Nathan Fillion at PhoenixComicon Part 2

I decided the biggest problem with this panel was I totally lost my ability to multi-task. I forgot to take pictures because I was totally engrossed in Nathan and the random bits of silliness.

There was some Firefly reminiscing and a lot of longing for a reboot. Nathan reminded everyone it’s been twelve years – hard to believe it's been that long. My favorite story was the pants splitting. Evidently, Captain Tightpants had a penchant for ripping his trousers during Firefly. Not that he needed to be doing anything in particular at the time just because he has a “Bootah!” his word, not mine.

Castle questions also peppered the hour. One was in regards to his favorite “Caskett” moment. It appears Nathan prefers some conflict to take place. He really liked when Demming was in play and Castle was both angry and frustrated with Beckett and the entire situation. Then the fan mentioned that hers was from “Still” when Gates told Beckett to just kiss the man. Nathan replied, “Oh that’s my favorite now too.”

Courtesy of ABC Studios

There were some questions about what he'd like to see on Castle, production questions and how he handles romantic scenes with Beckett. He reminded the audience that even though he plays the title character, he doesn’t run the show. (Another side note here since year seven is often tied to contracts, give the leads producer credit like Mark Harmon has on NCIS. Just saying.)

Nathan had some funny ideas about incorporating Alan Tudyk on a guest appearance as a cheap knock off of Castle and Beckett. I think that would be hysterical if Alan was a romance writer using a female nom de plume and he teamed up with Slaughter.

The most interesting aspects of the panel to me were Nathan’s personal stories. These gave the audience a little more insight into the man not just who he plays on TV. It made me like Nathan Fillion a lot more because honestly, the guy I know is Castle.

One fan asked him about if he had a need for speed and his reply was very wise. He likes his life a lot and considers it one in a million so to do something reckless and lay his bike down would be dumb. You get the feeling he knows exactly where he is and what he wants to do and now he has the power and the fan base to do it.

I wish I would’ve gotten to the Arizona State University presentation he did that night because when Nathan talks about gadgets and science he lights up like a kid. He would love it if the world ran on solar and wind power and I have to agree – cleaner product and renewable source. He only drives electric vehicles which brought up another a very cool item that circulated Twitter last week. Go check this out at Solar Roadways.

It’s fantastic and the funny part was these solar tiles will heat up and melt icy roadways. No more need of snow plows. After a pause Nathan looked carefully at us and had explain to Arizona natives what snow was – hysterical!

It was a great event and an awesome weekend and I really, really, really hope he comes back next year!

Nathan Fillion at PhoenixComicon Part 1

Can I just say I would love to be invited over to Nathan Fillion’s house for a barbeque some weekend? Once I got past the awkward speechlessness and staring I think it would be a great time. He tells great stories, gives people gifts and just seems like a guy you’d want to hang out with once you got past the awkward speechlessness and staring.

Saturday afternoon at Phoenix Comicon was beyond crowded. It was wall to wall people wearing Jayne hats and Firefly t-shirts competing with those of us wearing Castle shirts and Dr. Horrible costumes. We were a zillion sardines crammed into several hundred thousand square feet of space all vying for a choice spot when the panel started.

I am pretty sure there were at least four thousand people wedged in line outside the auditorium while another four thousand had already stake their claim to Nathan’s panel inside. My only complaint here was if the staff at Comicon was really going to enforce their rule of everyone must exist at the end of each panel then they needed to put bodies in the room to make sure that happened. There were probably two thousand people in line behind us that didn’t get in but stood in line over an hour anyway. Just a thought for next year if you can coerce Mr. Fillion to come back – have two panels and put them on different days.

We got two seats in the nose bleed section on an end but were happy to have them. The auditorium has great audio and video screens everywhere so there was still a great view regardless. The panel started at 4:30 and it was the fastest hour in my life. The man is charming, funny and handles an audience deftly.

After the cheers and poses upon his entrance Nathan made the obligatory remarks about how hot Arizona is in the summer. For those that have never been here, imagine putting your head inside a convection oven. It’s hot. Nathan commented about how bright it was outside and that he suffered from Phoenician blindness. It’s true that effect does occur – the sun goes right through your eyes and seers parts of your brain.

Then, he took questions from the audience for the rest of the panel. When he’d answered the first fan’s question he gave her a watch. Everyone was stunned and there was instant “aww” factor until after the next question and there was a new watch on his wrist. We were all so mesmerized by him speaking we didn’t notice he’d slipped another watch on. I think he gave away probably twelve or fifteen watches and then moved onto the envelope they came in and the water bottles on the table.

One of the fans who asked a question was wearing a salt blaster with her costume and this turned into a story involving wasps at a barbeque and Nathan’s addiction to gadgets. Evidently, this gun shoots salt at bugs but when Nathan shot it at the wasps one of the bugs flew up the shorts of a friend’s dad. Can’t imagine the wasp was too pleased by that bit of business.

Phoenix Comicon Days 2 & 3

Costumes large and small, some bare nearly all, wind their way through downtown Phoenix on their trek into the convention center where Phoenix Comicon has taken over. I can’t even begin to tell you how many awesome, freaky, weird and wonderful people passed by and all were willing to snap into character and strike a pose for us.

For the budding cosplayer, there were wonderful panels, vendors of the most intricate wares and of course the opportunity to be a rockstar as you wander through the con with your friends unleashing your inner superhero or working your divaliciousness.

If you opt in for a Photo Op, the lines move fast and the people working PhoenixComicon have it down to a science. I thought for sure we were going to miss the cutoff but it was smooth as silk.  

Friday it was still pretty easy to maneuver the massive venue – I’m still not sure we saw everything but there’s always next year but we did get into a few actor panels and one of them was Mark Sheppard currently from Supernatural.

He slipped right into Crowley to tease and torment the audience. I was dying whenever anyone asked a question because he came down off the stage and slid right over to fans. It was wicked and wonderful watching Mr. Sheppard toy with the audience like a cat playing with a mouse.

Probably my favorite part of the panel was when a fan argued that Crowley was a villain with him staunchly denying that declaration. I loved it because writers and really good actors know that the antagonist never thinks he’s the bad guy – that’s what makes them believable characters.

Phoenix Comicon Day 1

In the blistering desert sun over a period of four days, Phoenix Comicon takes over the valley and gives fans a seriously awesome time. If you have an opportunity to attend next year, I suggest you pack some sun screen and dive in because this is one amazing show.

Overwhelmed is a good word. For this girl, my head did not swivel quickly enough to catch all the mind blowing bits flying past faster than you can say “Wibbly, wobbly, timey wimey.” So many shiny pretty things to look at, experience, and just absorb at the Phoenix Comicon that it almost seems a shame not to have a hotel downtown where you could just walk back and forth whenever it suited you.

Yesterday, was opening day and it was well a lot bigger than I expected with a ton more participants who were all actively observing. It didn’t matter if you were Team Rocket or from Titanfall everyone was snapping photos and perusing the vendor’s wares. One of the great things here is fans are unique, different, amazing and all ages.

I found what I wanted right away which was a Castle shirt done by artist Jason Palmer.

There are so many events it is difficult to even organize them on paper let alone figure out where you need to be at what time. Add to that the Minecraft block party, the zombie walk – which I really wanted to see and so many other things it would have been nice to clone myself. There are crafting events to teach those willing how to make their own armor, costume on budget, do make up that would rival any zombie and then sell your idea on Kickstarter.

I was exhausted just after reading the program and then spent the rest of my time wandering about gazing longingly at lightsabers.