by Mab, Mary Anne Butler, Reporter/Photographer

I will totally admit my opinion of SDCC has changed over the last two years.  Especially this year.  I don’t know how many of you noticed, but this was the first time in what, six years, there were ZERO big Twilight related panels.  I firmly believe this is why I managed to make it into a panel on Thursday in the *Loki voice* Midgard Arena known as “Hall H”.

Now let me preface this by saying most of the time Bill and I travel to cons, something goes wrong on the way to the airport.  Or once we’re there.  And it usually sets the tone for the rest of the travel day making us cranky.  I think this was least stressful travel we’ve encountered yet; processed quickly to our gate, no irritating passengers, walking straight from baggage claim to a taxi and to our hotel within an hour of landing on the San Diego side.  CRAZYNESS!   We tossed our stuff in the room, loaded up on camera gear, and made our way onto the dealer hall for Preview night.

Riddle me this, readers.  When did “professionals only” preview night turn into a public thing?  Because I swear it was MORE crowded Wednesday night with non-camera carrying sticky-pass WEDNESDAY NIGHT ONLY wearing people being rude and elbow-y.  I don’t get it.  HEY YOU GUY TRYING TO BUY A CRAPTON OF EXCLUSIVES!!  I’m only here to take pictures of you punching that guy trying to cut in front of you, so stop being a douche towards me because I’m not buying ANYTHING.  We FINALLY got to meet fellow CO’ers Dune and Connie, while keeping our dear Editor-in-Chief Kevin company while he stood in line at the Lego booth.  But, hunger finally got the best of us and we headed off in search of noms within the Gaslamp District.

We ended up at the SyFy’s Defiance themed cafe, which was really pricey for the fare, but I’m a fan of the show and we never made it into the restaurant last year.  They did an AMAZING job of skinning the existing business and redoing it Castithan style right down to the silverware.  My favorite thing on the menu was their $8 never-ending bowl of cereal.  Our dinning companions were the Birds of Play, the owner/proprietress of Castle Corsetry, her wonderful husband, all around good guy and our con roommate Douggary.   My biggest complaint about eating there was the lack of music from the game and show over the Muzak.  After we had eaten our fill of really good french-fries (I think this should be a new con food measuring scale, 3 out of 5 salted fries) we did the obligatory trip to the local Ralph’s for caffeine and snack supplies and headed back to the Marriott south tower to try and sleep to prepare.

CUT TO THURSDAY MORNING!

It’s always annoying when the first panel of the day that holds your interest is scheduled at the same time with another one you really want to go to.  This time, it was at 10:30am and the choice between 35th Anniversary Celebration of Battlestar Galactica in 6BCF and The Anatomy of Superhero Film Music in 6A.  For those that made it into the Superhero Music panel, we were treated to such things as the theme from the upcoming Marvel One Shot Agent Carter scored by Christopher Lennertz about Captain America’s girlfriend Peggy.  Also, you know, that one theme that’s like from the new ABC show MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. as scored by that “McCreedy” guy (I’ll explain later).   And apparently next door in the BSG panel, Daddy Adama (Edward James Olmos) showed up and impersonated Kevin Murphy at the table.  Discussion points included:  talking about the progression from the original series to the most recent adaptation, Blood & Chrome and EJO praising Richard Hatch for keeping the dream alive during gaps in the shows.  Check out our Facebook page for pictures.

Somehow, the less-fiction SciFi film Europa Report had a panel in Hall H.  Hence the one and only time I made it into the 6,500 seat room.  The film it’s self is fantastic, Bill and I having opted for the early viewing option from Amazon.  BUT I’M STILL PLANNING ON SEEING IT IN THE THEATER, and so should you.   The rest of Thursday panelwise…….well?  There were several other panels I wanted to make it in to, but Ballroom 20 is the NEW Hall H, and it was next to impossible.  I dunno whose bright idea it was to schedule things like BBC’s Sherlock and the 20th Anniversary of X Files panel back to back, but they did.  Also, putting the EW “Brand New Warriors” panel with Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Kit Harington (Jon Snow from Game of Thrones),  Steven Yeun (Glenn from The Walking Dead), Tyler Posey (Scott from Teen Wolf), and David Giuntoli (Nick from Grimm) later in the day in Ballroom 20 didn’t help either.  >.<

