The Nice Guy - Photos - Comic-Con International 2007

It's Comic-Con time again! And as I managed to miss the deadline for pre-registration for attending professionals, that meant I got to spend my first morning at the big event sitting in a big ol' line! Which eventually ends up here, at one of these friendly pro booths.

Other pros in line behind me. Okay, you can't really make out the line too well from wheelchair level, but trust me, there was a lot of line. But not neeeeaaar as long as it was for non-pros (you know those people line up for several blocks outside?), so no complaints.

And here, upstairs at the convention center, are my posse of three for this year. Tim couldn't make it (having to move right about that time meant that wasn't happening), nor could many of my usual crew, so that left fantastic foursome of myself, Tony, A.T. and Russ. A.T. and I both flew in from Sac, Russ flew in from Boise, and lucky Tony didn't have to fly at all. But he did have to put up with the three of us staying at his house, so, really, is he that lucky after all?

And there I am with the boys, chillin' it.

And there we are again.

And there we are, perhaps looking out across the bay. Or perhaps girl-watching. Or perhaps just trying to take an artsy photo...

Tony and A.T., kicking it, waiting for the next exciting Comic-Con moment to begin. Any minute now...

Hey, you know wen you're a really big star? When you get TWO name cards in front of you at the panel table. Here's doubly-famous Bruce Boxleitner and "Babylon 5" co-star Tracy Scoggins at the "Babylon 5: The Lost Tales" panel. And Tracy appears to be excited to be there.

Moderator Joe Nazzaro keeps the questions coming for Bruce and Tracy.

Oh, and as we pull back further, we can see another B5 actor was there--Peter Woodward, from the failed "Babylon 5: Crusade" spinoff series. But thanks to the Lost Tales (the now-out all-new straight-to-DVD film in the B5 universe), his character (and his paycheck) are, at least briefly, back.

There's a shot of the panel table, which also shows you that B5 creator J. Michael Straczynski and producer Doug Netter were inna house.

And speaking of them, there's J.M.S. and Doug now.

Saturday was the big panels day. Russ and I started off at the TV Guide Hot List panel, which included producers and stars of "hot" shows. You don't get much hotter these days than "Heroes" on NBC, and actor Masi Oka ("Hiro Nakamura") and creator Tim Kring were there to represent. And Masi's not just a star--he's a fan. Just read the sign...

And Masi also knows where his paycheck's coming from, as we see him here bowing to Tim Kring (good way to make sure you're not killed off in season 2...).

You may have heard about the big (and successful) internet campaign to bring "Jericho" back to CBS next season. Star Skeet Ulrich was there to talk about that (but didn't address the fact of whether his mother and Johnny Depp ever dated, something I've always been curious about...).

The big news on NBC this season looks to be the return of the Bionic Woman, and here's the "Woman" herself, actress Michelle Ryan. British gal, but won't be using the native accent on the show.

The "4400" people sent over actor Jeffrey ("I'll always remember him as Dr. Herbert West") Combs...who appears, in this shot, to doze off in mid-panel...

Here's Masi finishing things up at the TV Guide panel, but not to worry...Masi will return in the same panel room in just a few minutes, when the BIG panel of the Con starts up...

...The "Heroes" panel! NBC's smash hit proved it's smashiness with a standing-room-only panel filled with rabid fans. Here's fan favorite Greg "Matt Parkman" Grunberg (an old "Alias" favorite of mine before "Heroes") coming out to thunderous cheers. Note that some cast members, in a group gag, wore tee shirts like his proclaiming other cast members as their "heroes".

And the fanboys go wild as smokin' hot Ali Larter ("Niki Sanders") takes the stage. Baby, you can go Sybil on me ANYtime...

And here comes America's newest favorite sidekick James Kyson Lee (a.k.a. Hiro's non-powered pal "Ando Masahashi"), garnering a "Hero's" welcome...

Masi's back for his second Beatles-esque introduction of the day. Apparently, Hayden is his hero. And you'll see why in a moment.

Do note that Hayden "Claire Bennet" Panettiere was still 17 during this panel, so I successfully blocked any inappropriate thoughts until a month later, when she finally went legal. Now that she has...she's HOT!!! And now I can think so without Chris Hanson with Dateline NBC showing up at my door with a camera crew ("Touch the cheerleader, go to jail!").

And in this heated election season, it's nice to know there's at least one candidate that...uh, we're still not really sure we can trust... Here's the arrival of Adrian Pasdar ("Nathan Petrelli"). Anybody else remember him from "Near Dark" back in the 80s?

Here's Masi, Adrian and Greg goofing around during the intros.

Oh, no! Sylar absorbed someone's speed powers! Gloriously eeeevil Zachary Quinto rushes in to the delight of "Heroes" fans.

And Sendhil Ramamurthy ("Mohinder Suresh") shows up...probably just to say something pretentious and whine about his father some more...

