Comic Con NY 2009: Day 3

I’m going to be honest with all of you; I got home from the convention a few hours ago. It ended early today (5 pm) and I left a little before closing time (about 4:30 pm) just because most of the booths were shutting down and there were no more panels or screenings. Instead of getting home, eating and then rushing to write my update for you guys, I instead came home, ate and fell asleep. I am truly exhausted. 3 days walking around a huge convention center carrying 3 bags plus a camera took a lot out of me. But I am awake now (barely) to let you all know about the last day of NY Comic Con 2009.

This morning, I arrived just in time for the Chuck panel but I instead decided to skip it. From my experience at the Con, I knew it would end late and that there would be a huge line for the Dollhouse panel so I decided to walk around the floor a little. Walking around, you could tell it was the last day. Some booths already had half their merchandise gone and most of the free swag had all been given out. Also, it was kids day so there were a lot more kids there and   more children oriented programs throughout the day.  Ã‚  

  

There wasn’t a line for the X-Men Origins: Wolverine Video Game demo area and that had been packed the previous 2 days so I decided to wait. The game is based on the upcoming film; however, the concept for the game was actually around before the film according to the representative. The developer had wanted to make a stand alone Wolverine game so when the film was announced, they immediately got themselves involved with it by weaving their ideas with the storyline of the film. Although it was called a demo, we only got to watch as a representative played but based on what I saw, I will definitely be buying this game when it comes out. The fun factor looks high and the gore factor is higher. Wolverine takes tons of damage and heals completely in real time all while you are slicing and dicing through dozens of bad guys. The game is insanely violent; hopefully this is an indication of a dark and violent Wolverine film. After the demo, they gave us foam Wolverine hands and dog tags.

  

I headed back to the IGN Theater and was shocked to see that the line for Dollhouse had already filled the waiting area, wrapped around the back, went down a hallway and ended halfway into the food court. I got on line and a few minutes later they let us in. I was in the very back, last row. If I had gone to Chuck, I would not have gotten in even if it ended on time. They showed a clip from the show and the creator Joss Whedon talked a little about it. One of the actors from the show, Tahmoh Penikett was also on hand. They both joked around, talked about some past work and about some of the themes of Dollhouse. One thing I found really cool was that the birth of the shows premise happened over lunch between Eliza Dusku, the shows star, and Joss Whedon. Eliza was complaining to him how underutilized she is and how she wished she could show her diversity and the idea for this series came about where she essentially plays a new character every week. The clip they showed gave a glimpse at how people pay to essentially “rent† a person and a personality is then implanted into them. At the end of the session, the personality is erased along with all memories and Dushku becomes the carefree Echo wandering around the Dollhouse with the other “dolls.† Tahmoh plays an agent on the case of the Dollhouse trying to prove it exists and stop it. While the clip did not get me that excited for the show, Joss Whedon talking about it did. I am also curious as to how they could create stories and make us care for Eliza Dushku who is pretty much a new character every week. It starts this Friday night on Fox.

  

Today was essentially TV day at the Comic Con since almost all the panels for televsion shows were today. Immediately following the Dollhouse panel was the Fringe panel, which I was really looking forward to. If you are not watching Fringe, you better start. I love this show and am completely addicted to it. The whole cast was on hand for the panel as well as Producer Jeff Pinkner to field questions from a moderator and the audience. The moderator’s questions brought some awkward moments but some real gems came out during the Q and A with the fans. If you watch the show, you probably know who The Observer is. If you don’t watch (shame on you), the Observer played by Michael Cerveris, is a strange bald man that appears in every episode, usually when some major event is about to go down. When asked about the Observer, Pinkner said that there may be more than one Observer and the The Observer is not an alien. In fact, there will not be any aliens on the show in the near future because the X-Files did so much with aliens and did it so well that they don’t want to even cover the topic on Fringe. But back to The Observer, apparently Fox has gone crazy trying to market The Observer by placing him at many differrent events. He was at the Sidelines during an Eagles/Giants playoff game and apparently Fox tried but was unsuccessful in getting him at the inauguration of President Obama. Pinkner also revealed that every episode has hints towards the next week’s episode and that the symbols that show on screen during every commercial break are actually part of a complicated puzzle for the viewer to solve. Joshua Jackson admitted that he has trouble following the show so he has created a plotline/Fringe secrets diagram. He made a joke about being “an actor with a flow chart.† Overall, I really enjoyed the panel and it made me love the show even more.

  

After the panel, which ended late, I decided to walk around the floor one last time. Some booths were already closed and others were taking inventory/packing up. I got some footage of a few more costumes and some cute/funny footage of a little kid dressed as Batman who was too afraid to go and hug Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck kept pointing and laughing from nearby. When that became a highlight of what I was taping, I decided it was time to call it quits. The con was only open for another 30 minutes anyway so I headed to the pressroom, got my stuff and left the Javitz Center. NY Comic Con 2009 is over.

Tomorrow I’ll post my first batch of photos, plus my overall thoughts on NY Comic Con 2009. And keep checking back because I will be uploading interviews, videos and photos all week long. Plus, I will be announcing contests to win some of my Comic Con swag. So NY Comic Con 2009 may be over but for WAMG the Con is still On!

Jerry Cavallaro – www.AreYouStuckLikeChuck.com