L.A. Comic-Con

Though I didn’t table at this year’s LA Comic Con, I received a pro badge and attended with two goals: To watch the premiere of the documentary on cartoonist and longtime friend/colleague Mike Vosburg and to catch actor Ewan McGregor on the main stage, both on Saturday. And mission accomplished!

The documentary, Recipe For Talent: A Visit With Mike Vosburg, produced by the Dads from the Crypt Podcast, is primarily a visit and interview with Mike at his home, where he shows off his impressive collection of art by cartoonists and illustrators he admires. (I’ve visited with Mike and it’s great to see the pieces up close.)  Though the documentary’s jumping off point is Mike’s work drawing the Tales from the Crypt comic book covers that appeared in the opening credits of each episode of the 1989–96 television series, it also covers his broader career, both in comics and particularly in Hollywood, as well as his influences, and his love of comics and films. Mike is a great storyteller, so the documentary is always engaging. (Mike won an Emmy working on the Spawn animated series, so you get to see that at the house as well!)

Ewan McGregor appeared at the convention’s main stage in the late afternoon. Although the convention center has meeting rooms that are used for programmed panels throughout the show, what I love about L.A. Comic Con’s guest appearances is that their main stage for big panels and interviews is simply on the convention floor—so no waiting in line or trying to get into a full room. As I posted last year, I saw Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan together on stage celebrating the 20th anniversary of the completion of Lord of the Rings film adaptation trilogy, which was a great thrill.

McGregor was great fun, sitting down one on one with an interviewer. He has a great sense of humor but also gave thoughtful responses. While he he talked about and told funny anecdotes about working on Star Wars, his other work came up during the interview too, such as Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge and Down With Love (a personal favorite). Among other interesting tidbits:

• One of the greatest differences between the original prequels he first appeared in and the Obi Wan series he appeared in was the use of The Volume filmmaking process in place of traditional green screen—The Volume is a 360-degree immersive panel display that allows rendered 3D backgrounds to be projected in real time.
• 
  He still loves musicals and would do one if offered—there are just not that many that are made.
• Asked about his Apple+ travelogue series where he and companion Charley Boorman, have traveled immense distances on motorbike, he said it initially began because, after completing a movie, motorbiking was a way to decompress and get back into the groove of doing things himself, versus being catered to in all aspects of his life while shooting a film. (Due to this interview, I began watching the show!)
• He said he was surprised to find out how much he enjoyed talking and connecting with fans at conventions like the L.A. Comic Con. He hadn't done conventions until recently, with the release of the Obi Wan series. When he was first asked, he reluctantly agreed, not believing it would be his cup of tea. But once he did, he came to greatly enjoy it. (Actor Hayden Christianson also made an appearance at the show on Sunday, with both doing signings that day.)
• Asked what advice he had for young actors, he mentioned that they should become familiar with older films. In follow up, he was asked what films and actors he enjoyed—he mentioned Jimmy Stewart and '70s films, and personal favorites like The Great Escape. 

McGregor was great interacting with the audience. I even got in on it—when talking about actors and films he admired, he spoke at length about the 1979 film, Breaking Away, and proceeded to tell much of the plot. At one point, he forgot the state the movie takes place in, so I yelled out, “Indiana!” which he immediately picked up and repeated lol. (I would have remembered this anyway, but I also visited the city where it was shot—Bloomington, where Indiana University is located—for a friend’s wedding in the ‘90s.) 

While there, I also saw a bunch of friends exhibiting, many of whom you’ll see among the photos. This included Craig Miller, Barbra Dillon, Javiar Hernandez and Tone Rodriguez.

Click here to see the full photogallery.

Comics at Amoeba

Batman in Hollywood