Digested Digest #17 - Dragon*Con '98 Special (9-6-98) ----Contents---- 1.)OMEGA's Ramblings 2.)Web Site Showcase 3.)Omega's Convention Tips 4.)Omega's Dragon*Con Experience 5.)The Apollo Experience 6.)DC Comics Previews ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.) OMEGA's RAMBLINGS Welcome to the Dragon*Con '98 special of Digested Digest. I only got to be a part of the Convention experience for Saturday Only, but in that one day I got to do and see a lot of things that I had planned on seeing. And some I didn't plan on… This issue will diverge from my normal lay-out towards the end. Top Ten, and Losh Chats will be on hiatus for this issue and return next issue. Infact this issue will give you, the reader, a few valuable tid-bits of info if you ever go to a convention. And also give a few spoilers for upcoming items, a TON of info on one of the nicest teams I have ever meet. And even give you a low down of what I bought. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.) Web Site Showcase The Official Apollo Smile Web Site http://apolloites.org/ Just re-opened!!! -All you ever wanted to know about Apollo Smile but never knew to ask. -A complete list of all the Conventions she will be appearing at soon, pictures and info from past conventions, previews of her Comic Book, groovy products, and tons more. -This is an excellent site that keeps the fan in mind. -Give it a try and keep coming back for the new info. Dragon*Con http://www.dragoncon.org Wanna know all about Dragon*Con from the guest list to how much it costs? This is the site to go to. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 3.) Omega's Convention Tips Tips for Buying A.)Know what you are looking for before hand. B.)If you are looking for comic books, ALWAYS make a list. C.)I you are looking for Japanese manga, know what the Japanese characters look like and try to learn how to pronounce them. D.)If you are buying fansubs, always check to see if the video is in the package, and if possible check the videos contents (most fansubers have TVs so you can view the video first). Also quality is an issue. E.)Practice self control. Know when to stop buying. Miscellaneous Convention Tips--- A.)Even if you reregistered, there is always some type of line, so be prepared to wait for something. B.)Bookbags, Poster Carriers, and other portable containers are fine, but do you really wanna push through people with that on? C.)Costumes are fine, so long as…never mind. No I gotta say it. Dressing up as 'DAWN' is fine as long as you reasonable 'DAWN' when you are finished. D.)More than likely you are gonna pay for the autographs you want. Make sure you get something worth while signed (people giving autographs probably have items for sale, so you can get them signed.) ------------------------------------------------------------------ 4.) Omega's Dragon*Con Experience Where did I go? Dragon*Con '98 in Atlanta Georgia, it is a 4 day 'anything goes' Convention with everything from Sci- Fi shows to Anime to Comic Books to RPGs under one roof. It lasted from September 4-6, 1998 but I only went on Saturday. What did I NOT do? Well, I missed a lot. I didn't go to any of the RPG rooms, any panels, or any of the video rooms. What did I do? Manly, I went to Dragon*Con '98 to go to the Dealers room and see the company booths. And that is pretty much what I did. What did I buy? Well, I personally spent about 350 dollars. I bought as many issues of 'Animerica' I could find; bought a few domestic translations of a few Manga titles I needed OMG!, No Need For Tenchi!, Neon Genesis Evangelion; Got a few bootlegged videos: JLA: the Unaired Pilot, The X-Files Bloopers Season 1 & 2; and 2 fansubbed anime videos: X (known as Clamp's X/1999 in the USA) and Mononokoe Hime (Princess Mononokoe); and I even got a few legal anime videos: Kision Corps. #2,3,4, and Grave of The Fireflies. Who did I meet/see? Well, I got to see Jonathan Harris, Anne Lockhart, Anthony Daniels, Peter David (writer of Supergirl), and Apollo Smile (see my personal experience later in this Digest)! Did I see any cool costumes? You bet, I saw this great Xena look-a-like, a cool Guyver suit, a great Cloud (from Final fantasy 7) costume, some very bad Dawn costumes, And some others I wont even go to. Is that all you did? Pretty much. I got to stand in line for registration (3 infact: 1 register/pay, 1 for bag pick-up, 1 for badge pick-up), push people aside to get items, converse with other fans, barter for items, check out new products (those Mulder and Scully statues form Dark Horse do look cool, the full body and head ones), and all the other cool things you do at conventions. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 5.) The Apollo Experience Ok, the story begins on Friday September 4, 1998. I was surfing the web and I was at the Sci-Fi: Dominion web site. I saw this 'Live Chat With Apollo Smile In Progress' Banner. So I clicked on it and joined a group waiting for Apollo to join. Note:I took the name 'Rip-Hunter' in the chat, if you don't know it is from the comic book Rip Hunter… Time Master which I did one of my fan sites on. As it turns out Apollo was doing her live show at Dragon*Con and 30 minutes later the chat got started. Skipping ahead I asked Apollo a question and told her I was going to be at D*Con on Saturday and if she would still be there. She replied that she would be there and to come up to Team Apollo's booth and hang with them a while. A transcript of this chat should be on Sci-fi: Dominion soon…. http://www.scifi.com/chat/ The next day got up, drove to Atlanta, got there at 9:00 AM, stood in registration for about and hour and a half, and then proceeded into the Company Booth sections. I checked out the DC Comics booth (see DC Comics Previews section for some minor spoilers), saw the Sci-Fi booth (the next issue of Sci-Fi Entertainment is going to have X-Files on the cover) where the chat was conducted. Then I treaded on and there was a small line around this long table. And I saw Jonathan 'Doctor Smith' Harris of Lost In Space , Anthony 