Roni here, with an exclusive from the floor of Houston Fandemic Con!
The Aint it Cool crew and I recently got a chance to check out Fandemic in Houston, and we had a blast! The vendors and guests were great, and for a relatively small con, I gotta say, I was pleased and surprised to see that Houston really brought their A-game to the cosplay department. I wish I'd taken more pictures of the cosplayers. Or any pictures of them, really. (female steampunk Capt. America: I was feeling you!)
Fandemic has a great vibe. It feels like a real comic con, by comics fans, for comics fans. While it's clear that celebrity guests are their bread and butter, there were also some great comic book vendors, as well as some sweet comics and fantasy merch, and fan art. It was a good time, and very family friendly. I only wish there had been more comics industry guests there - actual writers and artists, not actors. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of Texas comic pros who would jump at the chance to appear here. Maybe it's new and the word is not out yet? If it's not - go here, comics pros! They need you!
That said: on to the celebrity guest appearances! There were some great ones, including Bruce Campbell (EVIL DEAD), Norman Reedus (WALKING DEAD), Michael Rosenbaum (My hearthrob, Lex, from SMALLVILLE) Dave Bautista, Michael Rooker, and Sean Gunn (all of GOTG). I caught the tail end of the Chris Sullivan and Sean Gunn panel, which was full of anecdotes about on-set chicanery and butt-showing on the set of Guardians of the Galaxy.
Gunn and Sullivan talked a lot of shit about Michael Rooker and handled the inevitable questions about James Gunn's departure from GOTG III with grace (Sean said that, of course, he supported his brother through what's got to be a trying time for their family.) But the real highlight for me was when they talked about what it's like on the Guardians set. Sean Gunn revealed that James Gunn had a tradition of giving Play Doh to the people that he worked with, and I guess realized right before our eyes that, although he had worked with James several times, all the way back to TROMEO AND JULIET, James has never, ever, given him Play Doh. While Dave Bautista and Michael Rooker got to play with their special gift, poor Sean has gone empty handed.
So there you have it, folks. You heard it here first. James, share your play doh with your brother. Come on, now.
