The Diary of Wendy Lady

Comic-con International, San Diego, CA-- Looks like we made it! Wendy Lady here, reporting fresh from her visit to Comic-con International, 2005 in Sunny San Diego, CA. Whence I left Washington State, it was raining...in JULY!!! This was a nice change. The trip was a complete success other than what occurred on the Greyhound between Sacramento and San Diego. I hate Greyhound. I will never ride them again. But this time, it was worth it.

I started my visit on Wednesday, July 13th which was the preview night for the exhibit floor. So, what do I do first...of course, I go searching for the [adult swim] booth. I went to the Palisade Toys booth and picked up the exclusive Aqua Teen 4 pack and the Bizzaro Debbie and Quinn action figures. I asked where the [adult swim] booth was and they pointed me in the direction of the front wall area. I couldn't find it. I asked others that would be [as] related, they pointed me in that same direction. I walked along that wall and couldn't find it. What was wrong with me? How could I not see it? Was the [as] booth in a different time space continuum that only others could see and not me?

Well, after slowly and carefully walking along that wall like Helen Keller in a snake pit, I came upon the glory of the [as] booth! The reason I missed it was because they only had two laptops and a sign that said [adult swim] booth. They hadn't even set up the final display as of yet. Which looked like this:

And two wonderful gals scantily clad in liquid latex sporting a Doppelganger Debbie look that will be all the rage in this year's spring fashion.

So, as the Wednesday preview came to a close, I went to my hotel room and slowly drifted to slumber land awaiting the fun and excitement of the days to come.

Part II.

Thursday. I awake, shower and head off, armed with my Press Pass, to the the Thursday programming. First on my list? Wilmer Vladeramma best known as Fez from That 70s Show and promoting his new movie based on the comic book El Muerto:

The movie looked interesting, but not enough footage and a lot of post production still to do. I think that the whole point was just for Wilmer to show off himself in tight pants for all the ladies. Which I didn't mind looking at, but I still think of Fez's accent whenever I see him.

I continued to wander and happened upon Doug Haglund ("Ringo" The Lone Gunmen, X-files) and I chatted with him a bit, told him about our little site and snapped his pic. Don't recognize him? Slap on some thick black BC glasses and grow out his hair...does that help?

My next stop was Bruce Campbell (Like Ann Frank, best known as Ash and author of How to Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way). I was late for this panel, but while we were watching the preview for the new Evil Dead Video Game, I got to ask him if this was the same one my friend at Cranky Pants Games in Seattle, WA was working on. He said yes. That was the extent of our conversation, but it was cool none the less. While there I snapped this pic of a fan who went all out and sat in the front row to be able to see his idol. This kid fit the part really well.

Then I awaited the panel of all panels that day. The [adult swim] Panel about Pitching. Hosted by the talkety talker Nick Weidenfeld, this panel showed us, the lowly fan and idea kids, how we go about pitching an concept to the gods at [adult swim]. Basically the jest of it is, "Show up drunk". We got to see some previews for upcoming shows Morel Orel (from the studios that brought us Robot Chicken), Minoriteam and Lucy, Daughter of the Devil (from Home Movies creator, Loren Bouchard) . All seem pretty good and I, for one, can't wait to see them. In case you wanted to know what this panel looked like:

While at this panel, in the dark, I ran across voice actor, Billy West (Fry and Stimpy) whom I recognized from Comic Book: the Movie filmed at Comic-con several years back. He was a really nice guy and we sat watching the panel at the front on the platform, when all of a sudden, SwimBuddah himself, Chip, sat next to us. I introduced myself as he knew I was coming to Con. Then after the panel, he introduced me to the incomprable Chris, aka SwimTorrent. Chris told me about the crazy hotel they were staying at that was trying really hard to be a cheesy hotel with theme rooms. I asked if they had the heart shaped tub in their room...but they weren't that lucky. Here is what the dynamic duo look like, say hi to SwimBuddah and Swim Torrent, Super Cool Guys:

My day ended with me being all alone as my friends who worked in films at Comic-con were all working that night. While aimlessly wandering, I ran across Chi Ling Chiu who played the Tailor in Kung Fu Hustle. Got a cool pic from that encounter.

After that, I watched the directors cut special edition of Free Enterprise, complete with CG'd Logan's Run scene. Sweet. Then, off to slumber land to await another glorious day.