BUT!  I was lucky enough to make it into the STARZ network screening of the pilot of their upcoming show Black Sails at the Reading Cinemas Gaslamp 15 that evening.  There were pirates roaming the crowd gathered on the sidewalk waiting for the house to open (also, one side of the theater was closed off for a red carpet event featuring Sylvester Stallone and former CA Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger with their upcoming film Escape Plan, which made things interesting), piratical bandannas and buttons being handed out as….sorry I can’t help myself….BOOTY.  The one downside of the event was CARMI ZLOTNIK who is the managing director of Starz programming introducing the series composer as Bear McCreedy (C’mon now, Bear MCCREARY.  It’s not like he’s not ALREADY doing a show for Starz *cough DaVinci’s Demons cough* and getting an Emmy nomination for it or anything).   For those lucky enough to make it into the showing of Black Sails, a four song concert featuring “McCreedy” and a fantastic live band made up of studio musicians and the amazing Raya Yarbrough.   (Fun instruments featured were a hurdy gurdy *which requests for “Hurdy Gurdy Man were shot down* and an accordion)  I found my friend Elvia too!  And also the stars of the show were sitting directly behind us, and a row above them was EJO.  My review of the show?  I don’t wanna wait for January for it to air.

I walked my happy butt back to the Marriott and met Bill and Kevin in the bar.  AND THEN GRANT IMAHARA AND HIS BEAUTIFUL GIRLFRIEND JENNY SHOWED UP TO SAY HI!!!  And I was happy, and apparently a demon in a stripped shirt.

FRIDAY!!!!

You know those days when you plan for things to go a certain way and they don’t?  Well?  Friday was the start of that.  I was asked to be in a rule 63 Firefly cosplay group, and I planned out my costume and everything, had all the intentions in the WORLD of meeting up with the group for pictures, and tried several times to, but it NEVER WORKED OUT, which lead to lots of cursing on my part (ask Bill, he’ll roll his eyes and tell you ALL about it) and running around to try and make meetings.  BUT THE LADIES LOOKED AMAZING AND THEY DID SUCH A GOOD JOB OF PUTTING TOGETHER THEIR OUTFITS!!!!  (featured in the picture are the characters Mr. Universe, Wash, Simon, Mal, Jayne, and Book.  My thanks to @BoobaFett83 for inviting me to the group!)

I did however make it into two panels I had on my list, the Spotlight with Chris Carter (which was actually going on at the same time as the S.H.I.E.L.D panel, but there was NO WAY I was gonna make it into THAT one) where Gillian Anderson showed up and talked about sex. I should just stop there, because really, that sort of wins the con for me.  The blazer I was wearing for my costume?  I bought it when I was 1o because I wanted to be Agent Scully for Halloween.  And getting to hear Chris Carter actually say without mixing words that Joe Harris’s “X Files season 10” comic books (from IDW) are cannon.  AND THAT THE LOAN GUNMEN AREN’T DEAD.  The other panel was the 35 years of Pointed Ears:  Elfquest, because we love our Elfmom and Elfdad.  There is sadly nothing new from our seeing them at WonderCon to report on, but keep an eye on their fb page for updates in the future.  I also got to hang out in the pressroom with Brian Reitzell (composer of NBC’s Hannibal) and Dino Meneghin (composer of MTV’s Teen Wolf) and talk to them a little bit about their backgrounds and what they’re working on currently (video interviews to come later!).

Directly after that, I managed to find time to take a shower and catch a quick cat nap before heading into History Channel’s Vikings pressroom.  There should be a rule against casts as a whole not being allowed to be as attractive as this one.  I SWEAR TO ODIN there was so much pretty in that room, I didn’t know what to do with myself except giggle at well-timed possible sexual innuendo jokes (if you listen to our podcasts you’ll understand) and get myself put in a headlock by Ragnar Lothbrook (Travis Fimmel).

And yes, his eyes really are THAT blue.  While I was walking back to the Marriott from the Hilton, I get the text that Bill, dear dear Bill, is covering the Playboy Kickass 2 red carpet.  Now picture me, standing there on the mostly empty sidewalk on the back end of the convention center saying SERIOUSLY over and over again for about three minutes.  By myself.  The end of the night found me in the bar with Bill and writer Steven Melching who were talking about the board game Cosmic Encounter.  And ice cream.  FANTASTIC containers of burnt caramel ice cream.  Cue strange dreams about The Clone Wars and Transformers crossover.

SATURDAY!

Bill covered The World’s End pressroom, breakfast with Simon Pegg and such.

I, on the other hand, got to sleep in for a bit.   Put my hair up in pigtails and ribbons, did my makeup twice, wrestled back and forth with my Harley Quinn suit and finally, eventually, made my way out into the con.  While walking through the Hilton lobby, I got high fived by both Karl Urban and Bill Paxton, got a wink and a finger gun from Patrick Warburton, and got to tell David S. Goyer how much I love his sleeves (seriously, go look up that man’s arm tattoos, they’re GORGEOUS, and someday I’d like to shoot them).  The Emmy Nominations had also been announced that morning, so there was lots of buzz going around, especially at the interview I did at the Solamar.  There were also several LARGE photoshoots planned for the day, the biggest being the DC/Harleypalooza gathering which Bill got some awesome pictures of and was featured in the Entertainment Weekly SDCC issue.

