• Star Trek – William Shatner, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes and Wil Wheaton
• Fringe – John Noble and Jesika Nicole
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer – James Marsters, Nicholas Brendon and Clare Kramer
• The Boondocks Saint/Walking Dead – Sean P. Flanery and Norman Reedus
• The Guild – Felicia Day and Amy Okuda

Even Bruce Boxleitner (Alan Bradley/Tron) from Tron was there!  I knew I was in for a weekend full of magic when I decided to go.   It was held at the same location as PAX Prime and brought memories of the fun had from roughly six months ago.  I embarked in my journey to see and experience all that Emerald City Comicon had to offer.

From the artist gallery I found a healthy mixture of known comic book artist, web comic artist, independents and hopefuls.  The amount of talent in each table was jaw dropping and they did keep in mind that we are still in a recession.  One of the artists, Jon Morris, was making Pies for a dollar.  Yes pies… not the eating kind, but he draws funny pies like “Death Pie” and you can purchase them for a buck.  Or if you had a better idea, then he would make the pie you asked for.  Everybody loves pie, even if is on a piece of paper.  My “Death Pie” now hangs proudly on my fridge, where innocents chuckle at the sight of it.  Other artists set their prices at $5.00, as was the case for the talented and wonderful Amanda Robinson, who quickly ran out of her sketches and started to take requests to be able to keep up with the demand.  The prices varied, but it was nice to have the choice to drop top dollar or just a dollar and not come out from the artist gallery wanting everything and empty handed.

Author of World War Z and the Zombie Survival Guides, Max Brooks, was there with tons of copies of the book and both guides.  He also had miniposters from the survival guides to sign.  He was a pleasure to meet and talked about how World War Z has affected my friends to the point of checking for zombies out the back porch or keeping the lights on before going to bed.  He leaned back and we both laughed.  He was thrilled that he had affected someone with his writing, as much as I was.  A few booths away was the DC booth, which had a healthy and steady line of people trying to get free copies of comic books, posters and pins.  Among these comics, a copy of the upcoming, first ever, openly gay character, Batwoman could be found.  Interesting read, I must say and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.  A few booths after DC’s was Top Cow and huge lines formed here, as it was the home of Sean P. Flanery and Norman Reedus.  The table was covered with pictures, posters, headshots, and photos from The Boondocks Saints, and even the DVD cover for Walking Dead for Reedus to sign.   They were very nice and approachable, and no fan walked away without a smile from the table.  I scored a nice mini poster signed by both Norman and Sean, but Sean added his own favorite quote from the movie.

Sean: “Can I add a quote?”

Xalaga: “OF COURSE!”

Sean: “Do you mind that is profanity?”

Xalaga: “Dude… I watched both Boondocks movies…”

Sean: “HAHAHA! Right on! Well said!”

And he signed.  Due to its nature, I can’t tell you what it is, but if you search my twitter, you’ll find a photo of it.

The rest of the convention was a menagerie of old comic books, toys, posters, shirts, and much more.  It had the feel of a flea market and only the savvy ones came out of it with deals.  The price on most things, did not mean you had to pay it.  A lot of the vendors would partake in the old art of haggling, making a lot of people happy, when the marked price was not remotely what they pay.  Even if you did pay it, a lot was marked appropriately and very few over $100 items could be found.   In the midst of it all, the guys from 343 studios set up a booth for all con goers to enjoy the Defiant map pack before anyone else did!  Plus they brought toys, which they gave out in raffle form during the day.  I wasn’t the only one happy to see them there and I hope that they make this an every year thing.

The downstairs of the conventions housed the line to meet and get autographs from the rest of the media guests, as well as the 501st and a booth to get your photo taken with the actors.  One of the things I am still not getting used to is the autograph system nowadays.  Call me old school, but I loved going to conventions with my backpack full of carefully wrapped items for a particular actor/actress and/or artist to autograph them.  I would brave lines for hours, or wake up early to be one of the first in line to get that piece of memorabilia I will treasure for the rest of my life.  I have not been to as many conventions as of late so this system still new to me.  The system I am referring to is the “pay for autograph” one.  Usually huge people like Shatner or Nimoy would be the only ones charging for an autograph fee, but at Emerald City Comicon, everyone charged.  With the exception of Wil Wheaton and I loved him even more for it.  Some charged for the autograph but you could get any of the items on the table with it, which makes bringing your own, already paid for item moot.  Others would charge for the autograph and for any item you wanted to get sign, if you didn’t bring something.  Some of the actors charged very high fees, the highest being William Shatner.  “I am a huge fan of Star Trek and Mr. Shatner, but I can’t afford that much in this economy,” one of the con goers told me as we waited in line for the Boondocks Saints.  I’d rather have the chance to buy merchandise from their table than have to pay for their squiggle.  I did not hesitate to purchase a photo from Wil Wheaton for him to sign, since if I would have brought something, he would have signed it either way.  That is something I can always support, even though I understand why some of these actors are charging for a fee.

