Dragon*Con 1998 Photos and Memories

Before the 1998 Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia, I had never been to a fan convention (con) before. I had been to small town comic book/baseball card shows, but there were no celebrities or cosplay at those.

My first girlfriend, who was a student at Wesleyan College, wanted to go, because she wanted autographs from Wendy and Richard Pini (Elfquest) or Marion Zimmer Bradley (The Mists of Avalon). I can’t find a guest list for 1998 and 1999–the two cons we attended together–and I recall from memory who was when.

Nevertheless, I do remember my interests at the con. I am a Star Wars fan, and I was watching Babylon 5 on TNT at that time, so I thought it would be cool to meet some of the actors in my favorite series. As an added bonus, Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison were attending, so I looked forward to meeting them, too (I plan to write more about this practice and my disavowal of it now, but I’ll save that for another post).

Looking at these photos now, it’s difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that 25 years separates then from now. While a lot of things have transpired during those 25 years leading up to my winding up in Brooklyn, New York, they seemingly passed in a blink of the eye.

Science Fiction Writers

I took this picture after Bradbury had made the introduction to the Atlanta Radio Theater Company’s “The Man Who Walked Through Elephants,” an adaptation of a Robert A. Heinlein story that is Bradburyesque.

After introducing myself, Bradbury besieged me, “Jason, it’s good to meet you, but where are your Argonauts!?”

The line for Harlan Ellison’s autograph was astonishingly long. Despite the cantankerousness attributed to him, he stood in his chair and shouted to us, “I’m not leaving until everyone who wants an autograph gets one!” Those of us in the crowd cheered! He was true to his word.

Star Wars

Meeting Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels, and David Prowse was a highlight of my con experience. It was a strange experience meeting each actor. Having seen them play their roles behind masks and suits throughout my life was difficult for me to square with them in the flesh. Ecce homo.

Babylon 5

Babylon 5 was nearing the end of its first five season run, so it was great to meet much of the cast in person. I’ll begin with Jason Carter, because I wanted to be a Ranger prepared for action with a Denn’bok.

Claudia Christian/Commander Susan Ivanova

I wrote about Conaway’s passing in 2011 here.

The Man Who Traveled Through Elephants

The Atlanta Radio Theatre Company produced two back-to-back shows one evening of the con. The first was “The Man Who Traveled Through Elephants,” an adaptation of a Robert A. Heinlein short story that is Bradburyesque. Ray Bradbury introduced it. Anthony Daniels and Harlan Ellison played roles in the production.

Rory Rammer, Space Marshall: The Space Cycloplex

The second ATRC production was a Rory Rammer, Space Marshall story featuring Jonathan Harris (Dr. Smith on the original Lost in Space TV series).

Comic Books

I met Joseph Michael Linsner, creator of Dawn, and got his autograph on one of my comics. I also met David Mack, creator of Kabuki, but I must not have a photograph of him.

Shannon McFarland, 1st Place Winner of the Dawn Look-a-Like Contest

Live Action Anime Girl

Apollo Smile, the Live Action Anime Girl, performed martial arts and music in a cool routine. I got this photo with her afterwards.

I Don’t Do Big Cons Now

The last time that I went to Dragon*Con was 2011 to participate on a panel organized by the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA). I had to wait in a long line to get my badge and then there were crowds of other attendees. I am uncomfortable in crowds. According to numbers on Wikipedia, the weekend event’s attendance was more than 46,000. That’s 2.5x as many attendees as when I first attended in 1998, which was 18,000. In 1999, there were 19,000. And the last time that I attended as a fan with my cousin Ryan and friend Bert in 2000 there were 20,000 attendees, which felt slightly claustrophobic to me. So, you might imagine how overwhelming the 2011 event felt to me while navigating through the crowds in various places of the con.

Of course, this is a personal thing. I’m not necessarily suggesting that cons should be smaller by design (though, that would be cool for folks like me), but there are gobs of people who aren’t concerned by crowds in the least and in fact thrive off all of the humans in one place. I’ll stay at home and let those folks enjoy future big cons!

Unfortunately, I don’t have photos from the 1999 Dragon*Con. It’s a shame, because I picked up Luke Skywalker’s Rebel Fatigue Jacket (aka his Bespin jacket, a Fan Club exclusive) at the con and created an impromptu cosplay that I improved on after the con when I got the Graflex lightsaber that I’ll write about tomorrow.

