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
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