Somehow we managed to get into the HIGHLY under attended pressroom for Fox’s upcoming Cosmos.  By under attended I mean there were MAYBE four or five outlets in the room IF that.  It was one of the moments during SDCC I was reminded of the fact the con was for “popular culture”, because the room next to ours had a full packed contingent of press reps for Grimm.  It pissed me off.  BUT I got one on one time with Neil DeGrasse Tyson.    He hugged me.  He hugged me A LOT, and said I was visibly glowing like a fallen star.  I about died then and there.  Brannon Braga and Ann Druyan (Carl Sagan’s WIFE you guys!) were also in the room, and gave us their commentary about the revamping of this classic and inspirational series.  (videos coming later, I promise!!)  I also have a signed hat handed to me by Ann after thanking me for caring to be there.

I also saw Glenn Hetrick.

Bill went off to cover the Masquerade (which he’ll write up a highlight of for you guys), which left me to explore the Gaslamp again, this time with my friend Lee.  We hit Defiance cafe for fries and milkshakes, and ENCOUNTERED A CYLON!!  (We’re both HUGE BSG fans)

We saw a REALLY drunk girl in a tutu convince one of the officers directing traffic to let her blow the whistle a few times, which for whatever reason got applause from the other spectators, we heard Bohemian Rhapsody being blasted by a busker, several nerdy song selections on bagpipes at the local pub, and saw Adrienne Curry as Mileena enjoying a pint.  Upon returning to the Marriott bar to make a quick survey of the folks there (one of which was a strangely unguarded Stan Lee walking through the restaurant portion) we encountered another one of our friends, writer-director-producer Robert Meyer Burnett enjoying a burger.  He invited us to share his table and hear about his con thus far, which then rolled into walking to the Sheridan, and then returning to the Marriott until Bill returned from the Masque to join us for dinner and a drink, which is ideally the best way to end a day when in San Diego.

SUNDAY

Our final day started out normal enough, packing everything we wouldn’t need, dropping off our luggage at the check area the hotel had, and working our way back into the throngs of people.  We ran into several friends on the dealer floor, checking out the Profiles in History booth with some truly epic items going up for bid at their next big auction, the Anovos booth with their FRAKKING AWESOME officially licensed gear.  I then decided to go seek out the friends I had missed meeting up with the previous days, and set off on my own through the convention center and outside to the sidewalk, where I was pretty much mugged by a guy the police had been chasing for snatching several purses and bags earlier in the day.  I was dressed in my Rogue costume that has a white belt pouch where I was keeping my phone and my name badge.  I’m really lucky my badge was also wrapped around my belt it’s self, because when the guy grabbed for it, he only managed to tear the pouch and fling my phone about 20 feet, costing him time, and my cursing and yelling bringing the uniformed officers down on him like the Empire on Hoth.  Much to my dismay, my phone ended up deciding to shut down for a while.

BUT!  It being SDCC, I was able to find friends to send word to Bill that yeah, I was fine, and would indeed make it to my next scheduled thing, which was an interview with writer Jane Espenson (one of my personal heroes) and star of Husbands, Brad Bell which there is a video we’ll be getting up soon.

I was pretty shaken when I got to the Marriott, and this wonderfully nice lady who was sitting two chairs down from the bar noticed I was in tears, and offered to buy the beer I had just ordered.  Which I was MONUMENTALLY thankful for.  Sometimes it’s the little moments like that which make the bad days good again.  That and the dog I got to pet during the interview with Jane and Brad.

This brings me to about the end of our 2013 Comic-Con and our favorite panel, Starship Smackdown.  Imagine if you will, geek/nerd/fanboy fantasy football but with starships instead of teams, and randomly assigned captains rather than quarterbacks.  Last year’s panel at SDCC was crashed by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and brought the room to it’s feet in applause.  This year, the panel of  ‘starship experts’ included one Mr. Bobek Ferdowsi, or as you might know him, NASA Mohawk Guy!!

We have a full recording of the panel, and will post it soon so you can listen and laugh along.  There was also a surprise stage-stormer to needlessly defend the work of Jerry Goldsmith on Star Trek: The Motion Picture.  Stay tuned for that.  All in all, there were some awesome fantastic surreal moments never to be duplicated for >this< fangirl, and one or two moments I’d be happy for forget.  If SDCC continues to evolve for me in the way it has the last two years, I’ll be happy to return for 2014.

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