Hear ye, hear ye! Bring out your geeks! Bring out your geeks!
by Jayden Leggett and David “Aussie Dave” Lobato, Reporters
For those not in the loop (and let’s face it, unless you are a geek somewhere in the merry land of “Oz”/Aus or possess an uncanny mutant ability to pinpoint any expo or convention at any given moment, chances are that you aren’t in said loop), Supanova is a pop culture expo in Australia that has run once a year since 2002.
On April 13 through to 15 ComicsOnline.com’s Australian correspondents David “Aussie Dave” Lobato and Jayden “Insert Nickname Here” Leggett attended the Melbourne leg of this year’s festival (held at the Melbourne Showgrounds) to help celebrate its 10th anniversary, and to provide coverage of its events for those with a constant need to be exposed to everything geek pop culture. Thus our story begins with a brief summary (more in-depth coverage will be provided later) of the events that transpired at Supanova’s opening ceremony on this particular night on April popularly known as Friday the 13th… mwoo ha ha ha!!! <Attempted evil laughter.>
Kicking off the opening ceremony was a greeting by MC and stage manager for the expo, Chris Rattray, who welcomed participants to the show by introducing some of the guests who would be in attendance over the course of the weekend. The selection of pop culture celebrities who appeared on stage are as follows:
*Cristina Vee and Christine Cabanos (voice actors from “Squid Girl”, “K-On!” etc),
*Scott Kurtz & Kris Straub (web comic creators and stars of “Kris and Scott’s Scott and Kris Show”),
*Brandon Sanderson (author of “The Wheel of Time”, “Alcatraz”, “Warbreaker” etc),
*Brian Michael Bendis (writer of every issue of “Ultimate Spider-Man”, also writer for Ultimate Fantastic Four, Avengers, Powers etc)
*Tom Taylor (writer for “Star Wars: Invasion”, “The Authority”, “Rombies” etc)
*Richard Horvitz (voice actor for Invader Zim, Angry Beavers etc).
Opening ceremony out of the way, we were now free to experience some of the other events on offer. Animation aficionados were given the opportunity to view “The Avengers: Thor’s Last Stand” and “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos” on the big screen. There was a charity auction in which punters could part with obscene amounts of currency for specially signed collectibles (such as an oversized “The Walking Dead” poster or a “Soul Eater” DVD insert autographed by the cast of the show) with proceeds going to the Starlight Children’s Foundation.
However the most exciting events for the evening were the special comic “MasterClass” events which entailed intimate Q&A sessions with well-known creative minds, the first session featuring Scott Kurtz & Kris Straub and the second featuring a fantastic comprehensive session with Marvel’s Ultimate Universe creative powerhouse, Brian Michael Bendis, with all sorts of juicy tidbits and exclusive sneak previews being shown to the many hungry fans in attendance (detailed coverage will be provided by us very, very soon!)
So stay tuned to ComicsOnline.com for in-depth coverage of the Bendis MasterClass, more highlights from the rest of Melbourne’s Supanova weekend, and everything geek pop culture.
