Marvelman writes...

What exactly is a blue mug convention? This one really has me scratching my head.

Tengu Madame writes...

This question isn't for Greg, but if he can please pass this on to Edmund Tsabard?

Oh, Edmund... when will you bring back Last Tengu In Paris?

Eman writes...

How much thought do you put into the kind of details you talked about at the Blue Mug 2014 panel?

Zergrinch writes...

Hypothetical question.

ALL of your past and present projects have been renewed, and you have been asked to help them all. Which one would you prioritize, and why?

Drenton writes...

Wondering if that Tsabard guy ( ;) ) has notified you of when blue mug productions might make a return?

EXALT writes...

At the Blue Mug Convergence 2014 Panel, you have stated that Mac and Demona had lots of sex while they were engaged. Didn't you previously state that "Dominique" had presented herself as a good catholic french girl, presumably to avoid having sex with him?
One of the two was a mistake, you changed your mind, or what?
(By the way, I must admit that, if you did change your mind, I liked the original version more.)

Derek writes...

I was looking up the Marvel Gargoyles comic. If you wanted to use to use any of those characters are they considered marvel characters or Gargoyle characters? It's probably a non issue but I am curious. Venus seems like such an obvious character to deserve a parody, although Delilah probably already fills that role.

lamberto writes...

hi, greg.

i remember reading here that you're a fan of dexter. from what i know of your writing career (gleaned online), you've written mostly pg-13 to g-rated material. i was just curious if you've ever written hard-r type stuff whether for fun or for work. if the opportunity presented itself, would you write a dexter: early cuts short? thanks.

Phoenician writes...

Saturday

Well, here’s where the crazy fun begins, no doubt about that. After breakfast with Goose and his family, we hightailed it back to the hotel in hopes of signing up for one of the Mug-A-Guests that morning. (Can’t really remember what was played on the way there, music-wise, so I guess it couldn’t have been too good. I do remember the two of us listening to the Kevin & Bean show, where they talked about OCD . . . odd) We had just barely missed Keith David but we manage to sign up or Josh Keaton with room to spare. While waiting for his arrival, we chatted with some of the fans nearby the Registration and Dealer Room, including, but not limited to Blaise and Abby.

Josh came just as he was supposed to, and after him grabbing some ice water, we headed inside the suite with a group of 9ish, (2 more would come after trying out for the Radio Play, I believe). Everyone sitting at a table, I suddenly understood the difference of intimate setting that I couldn’t imagine the day before (hey, Thom’s just a really personal guy I guess). In short (too late!) Josh talked about how he got into the business, how he got involved with Spectacular Spidey, how he was a dork in high school, and how he knew about Spider-Man all his life. One of the questions I asked regarded who he enjoyed villain-wise, from the point of view as a comic-fan that he is, and from a behind-the-scenes who he liked to work with-point-of-view. I was giddy upon hearing him mention his excitement regarding the show’s Tombstone, who he said, ‘Would kick Kingpin’s a**’ . . . hee hee. He also mentioned having a great time working with John DiMaggio. He went on to say that he would love to see the Spot one day on the show, simply because â€" given the show’s animation â€" it would be awesome. We soon passed the allotted time, which meant we kept on talking till the kicked us out to bring in Keith David and his muggers. d:

After the Mug-A-Guest with Josh, while Goose went to go see Crispin Freeman’s Anime Mythology while I went to go find the audition line for the Radio Play. Having never been to a Gathering, I knew I at least wanted to try out, even though I haven’t been in a production of anything since Goldilocks and the Three Bears in Kindergarten (and I was the ‘Baby Bear’ Bed . . . seriously). As I got in line, I was behind the fellow that would eventually rock as Carnage (I believe he auditioned with a Green Goblin script), while I took a gander at a Harry Osborn bit. Again, no experience of acting AT ALL . . . but it’s my first (and by default, last) Gathering so yippee kai yay, I even attempted a shriek . . . sooo didn’t sound pretty.

As I left the audition, feeling (at the least) great for the fact that I at least gave it a shot, I discovered the line for Marina Sirtis. Upon realizing it was for MARINA SIRTIS, I popped right in line, much to the amusement of those already in line. I was soon joined in the line by none other than Gorebash, who was awesome to meet in person. Marina was an absolutely wonderful, signing by Season II, Volume I DVD of Gargoyles (the Demona side). I would later thoroughly enjoy her participation in the Gargoyles Voice Actors Panel (especially her chucking Jolly Ranchers at both Greg Weisman and Jamie Thompson) d:

After getting Marina’s autograph, I made my way to what was left of Crispin’ presentation . . . and from what I saw, the guy REALLY REALLY knows his stuff. If ever a fan were to think that the pros think we are all dorks . . . it’s almost certain that these pros are dorks, geeks, and gamers as well.

