Pinterruption...Geek Style

My pinning and blog were on vacation while I got my geek on at New York Comic Con last weekend.  My inner geek absolutely fell in love with cons at Wizard World in Philadelphia last summer.  What better excuse to spend a weekend in New York City than some uber-nerdy goodness?

We started out on Friday, arriving around noon, just in time to get into the Felicia Day panel.  As fans of both Doctor Horrible and The Guild, this was a great way to start off the con! After the panel we headed to the main floor to check out the exhibits and vendors.  I must say I was super excited to happen upon the Doctor Who Store equipped with a dalek!  The crowd was thick but manageable at this point. 

Fan with WWII era Dalek

We headed back to check into our hotel and grab a bite to eat.  We decided to grab something close to our hotel so we ate at Cho Dang Gol.  We were pleasantly surprised by the spread of appetizers including kimchi and this amazing fish along with other things that were good but we were not quite sure what they were!  I had the Dol Sot Bibimbap and Steve had the Korean BBQ. Way to squeeze in some foodie goodness during our con weekend.

After scarfing down our food we headed back to the Javits to get in line for Mark Hamill's solo panel. We got in line at the appointed place and waited patiently.  Then the line started to move and comic con totally mismanaged the line letting people way behind us in front of us.  Luckily we got in to the panel by a hair.  It was interesting to learn he can't tell the difference between a dewback and bantha (for reals).

Our view from the very back of the room...

Our friend Barb (of When Nerds Attack blog fame) motivated us to get in line very early on Saturday.  Boy am I glad she did.  We queued up in the line to get into the main door a little past 7 am (three hours before the doors officially opened).  After waiting in line for an hour or so they let us into what I call the big scary line room.

In line in the big scary line room, not many people behind us (yet)

The line fills up...

The front of the line (I mean start of the stampede!)

We were not far (probably 150-200 people) from the front of the line.  We each grabbed a bag with some freebies and met two gentlemen from Boston who we bonded with over con goodness.  One was actually from our home town originally - small world!  The goal of all this standing in line was to get to the line for the IGN Theater (aka home of the best panels of the day).

As soon as the doors open we made the mad rush for the next line.  We were only 20 people or so from the front of this line.  One of the best things about cons is the general good will and solidarity of those in line, we quickly bonded with a group (including a girl in a kick ass River Song wig).  At a little past 11 am, we were finally in our chairs for the day. And no, standing in line so early does not get you seats in the front row.  The first nine rows of the theater were reserved for those who ponied up $400 for their passes.  Money does buy you access at Comic Con.

So began our countdown to the Avengers panel... First up was the Terra Nova panel, which was really good.  First they showed us the next episode of the show then they brought out the two main stars.

Terra Nova stars aka the bad guy from Avatar and that guy from the time travel cop show that got cancelled

Then they showed the next episode of Person of Interest, which was interesting but no in-person panel.  A Liar's Autobiography, a cartoon biography of Graham Chapman was up next.  They showed us portions of the movie and discussed making it.  I look forward to seeing the completed project.

Graham seemed a little flat...

Things started heating up with the Nikita panel.  I was sort of lost having never seen this show. I was happy to recognize the guy (Shane West) from Once and Again.

The Nikita panel, Maggie Q is like get me out of here...

The Ghost Rider - Spirit of Vengeance (aka Ghost Rider 2) panel showcased the the directors.  They are nuts, they showed footage of them on roller blades with a camera tied to a moving motor cycle. I learned that in a PG-13 movie you can violently burn up all the people you want.   They also showed a clip from the Total Recall remake at this panel.  Having a special spot for the original in my heart, I was weary of the remake.  I am now open to seeing the movie having seen their fresh take on the story and setting.  It was a pleasant combination of the familiar with futuristic elements, the whole look is very different from the original.

The crazy Ghost Rider  directors

Up next was the Walking Dead panel. I do not deal well with scary things, I was not looking forward to a panel all about Zombies. Not at all, tried to find comfort in the fact that zombies do not make scientific sense.  How can they be driven to eat human flesh and only have one part of their brain function?  How would peristalsis work, they would get all backed up.  They subjected me to an extremely scary clip that seemed to last FOREVER.  I am glad we do not have cable.

Zombie masses approaching the Walking Dead panel

Finally it was time for the Avengers panel, almost.  We watched some drama in the rows in front of us as people without the expensive passes tried to sit in the reserved seats.  Punches were almost thrown.   I am still curious how many people were standing line to get in and didn't get in.  The room was completely full, then some.

Avengers Assemble!!

Chris Evans (Captain America) wore a hat during the panel, which was in poor taste in my opinion.  Tom Hiddleston (Loki) totally was the star of the panel.   I wonder if the producers are thinking of a Loki movie based on the reaction to him (imagine mass swooning).  They started off showing us the preview released the week before, then they moved on to some special footage (sort of like a preview) with Bruce Banner.  I bet their market research shows they need to really sell Mark Ruffalo to the geek masses.  I still don't really see it, he has been to engrained into the chick flick loving part of my brain.

Lovely Loki

The funniest thing during all these panels is that the people on them walk out taking pictures with their cell phones.  I probably would do the same thing.  It has to be pretty cool walking into a room of 3,000 cheering fans.

Panelist taking pics of audience

Sunday we headed back to check out the north hall (where the autographing was taking place) and the main hall.  We thought since it was "family day" it would not be crowded.  The north hall wasn't crowded, we walked through the autographing area to get glimpses of some stars.  Personally I don't get the whole paying for someone to sign something.  Maybe I would pay for a one of the Doctors, but that is about it.  The shy part of me honestly wouldn't want to go through the whole process.  Anyhow, we headed to the main exhibition hall.  It was even more crowded than Friday!  After walking through the masses for a hour or so we gave up and headed home.