Spectacular Spider-Fan writes...

1. Was the man with Donald Menken and Chameleon disguised as Norman when the glider was stolen Dr. Stromm?
2. How did Chameleon manage to get Stan Carter tied up, take his uniform, put it on, and get a Stan Carter mask so quickly? And did he have that mask the whole ime, just in case? Also, does he use a voice changer or just imitate people's voices?
3. Does Black Cat have any superpowers? It seems really unlikely that she could have navigated the Oscorp laser maze perfectly, but she might just be that awesome. Were these her probability affecting powers? If so, how did she get them?
4. Where did Dr. Connors get the Colonel Jupiter suit, and how did he know it would fit John after he grew?
5. Does Peter realize the Curt Connors that came into the lab when he was there in Persona was Chameleon? Does the general public think the Spider-Man who broke into the lab was Chameleon?

Daisy writes...

Where does Arsenal live at this point? Like who does he stay with? Green Arrow? Or is he completely on his own now?

Clark Cradic writes...

Wanted to let you know I'm pumped for Star Wars Rebels! :) Can't wait to see it! I know you and the rest of the cast and crew shan't disappoint.

Kira writes...

I read the are Greg's answers etched in stone question in the FAQ and that got me thinking

#1 Are any answers absolutely set in stone
and
#2 Would you consider Retconing or Altering anything from the series (aside from the Goliath Chronicles)

Algernon writes...

You've often said that a good villain should serve as a dark reflection/contrast to the hero. Is that one of the reasons you choose Vandal Savage as one of Young Justices's Big Bads? Pitting the young heroes of the DC Universe against a character who is literally the World's Oldest Supervillain?

Kalev tait writes...

In creating a fully realised world, you seem to create fully believable characters for all of your reoccurring roles. While I assume you don't do the same for mooks, I'm wondering about minor characters who only appear once or twice and only have one or two lines? Do you always try to make everyone be able to justify their existence beyond the protagonists, or is it just for major characters?

Spectacular Spider-Fan writes...

1. Do any villains realize that Spider-Man is a teenager?
2. How, if at all, will the Spider-Verse event impact the Spectacular Spider-Man universe?
3. In the Master Planner episode, we see that there are cameras planted all over the city that Doc Ock is watching. We're also led to believe that he's tracking Peter's phone, bu pt later find out he's tracking Gwen. Could Master Planner have seen Peter transform into Spider-Manthrough the cameras like the one near the demolished building, or track his phone?
4. In the episode where wer're introduced properly to Tombstone for the first time, he presses a button to call in Stan and Jean, who immediately burst into the room? How did they get there so fast?
5. In the same episode, Norman is waiting outside the elevator for Harry and tells him to man up. Then he goes back to talk with Hammerhead and apologizes for some reason and acts like he was interrupted. Why was he waiting if he was busy talking with Hammerhead?

Anonymous writes...

Will you ever post the Spectacular Spider-Man series bible?

Anonymous writes...

Was the Michael kid from Gangland Michael Morbius?

Phil(Enlightenment) writes...

Greg, The last time I saw you, which was at the last gargoyles convention, you expressed a desire for me to be on this forum due to my solution based way of thinking. I know now why I gravitated toward you so fiercely as I am awake now. My question: Do you know what star system you channeled gargoyles from?

Anonymous writes...

Today you answered this question:

"2. Why is the plate still there when she becomes Molly if all of her magic is lost in that form anyway?"

With this:

"2. Huh? When does that happen?"

I guess it never did on screen, but the reason I ask is because a while ago a poster named Matt asked:

"5. While the Banshee has Oberon's metal plate over her mouth, can she still transform into  Molly  or Cromm-Cruach? If so, does the plate remain in place or is that strictly a feature of her Banshee form?"

And you responded with this:

"5. The plate adapts to her form. Oberon knows she can change shape, so I can't imagine he wouldn't have taken something that fundamental for granted. Of course, instead of transforming into Molly , she could glamour into Molly and make the gag invisible. But she still wouldn't be able to talk."

Have you changed your mind since then, & now the plate does not remain when Banshee transforms into Molly? If so, does that mean she can speak while in the form of Molly now too?

Kalev Tait writes...

What ha fatherhood taught you about writing?

ND writes...

Hello,

What does Farano Enterprises specialize in, please?

I apologize for my bad English.

Have a nice day!

Masterdramon writes...

SPIRITS OF ASH AND FOAM

……………

"Rain walked along Windward Bar as the coast curved around into Windward Strand. A dense fog drifted in from the water, but Rain could see Mrs. Kim cut off from the sand by a strange line of dancing crabs and gulls. Suddenly, Rain felt a sense of urgency. She ran into the fog and immediately lost her bearings. She heard music - no, not music: singing. And the song was beautiful. The song was entrancing. She slowed down to listen, to attempt to make out the words…

But the words hardly seemed to matter. She wandered through the fog, searching for the source of the beautiful song…"

……………

In my review of the first book in this series, RAIN OF THE GHOSTS, I stated that if I had to put my impressions of it into one word, it would be "intriguing." It was a novel with a ton of promise, yet at times it still felt like the television pilot that it used to be; tons of great setup and foreshadowing, but not a whole lot of payoff.

Thankfully, SPIRITS more than makes up for it in this regard, improving on its predecessor in every conceivable fashion.

A central theme of Greg Weisman's works has always been repercussions, and SPIRITS is no exception. Picking up one day after the conclusion of the last book, it becomes immediately clear that Rain's inaugural adventure has changed her deeply, and much of the early parts of the novel are spent exploring the consequences of the quest she has now undertaken.

Rain herself is the biggest point of change, and it's a welcome one. While in the previous book she certainly had a unique and entertaining "voice," she was also impulsive and immature enough to erode reader sympathy at times. It's clear that she still has a lot of growing up to do, but a sense of purpose and real responsibilities have done much to temper her more negative qualities.

I can certainly say I was "rooting" for her a lot more strongly in this story, both in her personal life and in her greater quest, than I was in the last. Especially in light of a particular conversation she has with her father toward the end of the novel, which demonstrates some rather keen character growth.

Charlie, too, really comes into his own in this book. My one complaint of any substance regarding RAIN was that I thought that Charlie came off as a little bland and generic - but there was potential there, and I hoped that later novels might coax it out. SPIRITS certainly delivers on that score.

No longer defined solely by his relationship toward Rain (although one particularly amusing passage toward the beginning has him agonizing over whether he fits the term "sidekick"), Charlie gets to shine through as a calm and cool-headed planner, with the patience of a saint and a sardonic wit that enables him to take the supernatural world he's just been introduced to in stride.

Oh, and he gets nearly all the best lines, too.

'Bastian was my favorite main character in RAIN, and he remains one of this series' true gems; it's not like "dead grandfather of the protagonist who looks like he's in his 20s" is a very common character type in young adult fiction, after all.

Since he still doesn't know exactly why he came back as a ghost, or how long he'll be sticking around - although all three certainly spend some time speculating - his attempts to take things as they come rings true, and leads to some of the novel's standout scenes. A few of them were genuine tearjerkers.

The shared theme, for both of our male leads' initial character arcs, appears to be impotence. Charlie's lack of connection to the supernatural leads him to feel increasingly left out of Rain's quest, despite his obvious willingness to help her out, while 'Bastian literally can't interact with most anything in the world save for Rain herself.

It's a theme that's explored in a number of diverse and creative ways, and it's a bold one; in the current culture of violence as the primary method of conflict resolution, feelings of helplessness aren't often depicted so frankly as they are SPIRITS…particularly in its climax.

Greg really does a great job of conveying the feeling of being unable to act, and it makes for an extremely emotionally resonant work. One scene involving 'Bastian and his daughter (Rain's mother) is absolutely heartbreaking in this regard.

