Comic-Con report - possible minor TLT spoilers

[Jan]

This is basically a reprint of what I posted to JMSNews.com and the moderated newsgroup:

Hi, all! I'm back from the convention for the day. Today was the B5 group signing at 3:15 PM and then the Babylon 5: The Lost Tales panel at 6:00 PM.

By a sheer stroke of luck I ended up being the first one in line for the group signing. All I did was ask where and when the line would be formed and the lady decided that it was right there and then. That was a little over an hour before the scheduled start to the group signing. I don't know how long the line got but within a minute there were at least ten people behind me and they cut off the line to new people about 10 minutes before the signing was due to start.

The signing started a few minutes late. As always, JMS was on time (early, actually) and Bruce and Samm Barnes were with him. Tracy and Doug Netter were a bit late. Apparently the car Tracy was in got stuck while a train crossed in front of the convention center. While we waited, JMS went out and talked to the fans a bit. I was really excited that Doug Netter was there and signing!

As Joe Nazzaro had told us, there were some special mini-comics that were being handed out at the group signing. Please believe that I'm not being mean when I tell you that I'm not going to tell you about it...for now. Once you've seen the DVD, I'll tell you because the comic expands on a comment made (twice, if the script is accurate) in the DVD. JMS wrote it and it's lovely.

Immediately after the signing I headed upstairs to get in line to get into the room where the panel was going to be. In just a few minutes Jon joined me and soon after we were in the room where a panel on 'Eureka' preceded the B5 panel. As soon as that was over, Jon went to try to get us seats near the mike. There were a bunch of seats that said they were reserved for studio attendees but somebody had taken the rope down so Jon and I sat there. Unfortunately, once the room was almost entirely full an official came by and made us move. Before we did, though, we snagged a little something that Joe Nazzaro brought. Sock puppets!!! Joe brought several dozen black socks with big white eyes.

Just as we moved they also started handing out Babylon 5: The Lost Tales 'medallions' that have blinking lights. I'm sure they'd be really popular with a much younger person than I am.

Joe Nazzaro came out as moderator and then JMS, Bruce, Tracy, Peter W. Samm Barnes and Doug Netter came out. JMS had them show a long clip of one of the segments of the movie (the Sheridan/Galen segment) as well as the trailer shown on the website. Then Joe N. wanted to have us show our sock puppets but JMS simply wouldn't cooperate! I think he knew something was up. Anyway, we watched the 'video blog' where JMS tried to convince Gregg Maday that sock puppet actors were the way to go, and demonstrated his idea. Gregg Maday was obviously overcome by it all and utterly speechless. At last we were able to show JMS that we were all ready, willing and able to help out and proudly displayed our puppets. Tracy was in stitches.

Joe N did a great job and asked really good questions and kept things moving. Unfortunately my recorder decided not to work JUST as the panel started. Jon pulled out his laptop and began to transcribe things (boy, can he *type*!) until his laptop battery died. I think he got most of Joe N's questions but not the audience's. That's okay, they didn't really ask very interesting ones, mostly of the "will we see ___fitb___, JMS" sort and JMS finding a dozen different ways to say "Maybe, we'll see."

Two items of interest: JMS verified that the script for TLT would eventually be available via the script books and he said to watch the boards in the next month or so for an announcement on a future project. He didn't seem to be talking about his non-B5 projects.

It was a great time and a great day all around. Jon and I will work on transcribing some of the questions tomorrow. Joe Nazzaro did a GREAT job as moderator!

Jan

 

[hypatia]

Are new posts showing up at the moderated group? When it seemed there were maybe three posts a day I stopped going there. Thanks for spreading the news.

I'll read it after I"ve watched it, though.

 

[Jan]

Yeah, there are some new posts showing up, Hyp. It's been pretty slow because Jay & Cheryl are moving soon so there may be an interruption in service.

Here's a pretty spoiler-free con report I sent in to the Zocalo:

The only B5 related thing on Thursday was a signing by JMS. Being mid-day on a weekday, there was a pretty small but steady line. Several people had sent me things to get signed so I got that accomplished right off.

