2008 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News Archives

September 20, 2008: A Report from Dragon Con '08

Superman Homepage member Mike Kelly (aka MikeK) attended Dragon Con '08 in late August, and has sent in the following report with photos from his time at the con.

By Mike Kelly (aka MikeK)

Dragon Con 2008 So I'm sitting in the Hyatt lobby Thursday night, the night before Dragon Con officially begins, consulting my program to see what's scheduled for Friday, when a guy walks over from the hotel bar with drink in hand and asks, "What looks good?"

I shrug. "What do you like?"

"Everything. I like everything."

"Could you be more specific? TV? Movies? Books?" (Nah, probably not books.) "They've got it all."

"Do they have this show every year?"

"Yup."

"Different city every year?"

"You're not staying here for the convention, are you?"

"No," he admits. "For a football game." (Like a lot of people, I learn later, thanks to someone leaking the code for con room rates.) Then a girl walks by wearing - and doing justice to - a Princess Leia slave costume, and he gasps. "Whoa, she's almost naked! Are they all like that here?"

"Look around," I suggest, pointing out the fully-clad majority of female fans.

Before we can bond further, his buddies appear and haul him off across the lobby. One stumbles into a tall free-standing Con banner, tipping it over. To their credit, they try to upright it before moving on to their further adventures, and as I return to planning mine, I'm struck by the question that will dog me all weekend:

What's this got to do with Superman?

I've gone to Dragon Con for nearly a decade and come here to the Homepage about as long. When Steve's sister Car-El suggested I write a report on it this year, I figured I'd file one every day or so from the scene, like Neal.

But I'm not Neal. I can't write page after page on the fly like he can, or makes it look like he can; I need the dark and quiet of my lair, even if that's a hotel room. And who goes to Dragon Con to stay in their room? If you venture out, though, even if you plan to see as much as you can, you'd better know going in that, no matter what, you'll miss most of it. Ever been to the Superman Celebration in Metropolis (or read about it here)? Multiply that by every SF/Fantasy character, actor, writer, comic, book, movie and TV show with any fan/cult following whatsoever, then turn them all loose in downtown Atlanta over Labor Day Weekend (this year, August 29th to September 1st ). Four days at four hotels (up from three last year) transformed into a fandom campus for Trekkers, stormtroopers, Whovians, hobbits, Galacticans, and geeks of all stripes (except furries, perhaps; don't recall any furries). Thirty-seven separate tracks of programming, not counting gaming and dealer space.

I heard we had sixty thousand people this year.

I consider myself part of all those groups, much as all slaves were Spartacus. So I wasn't there just for Superman, though he was a big part of it for me. Now that I'm safely ensconced back in my lair, I can share that with you.

Thursday, August 28th

Though the con starts Friday, lots of us arrive Thursday when registration opens. I fly down and take the MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority?) train from the airport practically to the doorstep of my hotel, the Hyatt. When I ride this escalator up from Peachtree Center station, I feel I've truly arrived; what it lacks in speed, it makes up for in inducing vertigo.

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Scratch that. I've really arrived when I enter the Hyatt and look up at this.

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Breathtaking? I thought so too until the first time I walked over to the Marriott next door.

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To quote a friend of mine, it's like standing inside a giant rib cage. To quote Ray Bradbury, "This hotel IS science fiction!"

Back when the con was small enough for these two to hold it, you could spend your entire trip from the airport and back again without leaving a roof over your head, thanks to skywalks like this - that is, if that's important to you.

Dragon Con 2008 What will be: the food courts they also lead to. In Metropolis last June, we'd probably all have died from scurvy if not for the banquet buffets; that's not a problem here. My rule: never eat anyplace I can go to at home - no Subway or KFC - but I make an exception for Dairy Queen when I need ice cream at midnight.

Enough travelogue. I check in, go up to my room to unpack, then down to registration where I get in a line that snakes outside and all the way around the block - or the hotel, which amounts to the same thing. The woman ahead of me talks about college Psych papers she wrote on Batman. I get my badge and program, go up to the lobby to study it, and you know where that leads.

Over the weekend, I keep my eye out for anyone in Super-costume who'll pose for a picture. This fellow is my first; when I tell him it's for the Homepage, he says he used to post here as Indianakin (sp?).

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Next comes this guy

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As Thursday ends, I enjoy my last full night of sleep for four days.

Friday, August 30th

There's a Comics track, but the Superman panels aren't part of it this year; rather, they're in American Science Fiction/Fantasy Classics. Friday has three and I see two.

The first, at 1 p.m., is Part One of a three-part lecture/slideshow on "70 Years Of Superman In The Media" and covers the 1940s-60s. When we grumble about Smallville or the movies changing canon, it might help to be reminded that the Fleischer cartoons introduced flying and that Perry and Jimmy first appeared on radio - as did kryptonite, which was created to cover Superman's absence while Bud Collyer took a vacation.

Another fun fact I learn: after Pearl Harbor, Paramount fired Fleischer when he refused to turn the cartoons into war propaganda, which explains some changes in the later ones.

