GATHERING 2009 - Friday, August 21st

GATHERING 2009 - Friday, August 21st

12am - Went to bed. I was completely exhausted from the last few nights of working on the Radio Play instead of sleeping...

2am - So of course I wake up two hours later.

6:30am - Finally fell asleep again.

10:30am - Woke up, having missed staff breakfast.

11:30am - I went downstairs to check out the Art Room-in progress. Aaron gave me a very cool Phoenix Gate pin. (Thanks, Aaron!)

Noon - Had my mug-a-guest with Leah, Fan, Abbie, Eva, Kathie and others. I'm embarrassed over how little I can remember already, I'm afraid.

1:30pm - Jennifer Anderson and I held the first batch of auditions. Some real good people.

2:30pm - Back to the art room. I also bought two copies of the Bad Guy Trade, one for myself and one for the Sperlings.

3pm - By this time, I was pretty hungry, so although they had JUST eaten, Tony and Andrea Zucconi accompanied me up to CityWalk so I could get a Tommy Burger, fries and a coke/Root Beer semi-suicide mix. I ate; we chatted.

4pm - We headed back down to the hotel/con.

4:50pm - My wife Beth arrived at the con. We hung out, waiting for Opening Ceremonies to start.

5:40pm - Opening Ceremonies. I got the ball rolling. We had a bunch of con virgins -- for whom this was their first Gathering. And of course we had four people who had attended ALL thirteen Gatherings: myself, Gathering Co-Chair Patrick Toman, Bad Guys artist Karine Charlebois and a Fan. Gathering Co-chair introduced her staff and then they presented me with a very cool macrame doll of me, commissioned by the staff and created by the talented Vox. I then stood up again and talked about the great programming we had in store for the weekend. Then I presented Patrick and Jennifer with the Fan Guest of Honor, represented by great prints of Puck and Demona by Karine and Kythera of Anevern. Next, I spoke a brief tribute to the late Gary Sperling, and we presented his wife and kids with a copy of the Bad Guys Trade and another fantabulous print by Karine. After that came the Rocky Horror Gargoyles Show, i.e. the same old schpiel I always do. Showed the Pitch, the Jim Cummings version of the pitch, the promo, the Frakes presentation piece, the New Olympian and Dark Ages pitch, the Bad Guys animatic and "The Last" animatic -- nearly finished and almost entirely done by fans.

8pm - Having eaten a late lunch, I decided to skip dinner. But I hear Edmund Tsabard and the staff of Blue Mug Productions (Mara Cordova, Kalia Sartre, Jennifer L. Anderson and Boswell Bosley) had a dinner business meeting at Versaille up at CityWalk. Edmund had Ropa Vieja, Plantains, Beans, Rice and a coke.

9:30pm - A few of us hung out in the staff suite upstairs on the hotel's top floor. Liz, Patrick, Mara, Jen, Nikki, Eric, Seth, Sammy, Rebecca, Fox, Sydney, Steph, Scott and Marina all stopped by at one point or another.

11:59pm - I went back to my room...

More tomorrow...

GATHERING 2009 - Thursday, August 20th

Well, gang, I'm back from the final Gathering. Had an amazing time. Truly. I'll start my conjournal now. One day at a time...

As always, all times and quotations are approximate. Please forgive any mistakes or omissions.

GATHERING 2009 - Thursday, August 20th
I was up all Wednesday night, prepping the scripts for the Radio Play, which I had written over the three (largely sleepless) nights previous.

7:30am - Finally went to bed.

11:30am - Got up. Drove to my office in Beverly Hills to finish prepping for the Gathering.

6pm - Finally finished prepping. Drove home to pack.

7pm - Left for the Universal Hilton. Parked and checked in and unpacked in my seventh floor room. The staff then gathered to go to dinner at Bucco de Beppo's in CityWalk. It was a big table. I think a complete list of those present would include me, Liz Chesterman, Mara Cordova, Joe, Susan Leonard, Sammy Behr, Seth Jackson, Eric Tribou, Jennifer L. Anderson, Kythera of Anevern, Rebecca Bochner, Patrick Toman, Tony Zucconi, Andrea Zucconi, Cindy Kinnard and Karine Charlebois. I had garlic bread, calamari, spaghetti and meatballs, apple gorgonzola salad, two kinds of fettucini, green beans and manicotti. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to check out the rooms for the con.

10:30pm - I went back to my room to continue prepping my script for the radio play.

More tomorrow... please post YOUR ConJournal here at ASK GREG! Thanks!

