Comic Con Day 2

I got up bright and early on Saturday, thinking the con started at 9am. Checking the site, I discovered it didn’t start until 10am, so I had time to make my usual rounds of the internet before I left.

Unusually for me, I managed to catch the train I was aiming for, and got there about 15 minutes before the exhibit halls opened. There was already a line at the professional entrance, but I figured it would be shorter than the line for the general public. The next 15 minutes were spent people watching and twittering.

I started at Penguin, since that was where Francine from the Voracious Reader said she’d gotten the ARC of the sequel to Graceling, but they claimed to have no knowledge of the book. After that I wandered a bit, collecting more giveaways for our teen programs.

I’d meant to bring along one of my Sixth Doctor DVDs for Colin Baker to sign, but forgot, so when I reached the Doctor Who Store booth, I ended up buying two of my favourite Big Finish Audios (one 6th Doctor and one 7th) and getting on line to get the former signed. I was impressed by the line, since there hadn’t been much in the way of advertisement that he was there. And it was rather nice listening to people suddenly realise he was there and signing stuff. I did some more twittering and people watching and eventually I got my CD signed and a handshake. A little more wandering and a quick lunch (at the next table over was a Deadpool with bunny slippers and an excellent Elektra), and then off to find the first panel I wanted to see.

This was the SF/Fantasy Authors Roundtable. There was a line, the panel was cramped and they put too many people on it, so they barely skimmed the surface of the discussion. But it was fun watching Tamora Pierce’s reactions to certain things, and there were two authors on there that I might try reading.

Another pass round the exhibit hall left me overwhelmed, so I went out in the hallway to knit and people watch. It turned out to be a good place to admire costumes from, and I could see one of the screens in the food court below which startled me by showing a Torchwood trailer.

About 45 minutes before the Torchwood panel I decided I better walk over and get a place on line. When I got there the line had made three turns already, but judging by the size of the room, I wasn’t terribly worried about getting a seat. Note that the following bit contains spoilers for Torchwood series 2 and Doctor Who series 4 (the previous series of each show).

The next bit is cobbled together from my twitter comments. I’m going into a little more detail by request.

For those of you who don’t know, they’re doing a short, five episode series this year that will be shown roughly simultaneously on the BBC and on BBC America. They’re calling it Torchwood: Children of Earth.

I didn’t see anyone I knew, so I just found a seat and settled down. I took one or two pictures, which I’ll try to post tomorrow.

First they showed the trailer. I’d seen it online (and on the video screen in the food court), and even seeing it again, I didn’t find it terribly coherent, but ymmv. It’s below if you want to see it.

Next they showed some prerecorded soundbites from the cast, using lots of buzzwords and saying almost nothing. I did cheer when I heard there would be more Rhys this series.

Then they let real people up on the stage. For those of you who don’t watch Torchwood, they had Euros Lyn (director of the series and of some upcoming Doctor Who episodes) and Eve Myles (who plays Gwen Cooper, former PC – police constable and current member of the Torchwood team, and whose name I misspelled as Miles throughout my tweeting).

The first bit of introduction just said something vague about the past affecting the future and the future affecting the past. Or something like that. I think they’re trying not to reveal too much about the series by saying nothing.

They alternately said that they’d be dealing with the loss of Tosh and Owen and that they had dealt with it in the Doctor Who series finale and in the audio play that they did last year. They were very specific that this was a new story though.

And here is where I prove to be a bad note-taker. I wasn’t making notes about things I already knew, so there are gaps. Except that I did note that John Barrowman (Jack Harkness on the show) farts a lot on set, which I did know – or at least it’s the sort of thing I’d expect of him.

Mostly it was questions from the audience. They did establish that the weevil was on vacation for the series. And I don’t think my favourite question was answered (possibly because it went over the heads of both panelists). Someone who I know from DWNY asked whether Mr. Frobisher’s secrets involved the word Whifferdill.

I noted here that Eve Myles was very cute when she answered questions and was making adorable facial expressions. I’ve never been a great fan of Gwen Cooper, but I really liked her enthusiasm.

More bits about the series. The story is dark, but we see a lighter side of the characters.

Someone asked Eve what it was like to kiss a girl. I was a bit bewildered as to why this was significant.

I was very happy to hear that PC Andy will be back this series and might even have more to do.

A male fan said he’d turn gay for Jack. Eve’s reply was that she’d turn gay for Jack too. Funny but not terribly logical.

Someone else pointed out that Gwen and Ianto had both kissed Jack and asked when Gwen and Ianto would get to kiss. Eve seemed to approve of this sentiment.

They showed the trailer again at the end, and then they said people could come up and take pictures, so I snapped a few more and left the hall.

I went up, intending to have another turn round the exhibit hall, but decided I was too tired. I took advantage of the shuttle bus back to Grand Central and headed home.

Sunday I had to work, so I didn’t go in. I was disappointed that I missed some of the TV panels and Mo Willems, but it couldn’t be helped.

Monday night I went back into the city for the DWNY pub meet for the month. We normally have them on Wednesday, but this had been moved up to accomidate some special guests. We had Paul Cornell (who wrote a number of Doctor Who novels and episodes) and Tony Lee (author of the current Doctor Who comic book series). The pub was packed but they both turned out to be delightful and I also ended up in a conversation with Paul’s wife for a while.

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