Stan Lee touched me; and other Comikaze anecdotes

Out of the chaos, we emerge exhausted & broke, but having had a good time with great experiences, we arrive home satisfied. Here’s how it played out:

Stan Lee’s Comikaze Con is quite impressive though they still have a lot of kinks to iron out in the logistics of running a convention. The lines were Machiavellian torture devices and wholly pointless but provided front row seats to a comical war between Comikaze security & convention center security as they fought over whose torture devices would more greatly offend the intelligence of impatient nerds. For those who survived the birthing pains of access, Comikaze did not fail to have everything a nerd could desire in a convention. This is only their 2nd convention, having more than doubled in size since last year’s, so I give them props on a job mostly well done.

First off, I apologize for not having any firsthand info on the panels. They had so many cool ones I would have LOVED to attend, but I was there with my entire family (6 of us total) one of which is our 3 year old son who does not do well having to sit in one place for too long. So no panel fun for us.

So in no particular order, our look back at Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo:

• Amber Benson was there promoting her new grindhouse style movie “Dust Up” about a handyman hero & his crew. (Directed by Ward Roberts, starring Amber Benson & Aaron Gaffey) She was so incredibly sweet & generous with her time & attention to us. We got a family pic with her, some autographs and hugs all around. Truly a lovely person! Her movie “Dust Up” will be coming out in October on Netflix. Make sure to check it out.

• Nancy Holder, Ny Times best selling author, and one of my favorite BtVS novel writers. I was so excited to find out she was coming to Comikaze. I kind of geeked out when I met her, to say the least, and she was flattered. She was giving autographed copies of her Buffy novels for a donation to charity. Of course my hubby got me a signed book from her. She even came around the table to hug me 🙂 She’s awesome!!

• Bill Murphy, SyFy’s Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files. Our whole family are new fans of this show and it was so cool getting to meet him. He and his lovely wife Anita were so friendly. We will be seeing them for their “Ghost Writer Experience” next month for our Halloween fun and my bday. (www.ghosttown.tv) Maybe we can do a little write up next month for that as well.

• The Power Rangers. This was the only thing that excited Ozdrin, our 3 year old son, about this convention. He was all smiles when he met them. The girls weren’t complaining either, getting to meet what they referred to as “The Hot Rangers” lol! Oz got hugs and high fived by all of them. He also got an autograph and picture with the Red Ranger: Time Force, Jason Faunt, who let Oz hold the authentic Red Ranger helmet used in the series. He also got a picture with Antonio Garcia -The Gold Ranger- Samurai. He met Catherine Sutherland – Pink Ranger: Mighty Morphin, Jessica Rey – White Power Ranger, & Nakia Burrise – Yellow Ranger – Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, 90210 . They were all very nice to Ozdrin. He couldn’t stop smiling in awe at them.

• Angela Lee Sloan & Brad Kesten, the voices of Lucy & Charlie Brown from the animated series “The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show” We just love them! We met them back at a convention a couple years back, sort of stayed in touch through Facebook comments, but did not expect what happened when we approached their table. Angela Lee says, “Hey, I know you guys! DeeDee Henry & Michael Henry! How are you?” Wow! She actually not only remembered us, but remembered our names! So cool! Angela Lee is also quite a talented musician/songwriter with a new sample CD out, “Eggshells”

• Meg Foster, co-star of the cult classic “They Live” in addition to a multitude of movies and TV shows. She was such a warm and loving person. When we all introduced ourselves, Oz last, she said that earlier that morning, she had this thought run through her mind that she needed to call Oz…. when we came to her table, she said she had been waiting for him. lol!  Mike shared past stories of having worked with her several years ago on a television series and how he had been stunned by her beauty. He made her cry.

• Stan Lee could be spotted all over the con. After all, his name is on it!  We all had a moment where he walked right past us, and brushed against our arms. LOL at all our faces when it happened! Cate, Elizabeth Ann, Kylah & I were the most fangirl at that moment, just smiling & saying “Hi Stan” Even if you don’t know comics, you know Stan Lee. He is still witty and funny! The reigning gawd of Comic Conventions everywhere!

• Daphne Ashbrook of “Dr. Who” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” fame brought her own full sized Tardis! She and her husband were very nice. She found Mike extremely funny & said he should be in show business. (This we already know!) She also has a daughter attending Julliard music school who is a talented singer/songwriter, as Daphne is herself. She let Mike hear a demo of her daughter singing so he gave her a Hard Six CD that she could “hear what it sounds like in the slums of music” lol!

• Most of the cast from SyFy’s “Face Off“ series which pitted special effects/make-up artists against each other were there and were actually getting along while applying makeup and prosthetics on people. Much more impressive to see their work in person. Kylah’s favorite contestant was Brea Joseph and when we told her how bummed Kylah was when she got voted off, Brea came around the table to hug her. So sweet.

• The “big” guests appearing who we saw, Norman Reedus from “Walking Dead” along with his “Boondock Saints” buddies David Della Rocco & Sean Patrick Flannery. Their table was always packed. We had the experience of getting to say hi to “Elvira” Let me tell you, she’s still rocking it!  Kevin Smith was in attendance but sadly, we didn’t see him, BUT Seth Green, though not a guest at the con was wandering the floor incognito w/ a hat, sunglasses & full beard. Natalee actually spotted him before I did. I attempted to get an autograph, cause yeah, hello! A girl’s gotta try but he said right away he’s just there walking around and not signing. But he did take the time to stop and ask my name, shook my hand and smiled & said, “I love your hair!” And off he ran. I was shaking w/ excitement, being the first time I’ve met him in person. No autograph but still an awesome fangirl moment. Mike let me have this one without giving me too much crap. lol!

More stars we rated on the “Awesome” list:

James Hong – Cult Hero Status

Keith David – Cooler than Sh*t Status

Linda Blair – Cult Horror Hero status

Morgan Fairchild  – Forever Beautiful Status

Rikki Simons  – Cartoon Hero Status

Darrel Guilbeau – Anime Hero Status

Paris Themmen -Wonka Vision Coolness

Matt Hill – Turtle Hero Status

Kirby Morrow – Turtle Hero Status

And the Booby Prize goes to:

Lou Ferrigno – Let’s just say the incredible hulk could use some lessons in ‘how to be nice’ from David Banner

Here’s a list of notables that we looked for but never found:

Thomas Jane

Ron Glass

Claudia Christian

If anyone saw or talked to any of these stars, please post & let me know!

The Comikaze Expo also offered the Zombie Apocalypse where you could compete as either a zombie or a survivor. It was an obstacle course complete with search lights, monster fighting troopers and sirens. No, we did not participate, but we watched parts of it. And every once in a while the zombies would come up to the fence and claw & growl at us spectators. Pretty creepy!

So that’s a wrap! I’m sure I’m missing tidbits here and there, but I’m a mom of 4, 5 if you count my sometimes adolescent husband, so you get what you get. 😉 We enjoyed getting to meet some really cool people, getting to hang with our friends, Elizabeth Ann, Emily and Cate, though briefly, and getting to experience, once again, the craziness that is a Comic Convention.  The only place where you can walk around half naked, dress in drag or dress like a super hero and still fit in completely. Comikaze Expo is the ‘Disneyland’ for nerds everywhere.

Additional photos provided by James Kus

Tags: Actors, Amber Benson, Author, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Comics, Comikaze, Conventions, D2, Doctor Who, Events, FanGirl Squee, Geekery, Hard Six, Movies, Nerdtastic Ramblings, Science Fiction, Stan Lee, SyFy, Tara Platt, Television, Zombies