dirty-kitchenWell, once again, we are repainting the kitchen to hide the stains we couldn’t clean, the comics cellar is being refiled, the liquor bottles refilled, and the linens have been burnt, per EPA regulations.  (And the capuchin monkeys have been bribed with money directly wired to their E*Trade account.)  The Beatrix shall return shortly from her journey west, and we can all return to our regularly scheduled programming.
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BUT… before we go, here’s the last of this year’s Watchtower news feed, as we filter the Google News feed from Comic-Con like a cyber baleen whale.  This time, it’s mostly the mainstream media reporting, after Comic-Con has wound down.  (I wonder how they treat the stains left behind by the roused rabble?)  Click on the headlines for the linkage!
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First, it’s local newspaper, the San Diego Union-Tribune.  They’ve had a crack team reporting all week, and you can browse their coverage here.
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Got a suggestion on how to improve Comic-Con?  Get in line.

The annual Talk Back panel.  The usual: Fix Hall H (it’s getting worse), have security attend sensitivity training, have a ticket lottery.

Who are those strange people?

Adweek interviews the five varieties of movers-and-shakers: The Marketeer, Captain Showrunner, The Amazing Multihyphenate, Retail-Thing, and Gamer Girl.

Who did the best job marketing to the fans?

Heidi, how many did you go to?  (And wait until you see the surprise shock ending!)

But, how did they get them on the airplane?

Harlequin TSAReal enough to look dangerous, but fake enough to get through screening, CCI Security checks each “weapon” to make sure it’s safe.
Good cosplay always prompts a bit of a double-take, giving you the feeling that your world has been momentarily invaded by something weird. The critical mass of characters at Comic-Con adds another layer, exposing a giant cross-section of the nerd collective unconscious where Batwoman is friends with Solid Snake and a thousand Deadpools roam San Diego’s Gaslamp district. And the weapons check is like some kind of surreal bureaucratic stopgap, designed to let these fictional worlds converge. Are you a world-warping demigod? Fine. But you’re going to have to tag your staff just like everybody else.

Best spot photo I found?

(Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)
(Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)

Yeah!  That show!  The one with the wisecracking hipster, the bully eldster, the cute dorky girl who lives in the basement, the goofball mother, and the Square (who is really a tesseract, but no one can see how cool he is).  I especially liked the second season, where the Square got an internship, and had to deal with the Stick (up her ass) and the Charmer (who flirted with the Square, who didn’t know if she was all talk, or all webcam, or both).  The brilliance was the Bigmouth Sage, who was always right, even though everyone hated having to listen to him.

The cable-niche-ing of Comic-Con.

How soon before there are gang wars?  How soon before Colbert exploits the tension between Jedis and Klingons?

I know he’s too busy, but I’d watch the reality show…

The local Patch affiliate interviews Jim Lee about domesticity (cosplay?!), the changes at Comic-Con, and why Superman endures.

Be smarter than the smarties! 

Here’s how to make money from geek culture, via Wall Street.(No IDW stock pick?)

Tr!ckst3r !

(Wow… barely any mention on Google News.  Anyone get over there this weekend?)

Think Comic-Con is weird?

Along the way, readers meet conspiracy theorists, body modifiers, musicians in various stages of a downward spiral, and — in Mitt Romney — a presidential candidate about to embark on his campaign. But, in their own niches, each of them becomes (sometimes literally) rock stars, oblivious to the skepticism or outright mockery they inspire in other societal circles.

Conventions. Tradeshows. Expos. Every profession and obsession has them. We select hot tubs, handguns, the best Wonder Woman costume and even our presidential contenders at these neo-tribal gatherings where commerce and communalism collide. With a tanking economy and looming layoffs, lapsed-fanboy Bob Calhoun sets out on a quest through the temporary worlds created in concrete convention centers and hotel conference rooms for the nerdy enthusiasm he has lost. However, in Shattering Conventions, his new pop-culture memoir, Calhoun quickly discovers that escapism provides little escape from a growing American craziness.

BET files a rare report

from Comic-Con, reporting on “March” and Georgia Rep. John Lewis.

Preach it, sister!

Hollywood is leaving lots of money on the table by ignoring female fandom!
If you wanted to see how popular (and lucrative) a female heroine can be you only had to check out the Catching Fire panel at Comic Con. Thousands of people went nuts for the new trailer and for star Jennifer Lawrence who took most of the questions on the panel. At one point they opened the floor up to questions from the fans, many of whom had waited 12 hours or more to be there.
The procession of awestruck young girls was inspiring. They had a hero to look up to, both in Katniss and in Lawrence, and they asked some really smart questions.
And from the Associated Press, Comic-Con photos:

Neil Gaiman

(Animated GIF in 3…2…)

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Who was that masked man?

Oh, it’s Dan Harmon!
(But Bryan Cranston wins the celebrity cosplay award, dressing as Heisenberg on the Con floor!)

AP images from the masquerade

(2013 and years previous).

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And, just like the nightly news, we conclude our Comic-Con coverage with a heartwarming video courtesy of Wired and the Stan Winston School of Character Arts.
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Dawwww…. How nice!   *sniffle*

4 COMMENTS

  1. BBC has a video of Matt Smith from Doctor Who putting on a Bart Simpsons mask and go around the con floor trying to talk to other Doctor Who fans. Seems very few wanted to talk to some random stranger with a Bart Simpson mask. I can only wonder if he would have gotten a better reaction from people by wearing a full Bart Simpsons outfit (orange shirt and blue shorts). Just wearing a mask seems like a half-hearted attempt at a costume and more about hiding the person’s identity. Or if he wanted to talk up Doctor Who fans, perhaps get some sort of Doctor Who related mask or costume.

    Anyone attending future SDCC, if you see someone wearing just a mask surrounded by their own camera crew, chances are there is someone famous underneath it. :-P

  2. That’s a photo I found on the web. The kitchen (actually, a kitchenette in what was once the servant’s quarters) is smaller, so if chaos ensues (as it did when the capuchin monkeys got ahold of the banana liqueur), it’s easier to contain the damage, and to clean up any mishaps. Also, Heidi rarely uses that kitchen, as it is a bit inaccessible from the main part of SBM.

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