Comic-Con International 2008 - San Diego, CA

[Sparky]

Originally Posted by Ccook50

And if anybody was at Jerry Beck's Worst Cartoons Ever show last night, please let me know what was shown.

When we got back last night I jotted down some notes on each thing in the show so I'd remember. I'll write something up and PM it to you. Maybe you can help me find the titles I forgot by the descriptions. Or then Jerry might have just posted them in his blog by now...

[taranchula]

Time to play catch-up.

Thursday was a great day. Got up, went to the Tiny Toons and Freakazoid panel, then went to the autograph singing at the WB booth. Toured the floor for a bit, went to the spotlight on Steve Purcell show. Did some more touring waited and waited and waited in line for the Street Fighter 4 panel, I did eventually get in but had to sit near the back. Then when that was over sauntered over to the Pitching Hour panel where I was on the verge of falling asleep in my chair not because it was boring, just because I was exhausted as hell and just wanted to lie down, so I abandoned my plans and went back to the hotel.

Friday started out great, went to the Marvel: Your Universe Panel at ten, followed by Foster's/PPG at quarter past eleven, took a lunch break with Sparky GM and Cass shortly after. I left the group early to catch the Ghostbusters Panel, and it was there where I suffered my first disappointment of the con, the panel was canceled. So with nothing to do for a few hours I headed back to the floor to waste some time before the evening panels, thankfully it turned out the time there was anything but a waste as I was able to snag a few autographs. The first signing happened almost by accident, I was out the Shout! Factory to pick up another DVD when at the same time there was a Mystery Science Theater 3000 signing going on, I was just about to move on as the event was about to end and I didn't think they didn't would take anymore people, but all of the sudden one of the guys at the booth asked me if I wanted to get some stuff signed, I not being the one to turn down free famous people ink, gladly accepted the offer and got the autographs of Bill Corbett (Crow T. Robot, Brain Guy, Various), Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo, Bobo, Various) Bridgett Nelson (various) and Mary Jo Phel (Pearl Forrester, various). Tooled around for a bit more, met up with One Radical Dude and BluebottleFlyer at the Cartoon Network Booth. Where once more the the pens of people I admire touched down to make their lasting impression on a sheet of paper. In this case it was Craig, Lauren, Tom Kenny, Tom Kane (Who was a last minuet surprise guest at the Foster's/PPG panel) Tara Strong and of course last but certainly not least Keith Ferguson.

After the signing I made my way upstairs to partake in the nights programming, it was there where I encountered a huuuuuuuuuuge problem people and lots of them. You see I had the brilliant idea to attend a panel for the Venture Bros, followed by one for Robot Chicken and lastly one for Mystery Science Theater 3000 (As they were going to be held in the same room and I enjoy all three shows very much). But the problem with having a brilliant idea is that there going to be a some copycats and in this case there were at least over a thousand copycats. Who were already waiting in line before me and after being told numerous times there would be no chance of getting in for "any" of the panels I gave up hope. I headed over for the 24 panel (It was in a bigger room, so I had a faint hope of making it in for that.) but that particular room also was going to be the site of a Prison Break panel and an Avatar: The Last Airbender panel, so saying that things were a bit crowded would be the understatement of the decade. So there I waited in line for over an hour (Reuniting with Sparky and GM, who also couldn't get into MST3K et al and decided to head to the Prison Break/Avatar panels because they were going to be held in the same room as Worst Cartoon's Ever.) So we got in (though I missed the 24 panel...boooooo) caught the Prison Break/Avatar panels. Which were okay (I don't hate the shows, but I don't watch them either. So I was kind of lost when people were yelling and screaming at almost every little thing they showed.)

And after that was WCE, and I think there was a question relating to that, so lets go to it now.

Originally Posted by Ccook50

And if anybody was at Jerry Beck's Worst Cartoons Ever show last night, please let me know what was shown.

If I remember correctly they showed the usual WCE crowd favorites. Mighty Mister Titan, Super President, Spunky and Tadpole and Johnny Cypher, along with Sam Basset: Hound for Hire (which debuted last year.) Paddy The Pelican (Which debuted back in 06...I think.) and Sinbad. Jr the cartoon they were going to show last year but got bumped for more Rocket Robin Hood. (Sadly, RRH was not shown.) and for the first time ever they showed some vintage commercials from the 50's and 60's, including a promotional short for the Moon Mullens cartoon they showed last year.

