C2E2 (Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo)

Star Wars Actors at C2E2

Hey everyone, I just found out about this show in Chicago so my wife and I are taking my son and going a week from Saturday. Tickets are $30 at the door. The owners of the comic store I go to, BuyMeToys.com, are going and setting up a booth. They told me all about it. Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Ray Park, Daniel Logan, etc. will be there. Steve Sansweet too. There are rumors Mark Hamill might be there. Kevin Conroy (the voice of Batman) will be there. That would be cool to have the Joker and Batman together!

If anyone else nearby plans to go, let me know. I can take the train from the airport here and it drops you off and picks up right at the show. This is awesome since I've been on the fence about C5. Lots of Marvel and DC artists will be there too.

Just passing on the word.

Here is the main site page http://www.c2e2.com/

I just found that John Jackson Miller will be at C2E2. He is the writer for all of the Knights of the Old Republic comics. He'll be at the Dark Horse booth. I'm gonna try to get him to sign my KOTOR #1 and #50 maybe. I don't see anything on ebay signed by him so I don't know if he gives autos or not.

He will also be writing the new comic Knight Errant. Maybe they will be promoting that and have something there about it.

Sounds great - let us know how you get on this weekend

John Jackson Miller has also been writing the Lost Tribe of the Sith short stories SW.com has been promoting quite a bit. He' also been posting on Facebook about C2E2. Sounds like he's had a good time, and done some signing.

Sees to be a popular event - not heard of it before this week.

I think this is the first one, Jim. It's an all new show pretty much like comic-con.

We had a blast!!! I got almost all of my comics signed that I took. Tons of artists and writers were there from all different comic book companies. I set out to get Jim Lee to sign my stuff. That was one of the big ones I wanted. I got in line early and it paid off! He had a five item limit so I pulled my wife and kid in there to get all the stuff we took signed. Only thing I forgot was a Batman mini-lunch box I had but oh well.

I got several other comics signed by various Marvel and DC artists too. I missed Kevin Conroy (the voice of animated Batman). I had a Justice League Batman figure I wanted him to sign and I got in line. I thought I would step out of line for a minute to get some video footage of him signing. I was filming for literally 10 to 15 seconds and the line got capped so I couldn't get back in! I was very disappointed but maybe I'll see him again.

This show was very different from Star Wars Celebration. This is only the second convention I've been to so I was sort of new to it all. There are so many things going on that conflict with each other. It is very hard to get everything done you want to. I missed Geoff Johns (Green Lantern writer) twice! I got there late both times. I've met him before though so it wasn't so bad.

Okay! Now for the good stuff! STAR WARS

The costuming was a bit weak I thought compared to C3. But with that being said, I am SO glad the 501st Legion was there. They totally came through! The first costume I saw when I entered was a Stormtrooper with Jango. Boba, Vader, various other troopers were all there. It was great!

I got my Knights of the Old Republic #1 and #50 signed by writer John Jackson Miller, who surprisingly did not have a line waiting at all. The guy in front of me brought every issue and he signed them all! I was kicking myself for that one. But it would have added a few pounds I didn't need to my backpack.

The Official Pix autographing area was surprisingly not very busy either. Of course I found myself hanging around there most of the time. Trying to get shots of Peter Mayhew and Daniel Logan. I knew Ray Park was cool from seeing him at C3 so I went right up and said "Can I get a picture?" He smiled and I shot! Good thing too because he disappeared for a lot of the show. I did see him again Sunday and he took another pic with my son. I got Amy Allen's auto and my son got Peter Mayhew's. But the best time I had with the actors of Star Wars was with Daniel Logan. When he saw my son, Dylan, he instantly started play fighting with him! They were shooting at each other and running around. Daniel was falling down every time Dylan shot at him with his finger gun. It was a blast! This went on a few different times over the weekend. Every time my son came near Daniel, they started up again. I wanted to see if he would just babysit for me!!! At the end of the day my wife said hey, there's Steve Sansweet. He was standing in the C5 booth and I said "Hi, I listen to you on the Forcecast all the time." He said, "Oh, well here's Jimmy Mac right here." Then Jimmy showed my wife and I pictures of HIS seven year old son, Dylan. I said hi to Jason Swank too and in the middle of all this, Steve gave a C5 beach ball to my son. Of course the forcecast guys were about to interview Daniel Logan, who came running out of nowhere and started play-fighting with my son again! Dylan was hitting him over and over again with the beach ball! Then it shot straight up in the air and gave Daniel the big idea to go throw a few beach balls at the big group of people at the Marvel booth who were trying to get free Hasbro toys! It was really crazy and a bit surreal. Very COOL! He signed the ball and went in to do his interview. My son will always remember this as some of his first Star Wars memories. On Sunday we went to say goodbye to him and he told my son to go to school and tell everyone how he beat up Boba Fett!

As for Carrie Fisher, she sat in a tent and there was no photography allowed. I did stand and wait for people to come and go and I caught a peek at her. I tried to scam a picture real quick. I took the shot but I missed my window. Didn't get it in time. Then one of her thugs said "No photography" and got all pushy on me so I left. People like me are the reason she hides in tents I guess!

