I was right.

That being said, now that it is Sunday evening and the con has come to a close, I can take the time to fill you in on the goings on of the last two days. Sunday is always the worst day at Comic-Con, primarily because it marks the end of the experience. It is a little tough knowing that next year’s convention doesn’t start for 360 days.

But enough of me whining; let’s get to the awesomeness of the last couple of days:

• Saturday morning was always going to be one of the best moments of the con, and reality lived up to the hype. Keith and I lucked into – I say “luck” due to the wonkiness of the NerdHQ ticketing process, and the fact that only 250 seats were available – tickets to the Joss Whedon event (part of NerdHQ’s very cool “Conversations for a Cause” series).
• The awesomeness of the Q&A was set right from the beginning. Zach Levi – the leader of all things NerdHQ – came out on stage to “host” the panel … but revealed to the audience via pantomime that he either had no voice left or needed to protect what little he had left for his Broadway gig. No worries; he asked a pal of his to step in, and out walks Nathan Fillion.
• I’d imagine that an hour with Joss would be great enough in and of itself. As you would expect, he is a genuinely funny, insightful and all around swell guy. But throw Fillion on stage with him, and you have struck gold. You can check out the video here.
• Quick Draw! and Cartoon Voices are two Comic-Con staples that most attendees – specifically those only coming for film and TV related content – would probably miss. Both are hilarious, and have truly become can’t-miss panels for me (The table read of Snow White during Cartoon Voices was worth the price of admission alone).
• Next I attended a series of TV panels: Person of Interest, Grimm and Revolution. All were great; I loved the camaraderie the Grimm cast showed, the smart “marketing” by the POI folks to play up the Prism controversy (and the announcement that Amy Acker was joining the cast full-time) and the fact that the folks from Revolution weren’t afraid to actually share some of the details of the upcoming season (Check out my live-tweeting of that and other panels at @CliqueClackTV).
• Saturday night ended with the NBC Party, which is always a good time. This I spent more time catching up with colleagues that write for other outlets than mingling with the talent; it is always good to catch up with friends you only see once or twice year. (We were going to go to the Serenity screening at NerdHQ, but it wound up being much less Fillion&Tudyk-y than we’d hoped)
• Sunday was a nice, quiet affair. Keith got a killer scoop in the Supernatural press room, while Michael and I screened the next episode of Under the Dome with the cast.

So ended another Comic-Con. It was a good trip, marked by doing more of what I would find fun rather than attending events specifically for the site. Each year, I refine that process a little, and will probably try a completely different approach next time around (Just like this year). I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how much fun I had palling around all week with my buddies Michael Noble and Keith McDuffee, as well as seeing a bunch of old friends like Kelly, CJ, Carissa, Alix, Jason and Amrie. Our Comic-Con experience is about so much more than what happens at the Convention Center.