Friday, October 10, 2014

Adventures @ NYCC 2014: Day Two

Well, I had less fun today. A lot of it was timing . . . I gave my sketchbook to an artist, and he didn't come to Artist Alley until 1 p.m. For me, that meant a lot of wandering, killing time until he returned. I picked up a few odds and ends, but I kept looking at my phone, waiting for a call. Not a lot of fun, to be honest.

Also, there was the issue of timing. I had to bail out early because I wanted to get back home by 8, which I did. Problem was, I had to ignore the big-ticket panels, including Agents Of SHIELD and Archer, the latter panel I managed to get to last year. I think it would let out around 8:30, and it would take me forever to get back home. And it turned out that they handed out wristbands far ahead of time, so I would've been shut out anyway.

I did get to spend a few hours basking in Adult Swim goodness . . . they showcased Rick & Morty, Robot Chicken, and a show featuring Jack McBrayer and Triumph the Insult Comedy Dog. I am dead serious. It turns out that Jack and Robert Smiegel (Triumph's creator) have good chemistry together. Look at this clip from Conan which was screened at the panel:



Nice, right? Anyway, the plot has the pair being ex-stars from a Lassie-type show, reunited in California (even though the show is filmed in New York City). To add to the surreal atmosphere, the panel was moderated by Alan Colmes, best know as Sean Hannity's former punching bag.

The other panels (or is it the rest of the uber-panel?) was interesting. Rick and Morty is gearing up for its second season as caustically funny as the first. And I got to see the brains behind Robot Chicken for at least the third year in a row. It was pretty fun with the silly hats and occasional clips. Turns out they'll be doing another Christmas special, titled The Robot Chicken Lots Of Holidays But Don't Worry Christmas Is Still There Too So Pull The Stick Out Of Your Ass Fox News. For real. They were giving away trips to a nearby boat for the best questions. I got to the line too late . .  . I have no sense for those shorts of moments. I was going to ask what the darkest sketch in the history of the show was. The premise comes from this bit from the opening season:



Dark, right? I have a few ideas of what could supplant that, but I didn't get to the microphone in time. Oh, well . . . there's always e-mail.

Aside from the waiting and the panel, I didn't do much. I wound up going to a panel for Vertigo Comics, where I found that Gail Simone was going to be writing a book -- Clean Room -- where she shows off her dark side. Well . . . her darker side. And I got to thank Kurt Busiek for a great story in his creator-owned Vertigo book, Astro City.

Getting home was a hassle. First, I boarded a shuttle bus that was slowed by New York traffic. I took it to Penn Station, where I boarded an express train. I was going to switch to the local to get to the ferry station, but I didn't see any other trains running. At this point, I just wanted to get home, so I wound up taking an express bus to Staten Island, where I walked out of my way to get to my car. My pedometer reached 17,974. Judging from the blisters on my toes, I can believe it.

I have two more days. I'm sure I can make the best of them to have a good weekend.

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