And here's someone fans didn't recognize, but will soon. Dania Ramirez is joining the cast for season two, playing a new hero named "Maya". You saw it here first.

And the ladies go wiiiiild. Probably some of the men, too. Here's studly Stallone-clone Milo Ventimiglia ("Peter Petrelli"), a young man who, rumor has it, once saved a cheerleader and saved the world...

For those of you tired of looking at pictures of the video screen, here's a "real" shot of the whole panel. Okay. Back to video screen shots.

Greg goofing with the crowd. He seemed to me to be the guy having the best time being up there on the panel. And that's saying a lot, since the whole cast seemed to be having a total blast.

Here's James rapping with the crowd, seated next to the youngest member of the cast, Noah Gray-Cabey, who plays "Micah Sanders" (son o' Niki).

And there's Noah himself. Dude, I've totally been to your mom's web page. She rocks.

Greg and Sendhil, having fun.

Adrian having fun, Greg preparing to hunt me down for taking and posting that horrible shot of him. Hey, we've all ended up with pics of ourselves like that, but not all of us have some comic-writing jackass post it up on the web.

He did it!!!!!! That's the rumor, anyway...

Hiro talking with the "frying man"...

I'm just saying. 18 now.

Still 18. If you were checking.

He can fly! No, wait, he can't. Well, maybe he can... I'm so confused!!

I'm looking at the girl in the mirror...I'm asking her to change her ways...

Dude, I'm creeped out just looking at his PHOTO. One of the freakiest TV villains in a long time. Oh, and by the way, it was also announced at the Con that Zachary has been cast as the young Spock in the upcoming J.J. Abrams-produced Trek film. He'll go a great job. Good for him. And hey, we all know what being part of the Trek franchise does for your acting career, right? Oops...

Jack "Mr. Bennet" Coleman, ladies and gentlemen! Awesome character on the show! Always keeps you guessing. You can't read his tee shirt there, but it read "I'm just a paper salesman". Which is funny. If you watch the show.

And in a "Heroic" move, when one of the mics went out, Masi actually got down and hands and knees, crawled under the table, crawled to the front of the stage, fixed it, and crawled back. Let's see Tobey Maguire pull THAT $@#% off, huh?

Here's Hayden responding to my question about the actual TIME of day she turns 18...

It's just another picture of Masi, but I was just wondering if anyone else has noticed that skinny-armed chick sitting in front of me is really, REALLY into this show?

Here are Adrian and Greg both threatening to kick my ass if I don't stop bothering Hayden with my questions and trying to seduce her with my Justin Timberlake tickets

Surprise guest, anyone? Turns out it was a surprise to the cast, too. Kevin Smith came out on stage as they announced who's going to be directing the first episode of the "Heroes" mini-series, "Origins", this spring.

Here's Kevin trying not to look directly at Hayden, as he knows Chris Hanson is somewhere in the back of the room, waiting... Dude, if she tells you she made some "sweet tea", get out of the house!!!

Kevin briefly explains his involvement in "Origins" before leaving the cast to be the focus of their own panel (very kind of him, I thought). Ten bucks says he's going to try to focus his "Origins" episode on Bluntman and Chronic...

Sendhil measures for us the chances of "Heroes" NOT rocking in season 2. If you haven't started watching, gang, go get the DVD of season 1, watch it fast, and get onboard. You'll thank me later.

And right after that panel came the always-popular (at least for one more year, as this will be the show's last season) Battlestar Galactica panel. Here's the President herself, Mary "Laura Roslin" McDonnell. Pretty as she is to look at, I mainly put this shot up for the chick sitting ahead of me with the purpley leathery gimp headgear thing. What the hell is THAT?

And speaking of pretty, here's BSG's resident usually nekkid Cylon, Tricia Helfer. By...her...command...

BSG producer Ronald D. Moore, ladies and gentlemen! Personal hero of mine. And someone Tony got to rap with out in the hall, too. Lucky Tony. Again.

Mmmm. Starrrrbuck. Katee Sackhoff, folks, who, in addition to closing out the Galactica show, will be a Bionic badass in the new Bionic Woman show. Bionic chick fight? Sold.

Okay, terrible picture of Lucy Lawless, but the only one I got. Sorry, Lucy. Just had to show you that she showed up as a surprise guest to announce that she's back for the final season. Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!!

Speaking for BSG, you might remember last year's Comic-Con photo gallery where I mentioned I ran into a friend of mine AT that panel that I lost track of 20 years before. Seemed appropriate, then, that I'd get out of the Galactica panel this year and go outside to hang out with Mike T. again. Though it was actually PLANNED this time. Mike drove down from L.A. to do the Saturday thing.

Me and Mike. And a guy in a pith helmet. Let's move on.

Figured I'd better get you guys a few random shots of images around the convention, too. Apologies that a lot of them were blurry, but I was clicking them while being pushed in a wheelchair. Here's a VERY small portion of a line trying to get into Room 20. The line actually wrapped around the building and went outside. Notice the red-shirted security guy there keeping an eye on things? He was killed by a lava monster before the end of the episode. I think I've made that joke in the galleries before. Sorry.