The big surprise out of this book's cast, however, is Miranda Guerrero. A minor character in the first book, she rises here to become the fourth lead, and easily my favorite. The isolated but kindhearted daughter of the Ghosts' largest private employer, Miranda proves especially effective as a foil for Rain: studious and responsible where Rain most decidedly isn't, and intensely insecure in contrast to Rain's boundless (over-) confidence.

SPIRITS succeeds magnificently at properly introducing her to this world, and in the space of the novel fleshing out her first big character arc. By the end she feels every bit a part of the main group as Rain, Charlie, and 'Bastian do, and I very much look forward to seeing how they interact on future adventures.

The supporting characters also feel a lot more "real" in this installment; with the brunt of the work done establishing the setting and the basic relationships in the first book, Greg makes great effort to allow them all to breathe and shine on their own merits here.

Iris and Alonso Cacique, seen predominately in the first book only through the VERY thirteen-year-old eyes of their daughter, get to show off a lot more of themselves as business associates, partners, and human beings, as opposed to just being "mom and dad."

Meanwhile, new details have begun to trickle out regarding Miranda's silent bodyguard Ariel, strangely alluring traveler Judith Vendaval, and especially our nigh-omniscient canine narrator Opie and his equally enigmatic companion Maq. Each one clearly has plenty of their own secrets left to tell, with just enough hints provided here to make some educated guesses.

Most notable among those joining this colorful cast for the first time is Renée Jackson, who spends so much time interacting with the main plot that she's arguably closer to a lead than a supporting character. One can't help but be impressed by the sheer depths to which she pursues the pettiest of revenges, approaching her role as "school bitch" with such dedicated professionalism that she ends up twisting said role in quite a few interesting directions.

And finally, we have our villains: the returning Australian mercenary Callahan and his faceless employer "Mr. Setebos," in addition to a handful of characters, old and new, who have a more…mystic bent to them.

That's another thing that's notably different about SPIRITS in comparison to RAIN - while the indigenous Taino culture was always an undercurrent of the story, it was distinctly at the background of the first book, focused as it was both on Rain's initial character arc and in putting away the ghosts (both literal and figurative) of World War II.

Not so with SPIRITS, which goes full-haul on the tragically underused history and mythology of the Caribbean in order to craft something that feels truly unique. There may be a million versions of Thor or Horus out there, but this is the first work to introduce me to figures like Aycayia.

Greg even goes so far as to craft his own fables as part of the narrative - each one directly inspired by various myths of the region, but blended together and twisted in unexpected directions in a style that fans of his animated series ("Gargoyles" in particular) will be eminently familiar with.

It's his unique mix of thorough research, respect for the original myths, and willingness to apply bountiful creativity to make them cohere into a single, brilliant tapestry that makes these sections a real highlight of the book. I must especially commend what he does with the concept of the "hupia," drawing from various sources in order to craft a monster both refreshingly original and utterly terrifying.

SPIRITS OF ASH AND FOAM is a book about a lot of things: Rain learning to accept her new destiny as the Searcher and the Healer, coming to grips with how that responsibility meshes with her more mundane life as a daughter and a student (fans of Greg's previous work on superhero series like "The Spectacular Spider-Man" and "Young Justice" may find a lot of resonance on this particular point), and setting to rest one more wound of the past, even as numerous others begin to appear on her horizon.

But ultimately, what it's really about is family - another perennial favorite theme, like repercussions, of a Greg Weisman story. Rain's grander destiny is a legacy of her birth family, and it becomes increasingly clear as the plot of SPIRITS unfolds that reconnecting with both them and with the new family she is gathering (Charlie, Miranda…maybe even Renée, with a little more growing up on both sides) is going to be key to unlocking the mystery of the Ghosts.

On the whole, there really is very little I can think to criticize about SPIRITS. Whereas I enjoyed but was never overwhelmingly excited about RAIN, its sequel was an engrossing page-turner from beginning to end; the only reason it took me so long to finish it was that I deliberately dragged out the experience to maximize my enjoyment.

The jokes all landed perfectly without ruining the overall mood, the action scenes - particularly the climactic one - played out with a palpable sense of tension, the dialogue felt crisp and dynamic, and the emotional beats had me genuinely empathizing with the cast.

In short, it really and truly did everything right.

Without question, SPIRITS succeeded in getting me fully invested in seeing Rain's journey play out over the planned nine-book series. And I hope that, if anyone reading this review was on the fence about trying these novels out, that I got you to feel the same way.

If you enjoyed Greg's previous work on any series from "Gargoyles" to "Young Justice" - or hell, if you're simply looking for a good story with strong characters and a solid grounding in an oft-overlooked mythology - then you owe it to yourself to try out RAIN and SPIRITS.

I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

GRacie writes...

Gargoyles is a great show. Now that my praise is out of the way, I'm moving onto the question.

I watched the version of City of Stone with your commentary (which was very amusing) but there was one part which stood out to me. In the beginning of Part 4, we see Demona of the eleventh century meet up with Macbeth. You (or one of the other commenters) acknowledged that Demona was, and I quote, "a bit in love with Macbeth". It makes sense why she would feel this way, seeing that Macbeth was a close ally of hers.

Was this really true, or were these possible feelings of hers frivolous?

Rhino Venom writes...

Hi again Mr. Wesiman. First of all, I wanted to thank you for creating such great backstories and designs for my two favorite villains: Venom and Rhino. I love how Alex O'Hirn's last name is an anagram for Rhino. I have a few questions, too.
#1. How did the symbiote pick up the spores? Were they from the symbiote's planet? And why was only John exposed? Weren't other people, like Foswell, near it too?
#2. I'm not sure about Sandman's last episode. What caused him to become a hero? Was your plan always to make him a hero eventually? And (sorry if this question bothers you) would he revert back to villainy?
#3. Would John Jameson have been fine if he was shocked with electricity before his transformation, or would it have killed him while not Colonel Jupiter?

Spectacular Spider-Fan writes...

1. Where did the hospital get Electro's suit? It seems to be pretty high-tech. it can keep him restrained if he wants, but he can also mentally control the opening and closing of the mask and gloves. It also isn't conductive. How did somebody (in-universe) create this so fast?
2. How is Alex O'Hirn strong enough to keep all that titanium armor on top of him without being crushed?
3. In Destructive Testing, how did Kraven get away? The web he was caught in wasn't even broken, but he somehow ended up in his car being driven by his chauffeur. By the way, how did Kraven get the money to afford this and pay Miles Warren?
4. Is Pat Mulligan on the police force in the show?
5. What is the origin of Tinkerer? He is one of the most interesting villains in the series, but it never explains how he manages to make all these advanced devices (I believe you said he made Silvermane's armor) or how he ended up working for Chameleon. By the way, did Chameleon's flat face that can use a mask to impersonate anyone come from Tinkerer?

Spectacular Spider-Fan writes...

1. In Blueprints, Mysterio makes a sword appear out of nowhere on the bridge. Since we find out later that Mysterio was just using special effects, where did the sword come from?
2. Did anyone ever find out that George Stacy almost helped Master Planner take over the world?
3. Would Peter be able to save up enough money to buy another camera after his new one got detroyed due to the New Enforcers?
4. Liz's breakup with Peter. Is she over it and happy for him, does she hate him forever now, or will she try to get him back?
5. What does the general public in the show think about the symbiote? One day they discover alien life, then it's stolen, and it seems like nobody cares anymore about the significance of this discovery. (Also, you mentioned that the Fantastic Four were dealing with threats like the Skrulls. Wouldn't this mean that the symbiote is no big deal, or did the Skrulls come after the symbiote and is that why nobody cares? Is Chameleon a Skrull? What does the general public think of Skrulls? Sorry about these Skrull questions, it just opens up so many possibilities.)

Fangirling writes...

What did M'gann and Conner study at Ivy Town University? Sorry if I got the name wrong.

Anonymous writes...

Do magic potions exist in the young justice universe?

Rhino Venom writes...