The convention was large enough that it took you a while to go around and really look at each table, trying to pry yourself from buying more stuff than you actually needed.  But it was almost small enough that when it came to the panels, they were a welcome break and a very entertaining one at that.  Yours truly was not feeling very well the next day, so I sat in at most panels and I loved that I was not giving up something important at the convention for doing so.  It all came down to which panel I wanted to see the most and for most I had no problem getting in.  Some they had to tell people to leave as the room was over capacity.  Most of the ones I did were media related, and you can see  all the videos I took by visiting our Gaming Angels Youtube Channel.  I do apologize for the shaking in some of them.  On top of not feeling good, I have injured my hand and holding the camera for longs periods of time, made my bad hand tremble in pain ¬_¬.  I wanted to bring you all as much video as I humanly could, so I hope you enjoy them. Don’t forget to visit our Flikr account that has all the photos I took from the convention.

Emerald City Comicon was a fun and entertaining weekend, where you got to hang with some of the coolest people on the planet.  It is a convention that caters to those of us that love all things geeky and delivers to its audience as much as they possibly can.  After the dust had settled, the guys from 343 studios made an Emerald City Comicon avatar shirt for only 80 Microsoft points in order to remember the good times.  I hope to see you all next year!

Yesterday AMC ordered six episodes of the apocalyptic zombie story based on Robert Kirkman‘s graphic novel series.

The project is being written and directed by Frank Darabont and produced by Gale Anne Hurd. AMC acquired the rights to the books in August after a bidding war. It was ordered to pilot in January. That was followed by the early series pickup while the pilot is still in the casting stages with one actor, “The Ghost Writer” co-star Jon Bernthal. The show will begin production in June in Atlanta and is set to premiere in October during Fearfest, AMC’s annual marathon of thriller and horror films.

Joel Stillerman, AMC’s senior vp programming, praised Kirkman’s series for “brilliantly capturing the social commentary and ongoing human drama of the zombie apocalypse. And it lets us kick a little zombie you-know-what from time to time.”

“Dead” tells of the time after a zombie apocalypse and follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a secure home. Bernthal plays Grimes’ partner and friend Shane. To learn more about the comic series, you can check out the review previously on GamingAngels.com here.

via [THR]

The Walking Dead
Writer-Robert Kirkman
Artist-Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard

After being injured in the line of duty, Rick Grimes awakens from a coma to find himself in an abandon hospital. He soon learned the reason why it is abandon. Zombies have taken over. Throughout the book, however, they are referred to as “roamers” and “biters”, but very rarely “zombies”. Leaving the hospital, Rick soon learns that civilization has changed drastically. After traveling for a bit, Rick is reunited with his wife, Laurie and son, Carl. He also meets the people they have been staying with. Food is scarce, staying in one place to long is dangerous and people aren’t always what they seem. Kirkman does a good job of keeping us on our toes and providing cliff hangers at the end of almost every chapter. As time goes on our characters run into more problems than just zombies; groups not so willing to share, people looking to take advantage, cannibals (yes, cannibals) and eventually fighting and not trusting each other. The last thing I will say is if you read this, don’t get too attached to a character, no matter how “main” they seem to be.

Tony Moore draws in black and white. This, I believe, works very well for this graphic novel. I think it fits with the atmosphere. Also, for black and white, the inking and shading provides a more dark mood. In issue 7 Tony Moore was replaced by Charlie Adlard. It is jarring how different these two artists are. The big difference is, characters are easier to tell apart.

The 11th trade, Fear the Hunters, which will collect issues 61-66 is set for release in Dec of 2009.

