C2E2 Debrief
That was the first line of my last comic con debrief, and also the closing line of The Lord of the Rings, spoken by Sam Gamgee. I led with this line in my NYCC recap because while I was there, I got to be in the same room with Sean Astin, aka Sam Gamgee. This time around, I met a different Samwise. He’s a seeing eye dog for Danielle Lieber, a wonderful fan who came up and introduced herself at the autographing table. She told me the nicest thing a fan has ever told me: “Thank you so much for writing a blind character who isn’t totally helpless.”
She wanted to have her picture taken with me, and I said I’d like the same. So with Danielle’s permission, here we are at C2E2. Thanks again, Danielle!
Of course there were other highlights of the con. Lots of nerds in costumes, of course. The most impressive outfit might have been the cyborg Darth Maul (who, if you don’t know who he is, is basically the only good reason to sit through The Phantom Menace--and since he gets cut in half in the movie, there are no good reasons to see the next two prequels). This dude at the con wore Darth Maul makeup from the waist up, and from the waist down he wore a scratch-built, almost Hollywood-quality cybernetic body, including armor plating, flywheels, random wires and gears here and there, the works. I know, I know: hours and hours of attention to detail in his mother’s basement and all that. But it was still pretty damn impressive.
I saw legitimately famous people too. I sat next to the fifth doctor from Dr. Who, and saw Bruce Boxleitner, and was in the same building with Julie Newmar (which is titillating all by itself). The greatest actor of our time, Adam West, had to cancel at the last minute. I do hope he didn’t cancel for medical reasons; he is a national treasure. Please send him all well wishes, prayers, good juju, and whatever else you’ve got.