Part III

Friday, an even bigger day. This was the day that I would go down in history as "Wendy Lady, from iheartrobotchicken.com". But first, I took a break from my reporting duties and just sat back and relaxed during the big hubbub at Hall H. This was the ultimate place to be, even Press couldn't get in without waiting in line with the rest of the peasants. Natalie Portman showed up to promote V for Vendetta and we all got cool V masks that will go great with any ensemble. I stayed clear of the press area, but got a cool shot of these gals in their costumes. The Leia was taking shots with guys, choking them with her chain. A nerd boy's dream come true. Still wasn't sure if she was sporting underwear, but I saw some definite crack when she spun around at one point.

The previews at that panel included a first look at Tim Burton's Corpse Bride including a whole clip of the movie with a song and dance sequence. I was in awe the whole time. Comic-con also got the VERY first look at Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which the director described as "things at Hogwarts were getting even more intense for Harry"....no shit! They always are!

Being as hungry and starving as I was, I apologize to Seth right here, but I had to go eat lunch and miss out on the Top Cow panel with Seth Green for his new comic coming out, Freshmen. To make it all better, I had a scrumptious Gyro from that Mediterranean place in Horton Plaza. I have had to eat one there every time I come to San Diego. They are so good! I am craving one right now.

I arrived back at Con and caught the tail end of Ray Harryhausen's panel. Mr Harryhausen is, of course, the pioneer in stop motion animation and is famous for King Kong and Jason and the Argonauts. One young girl proclaimed that she still gets scared from the skeletons. How sweet. I was lucky enough to snap his picture and shake his hand. I hope he can hang on for Peter Jackson's King Kong which looks stunning from the preview, he is getting up there in age and was in a wheelchair:

I was waiting for The Boondocks panel when I recognized another face in the WB Animation Panel, Tom Kenny! Tom you may know has been doing voices for many years but is most recognizable as Spongebob Squarepants. His wife, Jill Talley is also a voice actress and would be in The Boondocks panel right after I snapped this pic. He complimented my tattoos, let me take his picture and then told me to say hello to his wife for him.

I wandered over to The Boondocks panel and sure enough Jill was there. I didn't get a good pic of her, but I got a good one of Cedric Yarbrough (Reno 911!) and show and comic strip creator Aaron McGruder. We saw a sneak peak and learned that the show is done in Anime style to "look pretty". Well, it does indeed look pretty and the funny from the funnies is still there. It looks impressive and it is sure to keep the censors on their toes. To think, FOX turned this one down.

The moment was getting closer...

The anticipation was painful...

The [adult swim] panel with the creators of Robot Chicken, Tom Goes to the Mayor and Aqua Teen Hunger Force was about to begin. My Robot Chicken loving Heart was beating fast as I left The Boondocks panel and walked into the large room awaiting the crowd of fanboys that would pound the panel with a tough Q & A session. Thump Thump, Thump Thump. Would I get a chance to talk to Seth and Matt? Thump Thump, Thump Thump. I calmed myself. This was silly. There was no reason me, THE Wendy Lady, should be nervous. Wendy Lady is a power house of confidence and better yet, A PRESS PASS!

There they were, Seth and Matt. Seth was taking pictures of Tim & Eric who came dressed as Captain Blue and Fancy Future Wizard. Then he took a nice pic of the crowd of people pouring in to see the panel. I smoothly walked up and just talked to Seth. "Hi Seth, Wendy Lady from iheartrobotchicken.com. How are you?" He began complimenting me on the website and all the hard work that I put into it, thanking little ole me for what I was doing for them. I think I must have had a nerdgasm right there. It felt good to be a part of their cause. Then he called over Matt and he knew who I was and also shook my hand. I asked if I could get a picture before they went on and I must have had perfect timing because the publicist or whomever she was said, "Okay, last one before we have to go." These guys are the nicest guys to their fans. Thanks Matt and Seth!!!

The panel started and it was clear that while there were a lot of fans of Aqua Teen and TGTTM, but Robot Chicken seemed to have stolen the room! Some jerkoff yelled out, "Tom Sucks" and our buddy Seth screamed back, "YOU suck!" Yay! I am so glad someone stood up for T & E! Those guys are nice guys. But Tim responded back. "You know you're someone when somebody wants you dead. Classic response. It was like the Friars Club Roast of T & E in that moment. Props to my main men, Tim & Eric.

Tim and Eric put on a little sketch for us when they were asked who they were dressed as, someone in the audience stood up also dressed as Captain Blue and they began to yell back and forth to each other the Captain Blue chant. Complete with a 38 "ho" sound off.

There were many questions for Robot Chicken. Including if there would be a DVD. Seth let us know that they were working on that right now. I believe he said it would be release in February or March. The panel ended and Seth and Matt were being whisked away by press and publicists. I figured I needed to go as it was insane. So, I just asked them to pass along to Mike Fasolo to just come find me. Mike, being the awesome writer whom has been an inspiration to the website and an all around cool guy.

