Comic-Con went by in kind of a blur – it’s such an intense situation when you’re there but when it’s over you can’t believe it ever happened. So before I slip into Comic-Con amnesia I’m going to jot down a few memories. I am the worst at remembering to take pictures at things but I have a few iPhone photos to share.
Book Panels I attended:
What do Women Want? Female Gaze in Manga – This panel was the one right before Rainbow Rowell, so I got there early to get a good seat. The teen and I agreed it was really interesting though! The panelists talked about how the media caters to the female fans in Japan vs. the US. They show examples of how action stars like Hugh Jackman are marketed to men’s magazines (Wolverine pose “Shredded!”) vs. women’s magazines (fuzzy sweater, romance topic) They also shared some of their favorite manga recs.
Spotlight on Rainbow Rowell – Author Leigh Bardugo talked with Rainbow Rowell in this hour-long panel. They discussed Rainbow’s upcoming book Carry On (and how writing fantasy took a lot longer to write than expected). They talked about lots of things from Rainbow’s name to the Eleanor and Park movie. (She turned in a screenplay and is now starting rewrites) This panel was a lot of fun, and again makes me want to read Leigh Bardugo’s books- she is really entertaining.
Leigh Bardugo and Rainbow Rowell
My Book is a Movie/TV show: Now What? – Ava Dellaira (Love Letters to the Dead) moderated this panel about book adaptations! Dellaira’s book is also getting the movie treatment and Catherine Hardwicke is directing. On the panel were: Lauren Kate (The Fallen movie is out next year), Jeff Jensen (Before Tomorrowland), Arwen Elys Dayton (Seeker), Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen), and Daniel H. Wilson (Robopocalypse). It was interesting to hear about the authors’ experiences collaborating with the movie studios. Watch the full panel here.
Book to Screen – This is pretty much the same topic as the previous panel, but with a new group of authors. Ernest Cline (Ready Player One, Armada) was listed as a panelist but I was surprised to see he was actually the moderator of this panel. There were lots of Cline fanboys in attendance, and also to see The Martian author Andy Weir. Other amazing authors in attendance: Melissa de la Cruz (Witches of East End), James S.A. Corey (co-authors of Leviathan Wakes), Lev Grossman (The Magicians) and Christina Lauren (co-authors of Beautiful Bastard). I liked this mix of authors as they talked about their experiences getting their books adapted. We got to see some footage from The Expanse (Leviathan Wakes tv show), The Martian film and The Magicians TV series. After this panel there was a “Family Feud” style panel with Cline, and other big authors but I had to run to the book signing to get The Martian signed for Andrew. Watch the Book to Screen panel here.
We Demand Diverse Books – The authors in this panel were: Soman Chainani (School for Good and Evil), Cindy Pon (Serpentine ), Cece Bell (El Deafo), Mariko Tamaki (This One Summer), Scott Sigler (Alive) and Judd Winick (Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth) and they discussed the diversity in their books with moderator David Mariotte of Mysterious Galaxy. After this panel I really wanted to purchase El Deafo but they didn’t have any copies. I’m excited to read Cindy Pon’s Serpentine and Mariko Tamaki’s This One Summer too.
Authors I met and Books I picked up:
Rainbow Rowell – I got the new paperback of Landline signed, a signed poster of Carry On, and some buttons. Rainbow was lovely as always! She said she noticed the teen and I in the audience paying close attention, lol.
Melissa de la Cruz – This was my first time meeting Melissa and she was really nice. I got a signed ARC of her latest book Triple Moon: Summer on East End (a YA spinoff of the Witches of East End series)
Andy Weir – I got one of the last copies of The Martian signed. Apparently this was Weir’s third signing of the con and they ran out of books quickly.
James S.A. Corey – I picked up a signed copy of Leviathan Wakes for Andrew because I think he will want to check out the TV series.
Christina Lauren – My first time meeting this writing duo! I got them to sign the first two books in the Wild Seasons series.
Soman Chainani – A fan in line recommended Chainani’s The School of Good and Evil series so I grabbed a set for the teen.
Cindy Pon – I got a copy of Pon’s Silver Phoenix and some lovely swag.
Mariko Tamaki – I got a copy of This One Summer signed. Mariko’s comments in the panel really sold me on this book.
Judd Winick – I remember Judd from Real World San Francisco (which he reminded me was 21 years ago-omg!) Now he has a graphic novel coming out HILO, The Boy who Crashed to Earth and I got a signed ARC.
