Echo Station - Motor City Comic Con 2000

What's a Comic Convention without pornography, right? Well, as you may recall from last year's write-up, I did a bit of ranting on the topic and I'm extremely pleased to say that whether it was the convention organizers that mentioned something to the dealers, or the dealers themselves that took the initiative and did something about it, there was far less openness in the dealing of adult materials this year. Not to say that they weren't present at all mind you...but as I've always said, I don't have any problems with adults buying adult materials...my main concern was the sheer number of children walking around the convention that had easy access to it both visually and within arm's reach. This year, all of the Playboy bunnies and other models were in an area all by themselves towards the back of the hall (but still easily accessible by those wanting to purchase pictures or videos of their favorites) rather than directly next to the Star Wars celebrities and other children-attracting guests. The comic vendors didn't have as many giant signs broadcasting to passers-by the presence of adult magazines, and what adult material that was there on display was usually at least a row or two back from the front of their setups making it harder for kids to either see or get to. Even the artwork vendors made an effort this year, substituting solid yellow stickers in the "sensitive" areas of the females in their paintings and drawings for the useless and permanently curled post-it notes of last year. Kudos to all of the vendors that showed some maturity and common sense at this year's event...maybe next year you can have a word with the video vendors so that they're encouraged to not stick the "Celebrity T&A" and "Girls Gone Wild" videos right next to copies of "Transformers: The Movie" and "Toy Story 2". Just a thought.

Jeremy's an absolutely great guy, and a must meet at any convention!

Click for a larger image of the signed action shot.

Here he is in a still from A New Hope

Richard's press photo. Click it to see a larger version.

The guests this year were also a great draw for me, even though one of the few people I was actually excited about getting the opportunity to meet in person wasn't able to make it - Dirk Benedict, better known as "Starbuck" from Battlestar Galactica, or "Face" from the A-Team. Apparently ol' Starbuck got trapped behind the same ugly weather system that had yours truly stuck driving back home from Chicago after every flight was cancelled out of O'Hare during a business trip...except he didn't make it here for the convention, darn it. Oh well...hopefully he'll get rebooked for a future show.

The guests that did make it were, for the most part, extremely cool people to meet. I had the pleasure of spending some time with Jeremy Bullock on Saturday evening, and it's somehow hard to imagine that this friendly fellow with a smile seemingly permanently implanted on his face was inside the menacing suit of armor that is the trademark of the ruthless bounty hunter Boba Fett. He amicably sat around in the hotel bar on Saturday evening chatting away merrily with fans just as easily as he did during the show hours on the exhibit hall floor, and was just a genuinely good person to get to know, even for the small amount of time we hung out.

Another guest in attendance was Silas Carson, better known to Star Wars fans as Nute Gunray, one of the Nimodians from The Phantom Menace. Again, not someone that I spent a terribly long time speaking with (we only chatted for a few minutes during the exhibit hall hours), but still an open, friendly person that seemed to enjoy meeting the fans and also appeared to be having a good time with the tour. He was sitting with a representative from the Men-Behind-The-Masks organization, and I did manage to find out what happened to their old website...finally. I've been trying for months to find out why it was offline, and it turns out that the company responsible for the site went under, and took the site with it.

Perhaps my favorite guest in attendance also only appeared in one film...Richard leParmentier, better known as Admiral Motti in the original Star Wars film in whom Vader found a disturbing lack of faith. Richard was easily the person with whom I had the most interesting conversations with, and he's definitely a "must-see" at any conventions that he appears at...and as a word to the wise, he likes a snifter of good brandy as much as the next person, so be sure your local bar has some around.

The best part wasn't even when we were sitting around in the bar having a few drinks though...it was something that took place quite randomly during the show. As with all comic conventions, there were a number of people wandering around in full costume, including the crowd to the right all dressed up in full Star Wars regalia. As Richard saw them approach, he immediately got up and told the people around his table that it was a great time for a Star Wars re-enactment, and so he posed with Vader to the delight of the fans passing by...