JEB writes...

Gathering 2006 Journal, Part 2

June 25, 2006

I had trouble pulling myself out of bed (after having an odd dream involving a strangely friendly Lex Luthor and the First Celestial Host's connection to the death of the dinosaurs), so I was a little late to the comic book panel. Very interesting, and some minor spoilers:

- There will be a setback in Goliath and Elisa's relationship in #3.
- The first arc, "Clan-Building," will be four stories long (approximately 8-10 issues). (So it'll finish up sometime in early 2008- assuming the comic runs that long.)
- Hudson will play a more prominent role in #5 and #6.

Other random remarks included Greg Weisman and Dan Vado discussing their respective misadventures at DC Comics. This included how Captain Atom's backstory was ruined after Greg's run ended, so that they could prep him to be Monarch- which ultimately never happened anyway- and how Vado had to suffer through being kicked off of Justice League America and writing Extreme Justice. We also learned that Greg also provided the thumbprints for Rorschach in Watchmen!

Afterwards, they held an autograph session, and I got my second copy signed by Stephanie Lostimolo, Greg and Dan Vado. (Hedgecock was there too, but I already had his signature; he did remind me to pick up my sketch, though.) I mentioned Captain Atom: Armageddon to Greg as a better treatment of Captain Atom than I'd seen since his and Cary Bates' run, but I also mentioned- rather needlessly- that Eiling was permanently ruined. (Frankly, I really shouldn't have bothered.)

After Hedgecock reminded me, I went to get my sketch from a very courteous SLG staffer, and after dropping my comic off (sketch tucked inside) at my room, I went to Crispin Freeman's Mythological Animation panel. That was EXCELLENT, one of my favorite panels, as Freeman really knew his stuff- in that particular field as well as many related ones. I may have to subscribe to his Yahoo group...

I briefly met up with Garrett and Ed, then sought out some lunch, settling on a hot dog place near the Olive Garden. (Pretty tasty!) It happened to be near a Hobbytown USA, so I did a bit of shopping, picking up RPG books for me and twenty-sided dice for a friend back home.

Next stop was the auction, which was rather restrained- even with Greg Weisman's 10-years-at-Disney jacket on sale! That all changed when the autographed poster went for sale, leading to quite the bidding war (which included me). The bidding was finally between an increasingly agonized Gorebash and a strangely calm Leo. Gorebash won in the end, paying over $300 for the poster.

I wandered after that, and waited for the banquet. Outside, I chatted with a fellow I've since forgotten the name of about technology and such, then Greg Bishansky and Gore. The banquet began almost precisely on time; at my table sat myself, Cathie, Garrett, Ed, and a few others. We each received a free copy of the Season 2 Part 1 DVD, which I opted to leave behind so the Gathering staff could use it for promotions (I already had it). Our special guest was Dennis Woodyard, who worked on some of my favorite series besides Gargoyles, such as Exo-Squad (he designed the Neo Lord, among others) and Men in Black. He had much to say, including how Exo-Squad would make a great CGI series (tech looks better in CGI), favorite anime series, tips for industry-aiming hopefuls at the table, and life in Korea and Tokyo. Dinner itself was OK, about what I've come to expect from Gathering banquets. (I'm still curious what that yellow mushy stuff was.)

I looped back to my room, and then returned to wait on the Masquerade. I had a nice chat with Darrell, an archivist at Disney, and I tried to explain as much as I could about the fandom and prior Gatherings. We also gabbed about some of the more unusual Gargoyles merchandise, comparing our respective collections. I also chatted with Aaron and Fan. We also started to get some curious visitors from the nearby wedding party; one woman asked me something about what I knew about the distant past or dawn of time or somesuch. (I still have no idea what she was talking about, or who she thought I was. If she was drunk, I suppose it doesn't matter.)

Terrific costumes at the Masquerade this year, as well as the usual antics. My personal picks were the kid dressed as Lexington and Puck- although I think Christine and Tim Morgan as Brendan and Margot, or Greg Bishansky as Xanatos, should have also participated! After that, I wandered, chatted with people I knew and tried to be friendly towards those standing alone (and I sincerely hope I didn't come across as creepy for doing so).