As Crispin ended, I joined the front of the room where the Gargoyles Voice Acting Panel would take place â€" oh what fun indeed. Jamie Thompson, Thom, Keith, Marina, and Greg were all a delight and hilarious to see in person . . . though it was one small sample of the original cast, its clear that these folks had fun working on the set. The same thing was obvious as we then saw the Voice Acting Panel for Spectacular Spider-Man . . . but this time with a fair majority of the main cast. Laughter was in no short supply during these panels, and I was happy to see them. Afters, when we were being kicked out for the Radio Play Rehearsals, I asked Steve Blum to sign the glider of my Green Goblin action figure . . . which I think gave him a smile, seeing a toy version of his character d:

As we waited for the Radio Play to begin an hour and a half later, I thought to go outside for a bit while Goose went to see the special screening o Michael Reeve’s special Star Trek screening. Instead, I found myself discovering the Con Suite in the Boarding Room, whereupon I met two fellow fans also from the Phoenix area (we actually don’t live that far from each other) and VickyUK again. During this time we talked to fellow fan and how he discovered the fandom and how he had never realized its decent size and longevity. I wasn’t a big event, but for me, the chance to actually chat with people who actually KNOW about the show . . . as much as I do . . . this was just so cool.

I soon found my way to the Dealer’s Room, voting on the various pieces . . . and shortly afterward I walked toward to see what was left of the Star Trek screening . I may not have seen one episode of Star Trek, let alone a Trekkie, but there were definitely some fun moments that reminded me of Gargoyles (can’t remember any at the moment, but there was this ‘vibe’ about it, which is a total cop out I guess).
Caught up with Goose and the two of us got in line for the Radio Play, which was just starting to get big . . . we were in a lucky spot . . . we managed to get in the second row :)

The Radio Play was . . . well, as Greg put it . . . a work of three days, which means the man’s a GENIUS. It was awesome to see it pick up right where both series left off, from the last issue of Clan Building for Gargoyles, to the finale of the second season of Spidey. For fans of both shows, this was the Radio Play to see . . . it offered no major conclusion to either series, but it satisified that desperate wish most fans currently have about both . . . which is that they want MORE STORIES. It was absolutely spectacularly epicly awesome . . . what with the various insidejokes, both the on and off screen type, and the huge ensemble from BOTH series really gave any fan something to enjoy, because this monster of a play had something for everyone. Like Goliath/Elisa? Check. Enjoy Demona scheming? Check. Love Spidey/Goblin quips? Check. Enjoy the various incarnations of the Sinister Six? Check. Like the Liz/Pete/MJ/Gwen/Harry hurricane of teen romance? Check. Like the gangster stories . . . be it Big Man/Manfredis or the Brod/Dracons? Check. Love making and hearing grunts, wails, groans, shrieks, and roars? Check. Want to hear iconic lines from either series? Check-a-roo. Enjoy breaking the 4th Wall? Check. Enjoy double entendres AS WELL AS plain-out entendres? A definite Check there, good sirs and ladies. Like hearing characters interact with characters by the SAME voice actor? Check! (Thom’s Lex line of ‘what an annoying voice’ was flat-out hilarious) Want more Hormunculi? Check to the 5th power! You REALLY want Carnage? CHECK! Enjoy magic? Check Check, and a very almost-sacriligious-but-very-awesome CHECK (Seeing Marina/Demona ‘lick’ her own oozing blood . . . man, she may not have done Demona in over a decade, but she’s STILL got it)!!!

And unsurprisingly, that’s just the tip of the iceberg . . . flat out amazing. The entire Gathering players were awesome . . . special nod to Blaise and his Zafiro (seriously, a freakin’ HUGE cast). It was absolutely wonderful to hear the talent of Marina, Darran, Phil LaMar, Steve Blum, Keith David, and other in person. I can’t possibly imagine where I’ll have this opportunity again. So. Definitely. Worth. It.