And that was Friday.

As for today, I got up early and headed over to the conventional hall at about 8:30 to wait in line for the Futurama/Simpsons panel at 10, and it's a good thing I did because once more the line was huuuuuuuuge. (Yeesh you'd think there was convention going on or something. )
Though this time I was able to brave the long lines and get in for the show. After that was a panel of Cartoon voice actors which contained some names you may heard off, such as Wally Wingart, Alicyn Packard, Chuck McCann and of course the ever popular Phil LaMarr (Yes ladies, he did do the voice of Wilt), the panel was also to have contained Tom Kenny and Jason Marsden but as showtime neared those two were not on stage and the crew took down their nametags, meaning that either were not going to appear at the panel. (The reason they gave was they flu. Poor guy hope he didn't get it from one of us. ) However they did have some replacements lined up, one which was planned "Gregg Berger" and the other which almost literally came of the blue or should we say "Bloo". You see right before the panel, Keith dropped by to say hello to Phil and Alicyn and just as he was about to leave the room, the panel moderator manged to get Keith to stay and fill the empty seat and thus the panel was once more whole.

Great panel too, they did the usual "Who do you voice?, How did you get started?" stuff and followed that up with the actors reading from an old Superman radio script. (Wally's interpretation of Jimmy Olson has to be heard to be believed and Keith does a great Latino accent. In fact there were so many highlights I just can't print them all with out )

After that it was back to the old Hotel for some rest and relaxation before heading out for a night at the theater.

So that's all the news from me, from the great city of San Diego and with that I bid you adieu.

[Cassini90125]

Originally Posted by kageri

Glad all of y'alls are having fun! It sounds like a blasty-blast. I so wish I could be there... especially since apparently there was a Dr. Horrible panel. Bogus.

Originally Posted by Imaginary Light

Glad to see everyone's having a good time and...I'm jealous, man! I think it'd be awesome to go to Comic Con just to meet some of you guys.

I wish you guys were here, too, you and duck2k and Lynnie and Mr. Marshmallow and all the rest who wanted to come but for various reasons couldn't. Truthfully, that's one of the reasons I came here last year; not just for Foster's but also because I wanted to meet some of the people I'd gotten to know here on Never Forgotten. Definitely made both trips more worthwhile and will be part of the equation when I try to figure out if I'm coming again in 2009. Too early to say, but I'm already hoarding spare change, just in case.

[One Radical Dude]

Yeah, I do want to go next year, even after FHFIF is over. There's still stuff to get into and people to see over there. I'm gonna head to the convention center soon, and be ready for the masquerade!

[Howard]

I am so jealous! I called my friend Monty, and he too is in San Diego with his nephew. And you guys enjoying the Con and that amazing skyline at nite. I quote from Frankie: "why is my life soooo lame!"

[Sparky]

Today I skipped the Futurama panel in favor of doing my Sybil Pandemik cosplay for the Sam & Max/Strongbad panel. I got green Sharpie from my tattoo on Max. Hope it comes out. Then I ditched the costume and Max and had lunch with GM then headed back to the Convention Hall. I got pbl what I think is a pretty awesome present for her birthday, then went over to the Full Moon Features booth to meet Charlie Band...who had wandered off a while ago and they didn't know where he was. He was scheduled to be there then for signings so they had to call him and tell him he actually had a fan waiting for him. So while he was heading over I went back to CN and told the Fusionfall folks that the guy who had interviewed ORD and I yesterday had told us to go tell them to try and push us through to be beta testers so I can advertise the game on my site. I gave them my info but I think I still have to email someone. I dunno. Did you talk to them yet ORD? Anyways I went back to FM and hung around and found out that they had set some Blade lithographs that sell for $20 on the counter and people had walked off with them thinking they were those free mini-posters some booths were giving away. Damn. Another Puppet Master fan I know from a PM forum turned up and we started talking about replicas (he makes his own that are 1,000 times better than the "official" ones btw) when Band showed up. I bought a Six-Shooter litho for him to sign and we took a photo, and I told him about my new PM fansite and a new PM roleplay board I'm moderating. He wants me to get in touch with someone at Full Moon Direct about that. Then I went and finished covering the last of the convention hall. I didn't buy anything else.