ENG3402, The Graphic Novel: Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns (Continued…)

Continuing from my previous post on The Dark Knight Returns, I’ve assembled a selection of videos below featuring Frank Miller and others talking about Miller’s work in The Dark Knight Returns.

In this interview introduced by science fiction writer and editor Harlan Ellison for “The Masters of Comic Book Art (1987), Frank Miller discusses The Dark Knight Returns, Ronin, and other works.

DC Comics interviews people about their work on and memories of The Dark Knight Returns.

The Frank Miller episode of G4’s Icons discusses The Dark Knight Returns at the 16:00 mark.

Frank Miller was interviewed for Comic Book Confidential (1988). His part of documentary is embedded below.

In this final video, Frank Miller talks about his work and influences.

Minireview: The Reconcilers Graphic Novel Volume 1

While Y and I were sitting for several hours in an airplane–on the ground, I had the pleasure of meeting the writer, actor, and director Erik Jensen. After I mentioned to him that my specific area of training is in Science Fiction, he gave me a graphic novel saying, “here’s some Science Fiction for you.” I was thankful for the gift and thankful for the time on the tarmac to read it!

The graphic novel that he gave me is volume one of The Reconcilers (2010) co-created by R. Emery Bright, Jens Pil Pilegaard, and Jensen. Volume one is written by Jensen and drawn by Shepherd Hendrix. Neal Adams created the cover art.

The narrative takes place in 2165 after the ascendency of religion-like mega-corporations and the gradual establishment of elaborate gladiatorial matches fought by “Reconcilers” to decide disputes between corporate entities. The story follows Sokor Industries attempting an extra-legal takeover of Hansen Engineering’s claim to the motherlode of exotic, energy-rich “liberty ore.” Hexhammer, Hansen’s miner who discovered the the vein, leads their underdog team against Sokol’s seasoned fighters to keep what they had earned. However, Hexhammer’s past choices threaten his ability to overcome his final confrontation with Sokor’s best Reconciler, “Masakor.”

The megacorporations of Fredrik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth’s The Space Merchants and William Gibson’s Neuromancer, as does Weyland-Yutani of the Alien film series also, inform The Reconcilers.

The Reconcilers has a lot of interesting material for thinking through the convergence of corporate personhood, entertainment, religion, capital, and rule of law. I believe that it would be informative to research and engaging to students.

I’m Not Sure Mark Millar Gets the Whole Internet Thing

After Frank Miller wrote some nasty things about OWS and other things on his blog [something that I wrote on yesterday here], a lot of folks went on the attack. Fellow comic book writer Mark Millar responded on his website:

It’s strange to watch your favourite writer getting strips torn off him for a couple of days.

Politically, I disagree with his analysis, but that’s besides the point. I wasn’t shocked by his comments because they’re no different from a lot of commentators I’ve seen discussing the subject. What shocked me was the vitriol against him, the big bucket of shit poured over the head by even fellow comic-book creators for saying what was on his mind.

Obviously, it’s within their rights to exercise the First Amendment as much as it was within Frank’s to make the original point. But there’s something so distasteful about that cyber-mob mentality that revolts me.

[via Millar’s messageboard here]

Disagreeing with Miller’s analysis is the point. We all take a risk posting things to the Internet–on our blogs, on Twitter, on Facebook, etc. When we do put our thoughts on the Internet, they are recorded in a public space where there are others who read and respond to the things that we have written. This isn’t a mob–this is just the way the Internet works. The Net is a medium of discourse where people can exchange ideas and engage the ideas of others. From Millar’s perspective, the responses to Miller’s thoughts might be harsh, but it is exactly the right of others to call someone out when they say something boneheaded.

Of course, this calls me out for holding a certain politics, but this is one of the reasons why I run this blog. It is an expression of myself and my thinking about a variety of subjects including politics. Others have certainly called me out on my views, and I have responded to those criticisms. The Internet is a medium where these kinds of discussions, those I would consider constructive as well as those I would consider discouraging, can take place. It is a fascinating experience engaging others through the Internet.