Well, on Sunday there was a Spider-man photo shoot for the kids. Then later on one of the highlights of my weekend, How to Draw The Clone Wars with Katie Cook and Grant Gould (Clone Wars comic artists). My son and I sat and learned how to sketch clone wars cartoons. It was great! Katie was very funny. The kids wanted her to draw Jar Jar so she made a Bantha running him over! Later on I showed Grant my Padme sketch and asked if he would hook me up with a job! Can't hurt to try.

Katie Cook

Grant Gould

Check out the prints I got signed by Grant. They are awesome. Also got a nice print of a Sith painting Ashton Gallagher did.

Ashton Gallagher

My wife had the great idea to have our son carry a sketch/autograph book around with him. He ended up with about twenty-five autographs and sketches!

You can see all the photos I took of the show and the prints and sketches we got right here...

C2E2 2010 Photos

In the end it was an awesome time. I got a few cheap toys too. There are a few photos here of the Star Wars toys that were for sale. Check out the pictures guys!

Thanks for photos Xaos - I have put a feature on the site using them.

No problem James. I'm glad you could use the pictures. Sorry I never got back to you and wrote anything about the event. I've been really busy since that show.

We are headed to Detroit for the Motor City Comic Con this weekend. The 501st and Rebel Legion usually have a good turn out there. Ray Park, Jeremy Bulloch and Daniel Logan will be there along with Adam West from the 60's Batman TV show. I'll be sure to bring back lots of photos of this show as well. It's my first time going to this one also, so I'm not sure what to expect. Several Star Wars artists will be attending so I am looking forward to getting some new prints hopefully. I'll try to write down the Star Wars highlights of the show for you when I get back.

A couple of weeks from now we will be going to a new con in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

http://www.summitcitycomiccon.com/

It is focused mainly on the art of comics. Not sure if any Star Wars related guests will be there.

Where does the time go? It's one year later and C2E2 is back! We are heading to Chicago March 18th through the 20th. We are officially going and I will do my best to cover the Star Wars events at the show. They have not announced any actors yet except John Jackson Miller, Star Wars writer will be there hosting a Del Ray panel. Star Wars actors will be coming but they are saving them for later I guess. Jimmy Mac and Jason Swank, hosts of the Forcecast, will be attending also.

I was just checking out
AshtonGallagher.com and I came across the print he will be selling at C2E2. You guys might like this...


http://ashtongallagher.com/artwork/1327237_Raise_Your_Pride_The_Geek_Flag.html

I just saw the news over at Sandtroopers.com that they will be hosting The Fixer Mixer at C2E2. Doug Wangler (Quinlan Vos) and Anthony Forrest (Sandtrooper / Fixer - ANH) will be autograph guests. If anyone wants me to pick up an auto of these guys, let me know. Doug is usually pretty cheap for you Dark Horse fans. I can't remember how much Anthony charges.

http://www.sandtroopers.com/

I have a little bit of news for the Star Wars comic fans. C2E2 had a Dark Horse panel with a few interesting reveals.



A new comic is in the works by the team who brought you Star Wars: Legacy! John Ostrander and Jan Duursema are back at it with a story that dates around the time 3 BBY. Agent of the Empire will feature a main character that is a mix between Star Wars and James Bond, Ostrander said Sunday. The comic will eventually have cameo appearances by some of the main characters from A New Hope since it is set in the period just prior to the original film.





Some other good news is that Invasion will still be going strong. The question was asked "Will we see Jacen Solo before his transition to Darth Caedus?" and while the Dark Horse editor could not talk about it, he did elude to the fact that this story is smack in the middle of that era. It sounded like a yes to us! Check out that artwork!



Qui-Gon Jinn will be back in Star Wars: The Dark Side. This story will take place before Obi-Wan's apprenticeship and will feature Qui-Gon with a whole new padawan crew!



The free teaser from Dark Horse



John Jackson Miller talked about Kerra Holt and Knight Errant. He explained how this era in Star Wars history is related to The Dark Ages of our own world history. Set a generation before Darth Bane and the rule of two, and a thousand years before the six films, the Sith are insanely battling one another for power over the galaxy. The holonet has been cut off and the people of the outer rim are left to fend for themselves. Kerra will have some help soon though!



The Clone Wars was briefly mentioned and will continue churning out stories.



And to everyone in the room's delight, Dark Times will continue! The Dark Horse team promised that this time Vader WILL be using his lightsaber!




Darth Vader and the Lost Cammand is finally underway. Now is your chance to jump on board!



It was also hinted at that players of the The Old Republic game due out this fall will have a satisfying experience while reading the comic that goes along with the storyline. You will not need to play the game to also enjoy the comic though which is a relief for me! It sounded like there would be some nice tie ins between the two.



But I have to say that my favorite news to come out of the panel was...



I can't wait!

More C2E2 Star Wars coverage to come! Stay tuned!

Anthony Daniels will be at C2E2 Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo this April. Not sure if I can go yet.