Gathering 2009 - Los Angeles CA

Gathering 2009 - Los Angeles CA

Okay, gang, I leave tomorrow for the Gathering. This is our last one for the foreseeable future, so I plan to make the most of it. We've got a TON of programming (including panels on both Gargoyles and The Spectacular Spider-Man and ElfQuest, production panels, voice panels, writing panels, comic book panels), a TON of professional guests (Comic book pros, animation pros, actors, artists, writers, sculptors, directors, etc.) These guests include Frank Paur, Victor Cook, Sean "Cheeks" Galloway, Greg Guler, Thom Adcox, Keith David, Josh Keaton, Steve Blum, Crispin Freeman, Wendy Pini and Demona herself: Marina Sirtis.

We have screenings of exclusive Gathering footage, like the Bad Guys reel and the pro/fan Team Atlantis collaboration. I'm bringing the only once-before seen footage clip from Spectacular Spider-Man ONLY shown at ComicCon last month. And Michael Reaves, Gargoyles writer and story editor, is bringing his STAR TREK webisode, professionally produced and starring George Takei himself as Sulu.

We have a Radio Play (that has nearly killed me to get ready in time) that presents an ORIGINAL Feature-Length crossover between Gargoyles and The Spectacular Spider-Man, with EVERY voice actor guest performing with fans.

We have a Banquet with a pro/guest at every table. We have our "Mug-A-Guests", i.e. a chance for a small group of fans to chat with individual pro/guests. We have the Masquerade and Dance.

We have fan/pro discussion panels on Gargoyles Biology and Culture, mythology, ABJD, Fanfiction, etc. We have Mature Content programming -- including Edmund Tsabard and his Angels at the Blue Mug.

We have Universal Studios and Universal CityWalk right next door.

And we have the opportunity to purchase all three Gargoyles Trade Paperbacks, both volumes of Clan-Building and Bad Guys: Redemption. Plus the auction features more gargoyle merchandise than you could possibly carry home. Great art at the art show.

And a few surprises...

Anyway, if you're anywhere near the Universal Hilton in Los Angeles, we hope you stop by. Let's make this last Gathering the best one yet!

And I'll see you back here at Ask Greg next week...

Oh, and as always, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE post Gathering journals here at ASK GREG!!!!!

Thanks,

gdw

STONE OF DESTINY -- SPOILERS!!!!

STONE OF DESTINY -- CLAN-BUILDING, VOLUME TWO SPOILERS!!!!

GXB sent me a question about the Stone of Destiny in Clan-Building. He wrote:

"Just to be clear... Xanatos has the original Stone of Destiny? Scotland has a fake? That's... kinda cool. :)"

Now, of course, I shouldn't have responded. The book SHOULD either stand and fall on it's own. But of course, if that was my policy, we wouldn't really have ASK GREG at all, would we?

I apologize that I wrote with so little clarity that an explanation is necessary at all, but here's my answer to him, and before the rest of you get a chance, to all of you:

You're missing the point.

Which was the original, the one Moses sent with Gathelus or the one Moses kept and used to bring forth water in the desert?

Which was the original, the half that stayed at Tara or the half that sailed to Dalriada? (Note that both halves are the same size as the so-called "original".)

Which was the original, the one that was kept in London or the one that became the Blarney Stone?

There is no original. There is no fake.

But if you're asking where the specific stone that had been at Westminster went, Peredur has it in Carbonek. Look at the timeline. Xanatos switched the stone at the bridge and was about to make a DOUBLE switch at Leith before Blanchfleur came to pick it up. He was planning to keep the one he assumed was the original, when the stone itself told him it was pointless. So he gave Blanchefleur the stone the Illuminati wanted, i.e. the Westminster stone.

Xanatos kept one of the two "fakes" and Edinburgh has the other "fake", except both are still real stones. (It's not like they're paper mache or something.) And ANY stone can be THE stone.

Gargoyles: Clan-Building, Volume II TPB

Reports indicate that the Gargoyles: Clan-Building, Volume II TPB has arrived in some (though not all) stores, and is being shipped out from SLG and other sources. As most of you know, this trade contains the previously published issues #7 & #8, plus the unpublished issues #9- #12. There is TONS of new material here, tons of revelations. Tons of new canon. And if we hope to get more Gargoyles comics of any stripe in the future, it is imperative that this volume sells. If you don't have it already, I'd recommend purchasing Volumes I & II together. Read the stuff in order in (more or less) one sitting, and you'll get more out of it.

