Fan Expo Vancouver: From One Rocketeer To Another

If you know me or follow my blog for long enough, you may have gotten the slight impression that I have a favourite genre. I've long been a fan of the pulp era. I love the Indiana Jones heroism, the lost cities, the deep jungles, the mysteries and marvels. I adore the fashion and wish some of it would swing back into fashion while I can still enjoy it! I just love the pulp era novels, the action, adventure and thrilling tales of daring-do! It's even been the genre of my most successful RPG campaign,  and it all started in 1991.

Now, admittedly, I had already been a fan of Indiana Jones at this point, but in the summer of 1991, I learned about the word "pulp", and what it meant. I saw, and fell completely into the world of, The Rocketeer!

The movie adaptation of Dave Stevens comic book stayed with me for years, taking up residence in the back of my brain, slipping out in dreams. When I got to college I discovered role-playing and found a hobby and friends where I could live out my adventures. Eventually I tracked down a copy of the DVD online and watched it for the first time in years.

And it was even better than I had remembered! It was subtle and witty, romantic and action-packed. It was four-colour action-adventure at it's finest. I watched it twice in two days, and both times were magical. I would watch it again and again, whenever I felt bored or lonely, or just to relive that excitement of childhood.

I wanted to be the Rocketeer, and thanks to the most incredible wife ever, I got to be, just a little. I got the jacket for Christmas, and with the help of the best group of friends in the world, she got me the helmet for my 30th birthday (link includes the video of me receiving the gift).

One of my long-term dreams was to meet Billy Campbell. I wanted to just meet him and tell him how much I enjoyed his portrayal of Cliff Secord. I know that any motion picture is a collaborative effort, with directors, writers and other actors all contributing to the experience, but Billy was Cliff. He was the Rocketeer. So in some small way, he influenced who I am today.

Billy Campbell was a guest at the recent opening year of the Fan Expo Vancouver. Even before I found this out, it had been my intention to attend in costume as The Rocketeer. I mean, really, who else? But once I saw his named added to the official list, my excitement went from "Happy to support a new comics convention" to "Oh. Emm. GEE. *high pitched squeal only dogs can hear*". Claire, once she got her hearing back, agreed to attend too, especially now that she had the opportunity to watch me go speechless.

So last Saturday we got up early, had a shower (a must if ever attending conventions, thank you very much), put on my costume and got into Downtown Vancouver early. The convention opened at 10am, and by 10:15 there was a significant line-up. As we reached the head of the line, one of the staff stopped me and said "You'll be wanting the Electric Playground booth. That's where Bill will be." "Thanks", I responded, grabbed my ticket and headed in.

As it turned out, Billy wasn't due to be at the signing booth until noon, so Claire and I wandered the floor, taking in some of the other attractions available. As noon approached we headed for the booth and joined the queue. I was a bit of a nervous wreck, but was delighted with how many people recognised the costume, both males and females, of all different ages. At one point I glanced across the booth and spotted Billy chatting to some fans. Rather than wait in the queue, I asked Claire to hold my spot, dashed around the area and said "Hi".

I chatted to him briefly, but really just wanted to know if we'd have a chance to get a photo at the booth. He assure me he would be delighted to do so, and I excused myself, returning to Claire.

We stood in line for a few minutes. We were near the head, but there were a few others in front of us waiting to meet other people at the booth. Then the staff called "Hey! Hey, Rocketeer! You just want to see Billy?" "Yeah!" "Come on forward."

First off, Billy is tall! Like, 6'4" tall! You can see the difference in the photos. He wasn't standing on anything. Secondly, every last inch of that 6'4" frame is pure, genuine kindness and decency. He was just incredible to talk to. He was so delighted to see someone wearing the costume, and even asked if he could try on the helmet! Billy "The Rocketeer" Campbell asked if he could try on my helmet that my wife and friends got for me! Now, there may be some vicious rumors going around online that I started crying, but it was just something stuck in my eye. The convention center was very warn with all us nerds in one place...

I had my Rocketeer DVD with me, one of only two DVDs I brought with me from Ireland, and he signed the cover. He even signed my sketch/autograph book too! We talked about the movie, and Dave Stevens, and a bit about the new comics from IDW, a company that really should update its own website with its own licenses. We briefly discussed the new Captain America movie and what a great job Joe Johnson did on it (the connection, for those of you lost on the apparent non-sequitur, is that Joe also directed The Rocketeer), though we both expressed dismay that there was no Billy Campbell cameo!

