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The Further Adventures of Rafael Pujals and Tim Ritenour

EP. II: 2003 San Diego Comic-Con

Friday

Tim: This was our first day at Comic-Con, the largest science fiction convention held in the United States. And to be frank it's a bit overwhelming at first. There are so many guest speakers, events, panels, and exhibitions that it's too much for one person alone to take in. Luckily, TNMC sent more than one reporter to the event to get all the scoops and interviews we could get our grubby little hands on.

Raf: Going into this year's comic-con, I was definitely looking forward to one thing in particular - the Farscape panel. Okay, not a big shock coming from me, but just days before the event the internet was abuzz with rumors that a four-part miniseries would be announced over the weekend. So was it? Read on for that story, and much more...

Tim: The first panel I attended on Friday was one about the resurgence of comic book movies in mainstream cinema. Unfortunately, any guests who actually had a hand in having an effect in this resurgence were conspicuously absent. So instead, it was Stan Lee, a bitter screenwriter, the guy who wrote the Specials, and Chase Masterson talking about it. Of course Stan did little more then sit and drool at Chase's chest (which in his defense was nice) while everybody else rambled on upon minutia that was relevant to nobody. This panel was a big fat egg, and nearly put me to sleep. Luckily things would be stepping up shortly.

Raf: First thing, Friday morning - Transformers. Already a good start to the weekend. Four writers from the original Transformers cartoon came to share their insights and anecdotes, as well as answer such relevant, pressing audience questions as, "Why does Bumblebee suck so much?" (There was no answer). Featuring Flint Dille, Marv Wolfman, Buzz Dixon, and Earl Kress, the foursome fielded questions for about an hour. It was interesting to listen to a group of writers who had such an unusual job. Writing for a weekly show is hard enough, but when you factor in that Hasbro was breathing down their necks to feature certain characters in each episode, it got even hairier. Often, all they'd be given was a set a characters and told to write a story around them. They expressed disappointment over not being able to give some characters more air time, Shockwave in particular. And of course, it wouldn't have been a Transformers forum had they not talked about the infamous death and subsequent rebirth of Optimus Prime. Stunned by the fan outcry, not only did the producers order the writers to get Optimus back up and running, but they had to change Duke's death in the G.I. Joe movie to just a coma. An episode that had previously been in the pipeline was ultimately dropped as well, as it revolved around a "zombie" Optimus attacking fellow Autobots before getting destroyed, again. All in all, they were a great bunch with a lot of insight. The audience got a special surprise, too, when the voice behind Grimlock stood up in the crowd and rattled off a few lines.

Tim: The second panel I saw had Rob Zombie and the cast of House of 1,000 Corpses out to talk about one of this year's most shocking horror flicks. To begin with, there is going to be a sequel. In addition, action figures based on the movie characters are in discussions as well. The majority of the panel was spent on a riff contest between Rob Zombie and Chris Hardwick over his days as the host on MTV's Singled Out. But a few interesting nuggets were overturned along the way.

Rob's mentality in making this movie was to focus on the dark monsters and killers, believing them to be the characters the audience are really interested in anyway. Hence the ending of the first movie. There will be new villains added to the sequel as well, and more of the true origin of Dr. Satan and his minions will be doled out. Also look for a prequel comic to hit stores near Halloween.

Raf: Immediately following the Transformers panel was my personal highlight of the weekend - the Farscape panel. Featuring Ben Browder, Ricky Manning, Virginia Hey, Lani Tupu, Wayne Pygram, Jonathan Hardy, David Franklin, and Francesca Buller, it was a fantastic experience. First of all, as far as I could tell, this was really the first totally packed room of the day. The fans definitely turned out en force, and gave the cast a long, long standing ovation during their entrance. I've also been to enough of these things by now that I can honestly say, these Farscape folks just really have it down. Many times, panels like these are a tad... boring. But I suppose these guys have had enough practice by now. More than that, I just think they really love it. Of course, the big question on everyone's mind was "Is Farscape coming back?" Well, the verdict is... inconclusive. Browder simply said that Kemper told him to not talk about it, which ultimately, can only be a good thing. One would think (or at least I would optimistically think) that this means sensitive negotiations are underway. But in any case, for the next hour and half, they fielded questions from scores of fans, while Jonathan Hardy sat there and cracked jokes in an eerily Rygel-esque manner. For those wondering what Ben is up to next, well here's the answer - on Saturday he flew to Europe to begin work on a project for the History Channel. Other than the fact it centers on historical wars and battles, he didn't go too much into it, but it sounds good. Claudia Black was not present, unfortunately, but recalling a moment from the Farscape convention, he tried to reach her on his cell phone right then and there. (At the Farscape con, she got him on the line in front of all the fans) He only got her machine, but the audience left one heck of a loud greeting. There were definitely some curious comments made during the discussion. Most intriguing perhaps were the subtle comments Wayne Pygram continually made implying he was generally unhappy with the direction Scorpius' character took during season four. "He lost something of himself", he said, perhaps displeased with the alliance John and Scorpius forged. Even when talking about the show at large, he said the show "never recovered from the loss of Zhaan." That was almost two seasons ago! Not surprisingly, Ricky Manning seemed less than enthused during those few moments. If the show continues on, however, Virginia Hey said she'd love to keep coming back every now and again if they'll let her. Even Lani Tupu joked "It's not over!" in regards to his character's death in season three. He was probably joking, but you never can tell. Francesca Buller was definitely saddened that the show got cancelled just as soon as she finally got a recurring role. But overall, the cast seemed very optimistic that the show would indeed return. But realizing the distinct possibility that it may not, seeing them together on stage was a treat, since these occasions may become fewer and further between. They are simply a great bunch of people, and I wish them the best.