So, to get away, I headed towards the restroom. Sheesh! All of a sudden, the hoard of people with Seth are walking right in front of me blocking the potty! I really had to go! Then after my adventures in porcelain land, I left the building...and I PASS SETH AGAIN! Geeze dude, I look all over for you, hear reports the two days before of you buying cool Batman plastic guns and from my friends who are like, "Oh yeah, we saw him wandering around...he is shorter than I expected." Now I see him everywhere I turn. Of course, too busy to talk....water water everywhere but not a drop to drink.

Part IV

Saturday. Should I even leave Hall H? I went that morning and snapped a picture of Superman Returns director, Bryan Singer. He was the only star in Hall H to jump off the stage to talk to press and for pictures. He had a lot of energy and was really excited to talk to the crowd. At one point, you could see his nervousness show through when he was talking of the three identities of Superman. Clark Kent on the farm and Daily Planet, Superman the hero, and Jor-El......I believe all us comic geeks thought the same thing and blurted it all out at the same time, "Kal-El!!!"

The preview was impressive including narration by the late Marlon Brando (originally played Jor-El, in Richard Donner's Superman) which some of was never before heard voice over. Cool on so many levels.

I stepped out of Hall H for a while so I could actually see what was going on at the Exhibit hall. I had barely been able to see what was going on there with such a busy schedule. I walked around a bit and stopped by the [as] booth to get a picture of Jackson Publick, creator of Venture Brothers and he drew a picture of Dr Girlfriend and signed it for my friend Blythe.

After I waited in line for about an hour to do some fishing, the wait earned me two tee-shirts. For all those who complained about the [as] fishing booth...that just showed that it was worth the wait.

I want to commend [adult swim] right here for the awesome booth. [as] has extremely good team spirit and they handled Comic-con with grace. I hope they come back next year. Mad Props, Yo!

While I was standing at the [as] booth, I yelled out, "Who loves Robot Chicken?" Two guys raised their hands enthusiastically and I asked if they could show the love. After asking for a permanent marker, they let me photograph the love. These two fine gentlemen, Mike and Casey, "heart" Robot Chicken.

Missing the Aeon Flux with Charlize Theron and Kevin Smith panels was sad, but these guys made it so worth it.

Continuing back to work, I stopped at the Family Guy DVD panel and got a sneak peak at the straight to DVD movie, Stewie Griffin, The Untold Story. We got cool tee-shirt SWAG, but unfortunately my destiny, Seth MacFarlane was not in attendance of Comic-Con. *sigh* I tell ya...this love child thing is never gonna happen if he doesn't show up where I am at. That is twice this year that he eludes me.

Now back to Hall H. I plant myself by the stage at this point. Nabbed some cool pics of the cast of Serenity. There was an awesome clip of River kickin ass! My jaw dropped. I can't wait to see the movie. Joss Whedon has replaced George Lucas as god.

Okay, then blah blah blah...The Fog looks like it might be cool. Too much of a teaser to really do the original John Carpenter movie justice. Why are they remaking this? Underworld: Evolution clip had porn in it and they showed it twice. I know there were many children in the audience. That's all I have to say about that. Ghost Rider, Eva Mendez showed up for this with many fans asking fru fru questions. I do like the one guy who came up to ask director, Mark Steven Johnson, why Daredevil sucked so bad...

word.

My question is, "Why, after Nicolas Cage getting flack for being chosen to play Superman, do they even cast him for comic book roles anymore?" I don't know...too early to tell on this one. They didn't even show up with a CG'd Ghost Rider skull. Not to make this part of my day sound shitty, but I just wanted to get to the King Kong panel. But Noooooo!

A special preview of Stealth and surprise guests Jamie Foxx, Jessica Biel and Josh Lucas. Okay, so I snapped a pic since I was there.

I'd like to take a moment to point out something about Comic-con. 6 years ago when I last went, the exhibit hall was half the size it is now. The biggest panel room is now the 3rd biggest room, and stars are lining up the yinyang to show up at Comic-con. WHAT THE FUCK!? Back then, we were lucky to even have one huge "A" list actor show up...now the list is huge! And it is my understanding that the person who introduced me to Comic-con many years back was there near the beginning and it was held in a dinky hotel with conference rooms barely big enough to hold all the comic dorks and their D & D games. Is being a geek the new black?

I don't really have a complaint. It's kinda cool. But insane at the same time. Let's just thank god that Lindsay Lohan wasn't starring in any Sci-Fi movies this year. Though I suppose that might give the nerd a higher chance at getting some poon.