Rachel Caine – I purchased Caine’s latest Ink & Bone and got a trading card (Wolfe) and bookmark to go with it. She comes to SDCC every year and is always a delight to talk to.
Zac Brewer – We were happy to get the chance to talk to Zac and get a copy of The Cemetery Boys signed.
Maggie Stiefvater – I was a little shaky and nervous to meet Maggie for the first time! She was perfectly lovely and signed copies of The Raven Cycle series for us.
Swag and souvenirs:
TV Panels I attended:
So, if you ever go to a Con you know there is limited room capacity and the popular panels can’t house everyone that wants to be there. If you want to see something that is very popular you should probably arrive a few panels (hours) ahead of time in order to secure a seat. For example, Orphan Black is always placed into a tiny room that can’t hold everyone that wants to attend. Most of the panels are really entertaining so even though you are only there early for the later panel chances are you will still see something very cool! I mention this because I am not necessarily a fan of some of these shows listed below but I ended up having a great time anyway!
Thursday:
I attended this 4-block of TV panels with my teen on Thursday. We got in the room early for Gravity Falls (and as a trade off we later went to the Rainbow Rowell panel)
Amazon: Hand of God – Hand of God stars Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy) and he was a riot at this panel! I’m not sure if this show is my cup of tea but it looks like it could be exciting.
The Player – This is a new Wesley Snipes show and he was in attendance at the panel. They screened an episode and then had a brief Q&A.
Return to Gravity Falls – The Gravity Falls team is always lots of fun- they answered questions and showed some behind the scenes clips.
The Last Ship – I don’t watch this show but I’m a fan of Eric Dane so we stayed to watch some of the presentation. It looks like a cool show actually.
Friday:
I got up very early to take the teen to the long line for the Adventuretime/Steven Universe panel. Then when the teen’s friend arrived Andrew and I went to camp out in a panel room to wait for the Sense8 presentation.
My Little Pony, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teen Titans Go! – First up, we saw these three kids panels. There were some celebrity voice actors on hand (Seth Green, Sean Astin from TMNT) and everyone seemed to be having lots of fun!
Amazon: The Man in the High Castle – This is a new show based on the Philip K. Dick book. The author’s daughter was on hand as well as the cast. Looks good!
History’s Vikings – I somehow always end up seeing the Vikings panel, and every year I say I’m going to start watching it. It looks like a very kickass show actually, and it has a really gorgeous cast! They are also the only show that gave out swag (a cool Vikings drinking horn and a comic)
Sense8 – Andrew and I are watching this Netflix show and wanted to see the cast and showrunners discuss the season and plans for season two. What I didn’t know is that the panel wasn’t sanctioned by Netflix it was really an unofficial panel. It was just a one-man show featuring co-creator/writer and executive producer J. Michael Straczynski. He was a really engaging speaker though and gave out a lot of great behind the scenes info. He did mention that it was the first fan gathering for Sense8 ever so that was cool. He mentioned that an announcement regarding a season two pickup or not would be coming in the next couple weeks.
Saturday:
Outlander – Saturday was “book day” for me but of course I made time for this book adaptation. Last year the Outlander panel was in a tiny room and now they moved up to Ballroom 20- nice! I did not camp out all day for this panel but got in line 15 minutes before the start time and still managed to get a seat- phew! This panel was moderated by E!’s Kristin dos Santos, a big fan of the show, and she made the panel a lot of fun. In attendance were the two leads, Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan, author Diana Gabaldon, and executive producers Ron Moore and Maril Davis. Season two is in production and they showed some footage to get us excited. They panelists played a drinking game where they had to read lines and guess whether they were from Fifty Shades of Grey or Outlander. Too funny! You can watch the whole panel (minus the season 2 clip) here.
Sunday:
We finally conquer Hall H! We considered spending Saturday night to camp out for Hall H (for American Horror Story) but in the end just showed up at 6:45 Sunday morning and were golden.
The Vampire Diaries – It’s always nice to see this very pretty cast! I don’t watch this show anymore but know that the star exited last season, so I was curious to find out what the plans were for the new season. Watch the panel here.
Supernatural – I don’t watch this show either, but usually end up at their panel anyway. The audience raised candles towards the end of the panel in support of star Jared Padalecki (he has been dealing with depression) and he was very touched. Also, there was a fantastic audience question regarding Supernatural’s habit of killing off their female cast members in order to further the story of the male characters along. Things got very tense in there! Read this great recap of the encounter on the Mary Sue blog. You can watch the panel here.