Hi Mr. Weisman! I recently got into your show Spectacular Spider-Man on recommendation from my friend. I've never been much of a Marvel fan, but thanks to the Amazing Spider-Man 2, LEGO Marvel, and this show, Spider-Man is my new favorite superhero. I'm really devastated that there is no season 3, and I hope that it will get picked up again someday. That being said, I have a few questions.
#1. Under what charges was Molten Man arrested?
#2. What circumstances led to Kraven moving to Africa and developing his skills as a hunter?
#3. How did Master Planner know about and contact Kraven before he came to New York?
Thank you for making such a great TV show! I hope that more seasons will eventually come!

Anonymous writes...

If Lex was willing to reprogram SB from Queen Bee's comment that they were going to give him a few adjustments why didn't he just kidnap him when he used red sun the first time? Was he that confident that he could convince Superboy to work for him willingly?

Flynn writes...

If Queen Bee's pheromones only work on humans who are attracted to women, do they work on Superboy because he's half-human, or do they not because he's half-kryptonian?

Masterdramon writes...

CONVERGENCE 2014 CON REPORT

DAY 5 AND DAY 6

……………

SUNDAY, JULY 6
11:00 AM CDT

A few things happened in this hour, all of which I tried to get done as quickly as possible to make it in time for most of Greg's first panel of the day: "Protofeminists in Shakespeare."

The main thing was picking up my one successful acquisition from the charity auction: a coffee cup that Chris Jones had used at CONvergence 2013, with the caption…well, I'll just let the image speak for itself:

https://twitter.com/ChrisJonesArt/status/485468921923788800

I had, naturally, bid on the thing as a lark - more or less solely for the reason of being able to say I did. But apparently nobody else at the con shared my particular sens d'humour, because I was the only one who bid. So while I lost out on all the posters and plushies and whatnot that I actually WANTED…Chris Jones' residual DNA was mine.

Which should make the reason for my hurrying clear, I think. Because Chris was doing his final signing of the weekend right at that moment…and if I was gonna be known as the guy who paid $5 for his coffee cup, then I figured I might as well MILK it.

So in addition to getting my "Recruits" print signed, I asked Chris to go ahead and personalize the cup; perhaps, with something that'd commemorate just how crazy I was to pay ANY amount of money for a used coffee cup.

And that is how the cup signed to "Krazy Kevin" that can be seen in the Flickr photos I linked in my first post came to be.

Anyway, with all that out of the way and my farewells said to Chris, I headed back into the Edina room for the aforementioned panel. I'd caught the first ten minutes or so while I was waiting for Chris' line to shorten, and overall I managed not to miss more than about 5-6 minutes, thankfully.

The conversation itself was really quite fascinating - an intelligent, scintillating discussion on some of my favorite of the Bard's plays and characters. It reminded me of being back in college, actually…y'know, in a good way.

This was also where I first learned, through Greg's discussion of the strong women in Will's life and the influence that might've had in how he wrote female characters, what the premise of "Doc Shakespeare" would've been. I'd heard the name bandied about on Ask Greg for years, but I never knew what it was ABOUT.

But now I do. And I want it to exist so very badly. Damn you, Greg Weisman.

I asked one question myself, though as it was at the tail-end of the panel there wasn't much time to really go into depth with it. My question was whether the backlash that "The Merchant of Venice" receives - rightfully - in the modern day over issues of race diminishes Portia's status as a "protofeminist" character (seriously, she spends pretty much the entirety of the final act making everyone else in the play her bitch). The answer Greg gave was that being a feminist character is not mutually exclusive with being a terrible person…and considering he's written for Demona, Nerissa, and Queen Bee, he certainly can say he knows what he's talking about.

A fun discussion, overall, that gave me a lot to think about - something that's been increasingly rare for me since I graduated last May, unfortunately.

……………

SUNDAY, JULY 6
12:30 PM CDT

The last of the numerous, numerous events dedicated to Gargoyles that weekend was this "Gargoyles Fan Panel," composed of a mix of creators, long-time fans, and newer ones.

This one felt a lot more like the Harry Potter "panel" that'd started my weekend than anything else: an intensely, unabashedly geeky outpouring of gushing about how awesome the show was and still is, except with Greg Weisman happening to also be there.

I mean, Jennifer and Karine were up on the panel as well, but it was clearly in more of the capacity of "promoted fans" than as industry professionals. As Karine's epic Hunter cosplay made evident. :)

Favorite moments, episodes, characters; moments that made us laugh, and moments that made us cry; two decades' worth of stories of people discovering, falling in love with, and continuing to enjoy the series, even years after the last piece of canon material was published. All of it was shared, compared, and squeed upon in short order, in a space that felt perfectly safe to fans of all stripes.

Nothing new really came up, but it didn't have to. After a full weekend of bombshells and revelations, it felt good to kick back with the rest of the fandom and just CELEBRATE this show that has meant so much to all of us.

It's been a fantastic 20 years. And this mini-gathering was a great way to welcome many more to come.

……………

SUNDAY, JULY 6
2:00 PM CDT

This was the last space open for walking around that was really available before the end of the con, and I took advantage of it for one final walk around Artist's Alley and the Dealer's Room. And for the first time since Thursday, I did indeed find some art I felt was worth spending my money on: a couple of prints based on Vinyl Scratch from "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic," and a collage of various villains from the same.

Heading back upstairs, I wandered over for the final Gargoyles-themed signing to make my last rounds. Ironically, despite getting over a dozen items signed across the course of the con by him, I had nothing left for Greg Weisman (indeed, all I ended up getting at that time were Greg Guler's and Frank Paur's autographs to complete my radio play script).

But I said goodbye to all of them, and wished them well on their flights back home. Though ironically, it actually WOULDN'T end up being my last time speaking with one of them that weekend (but I'll leave that little nugget until the end).

Anyway, most of the rest of this time was spent waiting in line for the next panel, as it was taking place on the Main Stage and we wanted to be sure to grab good seats. Which we definitely did.

I spent most of it chatting with Brainiac, Chip, and Bookwyrm on numerous topics, from Yu-Gi-Oh! to classic video games to various anime.

But eventually, it was time for one last chance to grill the Wise Man for details. And oh, did we take advantage it.

……………

SUNDAY, JULY 6
3:30 PM CDT

This was the last actual "panel" of the day, but was certainly a great one to go out on: "Young Justice Q&A," with Greg, Chris, and Marina.

There were lots of details big and small dropped here, though there were just as many spoiler requests denied with the now memetic line. This naturally came full-circle when someone asked if Stephanie Brown would be showing up again; I mean c'mon, dude, what'd you EXPECT in response to that question? ;)

Of course, I got largely the same response when asking about the circumstances of Ocean-Master's disgrace, banking - obviously unsuccessfully - that he might be willing to share more about events that occurred during the timeskip by this point.

Still, he did at least share one little tidbit: that the reason Orm never got an episode to himself to be the Big Bad was because the "Under the Surface…Here There Be Monsters" two-parter from the tie-in comics was originally meant to be the A-plot of "Downtime," but the executives nixed it for some reason.

It worked out well enough, since subbing in Black Manta allowed them to build on that appearance in Season 2. But I still would've loved to hear Roger Craig Smith belting out Ocean-Master's great lines from those issues, which remain my favorite story from the comics run.

Other "SPOILER REQUEST; NO COMMENT" earners included Shining Knight (considering that one version in the original comics was married to Firebrand, AKA Red Inferno) and the aforementioned Steph. After a few of these, Chris was quick to re-term the panel "Young Justice Q, no A."

All kidding aside, though, there were a number of interesting details presented. When asked about the process of selecting the members of the Light, for example, Greg noted that he was tired of villain team-ups that essentially "defeated themselves" through infighting. As such, he wanted the Light's leaders to be characters whose temperaments would allow them to genuinely collude and work together toward a singular vision, without the constant mistrust and backstabbing previous comics/adaptations have taught us to expect.