Tim: So while my partner was off having a fanboy moment with the cast of Farscape, I decided to vent my own inner fanboy and check out the panel on adapting comics to film. The reason this was a fanboy moment was that two of the people present were David Hayter (X-Men, X2) and Michael Dougherty (X2). James Robinson (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) rounded out these two, although James seemed particularly glum and uncomfortable up there. Of course that's because he was keenly aware of the critical feedback based on his first screenplay for the League. As he talked though, it was easy to see that studio might have forced a lot of changes upon the writer that he was not very receptive to. In fact, the original screenplay was supposed to take place in New York as the League battles against a terrorist group trying to unleash a new chemical weapon. Of course 9/11 happened then, forcing a complete rewrite of the script.

The X-writers were jovial and cracking jokes, always mentioning that the filter for their writing came through director Bryan Singer. Dougherty also explained that Cyclops was initially supposed to have a much larger role in X2, but that plot line revolved around Angel. So when Warren got cut from the film, it left much of the Cyclops story line on the cutting room floor as well. Scott Summers is all but guaranteed a larger role in the next film though.

The audience was in for a special treat though, when director Bryan Singer (X-Men, X2, Apt Pupil, The Usual Suspects) joined his two friends on stage. He mentioned that the input of the writers is invaluable, and that the reason his own work stood up so well was because of the way everybody's ideas melded together. While he didn't confirm X-Men 3, Singer certainly seemed comfortable with the idea. After that they rolled a blooper reel from the set of X2 that had everybody rolling in their seats. Then it was off to lunch.

Raf: My third and final panel for the day was the first look at Starship Troopers 2. Now I'm a big fan of the original for many reasons (it's at once a great popcorn flick, and a great political satire) but going in I had big reservations about this movie. It features none of the original characters, but strangely enough, one of the original cast. That's right, Brenda Strong - the actress who portrayed Denise Richards' captain who didn't quite make it, will be playing a brand new character in this one - a member of a commando unit. I'm not sure what to make of that really, but in any case, on to the plot. Set on a remote planet, this story is much less epic in scope. Centered on a small platoon of soldiers, it follows their narrow escape from an army of warrior bugs into a bunker that's supposed to a safe haven. Things get a little weird though, as we were shown some stills that make it seem like infantry soldiers get possessed and start turning on one another. They hinted at some kind of mind-control bug, but it wasn't really clear. So basically, this is a totally new take on things, as we're gonna get an action/horror story this time out instead of simply an epic action story. It could work quite well, or it could bomb. Only time will tell. Contrary to prior reports, however, the producers said that it had not yet been determined whether or not it was going theatrical or straight to video.

Tim: Before I headed to the next panel, I took a look around the convention floor. Sweet Jesus, it was geek heaven. Toys, comics, video games, and people in far too elaborate costumes stretched as far as they eye could see. I didn't have much time to explore it all, but the new LOTR game based on Return of the King was awesome to play. If you enjoyed the Two Towers, then expect to love Return of the King. The booth itself was immense, encompassing all things Middle Earth, and then off in a dark corner lay Camp Crystal Lake. Of course by the time I fully explored the recesses of this display, I was already late for the next panel and had to dash off.

Tim: Next up was panel focusing on the upcoming Henson film Mirror Mask. Based on the traditions of Labyrinth and Dark Crystal, this is a dark fantasy film aimed at children and adults. Written by Neil Gaiman (Sandman, American Gods) and directed by his frequent artistic collaborator Dave Mckean, the story involves a woman trapped in a dream fantasy world who slowly realizes that it is no dream. From what I could gain about the plot, it actually seems to resemble the fifth volume of his Sandman series in some ways. Which isn't a bad thing mind you. The principle photography on this film is wrapped, but now McKean is going back and doing all the CGI work to populate the world and creatures of this fantasy realm. The images so far revealed are lush and exotic, and this film seems to hold a great deal of potential.

Tim: My next panel was a spotlight on comic writer Grant Morrison, who is one trippy bastard when you get right down to it. Besides extrapolating on theories of science and magic I won't bore you with, he also stated that Disney has optioned his latest screenplay Halloween Town. Which by the way is a frightening thought in and of itself, I mean Grant Morrison and Disney working hand in hand?

Tim: I finished up with a panel about a new independent film created by Mark Hamill called Comic Book, the Movie. Actually filmed at Comicon last year, the movie co-stars Donna De'Errico and a bunch of people you've never seen but always heard. It might honestly be the most impressive voice cast gathered in a while, with the voice talent from the Animaniacs on down to Winnie the Pooh involved in the project. The plot revolves around a small town mid American man, who happens to be the leading expert on an old golden age superhero by the name of Captain Courage! Of course now that super hero films are en vogue, a studio has bought the rights to CC to make a film about him. But they decide to reinvent the character into a gun toting dark vigilante. Hamill's character, Donald Swan gets hired on as a technical consultant. Slowly he works to undermine the film makers and keep Captain Courage true to his roots. The film looks interesting and has just picked up distribution, most likely bowing in November at some point.

Tim: This by the way was a lot of crap to take in all in one day. Leaving me too tired to even go out and drink, which is just sad. And I didn't even realize that Friday was little more then a warm up for Saturday.

Raf: All in all, Friday was a great leisurely way to start things. I attended three great panels, and mingled with several important folks down on the exhibition floor, including Dreamwave's Pat Lee. It was a madhouse, but nothing compared to what was ahead for Saturday.

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