I met GM later for an awesomer-than-awesome Ralph Bakshi panel (that man is seriously one of the coolest people to walk the Earth). We grabbed a pizza, ate one slice each, then went to the Balboa Theatre to see Rifftrax Live do Plan 9 From Outer Space. Having been some of the first people to get tickets, us and t were right in the front row. Before the show started my blood sugar plummeted to the Earth's core because I think I took too much insulin to cover only one slice of pizza so GM had to buy me some food. I didn't die though, lol.

We're back in the hotel now, and I have a blister from wearing Mac's shoes all evening. Oh well.

[Cassini90125]

Friday started out cloudy and warm. Not that I cared too much; I was kind of busy stuffing myself with CIG's complementary breakfast again. Stars, my doctor is going to kill me. After breakfast the next order of business was a trip to Ralph's for iced tea. Much to my surprise, Ralph's doesn't carry much in the way of diet iced tea, and what they did have were the ones with nasty flavors like peach, a flavor that has no business associating with tea. Bleh. Fortunately there's a deli near the CIG that carries what I wanted; a bit more expensive than Ralph's but whatever, I gotta have a supply of tea in my room. I think it was around 10:30 AM or so. I didn't have anything Con-related to do until 1:00 PM so I killed time online, here and on various other sites, mostly Sims-related. I headed for the convention center around 12:30 PM, giving myself plenty of time to dodge and weave my way through the crowds to get to my destination; Lauren's booth in the exhibition hall. Well, I'll tell you, I must be getting pretty good at this, because when I had the booth in sight I asked someone if they had the time, and it turned out that I still had 15 minutes to kill. Hadn't planned on that! What to do with the extra time? I went back outside and photographed a couple of cosplayers. After that I headed back to the booth; today was Signing Day, Craig was going to be there, and he takes requests. You already know who I requested a sketch of; if you don't, you really, really haven't been paying attention. It's fascinating to watch the man at work; a few quick lines with a light blue pencil form a framework, followed by darker, more detailed lines and curves, and in almost no time at all, a new picture of Frankie is born. She's looking adorably sullen in this one. I envy the man's talent; he is truly gifted, to be able to do what he does, to bring such beauty into the world for all of us to enjoy. I wish there'd been time to talk for a bit but I didn't want to hold up the line. Pity; there's a lot that I'd like to ask, and more importantly, a lot I'd like to tell him. Not likely, I'm afraid. Maybe I'll post it someday and hope that he reads it. Sketch in hand, I thanked him, got a pic of him and Lauren (my poor camera is so overworked this week), and headed for the door. The return trip took a lot longer than getting to Lauren's booth did; not wanting anything to happen to the sketch, I didn't try to move with the crowds or wiggle my way through them, no; as much as possible I avoided them entirely. I didn't get back to the CIG until after 2:30 PM, at which point I collapsed into my desk chair for awhile, then into the shower and eventually off to seek lunch. It had been a tiring morning and afternoon, but it was definitely worth the effort.

[Lynnie]

I'm really enjoying reading your guys' daily stories. Keep 'em comin'! It sure gives us more of an idea of what it's like, even from different views, and I think that's just great.

I've heard a lot about the "Worst Cartoons Ever" over the last two years, and I've already added it as an interest should I make it down next year.

[One Radical Dude]

Day 3: I saw the Futurama panel, I tried to get a ticket for an autograph (from a series that my bro is into), and I drew for one, but it wasn't 1 of the lucky 300, got a few photos from a few characters from "Who Wants to be a Superhero?", purchased a Bloo exclusive thingy from Funko, attended Cartoon Voices I, met Kelsey Mann (he's a storyboard artist for FHFIF). I did attend the masquerade. Great day. I'm going to sleep now.

[taranchula]

Originally Posted by Lynnie

I've heard a lot about the "Worst Cartoons Ever" over the last two years, and I've already added it as an interest should I make it down next year.

Well if you want to prepare for the suffering and torment that WCE provides, you can buy a DVD which contains some of the cartoons they show.

http://www.rembrandtfilms.com/worst-cartoons-ever.htm

Sure the DVD doesn't come close to the experience of seeing this tripe on the big screen with hundreds of rowdy fans, but it's a good introduction to some of the toons they show every year.