As promised, the Blue Mug-a-Guest was reconvened, with Greg Weisman, Thom Adcox, and a bit later, Michael Reaves. Revelations included the fact that Elisa was not a virgin when she met Goliath (although she hadn't had many sexual partners, being very careful); that Greg was rethinking gargoyle facial hair after seeing Revel's cool pic of a bearded Thailog; and that Broadway and Angela had been intimate before the end of 1996. Michael Reaves revealed that the three stories that inspired him to become a writer were an episode of I Spy written by Robert Culp, "City on the Edge of Forever" from Star Trek, and "Demon with a Glass Hand" from The Outer Limits. He also said he'd like to write a Demona mini-series for SLG (which I'd like to see, certainly). Greg and Michael discussed their work on the Gargoyles live-action film, and they concluded that 1) Touchstone liked the name, but weren't interested in the show itself and 2) they were only on the project due to a specific guy, which was confirmed when they were dropped a few days after he left. For the comic, Greg plans to have Arthur and Griff show up, and when the day arrives in the comic's timeline, he plans to tackle the difficult task of a 9-11 story. Greg also noted that he hopes- with help- to get Ask Greg caught up to the present by G2K7. After Blue Mug was over, I (somewhat unclearly, I suspect) volunteered my services to help (since I'd worked on the FAQ that apparently no one reads).

June 26, 2006

The Time Travel panel was my first goal of the day. One of my favorite panels- even if it was technically stuff I was familiar with, Greg's presentation on it was the best part. Very conversational, I thought, and far less protesting than I expected. I followed that up with the RPG panel, which was barely attended, and basically became a chat between Tim Morgan and the three of us up front. I stayed in the room for the Collaborations and Shared Universes panel, which was also barely attended. It mostly focused on TGS, which allowed me to contribute more'n usual. After the Collaborations panel, I took the opportunity to talk briefly with Jerry, who I'd seen taking a large number of pictures during the con.

The Hosting A Gathering panel was useful (although I accidentally raised my hand when they were asking about first-time Gathering attendees- I thought they were asking about first visitors to SoCal). Ellen was clearly intent on hosting a Gathering in Chicago- good luck to her! Greg Weisman also commented that people whose pitches failed were too often just dropping them entirely, rather than trying againg the following year. It eventually changed into a discussion of how to spread the word about the con most efficiently. After I mentioned adding a Wikipedia entry (Greg Weisman can't edit Wikipedia for some reason), Guardian proposed an idea that I can't believe hadn't occurred to me before- a Gargoyles wiki! I did The Gargoyles Encyclopedia, I ran a general fictional wiki, but making a Gargoyles wiki hadn't once popped into my head. Now I intend to make one!

Closing Ceremonies was as usual, awards and applause and goodbyes. I signed up for G2K7 in Pigeon Forge, and chatted with Greg Bishansky. Most of us eventually formed into two large groups after that. One, with the con staff, Greg Weisman and others, went to eat one place and had a wild time (from what I hear). The other group, including me, Lynati, Mara, Aaron, Denis, Revel, Spacebabie, Jade Griffin, Gside and others, ate at the food court at the nearby mall. Mara, Denis, one other fellow and I exchanged retail horror stories and some political views at length. When we were all done, we split up- a few decided to walk the mall, while the rest (those I named plus two) headed back to Aaron, Revel, Spacebabie and Mara's hotel room. We basically spent the rest of the night chatting on everything (the main topics being driven by Jade Griffin, Revel and Aaron; others and I talked less). Jade Griffin mentioned putting together a Gathering scrapbook, leading to some reminiscing. We were later joined by others, including Leo. When Jade Griffin learned I was also taking a shuttle to LAX the next morning, we arranged to go on the same trip (splitting the fee and getting some company at the same time). Eventually, Revel et al had to get ready for tomorrow, so the rest of us left.

June 27, 2006

Met Jade Griffin in the lobby and checked out from the hotel. We spent the time waiting for the shuttle chatting with each other and Greg Bishansky about the convention and Gargoyles topics, among other things. Gside stopped by and offered us a free breakfast through some coupon, but we unfortunately couldn't take him up on it. I also had the chance to say goodbye to Garrett, Ed and Leo. The shuttle arrived a bit late, but nothing problematic. En route in the shuttle, Jade Griffin and I chatted about Gargoyles, Gatherings, and our jobs. When she was dropped off, she hugged me goodbye, which I reciprocated rather awkwardly (I don't hug a lot, nothing personal).

Getting through LAX's security line was hellish, and it didn't help that- due to the shuttle picking up other passengers along the way- we arrived rather late. I managed to get to my terminal with barely enough time to grab and devour lunch. On my plane to Dallas, I discovered- to my surprise- that two other Gathering attendees, King Cobra and VidTheKid (alas, I forgot their real names) were sitting behind me! Talking on the plane was kind of difficult (for me, anyway), although we did speak a little. After landing in Dallas, we had a quick dinner at a Pizza Hut knock-off, before we parted ways.

(Largely uninteresting (except to me!) return stuff snipped.)