Comic Con 2001 Part 1

Comic Con International has grown to world wife status and recognition as fans flock annually to the nurse the inner child. What was once a relatively small gathering has now grown to cosmic heights, not only do you see the ever enthusiastic collector and comic aficionado but the genre loving zealot paying homage to his/her favorite show or film.

Even further north a little town known as Hollywood takes note of this seasonal gathering to take down the latest genre offering from the majors studios. It was here where a certain Mark Hamil first passed out poster for the then unknown George Lucas opus, STAR WARS and Lucas Film to this day continues to come and dazzle the exasperated fans.

I too make this my yearly pilgrimage, a Mecca of sorts! For the past 10 years I have come to see the latest and greatest the world of imagination has to offer the Peter Pan in me. Although Comic-Con used to start on Thursday the organizers decide to have a Wednesday Preview Night to give its attendees a glimpse of what they had to offer.

Arriving first thing on Friday morning I decided to tackle the first panel, The Sci-Fi Channel's FARSCAPE at 11:00 after the panel with creator Rockne S. O'Bannon and the lunatic rantings of star Anthony Simcoe the man behind D'Artagon I made my way to the autograph area under the sails. The first to catch my eye was Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) Kenny Baker (R2D2) and Jeremy Bullock (Boba Fett) of the STAR WARS universe. From there it was to the adjoining tables inhabited by castmembers from the Roger Corman show BLACK SCORPION, other well known genre stars sitting hawking their wares were Mark Goddard of LOST IN SPACE, Virginia Hey of FARSCAPE, Brian Thompson best known as the Alien bounty hunter on THE X-FILES, Will Wheaton formerly of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION and BLADE RUNNER costars Joanna Cassidy, Joe Turkel and William Sanderson. It was time to head back down stairs for the Sci-Fi booth for the FARSCAPE signing when we spotted aging rock icon Gene Simmons of Kiss hanging out with members of the DC staff, could there be a project in the works?

Following the photo ops upstairs it was time to make the rounds at the major booths sponsored by various comic book companies, toy companies and film studios. Dreamworks SKG had an impressive setup with props from their upcoming film, THE TIME MACHINE, Darkhorse Comics had a battlesuit from the 20th Century Fox film, PLANET OF THE APES while DC. CrossGen, Image and Marvel all had the heavy hitters of their upcoming comics giving away signatures and career advice.

Fastforward to 2:00 and we enter a packed room for Comic-Con favorite Kevin Smith who had his partner in crime Jason Mewes (Jay) along for the ride. The writer, director and star passed out passes for their latest film, JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK answered questions about previous films, current comic book assignments and stories of his infamous comrade. Another trip out to the autograph area and a familiar faces waves me over to say hi, its' Paget Brewster (THE SPECIALS) star of the new vehicle AGENT 15, "I was wondering when I would see you", she said and after a bit of gossip I pressed on for the final panel of the day, ANDROMEDA with the show's executive producer Robert Hewitt Wolfe and his cadre of writers that promised more action of "Herculean" proportions!

Just before returning to my hotel I just happened to glance over to Ted Raimi's table who had decide to head to the convention despite being over an hour late due to Los Angeles traffic. After a friendly conversation it was time to head for the nearest bar or rather my hotel hot tub!

Friday evening also marked the annual Eisner awards held at the Hyatt Hotel, here are the winners:

The League of Extraordinairy Gentlemen, Promethea, Tom Strong, Top Ten, Tomorrow Stories (ABC)

Anthony Simcoe, who is best known to FARSCAPE fans as the gravely voiced D'Artagon hold up his plastic likeness while signing autographs at the Sci-Fi booth	Gene Simmons founder of warpaint rockers KISS holds up his custom Visa card and promises to pick up the tab for new friends John Nee, Paul Levitz and Bob Wayne of DC Comics
Mark Goddard shreks and recoils in terror as he is finally shown the adaptation of the his tv series LOST IN SPACE.	Jason Mewes who plays Jay in the view askew universe strikes a pose while promoting his upcoming film, JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK!
Paget Brewster who was last seen as Ms. Indestructible in THE SPECIALS can be seen in the project AGENT 15.	Reminiscing about the days with the replicants were BLADE RUNNER costars Joanna Cassidy, Joe Turkel and William Sanderson
Ted Raimi braved the 405 freeway to make it to his hungry horde of XENA fans waiting for his signature	From the brilliant mind of John Kricsfalusi, who brought you REN AND STIMPY comes RIPPING FRIENDS.
FARSCAPE meets THE X-FILES stars of the respective shows, Virginia Hey and Brian Thompson get chummy	Con favorite Kevin Smith takes us inside his twisted mind
Will Wheaton ponders the question, "When will Wesley come back?" THE STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION star has been absent from all the big screen adventures	FARSCAPE costar Anthony Simcoe sucks up to creator Rockne S. O'Bannon
Kenny Baker is the man inside the droid, R2D2 of STAR WARS	Actress Marjorie Monahan paid her dues acting on the genre classic BABYLON 5.
Nancy Valen, who is an alumni of BAYWATCH has graduated to even cheesier television by starring in the Roger Corman series, BLACK SCORPION	Executive Producer Robert Hewitt Wolfe promises more action and drama for his Gene Roddenberry show ANDROMEDA
That hairy frock belongs to none other than Peter Mayhew, Han Solo's Wookie companion Chewbacca from STAR WARS	Comic Con Part TWO

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