Well…maybe except Klarion. But he can at least be kept in line with shiny new toys, LOL.

Speaking of Klarion, Greg also mentioned - in response to a very nice cosplayer of the Witch-Boy, stuffed Teekl included - that the reason he chose Klarion as a member of the Light was because he felt the main villains of "Young" Justice really should be composed of at least one kid (in appearance and disposition, if not literally.

Greg also dropped the bomb that he'd slipped a rather major YJ spoiler into the radio play, which he was EXTREMELY surprised nobody had asked him about to that point. Cue us all jumping to our scripts and flipping through without success…proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am selectively blind.

It wasn't until a few days after I'd returned home and reread the script that it became insanely, excruciatingly obvious; the spoiler was clearly in Tigress' line, "I left Roy at home alone watching Lian and J.W." Which I'd noted as a little odd every single time I read it, and then somehow promptly forgot about (several times in a row!) in the midst of all the action.

Not that it would've helped me much, of course, had I figured it out while I was still there. Because if my theory about the identity of "J.W." is accurate, then there is NO WAY IN HELL Greg would ever comment one way or the other on it.

At least, not without some serious pie-making skillz that I, unfortunately, sorely lack. ;)

Marina was (as always) an enormous hoot at this panel, butting into various topics to note that we were "the quietest and best behaved" audience of fans she'd ever seen…as well as that we tended to ask much more intelligent questions than she is used to. As she put it:

"If I get asked 'What's it like to work with Sir Patrick?' one more time…"

She also mentioned, when asked about her thought process in approaching the character of Queen Bee, that when she was initially cast she looked up the wrong reference image and actually thought she'd be playing a…well, a bee-person. So she asked during recording whether they wanted her to add a buzzing sound to her voice. XD

And finally, at one point she ended up going off on a random tangent involving comparing David Xanatos to Donald Trump (context has long since eluded me, though it didn't take much for Marina to go off-topic in the most delightful way). Greg took mock-offense to that, and she quickly noted:

"Of course not. Xanatos is much smarter. And he has better hair."

Since the topic we'd started at was the Light, I then couldn't help but shout from the crowd:

"SO DOES LEX LUTHOR!"

That got a lot of laughs. It was definitely one of my favorite exchanges of the con, and a great way to move toward finally wrapping it up.

……………

SUNDAY, JULY 6
5:00 PM CDT

This was it. The final hurrah. One last celebration of everything this weekend had meant to us, with a chance for the "actors" to take their bows before the "curtains" came down.

After we filtered out of the Main Stage, Chip and his brothers elected to return to the hotel room, while Brainiac and I got back in line to await the Closing Ceremonies.

There really wasn't any more reason to walk around - the artists and dealers were packing up, the panels were over and done with, and we'd run all the errands we needed to (such as grabbing a couple items we'd picked up for Station 8's Algernon, who lives in Ireland and as such couldn't be with us that weekend). So we mostly just stood around and continued to chatter on about video games.

Brainiac was the only one of us who'd attended the Opening Ceremonies (I was busy watching Madoka at the time), so he had a bit more of an idea what to expect than I did.

The festivities started with a sort of elaborate skit involving superheroes, hobbits, and Time Lords…little of which I understood, and almost none of which I found particularly interesting. But there were some good lines here and there, and I certainly didn't begrudge the con's organizers the chance to take a victory lap and enjoy the fruits of their hard work.

The guests would each be individually presented and celebrated at a later point, but as Marina had to catch an early flight she came on shortly after the skit to say her goodbyes. And to my surprise, after seeing her in all her frankness and bluntness (meant only in the best possible way, I assure you!) all throughout that weekend, she was…overwhelmed.

With not even the slightest trace of snark, she thanked us from the bottom of her heart for making her feel so welcome. And she made it clear that, while she wouldn't have considered coming to CONvergence without Greg recommending it, she was extremely glad that she did.

Okay…so there was a LITTLE snark. Namely that when saying goodbye to Connie, she actually started to tear up, and blamed our favorite robotic mascot for making her makeup run. But it was all in good humor, and I won't lie - it warmed my own heart to see it unfold.

Speaking of Connie, I really came to fall in love with that cute little gynoid as the Ceremonies unfolded, as she interrupted the ongoing presentation repeatedly to complain about traffic laws and the DMV; it WAS her Sweet Sixteen, after all. Her material was pretty much all pure gold, and it made me kind of regret not attending Opening Ceremonies, if only to see what she might've come up with.

Anyway, while every Guest of Honor got thanked and applauded by name - complete with Chris Jones-created logos for each one - Greg's was a bit more…involved.

One of the con organizers mentioned that Greg had shattered their record for total numbers of panels sat at a single con, with a whopping 26! A clearly exhausted but excited Greg then took the stage to give a great speech about how grateful he was that CONvergence had so graciously opened itself up to the Gargoyles fandom for our little "con within a con"…going so far as to say that, with the Gatherings retired for the foreseeable future, CONvergence was without question his favorite con to attend.

Then, in what can only be described as a grand exercise in good-natured humiliation, said organizer had Greg play a very weird game to guess the total attendance number for the weekend. Various people were holding up signs with various digits, and Greg had to determine which four to use and what order to put them in.

Obviously, the odds were pretty strongly against him getting it with only one shot, and indeed he did not. But it was certainly entertaining - if more than a little bit strange - to watch him make his best attempt.

And for the most part, that was it. There was lots more applause, both for the guests and for the numerous, wonderful volunteers. There were slide shows and videos from the con, including both the rather unfortunate picture of "the role of Lexington will henceforth be played by PILLAR" and the much nicer one of me "on stage" with Marina. There was more Connie, interviewing various congoers in her uniquely cheerful style.

And finally, there was the announcement of CONvergence 2015's theme, which will apparently be run by Connie's totally trustworthy "little sister" Connie Mk. II on account of good behavior. The maniacal laughter and crowd-chanting of "All hail Mk. II!" that followed were only mildly disconcerting.

I haven't yet made up my mind about whether I'm going to try to attend again; I had an unbelievably amazing time, and 2015's "dystopia" theme is right up my alley ("1984" is my favorite book of all time). But scrounging the money for even this year was difficult enough, so I'm not counting anything as a guarantee yet.

Still…I'm thinking about it. And that definitely means they did SOMETHING right.

……………

SUNDAY, JULY 6
6:00 PM CDT

We were informed during Closing Ceremonies that free pizza would be coming shortly, so Brainiac elected to stick around and wait for that. I, on the other hand, was absolutely starving after four days of eating basically only one meal of substance each, and so decided to return to TGI Friday's and splurge a bit.

This was a mistake.

I'll spare the gory details and just say that I had a wonderful ribeye steak that just so happened to give me severe food poisoning, which took me nearly two weeks to fully recover from.

Not that I realized it at the time, of course. After my dinner, I returned to the con to meet up with the rest of the gang - Chip and Dragonlord having returned due to the promise of pizza. We had a last round of chatting with other congoers and saying goodbye to the Doubletree as we waited, before finally driving back to spend our final evening together.

With all the action over with, we occupied ourselves with more Yu-Gi-Oh!, a few rounds of "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" (all of which I won handily, suck it Brainiac), and general geeking out about our various hauls.

Those still hungry ended up ordering in calzones for delivery, while I headed to the Crowne Plaza's business center so I could check my e-mail and Skype one time before takeoff.

I got most of my packing done once the games were over with - not that I really had all that much to pack - since I would be the one leaving first in the morning. Then at around 1:00 AM, we finally all turned in.

Not that I could fall asleep, myself, given what was beginning to happen with my stomach. Yeah, I'll leave out the details, but…let's just say I didn't end up getting to sleep until a couple hours later.