At the end of the few short minutes we spent talking at the booth, Claire and I whole-heartedly thanked Billy for his time and stepped aside to allow others to meet him. Without Fan Expo Vancouver, I and many other fans of his work would never have gotten to meet him. So thank you to everyone that helped make this event happen, and here's to many more to come!

But as I walked away through the crowds, I turned to my wife and kissed her, thanking her for being who she is and knowing me so well. Without her I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't have the costume I have and I would never have met Billy Campbell.

With Number One crossed off the "People I Most Want To Meet In The World", it's on to Numbers Two and Three, Sigourney Weaver and Dennis Quaid, in that order! Shouldn't be that hard.

Post Script: Two things before I go:

1) While standing in line someone asked to take my photo, then told me he was sending it to a friend. That friend had been one of the producers on The Rocketeer!

2) After signing the DVD, Billy commented that he should have written "From one Rocketeer to another". Don't worry Billy. I'll be back next year, and I'll have something for you to sign that on!

Fan Expo Vancouver: Year One

Last weekend my wonderful wife and I attended the first day of the inaugural Fan Expo Vancouver in sunny Downtown Vancouver! Every word in that sentence is true, even the "sunny" bit. It was a beautiful day, not too hot for those of us in costume, but more importantly, not raining.

For a "Year One" event, the organizers did a fantastic job lining up some incredible guests. Claire was thrilled to be able to say "hello" to Marina Sirtis, the actress that played Deanna Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as voicing Matriarch Benezia in the first Mass Effect game. I got to chat to one of Star Trek's supreme beings, Q, in his form of actor John de Lancie, possibly my favourite Star Trek... erm... antagonist? Enemy or villain sounds too strong. Mostly he ended up just being hilarious and annoying. I also said "Hi" to Aaron Douglas, who, had I known in advance that I'd get to meet him, I would have asked to sign my BattleStar Galactica: The Board Game piece*! I missed out getting to meet David Hayter and Jennifer Hale (I even had my steel case copy of Mass Effect 3 in my bag) due to a hungry, hungry tummy, and I regret not saying "hello" to Michael Dorn (who you can currently catch in the latest season of Castle, folks!**) when I had the chance.

Most of the guests I was interested in meeting had a table covered in glossy, high quality images on sale that they would sign for you. This usually ranged from $20 to $30. Unfortunately, what with the whole "between work permits" thing that we're on right now, we couldn't afford to buy any, so we didn't really get any autographs. We felt a little embarrassed talking to some of the celebrities, knowing that we wouldn't be buying their merchandise, but we made sure not to take up much of their time. There's always next year.

The Fan Expo once again also gave me the opportunity to show off the amazing gift my amazing wife and amazing friends bestowed upon me, and dress up in costume as The Rocketeer! This is the second time I've had the joy of appearing as my number one all-time favourite movie hero, the first being back in August of last year at PAX Prime. I never did get around to uploading photos of that event, so I'll see about rectifying that soon.

I was delighted at how many people of all ages recognised the costume, and spent all day getting stopped for photos. Once Claire and I had decided to head out for food, it took us over 30 minutes to cross the main floor, as I couldn't move ten feet without getting stopped. Of course, I loved it, and delighted in letting people hold and even try on the helmet. It's great to be able to make someone's dream come true, and there were a lot of Rocketeer fans at the Fan Expo, but only one Rocketeer. Actually, there were two, but I'll get to that in another post.

The first Fan Expo Vancouver was, as far as this convention attendee is concerned, a roaring success. I have no doubt it will be back, bigger and better, next year, and I'll be there.

Post Script: But that's not all, dear Reader! There are two very special guests I haven't mentioned here and want to talk about, but each deserves their own post, and so they shall get it. In both cases, it was a chance to meet someone I never thought I would ever have the chance to meet. In one of those cases it was the chance to fulfill a lifelong dream, in the other, the chance to say "Thank you". Coming soon!

*- Admittedly I'd have needed to know far in advance, as it's still back in Ireland with friends. 
**- "Who", or "Whom"?!? Usually I know, but this instance has me stumped.


Some more photos from the convention floor:

Some photos were more enjoyable to pose for than others...

It's Matt Wagner's Mage! It's like he stepped off the comic page into real life!

Two of the greatest pulp heroes, together at last! This guy was hilarious and great to meet.

