Indiana Comic Con Diary, Day 3
Last year’s Indiana Comic Con was both a wild success and a debacle. The Con organizers, expecting a modest crowd, only secured two small halls for their convention. Indianapolis, hungry for nerdy Comic Con goodness, swarmed to the Indiana Convention Center and created gridlock that led to thousands of people being turned away from the con. Immediately after the end of the Con, organizers laid out plans for this year: a vastly expanded space along with brand new guests, including the legendary Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), the up-and-coming Aquaman (Jason Momoa), and others. Film Yappers Joe Shearer, Ben Johnson and Evan Dossey invaded the Con for 2015. Here are their thoughts on Comic Con.
Ben: On the mend after illness knocked me out of Day 2 of Indiana Comic Con, I was determined to get back to work and catch some of the biggest names available at Day 3.
First up was a Q&A panel with comics legend Jim Steranko. Steranko is a comic-book writer and artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' "Strange Tales" title in the 1960s, especially for his innovative work on the "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." feature (Back in those days, half of "Strange Tales" was Dr. Strange and the other half was Nick Fury). Coming from a background as a graphic artist working in the advertising world, Steranko brought many techniques never before seen in the pages of comic books, including pop art, psychedelia and surrealism. His style broke out of the conventional strictures of two-dimensional panels and possessed the bold, dynamic energy of '60s pop culture.
Steranko himself is quite the colorful character, with a larger-than-life background that includes time as an illusionist, magician, escape artist (Jim Steranko is the real-life inspiration for the superhero Mister Miracle, one of Jack "The King" Kirby's most colorful and enduring creations), ad man, publisher and Hollywood conceptual artist. He held court in Room 140 at the Indiana Convention Center for nearly an hour, and The Film Yap was there to bring you the full audio.
Click below for Part 1 as Jim Steranko describes his many battles with Stan Lee while working at Marvel in the '60s:
[audio mp3="http://www.thefilmyap.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/SterankoQA-p1.mp3"][/audio]
Click below for Part 2 as Jim Steranko gives Stan Lee an ultimatum, as well as Jim's stories of his adventures on (and off) the road as a motorcycle enthusiast:
[audio mp3="http://www.thefilmyap.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/SterankoQA-p2.mp3"][/audio]
Next up was the "Game of Thrones" Q&A with Rory McCann (The Hound) and Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo on "GoT" and the newly cast Aquaman for the DC Cinematic Universe). Despite the savage, tough-guy characters they play onscreen, both McCann and Momoa are intelligent, engaging and witty in real life. I was already impressed with McCann, having heard him here on Friday, but on Sunday, Momoa really impressed me with his charisma and how much the crowd loves him. I also have it on good authority from several female friends that Momoa is a sexy, sexy man. He did not seem to disappoint in his appearance at Indiana Comic Con. Check out the links below for full audio:
Warning: The following clips contain SPOILERS for "Game of Thrones" (specifically Seasons 1 & 4) and the content is NSFW due to language and, well, general discussion of "Game of Thrones" subject matter ...
In Part 1, the Hound and Khal Drogo both nurse a whiskey hangover, Momoa addresses whether he has done any filming as Aquaman, and the duo discusses how they would love to do comedy.
[audio mp3="http://www.thefilmyap.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/GOTQA-p1.mp3"][/audio]
In Part 2, Jason Momoa speaks Dothraki, bargains with a fan to not say the "B" word ("Baywatch"), responds to critics of Aquaman and reveals what advice Drogo would give Daenerys from beyond the grave.
[audio mp3="http://www.thefilmyap.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/GOTQA-p2.mp3"][/audio]
In Part 3, a fan gives McCann a fashion critique, Momoa plays the ukulele and Rory reveals the secret language he shares with his sister.
[audio mp3="http://www.thefilmyap.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/GOTQA-p3.mp3"][/audio]
Overall, it was an incredibly entertaining way to wrap up a great weekend at Indiana Comic Con! In my opinion, 2015 was a big success for this convention, and I'm looking forward to next year already.