……………

MONDAY, JULY 7
6:00 AM CDT

Unfortunately, since my flight was at 8:48 AM, I needed to get up fairly early to be sure the hotel shuttle would get me there in time to board. Skimping on sleep didn't exactly do wonders for my already precarious health, and by the end I was pretty much limping out of there, hoping my stomach would hold for the journey ahead.

The trip held no surprises - good or bad - until I finally made it to the gate, where I was extremely shocked to run into Susan and Karine. Both proceeded to point out the Wise Man himself, whom they were dropping off there and whom I had somehow utterly failed to notice, despite sitting only a few meters away.

For in the strange but happy coincidence to end all strange but happy coincidences, we were going to be heading back on the same flight to Los Angeles; only a couple rows apart, in fact.

Despite feeling utterly like death by that point, this one last chance to speak one-on-one with the man gave me the energy to keep going. It was, to be sure, utterly surreal - only a few years ago, meeting Greg Weisman was this mystical, unattainable thing. And now we were just holding a friendly chat as we awaited our (naturally, delayed) plane.

It was, I suppose, one last opportunity to wrangle answers to the countless questions that I hadn't gotten a chance to ask that weekend…though I didn't really take advantage of it. Mostly because I was WAY too out of it to remember any of the questions I still had burning within me, but also because that really wasn't how the encounter "felt."

Instead, we talked about his kids. About his rather grueling con-schedule that summer. About how Rain was doing, with encouragement that I was excited as all hell for Spirits. About "Young Justice: Legacy," Scooby-Doo, and our impressions of how the radio play had gone.

Not nearly for the first time that weekend, I also reiterated my interest in having him as a guest at Kawaii Kon 2015, and he reiterated his interest in coming. So far, not much has come of my attempts to push the organizers I know on the issue, but it's an ongoing process and I hope to have something more concrete to report soon.

It was an extremely low-key conversation, not the least because we were both pretty exhausted (he, Chris, and co. had made a run on Denny's at 3:00 AM the previous night, which "seemed like a good idea at the time, not so much now"). But it was exactly what I needed at the time.

The entire exchange truly underscored what I loved most about that weekend: that Greg and the rest of the Gathering alums had seen fit to really make me feel like one of their own, rewarding all the effort I've tried to put into Ask Greg with kindness and acknowledgement.

I initially volunteered to help out when Todd reached out in the Comment Room because I so appreciated everything that Greg's work, and Ask Greg itself, had done for me over the years. But no matter how grueling dealing with the umpteenth "Where is Season 3?" or angry rant about Wally can be, I absolutely feel that I've gotten ten times more out of it than I've ever put in.

And that means the world to me.

I said as much to Greg, at least to the degree that I had the energy to articulate it. But all good things must come to an end, and eventually the plane arrived and it was time to board.

We wished each other safe travels, and said our farewells.

And with that…CONvergence 2014 truly came to a close.

……………

MONDAY, JULY 7
9:00 AM CDT

I'll be brief here, just to give an idea of what the aftermath of the con was like.

I flew to LA feeling like hell. I had an hour layover there, in which I felt like hell. I had another, longer flight back to Honolulu, if anything feeling worse than hell (since I hadn't eaten anything I'd kept down for well over 24 hours).

Eventually, though, I made it back home and was able to get the long rest and digestible foods I needed. I managed to make it back to work by Wednesday, though I'd be at least mildly off my game for the next couple weeks.

I called the Friday's in question to let them know about my situation, and calmly requested a full or partial refund; they called back at 6:00 AM two days later to tell me their investigation into the matter showed that they "did everything right that night" and so they wouldn't be able to accommodate my request.

I was too sick to really be willing to argue the point, but rest assured that I won't be visiting that particular restaurant again, should I ever return to CONvergence. And I urge any fellow attendees to do the same.

On a more positive note, Spirits arrived just a couple days after I got back, so once I was sufficiently recovered I got to reading. Once again, I'll be putting together a detailed review for Amazon/Ask Greg as soon as this report is finished and edited….but suffice to say, I dug the hell out of it.

Algernon got his package soon after as well, and was very happy with what we'd managed to find (a figure of Irish deity Brigid, a signed "Recruits" print, and a cuddly pink plushie of Cthulhu). And everyone else managed to get home with their own hauls without too much issue, thankfully.

Overall, despite the rather crappy end, I have little but positive things to say about the whole experience. I'm very proud of what I got to do, who I got to meet, and what I got to bring home…and it's definitely something I'd love the chance to do again.

It was my first "Gathering," such as it was, and it exceeded each and every one of my expectations.

Here's hoping it won't be anywhere close to the last.

NEVER THE END!

Masterdramon writes...

CONVERGENCE 2014 CON REPORT

DAY 4

……………

SATURDAY, JULY 5
11:00 AM CDT

We'd actually gotten to the Doubletree a fair bit earlier than this, as the others had other panels they wanted to attend. But for Brainiac and I, beyond a quick breakfast I grabbed first-thing, we largely spent that time waiting it out in Atrium 6.

I wasn't going to risk being even a single second late to one of the most awesome events of my life.

Thankfully, most everyone got there without too much issue, and we were able to start rehearsal more or less on-time. Angela's player, Dawn Krosnowski, was running a little late…but given that she also serves as CONvergence mascot Connie's "personal assistant," she can probably be forgiven for that.

As it turned out, over 80 people had auditioned and a total of 31 were cast, after Greg made the late-game decision to split up a few roles that were originally combined together. Unfortunately, this decision had come too late to print and highlight new scripts, so those of us who were originally going to play two roles had to share the pages.

In any event, there were lots of whoops and hollers of excitement as the roles were slowly announced, and it became immediately clear that this would be a true sight to behold - especially after BATMAN and IRON MAN were called out in quick succession.

After not too long, I was called up alongside a pretty awesome guy named Tron Howard, who took over what would've been my secondary role: Fu-Dog. But I was perfectly happy with that, because I was close to melting into some sort of orgasmic goo when I got my own casting: Lexington.

When I was a young lad, Lex had always been my favorite of the main cast. He was the most "kid-relatable" to me, if for no other reason than because of his size. Combined with his intelligence, his wide-eyed idealism, and Thom Adcox's wonderfully unique voice, and I really couldn't have asked for a more exciting role.

Tron and I sat together studying the script as the rest of the names were called. There wasn't enough time to read it from start-to-finish, but I skimmed enough to make it clear that this three-way crossover was very similar to "A Handful of Thorns" - an absolutely delightful mix of silly meta-humor and serious hints as to where the trio of shows might next be going, should Greg get a chance to work on them again.

I didn't get a chance to speak with most of the other players face-to-face, though I did have a rather amusing conversation with Vandal's player…the amusing part being that he didn't know who Vandal Savage WAS, and was asking around to see if anyone could give him something to go on.

Fortunately, I was in earshot and gave him a brief description of the character. He asked what the voice sounded like, to which I responded, "Do you know who Miguel Ferrer is?" When he responded in the negative, I tried a different tact: "Have you seen Mulan?" Thankfully, he had (though is there a single person of our general age range who hasn't?), so "same voice as Shan Yu" was enough to put him in the right place for the role. And he ended up turning in a great performance, so I was quite happy to help.

Rehearsal went very well, all things considered, and it goes without saying that I had an absolute blast. It was especially gratifying to learn that (narration and recaps aside) I and Batgirl's player were actually OPENING and CLOSING the action - an unbelievable honor for a newbie like me.

Now as I mentioned before, Thom's voice is one of the most unique I've ever heard out of an actor, and so I didn't even attempt to emulate it. Without much time to practice, what ended up coming out of me was mostly my own voice, if a smidge higher. It seemed to work well, though - Greg's only note of correction to me was to add a yawn to the line "Time for this guy to get some shuteye."

Overall the first run-through of the play was an absolute blast, and while I remained a bit nervous that I'd flub something, it all went pretty smoothly. By the end, I couldn't wait to run it by a live audience.