American Horror Story and Scream Queens – Ryan Murphy and his A-list casts of AHS and this fall’s Scream Queens were in attendance. Last year AHS was in tiny room 6DE and this year they moved to the biggest venue Hall H! Andrew and the teen attended last year and raved about it so I didn’t want to miss out this year. In attendance were: Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Matt Bomer, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Jamie Leigh Curtis, Lea Michele, Keke Palmer, Abigail Breslin, and Skyler Samuels. Scream Queens looks promising – they describe it as “Halloween meets Heathers.” And AHS: Hotel also looks good. Ryan Murphy said that the different seasons are part of a very connected universe so you never know who will pop up! Watch the panel here.
Heroes Reborn – I was a casual fan of Heroes but stopped watching in season 3. I was curious about this reboot but have to say that hearing the showrunner and cast talk about it made me less interested. I’m not sure this reboot was a great idea, but maybe I’m wrong!
Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll – This FX Denis Leary vehicle aired this week and is waiting for my on the dvr. The cast was entertaining and the show looks promising.
It was another fun Comic-Con and I got tired all over again just writing this up! If you’ve stuck with the recap this long, thanks for reading!
Wow you did a lot! We were in a couple of panels together but I didn’t see you. Glad you guys had fun:-)
Comic-Con is so big it always surprises me to run into anyone I know. I may have seen you in the Steven Universe or Rachel Caine line though from afar. Hope you had a blast, Tammy! Crossing fingers we both get in next year too…
This One Summer is great. I read it, my daughter read it and my mom read it and we all liked it. Hope you do too. ‘El Deafo’ is simply amazing and I’m so glad it’s taken off.
Leigh Bardugo’s books are filled with great characters and fabulous world building. Looking forward to her new book series which is coming soon.
So glad to hear This One Summer is a big hit among you and your family! Hearing the author speak about it made me very intrigued. I was so disappointed that El Deafo was not available at the signing, but I picked it up once I got home 🙂 The author really sold me on it.
And yes, Bardugo’s Six of Crows sounds amazing! Hope we both love it.
Wow, it sounds like you had a great time! I’m jealous that you got Carry On!
Just a signed poster… there are no ARC’s of Carry On. I can’t wait to read it though!
Okay, I can be a little less jealous now. At least you got to meet her!
On my bucket list but I am exhausted from your write up 🙂
I saw the Supernatural thing–that was very cool of them. I have only seen through season 5 but the fans of that show are amazing 🙂
I am exhausted by it too! I’m glad SDCC is only once a year so there’s time to recover.
The Supernatural fans are awesome. I want to start watching that show but SO MANY SEASONS to catch up on!
[…] Mailbox Monday is a weekly event where we share our latest book arrivals. Link up and find new mailboxes to stalk at the Mailbox Monday blog. For my Comic-Con book haul, click here. […]
Wow, what an awesome time it must have been! It’s amazing all these authors you had the chance to meet, I would have loved to meet Rainbow Rowell.
I hadn’t heard of The Last Ship, but I’m curious now, especially with Eric Dane on board!
Yes, Eric Dane! *swoon* He was much more subdued than how he is/was on Grey’s Anatomy. The Last Ship is a post-apocalpytic drama on TNT and apparently it’s based on a book.
Rainbow is really sweet- I hope you get to meet her sometime!
Sounds like you had a good con, Lucy. I should write down what I did soon, too, as it’s all blurring together already. I missed some of the bigger book panels but made a few of the same ones that you did. I am so glad you got to meet Christina Lauren. I love those two. I was super bummed to miss Rainbow’s signing, too, but you can’t get to them all.
Funny story about Eric Dane. I was leaving a panel and just strolling down the hallway when I noticed that people kept trying to stop this guy who was walking almost next to me. He was super polite but couldn’t really stop for stuff, saying that he was late to a panel. His assistant was trying to hustle him along and then they ducked into a door at the back of one of the room. It was totally Eric Dane and his panel was starting in like 2 minutes! He seemed very nice though and was looking pretty good. 🙂
It’s funny what an intense experience SDCC is but how quickly it fades out of our memories! I hope you do write up a recap- I’d love to hear more about your con experience. And yeah it’s hard missing out on some panels, but luckily a lot of them (even the book panels!) are available to watch online later.
And thanks for sharing your Eric Dane story! I’ve loved him since Grey’s Anatomy and it was cool to see him at SDCC.