Okay...back to the greatest part of the night. An amazing preview of King Kong directed by Peter Jackson. Amazing clip. The movie looks so good and it was just a preview. But to make it better...they showed an entire unfinished sequence of Kong fighting T-rexes. Even with the animatic bits, it looks flippin amazing! Some cool humor and some references to the original fight sequence animated by Ray Harryhausen. But the shocker of the night...how much weight Peter Jackson had lost. Was it CG?

So, by surprise, Jack Black, Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody show up on the stage to a loud roaring crowd. Most of the questions were for Jack Black. One kid who asked if Kyle was going to be making a cameo in King Kong. Unfortunately no. Then for some reason, two questions later, another kid asked the same thing. They must really want to see KG in that movie. I think maybe most of the questions were for Jack because it was almost time for Tenacious D to play their 30 minute set. That, and the target audience could care less for pretty boy Adrien Brody and the lovely Naomi Watts. I think the best question was the guy who asked if Jack would make up a song about King Kong on the spot. Adrien Brody then began to do some jungle drumming and Jack broke into an awesome original King Kong homage that brought a tear to my eye. Three cheers.

The moment you all were waiting for. The cream dream. This next group asked me to read this: "Ladies, if you are ovulating stand clear of the stage, these guys are potent rock gods."

Tenacious D

Kevin Smith came out to introduce the duo. Of course he tripped and I caught it on camera:

Mr Smith declared that the next two were on his list of Top 9 cocks to suck. There would be 10 but he already polished one off. Then when JB and KG came out. Kyle dropped his pants revealing his large ballsack. I was standing right there but missed the picture by milliseconds. It was quite a moment. The guy next to me got the shot...hope he will find me and email it to me. It was too funny.

We got this announcement over the PA that there would be no flash photography and no video recording of the performance. JB said, "Fuck that, you can record what ever you like."

We got a nice little preview of the boys new movie, Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny with a few songs including one called The Government Sucks. When Jack found out that it cost $35 to get into Comic-con and a lot of people came just to see the D, he straightened out the schedule a bit and they played a full hour set with classics like Wonderboy, Fuck er Gently, Lee, Tribute, and a montage of The Who's Pinball Wizard and Flash (ahhhh) by Queen. I swear I heard some David Bowie in there somewhere...maybe it was just me. The song at the end of Life Aquatic with Seu Jorge on stage singing in Portugese. Hmm. Was that Ziggy Stardust?

Anyhoo. The D rawked hard tasty abs washerboard style...glistening in the sun. Long Live the D! And long live the Sax-o-boom!

Part V

Sunday...I just walked around looking for something cool to buy. I got an awesome print by an artist who rocked my world. Mike Sosnowski. If you don't know who this guy is, you should. He worked as an animator on Ralph Bakshi's 1978 Lord of the Rings. I bought a print called To Live Forever Watching Cartoons. He had so many prints and/or paintings that I would love to own, but this one said it all for me. Check out his stuff. Impending Doom is also really funny. Of course the internet does no justice to the original oil paintings that this guy had on display. B-E-A-utiful.

Yes, Sunday was just me walking around looking at toys. I met some cool people, such as Dwaine, who's booth (Collector's Cafe) had a large collection of Lunch Boxes. Man oh man would I love to own that Welcome Back, Kotter Lunch Box. Drool. Dwaine told me that Seth Green has torn apart some of the figures that he bought from him making customs...probably some of which we have seen on Robot Chicken. Awesome.

I bought a Hitchhiker's Marvin action figure for my son who loves the new version played by Alan Rickman. Using my sweet skillz to talk him down to $12 from $15. That's a great deal! They are going for well over that elsewhere. It's been a long time since I have wheeled and dealed on the dealer floor. I used to own a toy and collectible shop with my ex. I miss it. We started with the stuff out of my mom's basement, basically. Thing is, she still has tons more material to work with. I should do my own booth at toy shows around here and then work up to the big time, Comic-con. That would be super sweet. Those were the days.

As Comic-con International 2005 came to a close, I went to catch the Greyhound home. A bag full of goodies and freebies from the various booths stuffed into my backpack and Narnia give-away bag. It was sad. I would have stayed for a whole week if I could have. *sigh* I got on that Greyhound and sombered towards Seattle. Though at one point, FUCK! I lost my wallet somewhere. FUCKITY FUCK FUCK! I thought back and the only place I could have thought to have lost it was the bus station where I bought my ticket earlier that day. I called them but they said they hadn't seen it. SHIT! But was all this trouble worth it? You bet your fuckin ass it was!

San Diego Comic-con International is the best place in the world to be for a comic geek gal like me.

Much Robotic Chicken Love,
=wendy lady=