……………

SATURDAY, JULY 5
12:30 PM CDT

During the short break between rehearsal and the actual performance, Tron, Brainiac (who'd been cast as Bronx), Broadway's player (who was sharing with Brainiac), and I all went down to the Doubletree's front desk to ask if we could get our scripts copied. Thankfully, they were happy to do so, meaning that we wouldn't have to keep passing the pages back and forth.

By the time we got back, the room was already starting to fill up. Oddly, though, I think the increasingly packed house only made me feel more comfortable and confident. Probably has something to do with my enormous ego and how it would soon be able to feast.

Now, as to the play itself…I'll assume that anybody reading this has had a chance to watch it on YouTube (and if they haven't, a link can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggu7lSMXOnM). So I won't dwell too much on the script itself, but rather on the experience.

And as experiences go? My God, did it not disappoint. Participating in "Recruits" was easily one of the biggest highlights, not just of CONvergence, but of this entire year of my life.

There was something…ELECTRIFYING about being "on stage," particularly at those points when I was up there alongside Marina freaking Sirtis. I really felt at the top of my game, and I think that showed through in my performance. It was everything I'd been hoping for, and so much more; really, my only complaint is that I wish it could've gone on even longer.

When it comes to favorite moments from the play, I scarcely know where to begin. By and large, the cast turned in a phenomenal performance, and I have positive things to say about pretty much each and every one of them.

Goliath's player had a wonderfully natural baritone; Angela's proved just why Connie "relies" on her so much, with a perfectly nuanced and emotional take that played off Marina like sweet honey.

We had a delightfully cocksure and quip-tossing Spidey, a brilliantly snarky Tigress, and a Doc Ock whose voice was so naturally "supervillainy" that it defied words.

An Iron Man who could steal the show with just a couple of lines; a Blue Beetle who absolutely NAILED one-side arguing with his Scarab; a Katana and Nashville who imbued some of their first spoken lines in ANYTHING with great spirit.

Not to mention Jackal and Black Cat, who were pretty much pitch-perfect imitations.

Really, though, I have little else but praise to pass about all-around, and if there's someone I didn't mention in the above list it really only means that I'd be sitting here typing all day if I mentioned everything.

The crowd seemed to eat it all up - unsurprising, since the script was balls-to-the-wall hilarious and LADEN with fanservice. I'm proud to say that I got one of the biggest laughs of the play (TIGRESS: "It's Queen Bee. Angela, get Broadway and Lexington out of here before she takes control of them!" LEXINGTON: "How's she gonna do that?" TIGRESS: "You're not affected? Then that means you're…" *lengthy pause* LEXINGTON: "What?") but the delivery of nearly all the jokes was nailed.

It was fantastic to hear the applause of both the crowd and my fellow actors, amateur and otherwise. My one minor regret is that I was seated directly behind a pillar, so most of the pictures from that performance don't capture me. But there's one I like a lot that's made its rounds on Twitter, with myself alongside Angela's player, Static's player, and Marina herself…and hell, it's all on video, so there's not much to complain about on that front.

One thing that surprised me greatly after the performance was that Marina started grabbing at people's scripts and signing them. Okay, "surprised me greatly" really isn't the right term…it FLOORED me.

I'd already accepted that I wouldn't be getting Marina's autograph that con; much as I love her work, $40 is just plain more than I'm willing to pay for ANY actor's signature, especially when I was already overbudget. And then suddenly, without warning…I was just HANDED it.

Needless to say, I was incredibly gratified. It seemed to indicate to me that, in that brief moment, Marina didn't just consider us fans…but colleagues. Fellow actors, worthy of respect. There were no words to how honored that made me feel.

Because of this, over the last two days of CONvergence that script would become essentially my autograph book, and I tried to make it as complete a record of my time at the con as possible. Greg Weisman, Greg Guler, Frank Paur (complete with an impromptu little doodle of a gargoyle body outline!), Chris Jones, Karine Charlebrois, and Jennifer Anderson all signed the front page, while Rachael Sterling - Batgirl's player - signed by her cast listing at my request. It seemed only fitting, since most of our scenes were spent playing off each other.

All in all…there was NOTHING like this experience, either before or after. But the con was far from done, so after congratulations were offered and words of gratitude exchanged, we were off to the next panel.

……………

SATURDAY, JULY 5
2:00 PM CDT

Next up was another Gathering mainstay brought back to life: the "Gargoyles Biology and Culture" panel. This is the kind of stuff my friends from Station 8 and I are constantly discussing anyway, so while I didn't have much to add myself I was looking forward to hearing what fresh thoughts others might bring to the table.

I was sitting next to Brainiac during this one, and being a bio major and self-proclaimed emulator of Anton Sevarius (…why was I going anywhere near him, again?) he very much DID have some points to add.

Seriously though, I did appreciate hearing his insights - in particular, there was a fascinating discussion about the coloration of gargoyle eggs, and whether they might differ between clans. Apparently…well, to put it in his words:

"My contribution was pointing out how amongst humans, paternal contribution leads to the trophectoderm (fetal placenta and umbilicus) while maternal leads to the inner cell mass (what becomes the embryo). Thus leading to the possibility of egg coloration being determined more by the male (specifically Brooklyn in the discussion)."

I am, of course, just directly quoting to emphasize the "I have no idea what any of this means but it sure sounds cool" factor.

Gargoyle biorhythms, divergent wing shapes, and possible other (earlier) gargate species were other topics that I can recall being discussed, though I'm drawing a blank on too many details.

But in general I had a ton of fun hearing Brainiac and other scientifically minded fans debate this stuff back and forth - even if I myself was far too out of my element to do more than smile and nod politely.

……………

SATURDAY, JULY 5
3:30 PM CDT

Nearly this entire day was spent attending Greg Weisman panels, and this one was no exception - though it was the only one that in no way involved Gargoyles. Rather, an intimate group (admittedly, largely the SAME fans who were following him through the various Gargoyles panels that day…but still) gathered within Atrium 3 to discuss a certain ghost-whispering girl by the name of Rain Cacique.

"Rain of the Ghosts" was a fun little gem, and one that I saw a lot of potential in; as of the writing of this sentence, I finally finished "Spirits of Ash and Foam" a few days ago, and I enjoyed the hell out of it.

I'll be uploading a lengthier review to both Amazon and Ask Greg once this entire report is finally done with, but in the meantime…

Lots was covered in this brief hour. Greg started out with pitching the basic premise and explaining the history of the project, which at this point is a speech I can probably recite in my sleep after all the interviews I've watched/listened to. But hey, if he can pick up a few more curious fans to this wonderfully promising novel series…it's not like I'M gonna complain.

He also did a reading of Chapter 7, "A Wake": the scene depicting 'Bastian's funeral. Then - to my surprise but also great delight, considering it wasn't to come out until the following week - he spiced things up with a reading from Chapter 5 of Spirits, "The Pale Tourist" - the scene depicting Constable Thibideaux discussing the discovery of Cash's body, fresh from being murdered by the *SPOILERS*

It was an interesting pick for a preview chapter, especially considering Rain and co. don't appear in it at all. But it definitely got me intrigued to learn just what'd caused the mystery death, and in hindsight it makes a lot of sense as a way to demonstrate that, like Gargoyles, the mystic fantasy tropes were going to lay side-by-side with the modern day.

After the two readings, he turned things over to Q&A. I asked whether 'Bastian/The Dark Man had originally had a smaller role that'd expanded because he's just so enjoyable to read about, considering that "ghost of protagonist's grandfather who looks like he's in his 20s" isn't a very common description of a main character in young adult fiction. But Greg said that 'Bastian was always intended as a lead from the beginning, which I thought was pretty interesting.

Other questions concerned racial diversity in the series; what changed between the original draft of the first book that Greg wrote in the 90s, and the final version that was published (answer: not all that much, actually, apart from needing to update the technology in-story to 2013 standards); why Greg chose to explore Taino mythology specifically; whether other Caribbean folklore - voodoo in particular - will eventually be covered (answer: yes); and the sorts of sources he uses for his research, especially the music.

