A Thor representation at Comic-Con. // all photos by Michael E. Bakich
Day two at Comic-Con (the first official day) was, for me, a day full of panel discussions. That worked out well, too, because I got less than two hours of sleep the night before, and when a panel is occurring, the audience sits.
Three of the five panels I attended (
The Hobbit,
The Walking Dead, and the 15th annual "Kung Fu Extravaganza") had nothing to do with astronomy, so, although I enjoyed them, I won't describe them here. The other two, "Stan Lee's World of Heroes" and "Science and Science Fiction: Cannon Fodder," did relate to science, and the latter one even had an
Astronomy magazine tie-in.
"World of Heroes" was a vehicle intended to tout the ever-growing website being built around some of Stan Lee's current projects. Actor Mark Hamill (
Star Wars) was also a panelist. As I listened to the discussion, I was pleasantly surprised by how often science entered the discussion. In fact, Lee's final segment to the crowd was a rant about how distressed he gets when he thinks of Superman flying. "He just picks up his arm, and off he goes," he said, "That's not science!"
"When I created Thor," he continued, "I gave him a hammer. When Thor wanted to fly, he twirled the hammer, threw it with incredible force, and caught the leather thong at the end of the handle. The momentum thus carried him along. Science!" The crowd of more than 2,000 responded with thunderous applause.
Discover magazine's Phil Plait before the panel he moderated.
Later, I attended "Science and Science Fiction: Cannon Fodder." This hourlong discussion had a lot more science in it, although, as always, the guests were also touting their current projects. Moderating the event was none other than
Discover magazine's (
Astronomy's sister publication) popular blogger Phil Plait. What pleased me was that the room, which had a capacity of 480, was nearly full. Plait (who actually dropped the F-bomb during his intro) kept the discussion moving, and the panel touched on lots of scientific principles. Of course, time limited the explanations to short and simple statements, but the crowd appreciated them nonetheless.
I returned to the room late to find my five roommates heading out to camp out in line through the night for a chance to attend the Twilight panel at 9 a.m. Ah, Comic-Con!
I'll leave you with Michael's Comic-Con nuggets of wisdom (so far):
I guess "realistic" isn't the way to describe cosplay (costume play), but at least the size is consistent with the description in Star Wars.
1) A hotel near the convention is like a water-laden oasis in the midst of a martian desert.
2) This isn't Mayberry, Gomer. Do NOT walk in the street. It's dangerous, and the police will shout at you.
3) Buying something heavy? Do so at day's end.
4) People in costumes are shameless. I have many, many pics to prove this.
5) Like at a star party, you can strike up a conversation with anyone. Also like at a star party, the opinions you hear may not be part of your reality.
6) Lots of nerds smoke. Way more than I'd have guessed. Dudes, that's just stupid.
7) $18 hamburgers do exist. Don't even ask about the cheeseburger!
8) A convention center may look huge from the outside but may still be inadequate to host a particular convention.
9) As a group, nerds are far more polite and patient than the general population.
Wilfred is one of thousands of characters at Comic-Con 2012.
10) No scenario, storyline, character, or fantasy is stupid if it has adoring fans. Yes, this even goes for sparkly vampires. Note, however, that smoking is still stupid.