Friday, January 20, 2012

Albuquerque Comic Con 2012 Photo Archive

If you have photos from the 2012 Albuquerque Comic Con and want to include them in our photo archive, email us at DisFanReview@Gmail.com or message us on Twitter or Facebook.





Thursday, January 19, 2012

ALBUQUERQUE COMIC CON 2012



Holy cow! Albuquerque Comic Con was quite a monster. Maybe not a massive 50 story beast kind of monster. But it was certainly a beast that nearly bested the Albuquerque's Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Friday was a pretty crazy start to the event but Saturday was INSANE! The word for the day was certainly Cosplay. With easily hundreds of fans in some sort of costume or another.


Saturday also saw numerous all-star panels and informational Q&A's. The Morning started with the panel for AMC's Walking Dead that included four actors who have appeared in the shows two season run. The panel featured Madison Lintz who portrays Sophia in the show and played a pivotal role in the first half of Walking Dead's second season and was at the center of the shows mid-season finale.


Also featured on Saturday was 'Jedi Training' with Star Wars stunt coordinator Nick Gillard. A lucky few Comic Con fans had the chance to get an intensive training session with the man who is so good with a lightsaber that he was actually rendered as Jedi Master Cin Drallig(Thats Nic's name backwards) in the video game for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith


There was standing room only in the TRUE BLOOD panel with actress Kristen Bauer who plays Pam. Nearly 200 fans crammed in to the main panel room to listen to her dish about her four seasons on the show. She even surprised fans and told them that at the begin of this past season, when her character was cursed by a witch, she had been concerned that her character might be killed off. Thankfully, Pam & Kristen survived the vampire war with the witches. Other Sci-Fi, television, and film stars were on hand to meet fans and sign autographs. Including, Jake Busey, Dean Stockwell, and Cary Tagawa.


Also on hand was the one and only Lou Ferrigno. The only Incredible Hulk to be portrayed by a human being, Ferrigno is also the voice of every MARVEL Studio's Hulk film. Although he is a charming and inspirational figure, he has been known to be somewhat abrupt. Five minutes into his Q&A panel he stopped mid-sentence to ask the standing room only crowd to turn off all camera's in the room. A strange request given that no warning was communicated to the audience ahead of time. Otherwise, Ferrigno was enthusiastic and friendly to his fans for the remainder of the weekend.


Easily the coolest moment of the entire convention was the Q&A panel starring the one and only Brent Spiner. Known to most as Lt. Commander Data for seven seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He began with a rather lengthy conversation with the audience about the best Mexican restaurants in Albuquerque. As well as an honest and utterly entertaining statement about being an 'cult' actor who travels from convention to convention.


Spiner also entertained the audience with an astonishing impersonation of his Star trek costar Patrick Stewart. He told stories of the early days filming ST:TNG and his continued friendship with Stewart. He even stated that on a very recent trip to London, he had dinner with Patrick Stewart... that was interrupted by actor Benedict Cumberbatch(The Hobbit, Sherlock) who had just landed the role of the villain in J.J. Abrams STAR TREK 2. Cumberbatch asked the veteran Star trek actors if there was anything he needed to know about jumping in to monolithic craze that is Star Trek. Spiner said that there was only one thing the young actor needed to know; "Your career is over." The room erupted with laughter.



With three days of geeky awesomeness, thousands of Comic Con attendees, and dozens of Entertainment stars, Comic Book creators, and artists, Albuquerque proved to be the hottest thing in the Albuquerque winter, and a decided improvement over last years event. On Saturday evening, I had the distinct honor of moderating and judging the Super Hero Costume Contest. Believe me when I say, Bigger cities may have bigger events, but no one has better fans than Albuquerque Comic Con. The fan costumes on display were AMAZING, and it was next to impossible for the judges to decide.

It must be said that the credit for this awesome event goes to Jim Burleson and the amazing crew at TALL TALES Comics. This years Comic Con was a stellar improvement and that has EVERYTHING to do with them! Great work guy's and thanks for letting us be the OFFICIAL blog of the 2012 Albuquerque Comic Con!


Lastly, we have to give a huge THANK YOU, Gene and the entire crew at Kaboom Test Labs for their indispensable help and enthusiasm.

-Admiral Duke
With Additional Photography by
Robert Mossack & Brian Dunworth

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

'The Avengers' Clark Gregg Is Coming To Albuquerque Comic Con 2012!


This week we present the third installment of our series, 'The Road To Albuquerque Comic Con 2012!' Once again we speak to #AbqCC organizer Jim Burleson as he gives us the low down on all the big events coming to Albuquerque Comic Con. Fans who are excited about Disney and MARVEL's upcoming super movie, The Avengers will be stoked to hear that Clark Gregg, the actor who plays Agent Coulson in the film as well as Iron Man 1 & 2, and THOR, will be at Albuquerque Comic Con!

As if that wasn't enough, Lou Ferrigno, best known as the 1970's Incredible Hulk, and the voice of The Hulk in all MARVEL Studio's films, will also be meeting and greeting fans at #AbqCC. We also speak with local actress and Comic Con personality Monique Candelaria about her involvement with the event.


