Comikaze is Coming!

It’s that time of year again, the leaves are changing color from brown to brown..er… Uh.. Well it’s fall in California, that means we are only a few days away from the last major CA con of the year. COMIKAZE! After a year full of Cons that require travel having the final one of the year be in my backyard is nice. Just a hop, skip, and a jump into downtown LA and we are ready to nerd out for an entire weekend. But hearing about my commute isn’t what you came here for. Let’s dive right in to what has me excited this weekend.

Special Guests!

You can check out the whole list of special guests for this years show right HERE. But the top of my list is Julie Newmar, Alfie Allen, Gwendoline Christie, and Jim Lee. Seriously guys, Julie FREAKING Newmar and Gwendoline Christie!!! It’s too much for my poor little nerd heart to handle.

The thirst is real.

Panels I am stoked for on Friday!

Room 404AB at 5pm

THE KAIJU KINGDOM LIVE PODCAST! – GODZILLA’S 60TH
ANNIVERSARY/GAMERA’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY –  The King of Monsters and Friend to Children celebrate some major milestones this year. If you are a fan of Godzilla, Gamera, or Kaiju in general you should make some time to check out this panel.

303AB – 6pm

THE WRITER’S JOURNEY: BREAKING INTO COMIC BOOK AND HOLLYWOOD
SCRIPTWRITING – For the writer in every nerd, hopefully they’ll answer all the burning questions I have. Even if they don’t it looks like it will be an amazing panel with guests like  Erika Alexander (Concrete Park) and Tony Puryear (Concrete Park, Eraser).

If neither of these panels get you excited Friday is surprisingly jam-packed for such a short day, you might want to check out the Geek Fashion show on the main stage at 6:30 or learn more about Steampunk in room 308AB at 6pm!

Even though Friday is a short day, but that only prepares us for the inSTANity (see what I did there) of Saturday and Sunday! Here are the panels I am way too excited about on Saturday.

We start the day off early at 9:00 AM with:

408AB – 9AM

NOSFERATU – A RESURRECTION OF THE LEGENDARY FILM STARRING DOUG
JONES! PLUS A SNEAK PEAK OF BEAMSCREEN.COM.
The official launch of Nosferatu starring Doug Jones as the monstrous Count
Orlok in a feature-length revisit of the classic masterpiece of horror. Plus
the debut of BeamScreen.com – a revolutionary, cloud-based studio that
incorporates artist’s talents worldwide into its feature quality productions.
Participants: Daamen Krall, David Fisher (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari),
Chris Duddy (True Lies, Terminator 2, Titanic, Robocop), Eban Schletter
(SpongeBob, Thrilling Adventure Hour, Drunk History), Doug Jones (Pan’s
Labyrinth, Hellboy I & II, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Buffy the
Vampire Slayer)

After a quick break for some souvenir hunting on the floor the Main STAGE of COMIKAZE is going to experience some justice.

HOT TOPIC MAIN STAGE –  10:30AM

SPOTLIGHT: ADAM WEST

TV’s most prolific Batman joins us to talk all things Batman, and help
celebrate Batman’s 75th Anniversary

NaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNa….BATAMAN

and while there are tons of things to fill Saturday with I would be remiss if I didn’t make sure I made it to my favorite podcast’s panel.

404AB –  12:30pm

THE THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR
The Thrilling Adventure Hour is a staged show in the style of old-time radio
performed live, monthly at Largo at the Coronet in Hollywood as well as on
the road. The show sells out monthly and features all of your favorite actors
from the worlds of TV, comedy, animation, film, theater, and improv.
Participants: Ben Acker, Ben Blacker, Aaron Ginsburg, Paul F. Tompkins, Craig
Cackowski, Hal Lublin, Janet Varney, Autumn Reeser and more!

Paget Brewster and Paul F. Tompkins are perfect.

After a Saturday that is full of so many things to do, you may be asking yourself. “But what about Sunday Sam? What if we can’t go the first two days?” Well never fear dear reader of things written on websites! Sunday helps Comikaze go out with a bang, and here are the things you should check out!

303AB – 12pm

THE BOYS WHO BUILT BATMAN
Who really created Batman? Was it the Caped Crusader’s officially credited
creator, Bob Kane, or was it his secret collaborator, Bill Finger? What
influences first shaped the Batman mythos back in 1939, from his Detective
Comics #27 debut to the revelation of his tragic origin? Experts conduct
a forensic investigation into this question of historical, cultural, and ethical
importance.
Participants: Dr. Travis Langley, Alan Kistler, Jens Robinson

404AB – 1pm

NERDIST WRITERS PANEL: COMICS EDITION SPOTLIGHT ON ROB PRIOR
Be there as part of this LIVE taping of the show when we deep dive into
Rob’s artistic evolution from a young painter for Dungeons & Dragons to his
two-handed painting approach developed while working on Spawn, Evil Ernie
and Heavy Metal.
Participants: Heath Corson, Rob Prior, Adam Beechen

Stay in that same room for the next panel!!!!

404AB

SECRETS OF THE FLASH! – A GEEK HISTORY LESSON AND GAME SHOW ON
THE SCARLET SPEEDSTER
How much do you really know about the Flash, the star of the CW’s newest
superhero show? Watch a live recording of the Geek History Lesson Podcast
as they challenge comic book writer Sterling Gates (Kid Flash) and Geek &
Sundry’s 2 Broke Geeks to a Flash trivia contest where only the audience can win prizes!

Participants: Jason Inman, Ashley Victoria Robinson (The Red Shirt Diaries,
Co-Host of Geek History Lesson), Sterling Gates (Kid Flash, Supergirl and
Vibe), Omar Najam, Mia Resella (2 Broke Geeks on YouTube)

And that’s it. Those are the things I think you should take some time to check out this weekend at Comikaze. Have you had a chance to check out the schedule? What does your list look like?

Let us know in the comments!

Sam Smith

Staff Writer

sam@sub-cultured.com

Twitter: @samwasbornanerd