Fan Expo Anaheim has finished with many special guests It is interesting to see Fan Expo, conventions across the country and from Canada, also having a number of creators connected to their circuit. They have a wider base of fans since there are many cities. I think the last one I attended in Anaheim was Wizard World Anaheim in 2011. Wizard World was brought into Fan Expo in 2021. They also run Vid Con which had its promotion all over the Anaheim Convention Center. VidCon opens July 8-10th. The Fan Expo Anaheim had the special edition naming. I don’t know if this means it will return with Wonder Con also taking place at the convention center.
Strange policies for the con, I had a three day ticket, but couldn’t get a refund since there was only a period about a week before the con when refunds were accepted. So don’t pre-buy tickets, get them at the door. The other part was the badge, once you get your badge, you had to enter your information through the QR code. From what I saw, it was only to scan the badge on entry, maybe it is to track you, no giveaways with the QR code. The convention took place in Hall D with artists, vendors, and stages. The autograph area was located in Hall E, which is usually a place for tickets and a waiting area for panels. The artist’s alley was extensive. Tables against the left wall to the end of the hall, curving in a reverse L, then also a row of tables to the right past the area for vendors. Then, a series of tables between them.
The best part was the grouping of artists like the Batman: The Animated Series together, I didn’t see any map that lists individual artists, so missed a few. The first artist I met was Carl Potts, I was interested in his work on Alien Legion, one of my favorite sci fi comic books. Nomad Squad is made up of misfits from different planets like the French Foreign Legion. They are sent on deadly missions with no hope of rescue! One of the standouts for me was Jugger Grimrod, a ruthless soldier. Potts worked on the screenplay and the film is in development at Warner Bros. The other title Potts worked on was writing and providing layouts for Punisher War Journal with Jim Lee drawing finished art. Next, almost in contrast was Bill Morrison, artist known as co-founder for Bongo Comics that produced Simpsons comics.
My favorite was his own comic book creation, Roswell, Little Green Man, it had a small alien survivor of the crash joined by a beautiful scientist, Julienne Fryes, and a cowboy on a mutated rabbit, funny adventures! He is currently reading the Perry Mason novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. One of the new artists I met was Crystal Sully, a fantasy artist who worked for a number of game companies; Magic the Gathering, Critical Role, and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Check out her website: https://www.crystalsully.com/ I think I remembered seeing her 2017 Kickstarter for her book, Untamed Beastiary, that she wrote and created art.
It came with a blue light pen that reveals the interior of a werewolf! Sully is currently reading the Silo series by Hugh Howey which will have season 3 on Apple TV on July 3rd. She also recommends the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey for middle school readers for some of the content. Lastly, Sully highly recommends Summer Dragon (2017) by Todd Lockwood. One of the vendors booth that I like was the Total Chaos collectible card game booth. It had a raffle wheel and I did get three promo cards. The game features the Flash Gordon Universe, which has the campy sci fi 1980 movie with autograph cards for Sam J. Jones, who was in the autograph area, and Melody Anderson. More info at: https://totalchaosthegame.com/
What interested me is that there is artwork from the classic newspaper strip by Alex Raymond and also current comic artists like Dan Panosian. There is also Echoes of the Multiverse with characters like Hercules, King Arthur, and Dracula! A Firefly wrapped truck was one of the vehicles with Jurassic Park jeeps, and the Scooby Doo Mystery Van. I also browsed the Weta Workshop booth which had the giant One Ring Fan Expo Exclusive for $169.99! Plus, t-shirts for the 25th annviersary of Lord of the Rings exclusive to the Fan Expo. I had tickets for two of the LoTR actors. At the autograph area, I first saw Rachel Pizzolato, cosplayer, fashion model, and co-host of MythBusters Jr. Her site is at: https://beautyandbrainswithatwist.com. She dressed as Wonder Woman for the Fan Expo.
Pizzolato is reading Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time (1988). For fiction, one of her favorites is the brilliant sci fi young adult novel, The Giver (1993) by Lois Lowrey. Also, the 2014 movie adaptation that stars Brenton Thwaites as Jonas, Taylor Swift plays Rosemary, and Meryl Streep is Chief Elder. I spoke with Lateef Crowder, stunt double Din Djarin in The Mandalorian and Grogu. He is currently reading Capoeira: Roots of the Dance-Fight Game (2002) by Nestor Capoeira. The other Mandalorian double was Brendan Wayne who counts two Mario Puzo novels that he has read, The Godfather (1969), adapted into the 1972 movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Also, The Sicilian (1984), a literary sequel to The Godfather which had a 1987 adaptation with the character names changed from the 1972 drama.
I was able to complete the Hobbit’s signing my copy of Lord of the Rings: Official Movie Guide (2001) by Brian Sibley. I just need the Elf to complete the Fellowship. The other actor was Sean Astin who signed the last photo of Rudy (1993) for me, a favorite movie. It was a little strange that the panels had gold and silver ticket levels, I have never paid to see a panel. Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd appeared for a final panel at the end of the con. At one point, they put on wigs and costumes to play other characters in the Rivendell council scene! It was great to see artists and actors at Fan Expo Anaheim Special Edition! Thanks to everyone who gave book suggestions and I hope this can get more readers!
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#ToddLockwood, #TotalChaos, #FlashGordonUniverse, #WetaWorkshop, #RachelPizzolato, #ABriefHistoryOfTime, #StephenHawking, #TheGiver, #LoisLowrey, #LateefCrowder, #TheMandalorianAndGrogu, #CapoeiraRootsOfTheDanceFightGame, #NestorCapoeira, #BrandanWayne, #TheGodfather, #TheSicilian, #MarioPuzo, #DominicMonaghan, #SeanAstin
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