-Admiral Duke

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

'Star Wars: The Old Republic' & 'Kingdom Hearts' Rachael Leigh Cook Coming To Albuquerque Comic Con


There are only a few weeks left until Albuquerque Comic Con, and the excitement is building! We head out, once again, to TALL TALE Comics in Albuquerque NM, to talk to #AbqCC Coordinator Jim Burleson about all of the amazing guests and events headed to Albuquerque Comic Con 2012. Inculding, the big news that actress Rachael Leigh Cook will be headlining Friday, Anime Day at this years event.

Though most people may recognize her from films like Josie And The Pussycats or She's All That, she has become quite renowned for her voice acting in video games. Her most notable video game credits include the Final Fantasy VII series, Kingdom Hearts II and the just released, Star Wars: The Old Republic.


-Admiral Duke

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

The Road To Albuquerque Comic Con Begins


This week we begin our official coverage of the 2012 Albuquerque Comic Con! This years event will take place at the Hard Rock Casino & Hotel, but that's only one of the awesome changes coming to #AbqCC 2012!Including 'Jedi Traing' with Star Wars stunt coordinator Nick Gillard, and an awesome Create Your Own Character contest.

With a month left before the event, there is still a lot to go over! We begin at TALL TALE Comics, the iconic Albuquerque comic book store that is birth place of Albuquerque Comic Con!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Sean Patrick Flanery Defeats Jedi Knight


When the first day of Albuquerque Comic Con drew to an end, Sean Patrick Flanery star of Boondock Saints and Indiana Jone Chronicles, made his way to the courtyard at the Albuquerque Hilton and encountered several costumed attendees of the Albuquerque Comic Con. For what seems to be no reason what so ever, Mr. Flanery rips a lightsaber from a bystanders hand and proceeds to lay the beat down on this poor Jedi all dressed in white. Actually the video was staged by Flanery and the fans involved and the result is a pretty hilarious video.

Fans Eric(left) and James(right) were lucky enough to be chatting with Flanery when he came up with the idea. James filmed the video and offered up his custom built lightsaber for Flanery to use in the video. Unfortunately, James prize lightsaber was destroyed in the onslaught... Okay well it was actually destroyed when Flanery threw the item to the ground. He Apologized profusely, personally signed the lightsaber and convinced co-stars David Della Rocco, and Norman Reedus to do the same. We heard there was even a possibility that Flanery would purchase James a new one, but as of this posting we don't know if that actually came to be. No matter what, Two fans got themselves one heck of a good story, a hilarious video and the most unlikely Boondock Saints collectible EVER.
-Admiral Duke

Day 2 At Albuquerque Comic Con


It was clear by Sunday that Albuquerque Comic Con had become about more than just comic books, celebrities and costumes. The marked success of the event in Day 1 seemed to express that not only has geek culture in Albuquerque blossomed into a massive community, it also seemed to be something of an indictment of the current Gubernatorial and Legislative attempts to roll back New Mexico tax incentives aimed at drawing the film industry to our state. That sentiment wasn't just expressed by Albuquerque Comic Con organizer Jim Burleson, but it had been expressed by nearly every guest, vendor and artist we spoke to. Don't be mistaken, the primary reason for the success of Albuquerque Comic Con, is because of the success that the Film Industry has had in New Mexico.

Though Day 2 got off to a quiet start, by noon people were once again flocking into the event in droves. Many vendors expressed that the slow start was something of a blessing, given that the extremely high volume of traffic from Saturday had left them with the need to regroup. At noon, the world famous physique that first brought the Incredible Hulk to life on TV, Lou Ferrigno took the stage for a very entertaining Q&A where Lou talked about everything from his youthful fascination with Superheroes to his years on the Incredible Hulk show, and his cameo's in the Hulk movies and other films.

Ferrigno was especially passionate about the influence of heroes on our youth. He said that when he was a child he was extremely effected by those Icons because of the example they provided. He also said, that more than anything, that is what he wants the children of today to see him as.When Ferrigno was asked what his thoughts of Albuquerque were he said. "I Love Albuquerque, I'll never forget it...But you might recall a few years ago during your Balloon Fiesta a balloon got tangled in power lines and slammed to the ground. Thats why I will never forget Albuquerque...Because I was in that balloon!" We will have a full write up on the Lou Ferrigno panel soon.

The day played out with several more panels, a lot more celebrity photo taking & autograph signing. Oh yeah...Costumes,costumes,costumes. The fans came out in full force to bask in the geeky light of Comic Con. The first annual "Comics in Film Festival" had an extremely successful run with many films in the running and a resounding amount of approval from fans.

To be sure, Albuquerque Comic Con will be back in 2012. So will the fans. However the enthusiasm of the fans may well depend on how they feel about the future of the film industry. If New Mexico does drastically cut the film incentives that have helped the film industry grow here, then we will be just one voice in a chorus of states offering the same thing. Which leads to a rather dark thought. If those tax incentives are cut is the Avengers going to be New Mexico's cinematic swan song? 2011 should have been the year that we celebrate the future, with the knowledge that Disney & Marvel's upcoming Mega Movie will be shot here. However the looming prospect of State budget cuts really cast a small cloud over the otherwise raucous event.

This weekend Albuquerque's civic pride was on display and what every crazy kid in a costume was really expressing was a love for comics, film and the major contribution that their fair city and state has made to both in recent years. The fans have indeed spoken, but unfortunately this one is going to be up to the politicians in Santa Fe. Which costumes will they be in next year? Heroes or Villains?


-Admiral Duke