You can see here some of the banners that were hanging down all over the convention area downstairs. Harry Potter, in the this case. I hear the Potter franchise did pretty well this summer...

And there you can see a couple of tables in Artist's Alley, the place all the artists sit and meet fans and do commission shots for dough. Not for money, but for actual dough. They're artists, what can I tell you?

Shoppers and sightseers moving around and gawking on the convention floor. Hey, I see by the jersey there's an L.T. fan back there! Go Bolts!

Ahhhh!!! It's Johnny Depp's head!!!!

More shoppers roaming the aisles

Here you can see some of the Warner Bros. booth.

And some video screens at the WB booth. Lots of those on the floor, showing promotional stuff, trailers, etc.

Weary Con-goers taking a break. By the way, that blue-haired guy is for rent, if you're interested.

Sometimes it's important, to fight the affect of claustrophobia inside, to jump out into the lobby area for a couple of minutes.

A very popular stop out in the lobby. Cash MONEY, baby.

And just more masses of people roaming around upstairs.

Speaking of masses of people...here's a shot of the crowd waiting--like me--for the Joss Whedon panel to begin!

A little better shot of the Whedon crowd. Not bad for a guy not even there pitching a current project, huh?

Though I did get an idea, waiting for the panel to begin, to pitch to him. How about a show about a DEMON DOG?!! AAAIIIEEE!

Me and Russ, waiting for Joss.

THERE's the man. Buffy/Angel/Firefly creator Joss "My Name is Not Josh" Whedon, folks. If you've been hanging around this site for a while, you probably know that I can't let a year go by without seeing his panel.

Weren't there, like, 14 people up at that table just a couple of panels ago? Joss is a panel of one, baby! Which is nice, because it gives you your choice of microphones.

Fan: "What's the status of the Angel movie?" Joss: "You mean 'Bones'?"

Joss also announced that it looked like the "Ripper" movie for the BBC in finally green-lit after all these years. Sweet! Wait, wasn't it originally supposed to be a series? Screw it, we'll take it. Bring on the Giles!

Joss talked about the "Buffy, Season 8" comic series that's now out, and how much he's loving writing it, and can't wait to get to season 9.

That's where Joss spotted me and went "Oh, God, it's the guy who forced his business card on me at the "Serenity" premiere. Greeeaaat."

And being San Diego, there's ships! And the Ronald Reagan was in town. Sweet.

After several years of learning from his Con teachings, I finally got to meet THE Mr. Richard Hatch. Woo hoo! And guess what else? Mr. Hatch now has his own copy of "The Nice Guy: Pilot". Great guy.

I think the random guy who we got to take the picture for us was an old-school Galactica fan, because, apparently, his hands couldn't stop shaking...

Speaking of celebrity meetings... China is HERE, Mr. Burton!! After being a monster fan of Big Trouble in Little China for twenty years, I finally got to meet Mr. David Lo Pan himself (THE David Lo Pan?!)...actor James Hong! Big moment for me!

I generally don't ask for autographs, but my exception is to get autographs for other people I know. My friend Jon is an even bigger BTiLC fan than me, so Mr. Hong was gracious enough to autograph a Lo Pan photo to Jon.

Ladies and gentlemen...A.T.'s knee!

Had to take this pic for friends of mine who didn't make it this year. A very familiar Con site, if you're hanging out with me. That's "M" for Mezzanine, where you go to get your $12 sandwich, baby!

The sign says "Exhibit Hall E", but keep in mind, Comic-Con uses the WHOLE convention center, so no matter which "hall" door you step into, you're stepping into one great big giant hall. This is what you'd see if you were walking into the Con for the first time.

A.T. hanging out by Mile High Comics.

These are last-day shoppers looking for those final bargains on Sunday. By the way, the guy with the "+20 Shirt of Smiting" tee shirt? Having to fight the ladies off with a firehouse, baby. It don't get more pimp than that man. Aw yeah.

And more shoppers as the day, and the Con, finally comes to a close.

Here's a shot of the Convention Center as we're looking back at it, on our way out from another 4 days of nerdy goodness.

On the way back to our cars. There's Tony on the left, wondering where is son Christopher disappeared to, not realizing that, in the middle of the photo, Christopher had hitched a ride on the A.T. express.

That's right, wrestling fans! The dream of C&A.T. are taking the Bicep Brothers DOWN! Order Wrestlemania TODAY.

And on the final night in town, there's A.T., Tony, me and Russ chilling out at Tony's place, having some grub and toasting another successful Con.

And joining in the shot is the VERY mostest hostess, Wendy (Mrs. Tony), who was way too kind to open up their home to us for a few days and turn into our home. Thanks, Tony family...and I have a feeling we'll be taking you up on that again next year...