In Miller’s case, I believe that he knows what he is doing with his hyper-conservative talk. Millar, on the other hand, should recognize that the Internet enables something deeper than a mob–at least people have to write their thoughts down rather than expressing their views with sticks and stones. There may be radical responses like calls for a boycott, but at least these responses develop through conversation.

Occupy Wall Street and Its Ultimate Question, Beginning with Frank Miller

I will admit that I haven’t kept up with Frank Miller. I read his Batman books and Sin City, but that is the extent of my knowledge of the man. I only know him through his work–neo-fascism on the one hand, decadence on the other, and vigilantism on both.

Yesterday, I ran across his blog after hearing something about a new book that he has out called Holy Terror. I have not read it, so I will not pass judgement on it. However, I will say that some folks in the blogosphere are calling it nuts for its depiction of Islam, the US response to radical Islam, and the need of the US people to support a government unleashed.

Back to Miller’s blog: He wrote an ad hominem attack against who he believes the Occupy Wall Street are. He attempts to totalize OWS in the very way that the media has been befuddled to make sense of it all. This is a good thing, because the OWS movement is heterogeneous and inclusive. It resists totalization as much as each member thumbs his or her nose at centers of wealth and power.

Miller jumps the tracks, worrying more about his “enemies of mine”: “al-Qaeda and Islamicism.” The First Amendment “exercise” called OWS is “nothing but a pack of louts, thieves, and rapists, an unruly mob, fed by Woodstock-era nostalgia and putrid false righteousness. These clowns can do nothing but harm America.” He has nothing but contempt for those he considers “babies” and “schmucks.” The implicit message is that Miller, via his blog–a theme he repeats here, is righteous in his condemnation of OWS.

I have spoken privately about the OWSers to friends, but I haven’t written about them here. I think that I should redress that omission on dynamicsubspace.net.

The OWSers, I believe, recognize the limits of Michel de Certeau’s The Practice of Everyday Life. Certeau argues that resistance against power–institutionalized in governments or networks of capital–can take place on the microscale, by individual actions, that additively will make a difference by changing the systems of oppression for the better of everyday people.

Others have said that as certainly we can vote at the polls, we can vote with our dollars. Now that a super minority in the US holds most of the dollars, those with the dollars get to do the voting. This is the wisdom passed down from the Supreme Court in the Citizens United v FEC case.

The OWS crowd are fed up with the way things are: fewer jobs, fewer well-paying jobs, fewer opportunities to put college degrees into practice, fewer chances to be an entrepreneur, and fewer ways to accumulate even a meager level of personal wealth. They are fed up with high rents and gridlocked government. They are angry at the continuing stinginess of big business in terms of hiring and spreading their accumulated wealth. They wonder where has American innovation in government and business gone? Is the iPhone the high water mark, and if so, what does that mean for the future? As certainly as the iPhone was designed in California, it was built a world away. The jobs in the States for the iPhone are at the top or the bottom, but there are very few in the middle. Furthermore, they beg their elected representatives to provide some solution since business seems unwilling to do anything of lasting value for the American people. Unfortunately, Congress is deciding how best to restrict bodily and cultural rights of its citizens–the very people who put them in power to begin with. On a smaller level, on the local level, it is elected mayors and other leaders who want to shut OWS down–no more protesting, no more occupying, no more voice.

The OWS is all of this and more. That’s what’s so amazing, wonderful, and scary about these seeds of unrest around the country. This is very likely the beginning of something far greater and hopefully more influential than the Tea Party. Like the so-called Moral Majority of a previous generation, the Tea Party is orchestrated from the top by some wealthy persons who can use Citizens United v FEC to influence elections. Part of that influence has to do with convincing some folks who don’t have any money to buy into the flawed logic of ultra-conservatism. For example, the idea that the US government should be reduced in terms of spending and in terms of services while history teaches us that America’s rise to greatness was facilitated in part by luck coupled with an explosion of governmental expansions and spending. If we cut our government back to pre-1900 size, we can welcome a period of backwardness and insignificance as certain as our post-revolution standing in the world.

Perhaps a thread running through OWS is the question regarding the future of the US. If our government defaults, not on its loans, but on its citizenry by catering to the ultra-wealthy and big business, then what future will there be, not for the idea of the US, but for what really makes the US work, its people?