I got some amazing and treasured photos with incredible people, but this is probably my favourite photo of the convention. I didn't know he was doing this, as my vision is severely restricted in that helmet. Hilarious!

I asked to get a photo with these guys, as Joe Johnson directed both The Rocketeer and the recent Captain America movie. Very cool.

This was an entirely homemade costume! It was beautiful! Fantastic job. He had the mask, but it was getting too stuffy to wear, which I could sympathize with.

Mr Ryan Goes To PAX 2011

Last weekend my wonderful wife and I took a bus south across the border to the city of Seattle for the best gaming convention in he world, Penny Arcade eXpo, or PAX. We headed down on Thursday and met up with some friends, one of whom lives in Seattle now and the other two traveled up from New Mexico for the convention as well! Our charming company was a welcome bonus!

This was our second time at PAX, the first being in 2008 at the end of our Epic Holiday[TM]. I never did get around to a write-up of that stop, but you can safely assume that it was incredible, and we couldn't wait to get back. This year I decided to step things up a bit by going in costume. Thanks to my amazing mum, I was able to get my Rocketeer helmet brought over from Ireland, and I already had the jacket with me. And so, for most of Friday and Saturday at PAX 2011, I could be seen wandering the many areas, slowly sweating to death in a heavy leather jacket, carrying a heavy, metal helmet[1].

A lot of the guests and exhibitors fist bump rather than shaking hands in order to avoid picking up nasty infections. This year I even saw the more extreme version, elbow bump, used by many. It certainly worked for me. I have not come down with any PAX crud as of yet, apart from being utterly exhausted for a few days after!

The whole event was awesome. We met so many incredibly nice people, and I got to talk to people I never expected, about interests I never expected to share with them. I got to meet AJ LoCascio, the voice of Marty McFly in the TellTale Games episodic Back to the Future video game! Not only was he probably the most down-to-earth, nice, honest-to-goodness coolest guy I met at PAX, but he's also a huge Rocketeer fan[2]! He was able to recognize that I was holding a Disney Master Replicas version of the helmet from across the booth, and he recognized the Wested jacket as well! If you can imagine how blown away I was by that much, I almost collapsed when he told me that he made his own Rocketeer helmet from fiberglass. We spent about ten minutes geeking out about the movie, the props and the awesomeness of the Replica Prop Forum.

The weekend was just chock full of amazing stories, though rather like Empire Strikes Back, I feel I opened on the best of them. My costume was a huge success, and I got stopped everywhere I went by other attendees, exhibitors and even a VIP or two as they gushed over the character and took photos. It was heart warming to see so many fans of Dave Stevens creation in attendance. For me, one of the things I enjoyed most was watching peoples eyes widen as I let them hold the helmet and even try it on. Unlike the more accurate fiberglass versions available, the metal Master Replica I have is far from fragile. It was nice to be a part of fullfilling a small number of peoples dreams to hold or wear such an iconic piece from a much loved classic.

Even queuing was a fun experience. Apart from playing games on iPads, Enforcers (the PAX volunteer force that help make everything run smoothly) were handing out bits and pieces to help us pass the time. While queuing for the Saturday night concert, we all got given brightly coloured pipe cleaners and instructions to "Be creative". This resulted in hats, flowers, Portal-themed wrist bracelets, stick figures fighting, a sniper with gun, and even a helicopter with rotating blades! From pipe cleaners, people!

But of course, PAX is ultimately all about the games. And we got to try loads of them!

Welcome to Serra.
Gears of War 3 is due for release on September 20th, and it had a large presence in the Xbox area. I expected longer lines, but compared to others games on display, the Gears line was tiny. I got to try out the updated Horde 2.0 on Friday and the brand new to the franchise Beast Mode on Saturday.

Horde: My biggest worry about Horde 2.0 was that they had gone and messed with a good thing. Horde is still the best of the endless-wave styles of game modes because it is so clean and simple. It threw out customization in favour of accessibility. Horde 2.0 adds to the basics by bringing in a cash-for-kills system for that can be used to buy stuff during a small window between waves, from ammo to laser defenses and beyond. And it works fantastically! It's fast, fun and doesn't stop the games flow. We got to play waves 8 to 10 allowing us a peek at what surprises the tenth waves hold. I'm not going to spoil it, but after the terrifying horror of seeing your first bloodmount in Gears 2, they've really outdone themselves for Gears 3. It's awesome!