Friday afternoon was a group signing for the Lost Tales folks. I understand that a goodly number of people missed it because Wed. and Thurs. nobody at the WB booth knew anything about it. By Friday they'd finally started putting up schedules of events for the current day and the next. A little more than an hour before the signing was scheduled to start, I stopped at the Warner's booth to find out when and where the line would be forming. As luck would have it, the woman I asked decided that the line would form right then and there with me at the head. In less than a minute there were ten more people behind me and they soon moved the line up closer to where the actual signing would take place. As is his wont, JMS arrived a few minutes before time along with Samm Barnes (producer of the Diaries and TLT extra features) and Bruce Boxleitner. There was a bit of a wait for Tracy Scoggins and Doug Netter who, I understand got stuck behind a train out in front of the convention center. While waiting, JMS went out and talked to fans for a few minutes. When Tracy and Doug arrived, the booth people started trying to call "Michael" back. Once the line was complete, the signing began and it was my pleasure to finally get to thank Doug Netter for his part in bringing B5 to reality.

There was a con exclusive mini-comic for the TLT folks to sign. I understand that they'll also be available for people who get their copy of Lost Tales at Best Buy as an exclusive. It's just a lovely, touching piece if you can get it.

A couple of hours after the signing was the highly anticipated Babylon 5: The Lost Tales panel moderated by writer/interviewer Joe Nazzaro who did a wonderful job. Before the panel began, Joe N. handed out some homemade sock puppets to the front rows of the audience. Just before starting time several people went out into the audience to give out Babylon 5: The Lost Tales flashing necklaces also. After introducing the panel (JMS, Doug Netter, Bruce Boxleitner, Tracy Scoggins, Peter Woodward and Samm Barnes), the first order of business was to play an extended clip of one of the segments. Then played the trailer that's been available online and then Joe N. had the player stopped but JMS wouldn't let him and wanted to continue to the third segment.

That segment was about how JMS tried desperately to convince WB liaison Gregg Maday of his fresh, original idea to use sock puppets in place of the live actors. It'd be artistic, innovative and certainly within budget. He demonstrated a Londo puppet (in purple), a Sheridan puppet (including a necklace), a Lochley puppet (with hair) and a Galen puppet (in black with a cowl and a Sharpie as a staff). They filmed a scene with the puppets but Gregg seemed unimpressed...or was that horrified...definitely speechless...and simply turned away. At the end of that, Joe N. assured JMS that all of the fans were behind him and his artistic vision 100% and asked for a show of hands at which time we all raised our sock puppeted hands.

This was the beginning of a bout of give-and-take among the cast and crew that was a lot of fun. Joe N. did a great time with questions and kept things going nicely and at least some semblance of order, a not inconsiderable task. I'll be able to transcribe it at a later time. Everybody wants to know if there'll be more Lost Tales disks and at this point no decision has been made.

Saturday was JMS's spotlight. He updated everybody on 'The Changeling' starring Angelina Jolie and being directed by Clint Eastwood and that he's writing the screenplay for 'World War Z' for Brad Pitt's production company. He said that he got some really great news about WWZ but that he can't share it yet. He also mentioned that he's turned in the screenplay for the Silver Surfer movie.

Before turning things over to questions, JMS said that he's had three stages to his career that he likened to a three stage rocket. First he started writing at 17 and was writing articles and news and everybody told him that as a New Jersey street kid he had no business thinking he'd be a writer. Then he started writing for TV and comics and was told that he'd never make it without the right connections. Now he's writing amazing movies for amazing talent and suddenly, at last, he no longer hears the roar or feels the push of the rocket. When asked if he'd ever consider doing another TV series, JMS replied that he also had something going on there that we might be able to hear word on around September. He was very excited about the people he'd be working with.

The questions for this spotlight were really good, ranging from B5 to comics to writing questions. Again, I'll post a transcript at some point but it was a really good panel.

Sunday was one more signing. The line was quite a bit larger this time but not nearly as long as I've seen at some cons. Before JMS arrived, some friends and I observed that across the hall was a group of young people screaming over a celebrity and we got the group in line to join us in giving JMS a rock star greeting, too. He pretended to turn around and go away but came back and started signing.

It was really great touching base with some of the people on the moderated newsgroup and on JMSNews.com and meeting new people who just love B5. Seeing the stars and crew of the new DVD was a lot of fun and it's obvious that they enjoyed being involved with B5 again.

Jan

 

[Marcelo]

So there were no major announcements made at the convention (JMS had talked about two or three major announcements)...
By the way, does anyone have an idea about when it will be decided if there will be more episodes of Lost Tales?

 

[Sindatur]

So there were no major announcements made at the convention (JMS had talked about two or three major announcements)...
By the way, does anyone have an idea about when it will be decided if there will be more episodes of Lost Tales?

The only announcement that has been reported is to watch for announcements in the coming month(s)