If your store doesn't have the book, ask them to order it for you!

And please, please, please, help us SPREAD THE WORD!!!!

Thank you.

TRADE PAPERBACKS!

Hey gang,

I know -- and share -- the frustrations over the vague release dates of the two remaining trades. Both are DONE. So it's just an issue of getting them from the printers, through customs, out to Diamond and then into stores, etc.

BUT, Dan Vado has ASSURED me that all three trades (GARGOYLES, CLAN-BUILDING, VOLUME ONE; GARGOYLES, CLAN-BUILDING, VOLUME TWO; GARGOYLES: BAD GUYS, REDEMPTION) will be available for purchase at the Gathering. Hopefully, they'll be available everywhere sooner or at least shortly thereafter, but at the very least -- if you come to the con, you can get the books!

Hermione R.I.P.

Our basset hound Hermione passed away in her sleep yesterday. She had a large inoperable malignant cancer tumor, so it wasn't a shock.

I know it must seem like we go through these dogs rapidly, but that's because my wife and kids always choose elderly dogs from the Basset Rescue Ranch, because they feel that everyone always wants the puppies and young dogs, and the old ones never find a home. So we get dogs. They're old. They die. My family grieves. And we start the process again... all too often, I guess.

We still have one basset left, Murray. Plus our cat Emmy. I'd like to put off getting any more pets for the time being, but it's never up to curmudgeonly me.

Hermione was a handsome girl, definitely the Alpha Female of our pets. Very common sense. We'll miss her.

Blue Mug Productions

Blue Mug Productions is up and running!

If you're 18 or over, check out http://www.bluemugproductions.com/ for the very latest in story-driven mature content.

They've got preview pages of the web-comic LAST TENGU IN PARIS, so you can see what you're missing. But I suggest getting a membership which gives you access to all existing pages of LAST TENGU, as well as a forum, Gallery, even an ASK EDMUND feature and more. This is good stuff. You don't want to miss out.

[Okay, Edmund, I gave you your damn plug. Now put down the gun...]

ComicCon 2009

Hey gang,

Had a fun convention. We had 100 copies of Clan-Building Volume Two on sale, and they went like hotcakes. David Hedgecock and I did multiple signings.

Also did a signing at the Ape booth for Mecha-Nation with Vic Cook.

And Vic, Sean "Cheeks" Galloway, Josh "Spider-Man" Keaton, Robert "Vulture" Englund, Kelly "Sha Shan" Hu and myself had a successful Spidey panel on Sunday.

Saw friends. Ate meals. Bought a Captain Atom action figure.

Good times.

SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON 2009

Hey gang(s),

Here's my basic itinerary for SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON 2009. You can find me at the following places at the following days and times. So I hope you'll stop by and say hello!

THURSDAY, JULY 23
11:30am - 1pm - SLG BOOTH.
David Hedgecock and I will be signing Garg stuff. Dan Vado assures me, we WILL have 100 copies of GARGOYLES: CLAN-BUILDING, VOLUME II, sent FED EX directly from the printer. We might even have copies of GARGOYLES: BAD GUYS: REDEMPTION, although that's not definite. And of course we'll have copies of GARGOYLES: CLAN-BUILDING, VOLUME I, as well as individual issues of both series. We're also hoping to have a prototype of the Electric Tiki Goliath statue on display.

FRIDAY, JULY 24
4 - 5:30pm - SLG BOOTH.

SATURDAY, JULY 25
2 - 3pm - APE BOOTH.
Vic Cook and I will be signing promotional postcards and talking about MECHA-NATION, our new comic book series (with Greg Guler and Antonio Campo). This was a project that was seen at a couple of Gatherings and was previously announced with SLG. Unfortunately, SLG had to bail, but the good folks at APE scooped it up.

3:30 - 5pm - SLG BOOTH.

SUNDAY, JULY 26
10 - 11am - ROOM 6A.
THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN panel. Vic Cook, Character Designer Sean "Cheeks" Galloway and voice actors Josh "Peter Parker/Spider-Man" Keaton, Kelly "Sha Shan Nguyen" Hu, Robert "Vulture" Englund and Greg "Donald Menken" Weisman will all be there, talking, answering questions and showing NEVER BEFORE SEEN FOOTAGE. This is not stuff you'll find on as-aired episodes or DVDs or YouTube or BitTorrent or anywhere else -- except maybe the Gathering next month.

12:30 - 2pm - SLG BOOTH.