“Ugh. I was up until five playing that game you recommended, Fallout 3,” cousin Kevin said when he walked in.
“Haha, I was up until three playing that again,” I replied.
And so began our sleep-deprived journey to the Motor City Comic Convention. Two years ago, it was just Kevin, Sun Su, and me. This year we took Amy and Ooseung too. I told my little girl about the costumes people wear so she wanted to wear one too. Just like every other day at home.
My almost-eight year old Sun Su was timid this year about picture-taking (the genetic apple does not fall far from the tree) but his knowledge was impressive.
“Sun Su, look, clone troopers.”
“That’s Commander Rex.”
“Who?”
“Check out these bounty hunter figures, Sun Su. They’ve even got 4-LOM.”
“Actually that’s Zuckuss.”
(Even Kenner toys screwed up the names of 4-LOM and Zuckuss back in the day.)
I spotted a car from the Michigan branch of the Star Wars costume charity, the 501st Legion, but sadly, they didn’t seem to have an official booth this year*. Maybe Vader had his TIE Advanced X1 repossessed in this economy and all. They still had some fantastic representatives there though.
* [Correction: I read that they actually had a presentation in one of the speaker rooms that we missed.]
There were quite a few more celebrities this time; many that I wouldn’t have recognized but still appreciated – like Jeremy Bulloch, the actor who played Boba Fett in the original Star Wars movies (pictured above in the white hair and blue shirt).
Or Anthony Forrest, the actual actor/stormtrooper who said the immortal line, ” These aren’t the droids we are looking for.” (Seated in the picture above, next to the green and pink Orcs … sorry, that wasn’t nice, I meant Gamorreans.)
As for more famous people, Eric Roberts was being very kissy-huggy with everyone. I had one question for him: “Why do they keep putting you in movies?” (He was the worst part of DOA: Dead or Alive, and that’s saying a lot).
Tia Carrere, Linda Blair (The Exorcist), Lindsay Wagner (the original bionic woman), Dawn Wells (Mary Anne from Gilligan’s Island) were all looking great (sorry, no pics). Judging by line length, the two biggest celebs were Adam West (original Batman show) and Ray Park, although they seemed to be gone half the time too.
There were a handful (a couple of handfuls, more accurately) of former Playboy and porn models. I am sorry to say that extensive cosmetic surgery does not age well. As Kevin put it, “They must have used a lot of photoshop.”
The spirit of the fans is what really makes these conventions, though. In addition to the great Star Wars costumes, there was Wolverine, The Shade, The Joker, The Riddler, and Harley Quinn (below). There was a wonky looking Poison Ivy, but she turned out to be a he.
I overheard The Joker asking The Shade, “Are you The Gentleman Ghost?”
“The Gentleman Ghost is white. I’m black. I am The Shade.”
It’s hard being a B-list supervillain.
Amy was getting pretty bored but was awe-struck by Todd Bridges, best known for playing Willis in Diff’rent Strokes (any true child of 80′s TV knows where that apostrophe goes).
Amy really wanted a picture with Todd. Childhood nostalgia makes us all innocent again. He’s had his problems in the past, but in person, he was a super nice guy. He could run for office … in Detroit, at least.
I, on the other hand, was starstruck by dancer/actress Sandahl Bergman, most famous for her role (and title of this entry) as Valeria in Conan the Barbarian (1982) with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Less known but no less great, she has some sexy dance numbers in the musical, All That Jazz (1979). I am no fan of musicals or jazz, but that is the movie I have to watch every year.
I went up to her table and perused the photos, trying not to get all fanboy-ish or personal, but really, I went into shy dork mode (the tree does not stand far from the apple). Sandahl was immediately engaging and warm, asking about me, Amy and the kids.
“You were great in Conan but my favorite was All That Jazz,” I finally said.
“Oh?” she seemed surprised, “Are you in the industry?”
“What? Oh, no.”
“I just ask, because most fans of that movie are in dancing or production.”
“He watches it ALL the time,” Amy helpfully interjected.
“Uh… it’s a great movie and story,” I added with brilliant insight.
“It really does stand the test of time, doesn’t it? I worked with him, Bob Fossi, twice after that….”
I nodded and smiled and tried not to look too awkward but of course that is the first step to looking even more awkward.
She accidentally signed my photo with “To Don.”
“It’s Scott, but that’s okay. Or you can just cross that out. That’s fine,” I said.
“Oh no, I’m sorry,” she seemed distressed, “No, that will not do.” She signed a new photo.
“Maybe you can save that one for when Don comes along,” I said, then, “Can I take a picture with you?”
“Of course. May I give your husband a hug?” she asked Amy.
“I don’t care.”
After the photo, I thanked her and walked away, a little dazzled.
“You forgot your photo,” Sandahl said with her trademark wide dark eyes.
I thanked her again and turned around to leave. Again.
“Hey, did you pay yet?” her assistant called to me.
Forgot that too. Okay, so I was a lot dazzled. And now, a lot more embarrassed. Ugh.
I read afterwards that this was Sandahl Bergman’s first appearance at any show.
Sincerely charming, sexy lady. Wow. (Even at 58.)
Eventually it was time to leave.
“One of those big guys in the Jedi robes really smelled,” Kevin said feigning being knocked back.
“That’s their force push.”
[More pics of the Motor City Comic Con are on mania.com site. We saw a lot of these costumes, I'm just not much of a shutterbug.]