With Top Cow’s Pilot Season in the horizon (the event beings in November), the publisher has released Pilot Season: Declassified – a 32-page full color book that gives the readers a chance to take a sneak peek at their five upcoming properties. For those who might not know what Pilot Season is all about, the basic premise of the event is for the readers to vote on their favorite comic title (out of the given choices). The winner will have shot at getting its mini or ongoing series. For this year, fans of Robert Kirkman (best known for The Walking Dead and Marvel Zombies) and Marc Silvestri (Uncanny X-Men and Witchblade anyone?) will be thrilled to know that these two have joined forces and co-created the five new properties to choose from: Murderer, Demonic, Stealth, Stellar and Hardcore. Declassifiedfocuses on these five titles and for only a buck, fans can pick it up and get a taste of what’s in store for them. Thanks to a Top Cow insider, GamingAngels.com and I were able to get an advanced copy of the book and see what it’s all about. Undecided if you should get a copy? Then read on.

As I sifted through the book, it’s pretty much what you’d expect from a preview book – a collection of concept sketches, a couple of full-colored pinups and samples of storyline scripts. Most the artworks are done by Silvestri, and it’s pretty damn cool to see how much his drawing style has evolved since his days as a penciller for Uncanny X-Men. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t terrible – in fact, his style back then definitely fit the chaotic world of the Inferno storyline. However, his current style is much more defined and detailed – as evident in the sketches that are showcased in Declassified. I only wish that the book also gave sneak peeks to the two other titles from the bunch. It was disappointing but we’ll get to that soon. Still, as a long time fan of his, it was definitely a treat to gawk at them!

The book also gives the readers a chance to see Kirkman’s thought processes, and it’s pretty clear that he’s bubbling with ideas for this year’s Pilot Season – as seen in the e-mail exchanges between him and the creators. Reading the back and forth messages from the creative team will give the readers an insight on how to conceive and put together a story. Fans of this writer will also be delighted to see a personal letter from him which relates to his readers his passion for comics and his excitement over the new upcoming project. While he didn’t suggest it directly, his message is clear to those who are passionate about comic books and want to work in the industry: score an internship with the publisher and put yourself out there.

Now, according to the publisher’s official press release, “Pilot Season: Declassified is filled with top secret design sketches, documents, along with trailer pages from the five properties.” Sadly, I found that it mainly applies to Murderer, Demonic and Stealth though the first two titles were given the most attention. If I was to decide which property should win, it would be a choice between Murderer and Demonicbut it’s only because the book basically dedicated most of the pages to them. What are these two about anyway? Murderer is about Jason Sparks, a young guy who’s cursed with the ability to hear the thoughts of everyone around him. But Professor X makes it look cool – why is this a curse? He can’t shut them out – at least not in the most conventional ways. The only way he can shut out the voices in his head and keep his sanity? Murder. Now what’s stopping him from being deemed as a serial killer? He’s using his curse for good. Demonic is about Scott Grave, a married man who just happens to have a demon in his head. The demon also happens to make him strong but there’s a price: Scott needs to kill for the demon in order to spare the lives of his wife and daughter.

As for Stellar and Hardcore, both are given brief descriptions in the beginning but pretty much ceased to exist after that. They didn’t even get a concept sketch or a preliminary script. Sadness. I would have loved to have seen at least the concept art for Stellar – a genetically enhanced super-human who’s been banished from Earth since she’s become toxic to humans. It’s a pretty ambitious concept, but I’m curious to see as to how Kirkman and Silvestri would have fleshed out her character and story.

The layout of the book towards the end also threw me off. After seeing some concept ideas and designs for Stealth (guy finds out his dad, who’s diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, is really a butt-kicking masked vigilante, and he’s forced to deal with his dad’s disease and his many enemies), I had expected to see tidbits on Stellar and Hardcore to follow but instead, came upon concept ideas and artwork for Top Cow’s other ongoing titles. “Huh? I thought this book was about the new properties!” I literally had to go back a few pages just to make sure I didn’t skip a page. Newp. I guess it’s their way of pulling a ninja-like move and promoting what’s also available for readers out there. Plus hey, it also paved the way for the advertisements that filled up the rest of the five pages of the book. I get it. Gotta promote your other products too. Yet in my honest opinion (and in the risk of sounding bitter), those last few pages could have been dedicated to the other upcoming titles. But that’s just me.

So is this book worth your dollar? Yes if you’re a major fan of Robert Kirkman and Marc Silvestri as well as a loyal follower of Top Cow’s Pilot Season. There’s plenty enough info to pore over – at least withMurderer, Demonic and Stealth. And let’s not forget that you can also drool over Silvestri’s concept sketches (I know I did). Just keep in mind that it’s a preview book and it only highlights three out of the five upcoming new properties. For those who aren’t any of the above, save your dollar for an actual comic book.