Beast: This is a whole other kettle of fish. Trying Horde, I knew the basics. Waves of alien monsters that I need to kill before they kill me. Beast is a set number of COGs per level and you have a very tight time limit. You start with one minute on the clock and get more for every kill. You can play as a variety of Locust, starting as low as tickers or wretches, and going up from there. I'm not going to tell you what I saw or played as, but you can assume it was fun! The gameplay is very different, and I sucked during my quick trial. This is not Reverse Horde, it requires a totally new set of skills.

The Boardgame: Not on display at the Xbox booth, this was instead being demoed on a different floor, but I've included it here for completions sake. This looked very nice. Fantasy Flight Games were running demos all weekend long and the whole thing looked impressive. I didn't play myself, but I heard lots of good things from people that were trying it out. As expected from an FFG game, the production quality was through the roof. Cards, tokens and figure pieces were beautiful. The figure pieces were especially impressive, and looked like they should be a lot of fun to paint up.

But Gears was only a tiny area in a huge, multilevel convention. I got to see and play games that are coming out as soon as this month and as late as next year.

The Gunstringer is the first retail game from Twisted Pixel, the company behind Comic Jumper and 'Splosion Man. It's a Kinect game that makes clevel use of the technology and, more importantly, it's a load of fun to play. I don't own a Kinect. Yet. There was no reason to before I went to PAX. Now I'm tempted. I might even get one for this alone.

I got up on stage with three others and had a four-player dance-off in front of a large crowd playing Dance Central 2, also for Kinect. I found that it had very good motion tracking, more impressive for being able to track four uncoordinated male players gyrating wildly. I came first, despite never playing any of the dance games before, though that probably says more about how bad the others were than how good I was.

From the ridiculous length of the line all weekend long, it was clear that there was a lot of interest in the latest game in the Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim, but I could not have cared less. Not that I have anything against it, I'm just not interested in fantasy games. One of our friends stood in line for 3.5 hours to play the 15 minute demo and got a fuzzy hat for her troubles[3]. At one point while I was talking to her in the line, I looked up at a clip of a dragon in the trailer and jokingly said "Oh. Nice graphics. What's this game?" and 40 angry nerd heads swiveled in my direction.

Last, but by no means least, one of the booths that immediately caught my attention was the TellTale Games Jurassic Park area. Not only did they have a nice small-scale replica of the entrance gates into the park, and fencing with little flashing lights on top, but they had a fan-made reproduction of one of the park jeeps! I was a child all over again standing beside it. Instead of just reading my thoughts on this however, take a break from the text and look at a video blog TellTale Games staff did during the convention. Check out the eejit at the 1:25 mark, and again at the 2:30 mark. Yeesh. Fanboys. They were everywhere at PAX.




PAX wouldn't be PAX without free stuff. We came home with tonnes and tonnes of swag. I think I got 8 t-shirts, of which I only paid for one. Baseball hats, avatar items, lanyards, pins, even a very high quality hoodie! The whole weekend paid for itself in free stuff. Claire and our friends even got themselves free OnLive consoles! FREE. CONSOLES!!![4] Insane.

If we're still here next year we'll be going again, so I'll let people know in case anyone is interested in joining us for a crazy weekend of video games, boardgames, demos, t-shirts, freebies, music, costumes, celebrities and more in 2012! I honestly cannot recommend it enough. It's the best, friendliest, most community orientated convention I've ever been to.

Hopefully you can join us and share in the love that is PAX 2012.

[1]- On Saturday morning I woke up complains of an unusual pain in my right arm. I put it down to sleeping badly in the hotel bed, as I had no recollection of having injured it the day before. It wasn't until later that same day that I realised that the weight of the helmet was causing strain on my arm muscles! I didn't feel it while I was enjoying the convention. It was only once I relaxed that it all hit me!
[2]- The earlier part of this sentence should probably be noted as biased based on the latter part. But even then, AJ was very, very cool.
[3]- She did also get to meet and have her photo taken with Todd Howard while in the queue, which she excitedly told me later in the day. She was much distraught when I shrugged and told her I had no idea who that was. Still, that first 3.5 hours at PAX in a queue was pretty much the high point of her convention, I'm led to believe. 
[4]- The catch of course is that OnLive is a subscription based service, so they're happy to give you the console for free to let you try out the service and hopefully sign up.