This is second time we’ve attended the Dallas Comic Con and each year it continues to improve and keep getting better. Attendance was way up for this year’s convention, with over 15,000 in attendance (we hope success of The Avengers had something to do with it). The media guests this year were quite impressive and a big improvement over last year. This year’s guest included Stan Lee, Summer Glau, James Marsters, Adam West, Burt Ward and Patrick Stewart, who claimed that this was his first Texas convention.
While the programming wasn’t as big as it was at other cons, the panels we attended were entertaining and the highlight of our Dallas Comic Con experience. The Adam West and Burt Ward panel was the definite winner in terms of sheer awesomeness. Adam West was especially entertaining, making us wonder if he was in character as Mayor Adam West or if the Family Guy character is actually West through and through. It was hard to tell whether he was on some heavy medication or just started drinking early in day, either way it made for an entertaining show. West revealed some of the contents in his utility belt from his days as the Batman (the Bright Night, as he liked to call himself), which included peanut butter, jelly and, uh… condoms. As the Bright Night went on to say “You can never bee too careful, Robin.” He also joked that he continues to have conversations with the ghost of Cesar Romero (The Joker) and Frank Gorshin (The Riddler). The highlight of the panel was when a guest asked if he wished he could have worked with Elvis. West’s response was to the point: “That’s the dumbest question I’ve ever heard.” Ward, the former Boy Wonder, picked up the slack when the Caped Crusader had to sip from his Bat-Drink, and talked of his friendship with Bruce Lee.
The James Marsters panel while not as crazy as the Adam West and Burt Ward was just as fun to watch. We are huge fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Torchwood, so we enjoyed listening to him talk about the two series. He even sang a song of his new album for the crowd. Our favorite question he was asked was “Who did you enjoy kissing more on screen more Sarah Michelle Gellar, Juliet Landau or John Barrowman?” While he didn’t give an exact answer he did say John Barrowman was the man. Take from that what you will. Oddly enough, no one brought up Dragon Ball Evolution.
We were able to catch one final guest at the con, Mr. Kevin Conroy, another Batman but from the 90s animated series and our clear favorite in the role (even if he never put on tights, spandex or molded plastic to do it). Conroy, unlike most every other actor at the con, was handing out autographs, personalizing items and giving away photos for FREE. Now don’t get us wrong, we love Patrick Stewart and Stan Lee, but paying $60+ for an autograph is a bit much. We love it when cons bring in guests to do free autographs, and Mr. Conroy was a good sport about it. We waited about two hours in line, and in the brief minute we had in front of him he was very gracious though he did give us a look when we brought up Captain Sunshine, his character on the Venture Brothers.
The dealers room was also packed with a good mix of pop culture dealers and artists. We also got a kick out of the replica DeLorean from Back to the Future parked outside the convention center and the photo booth that would take a 360 degree picture of you, that was also quick enough to capture you in the air as well. We hope to see those things at future shows.
Dallas Comic Con continues to be one of our favorite events to attend every year. Each year the convention continues to grow and improve. Who knows maybe in a couple of years the DFW area will finally have a con that rivals the one out in San Diego.
For information on the Dallas Comic Con visit www.scifiexpo.com
