Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Suicide Squad (2016-) #7 - Rob Williams, Jim Lee & Christian Ward
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“THE BLACK VAULT” part seven! While Task Force X’s overseers debate the team’s purpose, the Suicide Squad gets a well-deserved day off-until the dark energies of the Black Vault drive everyone in Belle Reve Penitentiary to acts of violent, bloody madness. Everyone except the crown princess of crazy, Harley Quinn, who’s somehow been…cured?  |
get it now at https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/suicide-squad-2016-7/id1146633797?mt=11&uo=2&partnerId=11&at=1010ldoE
Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five Annual (2016-) #1 - Brian Buccellato, Xermanico, Marco Santucci & Mike S. Miller
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Catch up on three untold tales from the final year of INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US. Harley Quinn goes to The Joker’s oldest hideout only to find a band of ex-Joker lackeys have taken up residence there. Ares returns from his imprisonment on Apokolips to try and win the favor of Superman’s regime, but can anyone trust him? Black Lightning—not seen since Year One—switches sides and takes a leadership role in Superman’s plans to rebuild Metropolis.  |
get it now at https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/injustice-gods-among-us-year/id1177057803?mt=11&uo=2&partnerId=11&at=1010ldoE
Batman Annual (2016-) #1 - Tom King, Scott Snyder, Paul Dini, Steve Orlando, Scott Wilson, David Finch, Riley Rossmo, Neal Adams, Declan Shalvey & Bilquis Evely
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“SILENT NIGHT”! A hush of winter snowfall has fallen over Gotham City…but a quiet night in this place is never truly quiet. Batman and his allies-and his many foes-stalk the streets in this icy showcase of top talent. |
get it now at https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/batman-annual-2016-1/id1146634743?mt=11&uo=2&partnerId=11&at=1010ldoE
Superman Annual (2016-) #1 - Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason & Jorge Jimenez
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Now, Swamp Thing comes hunting for the Man of Steel to discover what strange connection this new Superman has to the planet. But their contact is something neither is prepared for, leading to Kal-El battling the Earth elemental who wants to bury him. |
get it now at https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/superman-annual-2016-1/id1146634747?mt=11&uo=2&partnerId=11&at=1010ldoE
Revolution #5 - Cullen Bunn
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LAST STAND IN AUTOBOT CITY! It’s all come to this—TRANSFORMERS vs. ROM vs. MICRONAUTS vs. G.I. JOE vs. M.A.S.K. vs. the ultimate evil! The futures of Earth, Cybertron, and the Microverse will all be changed forever by the decisions made this day. |
get it now at https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/revolution-5/id1177116396?mt=11&uo=2&partnerId=11&at=1010ldoE
Heroes and Villains Fan Fest: A Review
By: Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher)
Recently, I had the privilege of attending Heroes and Villains Fan Fest in Atlanta. Billed as “not your dad’s comic con…it’s your fan fest,” Heroes and Villains was indeed different from other cons I’ve been to. It boasted only one panel running at a time, an intimate facility, and a small guest list designed to give fans more time to interact with their favorite actors, but did it subvert expectations as set by the tagline? Here are my thoughts on the weekend:
The Panels
The first thing that surprised me about HVFF was that because the entire con was contained in one room, there were never two panels running at the same time and there were only a handful of panels per day.
My friend Kelly came to town so we could go together and we only went to three panels per day, which, compared to other cons I’ve been to, is unheard of.
Opening the weekend was an Arrow panel featuring David Ramsey, Katie Cassidy, Willa Holland, Paul Blackthorne, and Charlotte Ross. As always, I live-tweeted the panel and here are some highlights:
Paul says his favorite moments this season have been his father/daughter-esque moments w/Thea & Lance (even thought he's been mostly drunk.)
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
Katie says Laurel would approve of the father/daughter-esque relationship between Thea & Lance. #HVFFAtlanta #arrow
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
Charlotte Ross thinks Donna would help Quentin out in his current relapse storyline. She would make him go to rehab. #HVFFAtlanta #arrow
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
"My genes are strong! There isn't an ounce of Caucasian in baby John!" – David Ramsey #HVFFAtlanta #hvff #arrow
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
David thinks the writers will come back around to Diggle honoring Sara in some way since it's not through the baby anymore. #arrow #hvff
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
Willa has made children cry at the grocery store when she's forgotten to take her eye black off.
#HVFFAtlanta #hvff #arrow
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
David says the interpretation is Connor Hawke is John Jr, but the question is, how will that evolution happen? #HVFFAtlanta #hvff #arrow
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
The next panel of the day was John Barrowman’s solo panel. He never has a moderator and you never know what is going to come out of that man’s mouth!