An inexperienced mind would see a script for this play and think it was a stack of five copies . . . this thing was HUGE, and it went by SO fast. Just. Awesome.
After the Radio Play, I found Josh Keaton and asked him to sign my season one DVD of Spidey. It was soon joined by Crispin’s, Daran Norris’s, Debra Strang’s, James Arnold Taylor’s, Eric Vesbin’s, Thom Adcox’s (who also signed by Clan Building Volume II), Ben Diskin’s, and even Greg B’s . . . oh come on, he was the worst chauffeur! Wendy Pini would sign the first page to Clan Building Volume I, where her introduction rests d:

With the Radio Play over, Goose and I were hungry indeed, so we went out to the City Walk and saw a bit of the sites . . . definitely awesome to do, as I’ve never been near Universal Studios before. We eventually stopped to eat at the Hard Rock Café . . . my first time at a HRC, in fact . . . despite the long wait for TWO people, the food was good enough to say it worthwhile and we then hightailed it back to see if we got back in time for the Blue Mug Session.

Not sure what I can say about it, but it was fun indeed to be there during the time we were there, we just got in right after Thom dropped by with his little pooch, not to mention some snacks in tow . . . I myself gnarked a Ding Dong as I listened to questions regarding to Gargoyles and even some Spidey. Highlight definitely involved . . . well, let’s just say ‘Lexington’ and be done with it. d:

Unfortunately, we had to head back to my pal’s place . . . he doesn’t live really close, and we weren’t sure on the traffic sitch, so we left before anything regarding the ‘Last Tengu’ was brought up. Oh well. It was definitely fun what we saw. I would of course like to have stuck around longer, but hey, I did have to write all this soon after . . . how would it be remembered?? d:

Plus, Sunday looks to be even MORE awesome.

KingCobra_582 writes...

My Gathering 2008 Con Journal, the conclusion.

SUNDAY, JUNE 29TH

Woke up. Showered. Went to the comic book panel, hosted by Greg W. and Karine. A fun way to kill an hour. Didn't really get anything out of it, but it was pleasant.

Killed some time at the library.

Returned to the hotel a little while and headed upstairs for the 'Spectacular Spider-man' panel hosted by Greg w., Jennifer Anderson, and Thom Adcox. Asked Greg (no pun intended) a couple of questions ('Will Harry return in season 2?' 'Will we have Spiderman DVD season sets, like Gargoyles?') but mostly I just sat and listened. There will be DVD sets coming soon, but not as a season compilation. More like those 3 episodes per volume kind that I generally tend to associate with Anime. Not that Spiderman is anime, of course.

Though now I'm pondering what an anime version of Spiderman would be like. Damn you, overactive imagination!

Didn't stick around for the live auction, but I returned to the Bonbright Room at 3:30 for Autograph Signing (I'd figured there would have been a anthology signing session. Boy, was I dead wrong.) and did... nothing. Boredom the entire time. Only one person had asked for my autograph, and that was in line for Radio Play auditions. And it was more of a 'you're here and I have my anthology, so I might as well ask' thing then a 'Thanks for writing this submission! You rock and I want your John Hancock!'

Eh, no sense complaining.

Joined A Fan, Ranmaru, Azariel (sp?), VidTheKid, and those 2 girls with the camera (the ones filming a documentary about the con) for the 8th annual Anti-banquet at Giordano's. Pizza was delicious, but rich, so I got full fast. Halloweenking had come in and asked if he could join us, and we said sure, but apparently the waitress had seated him elsewhere. Oh, well. If I ever go to Chicago again, for whatever reason, I definitely need to eat at Giordano's again. That pizza was like heaven. Not too saucy, delicious pepperoni, and the crust was flaky in a exquisite crunchy sort of way. Big thumbs up to them. If they have Giordano's in L.A., (though I somehow doubt they do) Greg, you should definitely go there. Assuming you like pizza.

Rained heavily. Again. What was it with Illinois weather??

The 4 of us (minus Hal and the girls) went back to the Orrington. Ranmaru and Azariel changed into their costumes in our room, and we headed down to Masquerade.

The Masquerade. Lots of picture taking. Got one with Ranmaru and Azariel, just b/c I hadn't had any taken of me yet and I wanted at least one. Kudos to Flanker for playing Odin and to the guy (girl?) who played 'The Gargoyle Tourist'. Kind of looked it could've been Brooklyn's grandma or something. :P

Lot of dancing afterwards, though I'm not enthused in that activity, so I just watched a lot. Wandered around the room in boredom and hoping to mingle. Eventually got caught up in Jeb's 'Mugen' video game he had set up in one corner of the room. I played such characters as Piccolo from DBZ, Naruto from, well, Naruto, Sonic The Hedgehog, and even Fat Albert. A decent sized crowd remained constant, and everyone alternated between watching participating.