He also spoke at length about his tentative plans for an audiobook. St. Martin's Press has right of first refusal to make one, but if they decide not to the rights pass to Greg.

If so, he has a rather ambitious plan to do it "radio play style," by hiring professional voice actors to play at least the major parts - under the rather sound logic that the narrator for absolutely everything is the masculine Opie, despite the main character being a thirteen-year-old girl. And in order to cover the costs, he intends to try his hand at Kickstarter…just as soon as he learns how to use Kickstarter.

On a similar note, Greg also made it clear that regardless of how things turn out, he WILL be finishing the Rain series…even if he has to resort to self-publishing to do so. That being said, he's very much hoping it won't have to come to that.

While he obviously wasn't going to share too many details, he did admit that St. Martin's could be sadder about the first book's sales, but most DEFINITELY could be happier. Their desire is that Spirits both outsells its predecessor AND spurs some new purchases of Rain…and whether or not that desire is realistic, I very much HOPE that it'll be the case.

Because Spirits is amazing, and it damn well deserves it.

Oh, and when the conversation turned briefly to Ask Greg, the Wise Man mentioned that we had a moderator for the site in the audience. And I got a spontaneous round of applause.

So…that was neat.

……………

SATURDAY, JULY 5
4:30 PM CDT

After the Rain panel, Greg and his various acquaintances planned to head over to TGI Friday's for dinner…and since there were so few people left in the room at that point, pretty much tossed out an open invitation to join to everyone within earshot. Including me.

Needless to say, I jumped at the chance.

Thankfully, this was probably the best meal of the weekend (for the worst…well, see Sunday's report). A very tasty chicken BLT with fries, plus some strawberry lemonade. I do love me some strawberry lemonade.

There were WAY too many of us to sit at one table, so we ended up (after some reasoning with the management) spread out over five tables of varying size - meaning this was less "dinner with Greg Weisman" than "dinner in the immediate vicinity of Greg Weisman, close enough to hear Chris Jones' jokes and occasionally butt in." Which was still pretty fun.

By the time we were done eating, Greg's table had already taken off. After paying the check myself, I still had about half a plate of fries left…and since I'm kinda crazy about not wasting food, I went around to see if anyone wanted to partake.

Chip, who I was sitting across from, declined; as did Brainiac and Dragonlord at the next table. The Bishanskys had left as well, so I offered it to Aaron, Mara, and Lynati - the only ones also left in our general seating area. And I'm very glad they said yes.

I'd had an extremely fun conversation with all three after the radio play, thanks to the Twilight Sparkle t-shirt I was wearing during it. As a general rule, if someone is both a Gargoyles fan AND a brony/pegasister, I'm probably going to get along with them swimmingly.

And in this case, that DEFINITELY held up, as my small overture of French fries led to what I like to call an "evening of instant friendship." I'm not usually great at that sort of thing, but we really clicked and had loads of fun hanging with each other that day, chatting about ponies and Magical Girls and previous Gatherings and all sorts of other lovely things.

As a total newbie to the classic "Gathering crowd," they really helped me feel welcome and at home. I definitely hope that it won't be the last time we see each other.

……………

SATURDAY, JULY 5
7:00 PM CDT

After dinner, we all headed back to Plaza 2 for the next stop on the "Greg Weisman CONvergence World Tour" as I have just now decided to call it, oh how clever I am.

In this case, the event was a "One on One with Greg Weisman," hosted by CONvergence mainstay Hal Bichel. This was a fun little interview that stretched across pretty much the entirety of Greg's career, with questions ranging from his inspirations to his early breaks into the business, from Gargoyles to Spectacular Spidey, and from Young Justice to Rain.

CONvergence itself was also a big topic - Greg's past experiences with the convention, and how he was enjoying his weekend so far. Despite his tiredness (and really, if I were him I'd be SO "conned out" by that point), it was clear that we was truly having a blast, and said as much.

Really, it ended up being less an interview than Greg telling stories with Hal occasionally nudging him toward various subjects…and since Greg is such a wonderfully FUN storyteller, I certainly didn't mind that.

One particularly amusing tale involved the origins of the "Fancy Bastard" competition, which in a nutshell began because Greg ONCE Tweeted about pie and Chris Jones decided to be a colossal troll about it.

Which I mean in only the most absolutely positive way, I assure you. ;)

……………

SATURDAY, JULY 5
8:30 PM CDT

Once the panel was over, we immediately headed back to CONvergence Central to get in line for Greg's next signing.

Everything that I'd actually brought FOR signing had already been taken care of on Friday, but now there was a new item absolutely none of us could resist: an exclusive print by Chris Jones to commemorate "Recruits," featuring its diverse roster of villains (Demona, Jackal, Hyena, Doc Ock, Electro, Vandal Savage, and Queen Bee).

Accounts differed between who you listened to, as to whether Chris goaded Greg into writing such an ambitious radio play script, or whether Chris merely made a suggestion and Greg imagined the rest. Regardless, though, Greg used his version of the events to strong-arm Chris into the print…with so little notice that the thing ended up being put together in about five hours.

Which just makes its jaw-dropping awesomeness all the sweeter, LOL.

Chris wasn't there at this particular signing, but I paid for the print and got Greg's signature (and on my radio play script as well) as quick as I could, before heading back to the Theater Nippon for one final round of anime goodness.

Somehow not content with screening only one of my favorite shows of all time, the Theater was playing the first four episodes of "Baccano!" - Narita Ryohgo's rip-roaring tale of immortal alchemists, eccentric thieves, and surprisingly amiable gangsters clashing in Prohibition-era Chicago and New York.

I'd only finished the anime for the first time a few months prior, but its effect on me was immediate and profound. As such, I was very much looking forward to watching it for the fifth time, but this time (in the unrelentingly entertaining dub, one of the best I've EVER heard put together) with an audience.

I was especially glad that Bookwyrm, who like me is a burgeoning anime fan trying desperately to play catch-up with all the stuff we've missed, decided to join me and see what all my raving was about. And I was even gladder that he clearly enjoyed the heck out of it.

Unfortunately, we only had time for three of the episodes before we had to head off to our next panel. Meaning that catching up with episode four ("Ladd Russo Enjoys Talking a Lot and Slaughtering a Lot") would have to wait until we got back to our respective homes.

Aw. Sad face.

……………

SATURDAY, JULY 5
10:00 PM CDT

Of course, I can't really be TOO depressed about where we needed to head off to next. Considering that it was, without question…

One of the funniest things I have EVER experienced.

Of the various panels that took place over the course of the CONvergence weekend, the Blue Mug was definitely the one most widely shared and Tweeted about on the interwebs. So I won't be going into TOO much detail about the finer ins and outs of what was shared.

Suffice it to say, though, that it was one of those "Gathering mainstays" that I was most looking forward to…and it in NO WAY disappointed me.

The room was packed, which was quite an accomplishment considering the lateness of the hour and the fact that the party rooms were all back open. Still, I'm proud - if somewhat dubiously so - to have been the one to offer the first question of the night…and the reaction of the Wise Man was beyond priceless.

Anticipating (correctly, as it turned out) that the vast majority of the questions asked would be related to Gargoyles or Young Justice, I stood up and said, "I figure you're going to get plenty of questions based on some of your more popular shows. But in honor of my friend Kyubey here, I'd like to ask about your own foray into the Magical Girl genre…"

It's here that I held up my plushie so everyone else in the audience could see, eliciting groans and shudders from those in the audience familiar with the character. It's ALSO here that Greg Weisman interrupted me, with what Chip and I agree to be the best single moment of the entire convention:

"PUT THAT THING AWAY, IT GIVES ME THE CREEPS!"

