ComicBooks, Convention Coverage

The Weekend at Raleigh GalaxyCon (2019)

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”26966″ img_size=”800×450″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]With the four day Raleigh GalaxyCon now in the rear-view mirror, there was a lot to take in. Number one, as compared to the Richmond version, this place was a madhouse. But only because of the number of people attending. I never heard an official attendance but to this writer’s count…it was a crapload. It required a bit of patience and in some cases, some contortionist skills. As per usual, people were very friendly and would talk to you readily. The Raleigh folks brought out their A Games when it came to their Cosplay.

The one thing you have to know going in, is that these “smaller” comic-cons are different than the huge National Conventions. Cons such as the recently completed SDCC or the upcoming NYCC are generally where current Film and TV stars and Movie Studios attend to promote and announce new projects. Meanwhile, great events like GalaxyCon give fans an opportunity to see stars from the recent past. When added to the current and past comic creators attending and mixed with wrestling stars from the past and the present, you have a pretty enjoyable event. Here were some of my highlights:

Panel: 80 Years of Batman – Neal Adams, Rafael Albuquerque, Tim Seeley, Kyle Higgins, and Peter Tomasi

They started out by introducing themselves and what their relationship was or is with Batman. I missed out on Peter Tomasi’s intro. He worked on BATMAN: DETECTIVE COMICS, BATMAN & ROBIN, and BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT. I also missed Kyle Higgins saying his name but the rest is there, including his announcement of a DC Dark Multi-Verse one-shot re-imagining of NIGHTFALL with Scott Snyder. When it got to Neal Adams, he introduced himself as Jim Lee…Stan Lee’s Brother. 😉 If you can’t be Neal Adams, Jim Lee isn’t a bad second choice. Of course EVERYONE knew who Neal Adams is.

Here are some of the things said during the panel:

Neal Adams: Some have said I saved Batman when I originally took him over. I didn’t. All
I did was bring back Jerry Robinson’s version.

Suckers

Warner Bros. requested for Neal Adams to redesign Robin’s Costume for film Batman and Robin. He tells them he will do it for $1000.00. He works on it and then they tell him they have asked 11 other people to design a costume as well. So he tells them his price just went up to $12,000. They of course balked, wondering why they should agree to it. He told them if they didn’t choose his, they wouldn’t owe him anything. “Suckers” (his quote). In the end, they paid him the $12,000.

Experiment, Don’t Change

Also from Neal Adams: Batman didn’t belong to him or any of the artists at the table. He was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, and belongs of course to DC. What he and other artists and writers do is experiment with the character. He always should and does snap back to who he is after that. If someone wants to make a major change to the character, they should create their OWN character. “Create Ratman and you can do whatever the hell you want with him.”

All of the creators agreed that in the Batman movies, there was never any problem with the actors playing Batman. The problem was the writing and how they portrayed the character. They thought that from Michael Keaton, through Ben Affleck that the actors were all good. Kyle Higgins said to not sleep on Robert Pattinson as Batman because of his time on Twilight. He can act his “ass off.”

Q&A George Takei

George, who was Sulu in the Original Series started off with his trademark “Oh My!” As well as he should because the room was packed with Star Trek fans. He started off right into the questions and was asked about Star Trek and his experience with Star Trek the Motion Picture, which is approaching its 40th Anniversary. He explained how the film was directed by Ray Wise so they were very excited about the movie. However they had issues with the special effects company which put the film over schedule and over budget. They ended up changing the FX company and completed the film. While it didn’t do as well as they had hoped, it did well enough to inspire Paramount to make The Wrath of Khan and continue on.

They Call Us Enemy

When he wasn’t talking Star Trek, he discussed his recent graphic novel telling the story of his internment as a five-year old during World War II: They called Us Enemy. It was the second time he has told the story as he had also starred in a broadway Musical about it called Allegiance. It was an uplifting 50 minutes and he was very passionate about his life and the things he was doing.

Q&A Jonathan Frakes

Jonathan was originally scheduled to do his Q&A on Friday. Because of a previous commitment, he had to reschedule for Sunday afternoon. Because of that, they had to use a smaller venue. It was packed to the walls. This is the power of Star Trek. Here are the highlights of that panel.

About the new show Picard:

He just filmed a piece with Patrick last week and next week he films with Marina Sirtis. He has already directed his two episodes of Picard and he believes that fans will not be disappointed in what they see.

Patrick Stewart is totally energized for the new show. He’s crushing it on this series. He’s just on fire. You know he is 78, and he is going to be carrying the show on his shoulders.”

He recalled that Star Trek TNG had to earn the trust and respect of long time Trekkies. He said that Star Trek Discovery had to overcome the same hurdles. But overall, fans seem very enthusiastic about Picard. Probably because of Patrick Stewart. In addition Frakes realized that acting is not like riding a bike. He knew that since he was acting with Patrick Stewart who is well…Patrick Stewart and Marina Sirtis who has been appearing in a play in England, he needed to up his game.

He said that there are more surprises with Picard to come but he cannot reveal them.