2:30 brings "An Hour With Lex Luthor," i.e. Michael Rosenbaum. I miss the first few minutes because they've switched rooms on me, but I catch most of it. No Smallville news, but if you read or heard Neal's recent interview with him, you know how entertaining he can be; after all, he claims he's a comedian first. And with a full head of hair and a beard growing, he's looking more like Affleck than Lex.

7:00 p.m. On the one hand there's "Kryptonite Gum With Free Purchase," a discussion of Smallville Season 7, probably much like many Monday Chat Hours here at the Homepage. On the other, a showing of Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog which I missed when it was offered free online. Guess which I choose? It means another long line and Captain Hammer's no Kal-El, but it's a lot of fun. The live performers miming all the parts - including the ducks - off to the side give it a Rocky Horror vibe which the crowd eats up, but I keep my eyes on the screen since, of course, I haven't seen the real thing before.

Saturday, August 30th

How much does Atlanta love Dragon Con? On Saturday morning, they close the street in front of the Hyatt for several blocks, maybe a mile, for the costume parade. It starts at 10 and lasts about an hour. Forget what I said about never stepping outside if you want a good view, which I do. And this year, I do it all for you.

Please keep in mind, I'm not a professional photographer and I'm especially vexed by my phone camera's lag time between clicking and shooting. For example, I'd swear Zod is facing my way when I snap these:

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OTOH, sometimes you catch things you never expect. What does Supergirl see that no one else does? (Guess that's why she's Supergirl.)

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Yes, that's Adam West, but not one of his original Batmobiles... not if it's the same near-perfect replica they had a parade or two ago.

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As for the rest, I'll just send Steve all my pictures that turned out halfway decent and let him choose which ones are worth posting. Some are relevant to Superman or DC, some aren't, but if you don't see the Power Girl Pin-up League, you know whom to blame.

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Unfortunately, the parade is scheduled opposite Part II of "70 Years Of Superman..." which covers the 70s and 80s. But the Homepage's own Michael Bailey is there, and he fills me in when I meet up with him later.

That afternoon finds me in two more long lines, first for the Deep Space Nine reunion and then for the big Galactica panel. That evening, I wander into the film festival and stay until 5 a.m., where I learn the arcane link between the bombing of Nagasaki and Japanese nunsploitation movies.

The guy who runs it looks like Lionel Luthor.

Sunday, August 31st

In the food court at lunch, I meet this guy. Actually, I forget if it was Saturday or Sunday, but Saturday has enough pictures already.

Dragon Con 2008 Definitely Sunday, though, when I get up early for a panel with Ami Dolenz, actress and daughter of Mickey of the Monkees; and later one with Yancy Butler, star of Witchblade and daughter of the drummer of the Lovin' Spoonful. Each mentions a childhood brush with John Lennon, and I wonder what it would be like to get them both onstage together.

There's one with Adam West, too, and I'm perversely curious to hear what he thinks of Dark Knight if he's seen it. But he never shows, so while we wait, I catch up on some sleep. (Later, I'm told he lost track of time while signing autographs.)

In many ways, Sunday night's Masquerade Contest is the climax of the con. Some years I go, some I don't. This year I don't relish another long line, plus I want to catch a Webcomics panel at the same time. Besides, all the contestants will be in the lobby later on, among a sea of costumers who won't part until 2 or 3 a.m.

Here's the Marriott as things get rolling:

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And here are the Superfolk I catch that night:

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The guy with Batman? He's the best, a friend of a friend of mine. Comes as Superman every year but wears many other costumes, too, often several in one night - Blackhawk, Captains Hammer and America, even Supergirl one year when he lost a bet.

I wander the halls into the wee hours, ultimately winding up back at the film festival for zombie/cannibal night.

Monday, September 1st

Last day of the con and it's winding down. Some people are already leaving but I prefer to relax and fly home tomorrow.

At 1 p.m., I rejoin Michael Bailey at Part III of "70 Years Of Superman..." which covers the 90s to the present. When it gets to him "stalking" Lois in Superman Returns - which I don't believe he did, but I hold my tongue - I wonder, why does it never come up that he did the same thing in the pilot of Lois & Clark? (The scene was cut for time when it first aired, but restored later. Don't know if it's on the DVD.) Maybe I should have mentioned it. Guess I just did.

Afterward Michael stays to interview the moderator. We say goodbye and I stroll over to the Walk Of Fame, which is half-empty but Ami Dolenz is still there... so I have to ask if she and Yancy Butler have ever compared notes on their early years.

She says sure, she knows her from growing up "in the L.A. scene and all." But wait... didn't Butler say she'd been raised in Greenwich Village? Is Dolenz telling me what she thinks I want to hear? Ah well, she's so friendly, I just thank her and move on. There are worse ways to cap the con than being humored by someone like her.

But what's it got to do with Superman? Well, she was on Superboy once.

Mike Kelly (aka MikeK)



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