Tuned In

I Went to Comic Con and All You Got Was This Stupid Blog Post

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New York Comic Con—a smaller version of the behemoth held in San Diego in summer—was held last weekend, and I attended for the first time. I went just for a day, with the rest of the Tuned In family (the Tuned In Jrs. got into a packed-to-the-rafters lecture by the author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid), in part because, compared with the summer event, there are relatively few TV panels. 

I did, however, manage to catch the Chuck panel, which fortunately for me was moderated by Alan Sepinwall. meaning I can simply refer you to his write-up. I skipped the Dollhouse panel, whose centerpiece was a preview from an episode I’d already seen, and had to leave before Life on Mars, which Mrs. Tuned In told me had a sad couple of fans lined up outside the meeting room. (Dollhouse, on the other hand, packed a massive theater at the Javits Center.)

A Fringe panel, meanwhile—with most major cast members present, since the show tapes in Brooklyn—was entertaining and yielded one tidbit I wasn’t aware of (though it may be common knowledge to bigger Fringe fans): those weird icons that flash before the commercials actually mean something.

Said executive producer Jeff Pinkner, the icons form a code that “will eventually speak to the larger controlling mythology behind the show.” Also, apparently (and this has flown right over my head) each episode contains—besides a hidden appearance by the Observer—a clue as to the subject of the next episode. (A clue, I assume, other than the trailers for next week.) 

Beyond that, I discovered that all the clichés about superfans coming to Comic Con in costume are true. At the Fringe panel, a guy in a sweltering-looking stormtrooper outfit took off his helmet and wearily listened from the back of the room. And a costume with Jar Jar Binks’ head decorated in Darth Maul’s tattoos will haunt my nightmares.