John Barrowman opens his panel, "Its early. Let's get naked." #hvff #HVFFAtlanta
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
The Arrow producers called John for his part specifically b/c of his portrayal of Captain Jack. #HVFF #HVFFAtlanta #arrow
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
Arrow producers thought he might say no, but he saw a shirtless picture of Stephen and said yes right away. #HVFFAtlanta #hvff #arrow
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
John, "I seem to be the dad of the cast. I don't want to be their dad, I'd rather be their daddy. Especially Stephen and David." #Arrow
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
We will see Malcolm Merlyn in the 100th #Arrow episode & prob not again until new yr. 100th is about different reality interpretations.
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
Malcom teams up with two people & they create Legion of Doom on Legends. It's sort of an alternate reality & Malcolm gets to be funny.
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
Who would Barrowman have Merlyn to the villain side? Felicity. "She has a little bit of bad in her." #arrow #hvff
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
"I did say 'never apologize for being nerdy' because other people don't apologize for being assholes." – John Barrowman #arrow
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
John says he'll never give up on trying to bring Torchwood back for a special. Thinks their comic would be perfect script. #arrow #hvff
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
The last panel Kelly and I went to on Saturday was a Guardians of the Galaxy panel with Gregg Henry, Sean Gunn, Dave Bautista, and Michael Rooker in attendance. (Look for my one-on-one interview with Michael Rooker coming soon!).
Guardians of the Galaxy panel time! Rooker walks out on the phone & Sean Gunn says they fight over who had to sit by him. #hvff #HVFFAtlanta
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
Who would Bautista pick as his tag team partner for WWE? Rooker. "C'mon, Grandpa Rooker is in better shape than Ric Flair!" #gotg #hvff
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
Little kid asks what their fave Marvel movie besides #gotg is. All but Rooker say Iron Man. His depends on "how many Jack & Cokes I've had."
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
Dave says you would think his makeup would take the longest, but it's actually Karen. Her's took about 5 hours – got to set at 2&3 am. #gotg
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
Bautista says James Gunn should get the credit for inspiring kids, especially autistic kids, because he wrote for Drax. #gotg #hvff
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 19, 2016
Sunday morning opened up with a Stephen Amell solo panel. Unlike John Barrowman, Stephen had a moderator, and while it seemed like Stephen would have liked it to just be him up there interacting with fans, the moderator came in handy when a few fans asked more than their share of questions.
#stephenamell says we're going to get flashbacks for one of the new character's back stories. #hvff
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Stephen says some of his favorite upcoming moments are between Paul Blackthorne & Rick Gonzales. #hvff #HVFFAtlanta #arrow
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Stephen says we'll probably get more Felicity story before Diggle story since he's still in exile. #Arrow #hvff #hvffatlanta
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Uses the word "unexpected" to describe a scene between OTA in episode 100. #arrow #hvff #HVFFAtlanta
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Fan asks what Oliver's biggest regret is. Stephen says it's not breaking up with Felicity, but not saving his mom. Death trumps Felicity.
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
100th episode was way more gratifying to shoot than Stephen thought it would be. It's his 3rd fave after pilot and ep 2. #arrow #hvff
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Moira, Robert, and Laurel are in the 100th ep. #arrow #hvff
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
There's a scene in Queen mansion that he wouldn't have gotten to play if it the aliens weren't involved. #arrow #hvff #HVFFAtlanta
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Fan asks if & why we should root for new love interests. Stephen: it's just a tv show and you don't always get what you want. #arrow #hvff
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Stephen says Olicity functioning as a team to save the city is more important than their love life relationship. #arrow #hvff #HVFFAtlanta
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Next up were the former and current supporting cast of Arrow: Amy Gumenick, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Echo Kellum, and Neal McDonough.
Fan asks what Curtis wants to see in bridging gap between new team & old. Echo says Curtis is just excited to be on the team. #arrow #hvff
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Neal says him, Matthew, & John create Legion of Doom & leads us in a cheer. Says they're literally getting away w/murder & it's so fun.