'C-3PO' Daniels of Star Wars, and to the left in front of the table was the white column. And when I walked around to the left of it I saw Anne Lockhart of Battlestar Galactica and in between was Team Smile, and Apollo herself. I got in line for Apollo, when close enough signed on for the fan club. Chatted with her crew, said how much I liked the web site, and when I was next in line Apollo said hi and shook my hand and at that moment I broke the news about me being 'Rip-Hunter'. On the conference last night. Suddenly, I was the spotlight. The guy infront of me was like 'Rip Hunter.. Time Master?' I was like yeah. So Apollo finished up with him and then moved on to me. I looked at the merchandise I could choose from to get signed so I chose the her comic book and I got a bag of buttons (Apollo really likes the buttons because she helped her mom make them). So, I must of did something right because then Apollo is getting her whole team to sign the book (they all helped out on it). If you wanna see what Apollo and her crew signed follow this link to see the cover with all the signatures/messages….. http://members.tripod.com/~brainiac_5/vppics/apollos1.jpg Next, comes the coolest part. I then get royal treatment for being the chat. I get my picture with Apollo (I hope it turns out ok, because it might appear on Apollo's web site, I'll keep you all posted), another groovy item, and my day is made and I was even asked to come back and hang with them (which I did. I chatted with her crew about her second issue, about her career, a possibility of her being on Sci-Fi Anime Week next year, and about anime in general). No matter what anybody says Apollo and her team are some of the nicest people you will probably ever meet. To find out what went on in Team Apollo's convention experience, follow this link….. http://apolloites.org/cons/index.html ***Apollo Smile & Team Smile are scheduled to be at Anime Weekend Atlanta October 9-11, 1998. I am planning on attending. If anyone on this ML is planning on attending drop me a line at ablarnold@msn.com (or just hit reply).*** ------------------------------------------------------------------ 6.) DC Comics Previews First off I must say I stood at the DC Comics booth and flipped through a ton of books. Most of which were #1,000,000 books that will be out between now and 4 weeks. I didn't stand and read the books but I did get a good idea about the comics through just flipping though the books. Here is my SPOILERS….. All Superman #1,000,000 Issues (MOS, S, AOS, MOT)---- Each issue flips back and forth between the Present Superman and the Future Superman each issue. We get to see Future Superman interact with Lois and confront a very Bizarre acting Lex Luthor. Then we get to see our Superman comes to terms with the Future (note: I get the feeling that there is gonna be a ton of CGI backgrounds because there just isn't enough artwork at some spots.) I did manage to see the ending and all the speculation of 'will Superman become Superman full time?' IS FALSE. Infact with the month after in Action Comics we see everything pretty much back to as normal as it can possibly be. Legion of Super-Heroes & Legionnaires #1,000,000---- Keith Giffen does a great job on the artwork, and he did throw in some of his 9 paneled pages at some spots. The Legion of the distant future is quite bizarre looking. Brainiac is NOT totally a brain. He does have a large cranium but he does still have a body. For some reason they do go back in time to get Superboy, but I didn't read to find out why. Besides L* comes out next week. Chronos #1,000,000---- The artwork gets even better (infact it they didn't color the book it does look a whole lot better in B&W) as Chronos meets his match. We get to see a lot of Chronoloplis as well as a few brief parts of the DC 1M storyline as Chronos meets up with the future Flash to steal with Gauntlets (I didn't look to see if he did or not.) But there some really cool things in this issue besides that like… Chronos Meets Hourman, Chronos gets is first true arch-enemy. Plus David Clinton, The original Chronos isn't dead... Superman 3-D #1---- Ok, this looks like a bad idea. It is basically a story of Jimmy and the Haries as they go through a bunch of dimensions. The B&W art work looks fine but in 3-D I can only dread seeing it…. This doesn't look like a classic. In fact if you hated the 'Jimmy on the Run' story-line, then you will probably HATE this issue. Supergirl #1,000,000---- Well, this is an issue that we can live without. It ONLY stars the future Supergirl. (A quasi 'Powder-Puff-Girl' with an Afro) as she goes around doing something. I wasn't impressed. DC ONE MILLION #2--- Well, I haven't read the first issue yet. So I just briefly flipped through this one. There wasn't that much artwork at times. And I really hope the cover has something in the background…because I wasn't impressed with the first issues cover (all black with the Justice Legion A in black siloweat at the very bottom). Starman #50--- Well all the Legion fans will be happy. This Giant sized issue has Starboy all through the issue. Infact he is more like a Co-Star than a guest. I haven't ever really read Starman but this issue looks promising. And the issue opens with Starboy on page 1. So my guess is #49 will have Starboy in a Cameo on the last page. I did flip through a few more books but only briefly, and can't recall anything else of importance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I wanna say thank you to Steve at SZink22446@aol.com for replying to my mention of The Official Apollo Smile Web Site in Digested Digest #15. Without you saying something I daught any of the things that happened to me at he Convention would of happened the way they did. Thank you. ~The regular issue of DD should be out by Friday, if all goes well. ~Back Issues can be found at http://members.rotfl.com/OMEGA/ ~To unsubscribe send an unsub e-mail to ablarnold@msn.com That's it for this issue. Ja Ne. Adam “OMEGA” Arnold Ablarnold@msn.com ; ICQ #7737442 http://welcome.to/vanishing.point/