Things I Learned At The New England Comic Con

Yesterday, I attended Wizard World’s New England Comic Con.

When approaching the Hynes Convention Center, crowds filled the streets, thousands of people lined up, anxiously awaiting admittance.

To see President Obama.

That’s right, the President of the United States made an appearance, open to the public.

And an opportunity to take a picture sitting in the Batmobile was twenty bucks.

Here’s my takeaway:

John Schneider is tall.  Ridiculously tall.  Easily 6’4″ and with the exception of graying sideburns, looks extremely young.  He was also very personable and twice I saw him on the floor, unescorted, smiling and appearing to have a good time.

The show was disorganized.  Interviews that were to be arranged months in advance didn’t happen and interviews I was told could never happen, apparently could have.  With only one panel happening at a time, the space was far too small and fans were unable to get in after waiting in an extremely long line.  

Comic talent was a tertiary draw at this festival.  Very little established talent, no artist’s alley and two of the show’s draws, Michael Golden and Bill Sienkiewicz were impossible to find (and I looked).

An artist with a soon to be released high profile project wasn’t particularly warm, and with little attention being paid, he didn’t even look up from sketching when fans approached him.

Ethan Van Sciver is a really nice guy and deserves all of his success.

There were an enormous amount of five dollar trades and bootleg dvds being sold.  Some dollar boxes but not much else.

Adam West’s favorite pilot was Lookwell and he would be interested in reviving it as a web series.

Lee Majors (and Mr. West) restricted any photography near them, frustrating many a fan.  Seated next to Mr. Majors was Richard Anderson who talked to me about the upcoming dvds and discovering Sandra Bullock.

The organizers kept the Buffy cast restricted from fans, only letting people talk to the talent provided that they pay additional fees.  This kept fan friendly Amber Benson removed from her fans (as well as her frequent collaborator author Christopher Golden).  I did get to chat with Mark Metcalf who appeared in one of my favorite films of all time, Animal House, and he was extremely friendly.

Charisma Carpenter is extremely funny and charming.  Really funny.