Given all that I have ever known or learned about him, to be good-naturedly shouted down by Greg Weisman was pretty much the highest honor I could've received…and I took it as such. ;)

What followed was my only mildly successful attempt to actually get to my question, while avoiding simply breaking down into raucous laughter.

This ended up resulting in Greg going off on a tangent as soon as I mentioned W.I.T.C.H. about how often and how brazenly the show got crap past the radar, both before and after he joined the creative team. The pilot episode's exchange on the girls'…ahem…improved figures (HAY LIN: "What do we have behind us?" CORNELIA: "What do we have in FRONT of us?") got special mention.

Greg went on to share that all five of the main girls are virgins as of the end of Season 2, as well as reiterate his suspicions that Irma is a lesbian (personally, I've always thought of her as a lesbian-leaning bisexual, even before Greg said anything on the subject…but that's neither here nor there).

Which was all well and good…but was also not what I wanted to ask about. When I told Greg this, his mock-exasperation either crossed the line into genuineness, or else he was doing a remarkably good imitation. Perhaps it wasn't wise to keep pressing…but dammit, inquiring minds NEED to know!

Following the intensely revealing "You have no IDEA what she meant to me!" line Nerissa tosses off in "K is for Knowledge," I was aware that Greg had mentioned at past cons that there were in fact feelings beyond the platonic involved between them.

But being a total pervert, I specifically wanted to know how many bases they'd gotten through before Cassidy caught a terrible case of deadness. Greg answered that they were indeed "lovers"…which I'm going to take to mean "all of the above, buckaroo" and no one can stop me!

Anyway, most of the other revelations from the panel - and they are myriad - are covered in the following post: http://archive.moe/co/thread/63412521/. Please note that I do NOT recommend scrolling down through the entire comment thread, not the least because Ask Greg is at least nominally PG. Read at your own risk…of uproarious laughter.

A couple things I recall coming up that aren't mentioned there, however:

- I asked one other question that evening, regarding Lex Luthor and Mercy Graves on Earth-16. Greg cut in to basically say "Duh," about their relationship, which indeed seemed fairly obvious but was nice to have confirmation on. My particular question, however, was actually about whether she is…ahem…"enhanced" anywhere apart from her arm. Greg's answer was essentially a shrug and a "Sure, why not," which satisfied me.

- Electro is gay. 'Nuff said.

- To clarify the Conner/M'gann thing: shifting into porn stars or other superheroines was COMPLETELY her idea, and while she assumed it would please him (because, well…he's a GUY), in truth all he really cared about was being with her. He knew that he wasn't with her "true" form the whole time, after all.

- Artemis and Wally had sex A LOT during the time skip. And in response to an almost disturbingly specific question…yes, eventually that did involve "butt-stuff." Incidentally, I'm only including this in the rundown because hearing Greg Weisman say "butt-stuff" was amazing.

- Lexington's alias from the radio play, "Tin Man," would indeed have been his canon handle during his online chats with Amp.

As the linked report indicates, Edmund Tsabard did indeed make his very unfancy appearance about half an hour into the panel, though he only stayed for about five minutes before storming out furiously because people repeatedly insisted on asking him about Gargoyles.

Quite a shame, really. I think he and Kyubey would've gotten along super-well.

Anyway, there was some amusing less-meta discussion of "Last Tengu" afterward, given that both Mara and Greg were panelists - mostly about the peculiar circumstance of learning that one CAN lose money on pornography. Now, when I'd met Mara earlier I had no idea she was involved with "Last Tengu," so it was a bit of a pleasant shock to make that connection; realizing that the Blue Mug Productions artist is also a pegasister put…interesting images into my brain, LOL.

Finally, I'd just like to note that while I'd never been to a Blue Mug before, retroactively I feel compelled to say that all the previous ones were poorer for their lack of Christopher Jones. Sitting off to the side and snarking through it all, he provided the perfect capstones to some absolutely glorious moments.

One that stands out was when Greg was mentioning that he didn't think Conner would've had much sexualization prior to his relationship with M'gann; it wouldn't really have come up in his Cadmus education. Chris then countered by saying that Conner would've been taught only "the sexual knowledge needed to destroy Superman."

And then there was the one-liner "blood from a stone," which I will not explain because it is absolutely impossible to do justice to it in text. Suffice to say that with those words, Greg declared Chris the winner of CONvergence.

AND IT WAS SO.

……………

SUNDAY, JULY 6
12:45 AM CDT

I'm debating with myself whether to include this last "panel" in this post or the next, since TECHNICALLY it took place on Sunday. But I guess it makes most sense here.

Anyway, when I asked about the classic Gathering videos during our drink on Friday, he said that he'd been petitioning CONvergence for a time and place to screen them…if at basically one day's notice.

Finally, right after the radio play, he announced that he'd managed to procure such a location: the Bloomington room at 12:45 AM. Like my "Recruits" character, I am as nocturnal as a flying squirrel, so this didn't bother me…but it did mean a couple hours of killing time following the Blue Mug.

Thankfully, between the Brainiac/Chip/Bookwyrm/Dragonlord group and the Aaron/Mara/Lynati group, there were plenty of ways to enjoy myself while we waited for everything to get set up.

Mostly I chatted with various people about the numerous revelations that'd come out of the previous panel, as well as on the subjects of fanfiction, ponies, and why everyone should totally watch W.I.T.C.H. and Madoka Magica.

Although Lynati and I did take a quick break to run to the Aperture Science party room when I informed her that there was cake there. ;)

Anyway, by the time the doors reopened and Greg arrived with the Sacred DVD of Sacredness (TM), he was clearly in a bit of a punk-drunk mood given the lateness of the hour and the fullness of his schedule…which just made him even MORE entertaining.

It was basically just the truly hardcore fans left by that point, and the rather tight-knit and intimate atmosphere as he regaled us with tales of Gargoyles' inception, both grand and dire, was exactly what I'd always dreamed of experiencing were I able to afford to go to a Gathering.

He started out with a couple early promotional videos, including the press one that ended up resulting in the infamous "better than Barney" remark - and getting to join in that synchronized shout was a ton of fun. The one geared toward sci-fi fans (and particularly Trekkies) was especially interesting, in terms of the optics it chose to emphasize, and it was made all the more fascinating when someone from the audience mentioned actually learning about the show for the first time THROUGH that video's screening at an early 90s sci-fi con.

Next came the pitches: Dark Ages and New Olympians. I was familiar with most all of the information, and through the GargWiki I'd even already seen many of the images. But witnessing them all strung together, playing out before me, was an entirely different experience.

And I was even MORE enthralled by the Bad Guys leica reel. Sure, I pretty much knew how the entire thing would play out, beat-for-beat, thanks to the comics. Sure, there was nothing technically "new" in it.

But Bad Guys has always been my favorite of the proposed Gargoyles spinoffs (and its unfairly short-lived miniseries, my favorite part of the SLG comics run), and the sheer JOY of hearing the voices of the Redemption Squad once more - some of them, including William Devane and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, for the first time ever - was more than enough to satisfy me.

And then, finally, the main attraction. "The Last."

While I'd had the script for "The Last" in my backpack for over a day by that point, I hadn't done more than skim through it, in hopes that my first experience with the unproduced episode would be seeing it in person. And I am very glad for my restraint.

While the fan-completed art and animation varied in quality (although some of it, especially Sweet's and Fiona's reunion, was VERY impressive for volunteer work), the true gem was hearing all the voices coming to life for the first time since I'd watched "Milo's Return" many years ago.

Never before have I been sadder that "Team Atlantis" never got to come to air. The promise, fun, and adventurous spirit of the show is quite evident from the script, and I particularly enjoyed getting to hear Demona play up the "noble gorlois" image to Kida's group.

Overall, I enjoyed the entire "after-hours panel" immensely. It was the perfect capstone to the perfect day - one which had reminded me just why I fell in love with this fandom in the first place.

It's a family…and from start to finish, it made me feel welcome as a clan member.

And the fun wasn't even over yet.