Star Trek, Fact or Fiction and Gargoyles

The rest of his time was spent answering questions about Star Trek:TNG and his other show Fact or Fiction and his voice work in Gargoyles. He said he would love for Gargoyles to be brought back. “It was a smart, funny, well done animated show. I’m not sure why it hasn’t been brought back.”

For Fact or Fiction, he told another Star Trek Story. He said when they set at their normal positions on the bridge, everyone was in a position to talk to each other…all except “big, stupid Worf.” He was set behind them and no one paid any attention to him. Finally, Michael Dorn had had enough of being ignored so he came in one day with an egg. He walked over to Patrick Stewart and cracked the egg on his head. The yolk poured down Patrick’s face. Fact or Fiction? The young girl he asked said fact…he laughed and said Good Answer! But nope, it was fiction.

Q-Pid

When asked about a difficult scene in Star Trek, he told a story about filming the Sherwood Forest scene in Season 4 Episode, “Q-Pid.” He had a fight with a stunt-man where Riker was dressed as Little John. They had rehearsed the scene with a wooden staff and a metal sword at half-speed. When the actual scene was supposed to be filmed they were supposed to go to a balsa staff and a rubber sword. Apparently, the stunt man never exchanged the metal sword for the rubber one. So when they did the scene, they did their rehearsed moves but the metal sword shattered his staff and cut Frakes face. Director Cliff Bole said they got what they needed scene wise so it was then OK to take Frakes to the hospital. It actually was one of those Medi-Quick style places. He lay on the gurney with blood on his face and still wearing his Little John costume with his pointy boots and the feathered hat. No one said a word. Such is life in Hollywood.

Battle Scene

He ended with a Patrick Stewart Story. During the making of the Next Generation, they would be on the Enterprise bridge and during the battle scenes they would be flopping around in their chairs. Most of them falling to the floor. But Patrick, whose chair was ergonomically designed for Patrick’s butt and the arm rests were designed just so was just shaking a little bit to the left and right. All the while telling Jonathan between each Jerking motion. Patrick: “Jonathan!” Shakes in his chair. “Jonathan!” Shakes in his chair. “Years in the Royal Shakespeare Company for THIS!”🖖🏻

Phantom Q&A with Billy Zane and Kristi Swanson

Billy Zane & Kristi Swanson
via GeekVibesNation

We then caught part of the Q&A with Billy Zane and Kristi Swanson about the 1996 film The Phantom. Zane and Swanson were very engaging as I was quite frankly surprised how many fans there were of the film. I watched it back in the day but I didn’t hardly remember a thing about it. Other than the hero ran around in purple. Although at least they spared him the striped underwear the original costume sported. Many fans came wearing the Phantom Skull ring, that I had completely forgotten about. Zane also mentioned his appearance in Back to the Future which I also didn’t remember. He was one of Biff’s toadies. I’ve really got to pay more attention…and perhaps invest in some memory enhancing drugs.

The Holy Grail

From there it was time for a trip to the main assembly area. This is where all the celebrities, creators, and vendors were staged. It was massively crowded, as one might expect. That didn’t stop the mission. Talk to a bunch of talented people and get a few autographs along the way. We talked to Jim Starlin, and Ron Lim, they of Thanos fame and got them to sign their book.

Next was the Holy Grail: Neal Adams. Neal had his own alcove for his Merchandise, as one can imagine for the two time Hall of Fame Artist. He signed his Batman Year One Book for me. Another one off the bucket list.

GalaxyCon Raleigh — Neal Adams – via Geek Vibes Nation

Batman by Neal Adams-via GeekVibesNation

I Want to Steal Your Wife

We finished up the day by getting a chance to meet Fabian Nicieza. He is the Co-Creator, along with Rob Liefeld of Deadpool and Domino. He is a very funny man and extremely nice to his fans. For us he did a small cartoon of Deadpool along with a touching caption: “I Want to Steal Your Wife.” How heartfelt, how warm….how DeadPool.

Of course, there IS a story behind it. He was talking to fans and when he got to us, he said he liked to speak his mind. I told him that he would get along well with “this one,” pointing toward my wife. He said, “You’re probably right. I’ll just divorce MY wife and marry yours. It will last about 6 months and then I will divorce her.” That is where this exchange comes in: Me: “I think you’re giving yourself credit if you think it would last that long.” Fabian: “That’s alright. All I can promise is I’ll give her the best 15 seconds of her life.” Me: “Well, How am I supposed to compete with THAT?!

The Benefits of the Smaller Comic Conventions

Overall it was a fun experience and I met a bunch of like minded people and spread the GeekVibeNation love everywhere I went. Well…I wore our shirt and handed out cards and talked about us to anyone who would listen. Wrestlers, Creators, Guests, Vendors, we were equal opportunity talkers.

Not everyone gets the chance to go to the really BIG comic cons. However, if you get the chance to go to some of the smaller ones, you should check them out. There are always great people to talk to and meet and best of all, no judgement because their just as Geek powered as you are. Thanks to the wonderful people of Raleigh and GalaxyCon for throwing a great Event. 👍🖖🏻

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Martin

Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.