I eventually started having trouble keeping my eyes open, so I called it a night and sluggishly dragged my tired ass upstairs. Comfy bed, how I have missed you.

MONDAY, JUNE 30TH

The last day was here. Fast and bittersweet. Some things never change. At least I've made a few new friends. :)

On my way out of the hotel, Thom got on my elevator and we were so busy talking that I forgot to pay attention what floor I got off at, and I couldn't get back on. My response? 'Oh, s**t.'

After all that, my first panel of the day (because it snatched my curiosity) was the 'Blue Mug Productions' thing, at 11:30, in the Bonbright Room, (as I write this, I'm suddenly thinking of Clue, for some reason. :P) hosted by Greg W., Jen Anderson, Karine, and Mara Cordova. They showed off some artwork, gave some character descriptions for their first online comic, plugged their new website (www.BlueMugProductions), and answered some questions. Sounded intriguing, and I approve. Trouble is, I kept thinking to myself (God, I must sound so cheap) that due to finances and my not splurging too often, I'd probably just look at the free stuff.

Closing Ceremonies. What I wouldn't have given for the con to have gone a little slower. Like I said, bittersweet. Some plugging for next year's con (back in L.A. so I am definitely gonna be there!) and the usual handshakes. Saluted Thom.

And, with that, the con was over.

For another year.

VidTheKid and I, having decided to skip the Navy Pier trip (how did that go BTW?), left right afterwards, the three of us having already packed up and checked out. Dropped A Fan off at O'Hare and drove home, stopping once for gas in Indiana. Had lunch at a Steak N' Shake (another highly recommended restaurant, though service can be a bit slow, from experience) outside Lafayette. We were several miles down the freeway when I realized I'd left my hat there (Doh!), but we decided it wasn't worth it. Price of gas was/still is 3 times as much as I'd paid for that dumb cap.

Tried twice to watch 'Futurama' with commentary on the portable DVD player. The first time the car was moving so much that the disc was skipping. The second time we tried, VidTheKid couldn't hear the audio. We gave up.

We eventually hit 70-West and followed it onto state route 142, following it home. It was after 11:00 PM when we finally ended our journey.

Another year, another fun con.

Until G2009 in L.A., good luck.

I'll watch for Spiderman season 2.

Chip writes...

Review for Bad Guys #3: Estranged.

Ironically my store still hasn't gotten Issue #2: The Lost. Good thing I got a copy from another store.

I was hoping to find out what happened to Yama at the beginning of this issue, but no, just some cool panels of Robyn blowing stuff up. AWESOME!

Then we flashback, not to two months ago...but two weeks, some time has past. We see Yama and Dingo work well together...sort of, and Matrix makes a mini-Redemption Helecopter. His statement about Hunter being logical is ironic considering her EMOTIONAL trip down memory lane. Oddly enough...the artist in the background if front of Notre Dame looks just like a fanfic character of mine...weird.

I enjoyed more on the Canmore's past...it helped flesh them out and let me get to know them better. Also...give it up for Demona's first line in the comics...she's appeared before, but she never spoke till now.

On to NYC, and Dingo's gone and done his homework. *Pause for evil laugh*
Welcome to the Casablanca Hotel...I wonder if it's near the Hotel Cabal. Well...Sevarius explains how the Tasmanian Tiger got Thylacines...they were clones. And Sevarius didn't artificially age them because their coloring (as far as I could tell in black and white) was normal. So TT must have raised them from pups.

Bushido Concepts? That HAS to be Taro's company. Wonder what Vinnie's up to? I just realized...While we're at it what was Sevarius doing for Taro?!?! I can think of several possibilities and I don't like any of them.

And we get to see Yama in stone sleep for the first time in the comics. Robyn goes and sees her brothers (That hockey game made me laugh out loud in the comic shop, the storekeep stopped and asked what was so funny) Jason...who's definitely gotten himself some perspective...and Jon. Who's lost his mind, and disowned his family. I can see why the Monmouths and Castaways will still be fueding in the future. I just love that the Hunter...the mantle that was used for gargoyle genecide...now fights on the same side as gargoyles and even protects them. Poetic Justice.

More irony from Yama...if Jon had any idea who was at the other end of that radio. And Dingo was..."bored". That also made me laugh.

And Fang's assult on Hunter echoing Demona's attack on Robyn...that was just well done. I can't wait for Issue #4...I don't doubt it will leave me breathless. I also can't wait for Gargoyles #9 & 10. Especially 10! Greg Gular as guest artist WOO-WHO!!!

Peace,

Chip