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
It takes Echo 3 hours to get into the hair & the mask for his costume. #hvff #arrow
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Similarities b/w them & their chars? Bex says they're both pains in the ass. Echo worked at Geek Squad for a year. #arrow #hvff
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Amy says it's a gift to show multiple dimensions of Cupid & range of emotions. Doesn't like to call her crazy, but driven by love. #arrow
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Bex would love Sin to follow Sara's footsteps, but would rather see her go dark. #arrow #hvff
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Fave person to work with? Bex-Colton/Caity, Echo-Emily, Neal-Stephen (loved their fight scenes) (this season Barrowman), Amy-Stephen/Emily
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Neal would love to use the Legends time machine, go back, not kill Laurel, turn her dark, and have her join Legion of Doom. #hvff #arrow
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Echo says we'll see Curtis kick more butt in the last half of season. He uses his smarts more. #arrow #hvff
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
Because Jason Momoa cancelled his panel, the last one we went to was a Heroes panel. I didn’t tweet much about it since it’s no longer on the air, but I did mention the following and now having seen the Gilmore Girls revival, I’m glad my ears were perked up enough to catch this tidbit as it was something to look forward to!
At a #Heroes panel & some1 asked a #GilmoreGirls ? & I think Milo just slipped – said well learn what happens & "who gets married." #hvff
— Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher) November 20, 2016
The Pros
There were many stand-out qualities to HVFF as compared to other, maybe bigger cons.
One thing that was especially great was line management. Going in to a con, the expectation is to wait in lines upon lines upon lines and to make line buddies to pass the time. Not at HVFF. We only waited in two lines – one for a panel and one for a photo op – and both lasted about 15 minutes. Part of the reason for a lack of lines is because of the ticketing hierarchy system. There were platinum members, gold members, VIP members, and regular members and each stood in their own line for panels, photo ops, and autographs and had assigned seating during the panels. Because of that, if felt like the con ran more efficiently and eliminated a lot of the “hurry up and wait” feelings that plague other cons.
Another plus was that you could mostly see and hear the panel that was running at any given time as the whole con was contained in one room. Granted, it was difficult at the far corners of the room, but if you were in the autograph area or lining up for the next panel, you didn’t feel like you were missing out on what was happening on the main stage.
Finally, though there weren’t a lot of them, every vendor I encountered was very nice. From booths selling arts and crafts, to t-shirts, to art, to Funko Pops, every vendor was personable and never made me feel pressured into buying anything, which was greatly appreciated. Kelly and I even got some Christmas shopping done!
The Cons
Even though it was good the con was in one room for audio and visual reasons, what wasn’t so great was the price tag for the scale. I’ll put it this way: a Stephen Amell VIP ticket cost more than what I paid for a San Diego Comic Con ticket, and SDCC is double the amount of time. Special lines, an autograph, and a photo op are great, but if I had spent that, I don’t know if I would have thought it was worth the money.
And perhaps what was the most annoying and maybe the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard at a con, we weren’t allowed to bring food. As a veteran con-goer, I know to bring sandwiches and snacks to sustain me throughout the day because what is offered at cons is generally unhealthy and overpriced, but at HVFF, their policy was to make us throw it away. What about fans who have dietary restrictions? The pizza, hot dogs, and barbecue offered certainly were not on their meal plans. If I had one piece of advice to give to those in charge of HVFF, it would be to let patrons bring in food. It will make for much happier attendees.
The Huhs?
In two panels we attended – Guardians of the Galaxy and the Sunday Arrow supporting cast – fans asked questions not related to GOTG or Arrow and both times, the actors said they were not at HVFF to discuss those projects, but instead what they were on the panel for. The first time it happened, we thought it was weird, but the second time, we knew something was up. Were the actors told to redirect questions? If I were one of those fans and I came to the con specifically because I was a fan of an actor from a project of theirs that was not the subject of the panel, I would have been upset and confused that I couldn’t express my excitement or curiosity regarding something else on which they appeared. I really am genuinely curious as to why this was the policy, so if someone has any insight, please leave a comment and let me know.
The “Whyyy is this Happening”s?
You never know what to expect with fan Q&As. Not to toot our own horn, but I feel like Nerd HQ has some of the most respectful fans and they are never entitled when it comes to asking questions of the actors who take time out of their busy schedules to meet their fans. However, it seemed like some of the fans at HVFF used their time at the mic to jump on a soapbox, especially when it came to their favorite ship. There is a time and a place to broadcast your platform, but at a Q&A when there is a line of people behind you who also have questions and then may not get to ask them because you took up to much time is not it. It gives other fans second-hand embarrassment, but beyond that, entitlement is just not a good look.
Despite some hiccups, Heroes and Villains was still a fun weekend. It is still a young con and as such, there are still some kinks that need to be worked out. However, I’m looking forward to seeing it grow and will definitely attend again if it’s ever back in Atlanta.
admin
via The Nerd Machine
http://www.nerdhq.com/heroes-and-villains-fan-fest-a-review/
