I didn't read many comic books as a child, & I am somewhat pop-culture impaired, so a lot of what was going on at WonderCon was lost on me. I was greeted at the doors of Moscone Center by Star Wars storm troopers, & many of the attendees seemed to be in their Halloween costumes. My friend said that the show was larger last year. I found it vast & crowded anyway.
Most of the merchandise was alien to me. However, in the small press section, I had a fascinating & recondite conversation with Jeff Hoke of the Museum of Lost Wonder. My friend purchased his artful paper model kit of a Rosicrucian temple.
At the end of the afternoon, I fortuitously ran into the wholly amazing Justin Hall, which happens to me with strange frequency. He reminded me to stick around for his panel on The Birth of Gay Comix. He interviewed a group of baby-boomer generation artists who created this niche publication in the 1980's, which was ground-breaking for its frank, personal & humorous stories of gay life in San Francisco. Robert Triptow was exceptionally articulate on the magazine's mission.
At the end of the day I also had the very strange experience of using the restroom at the same time as Mark Hamill, who is at the show signing autographs. Someone told us that Mr. Hamill charges $100 for his autograph, which, if true, seems very mean. Fortunately he did not charge me anything to share the men's room with him.
2 comments:
That's a whole new subgenre of celebrity encounter I've never even thought about. What Celebrities Have You Pissed in the Same Room With? The only one I can remember off the top of my head was Richard Thomas of John-Boy Walton fame so I think you're already ahead of the game with Mark Hamill. Much more satisfying than an autograph.
It's been a funny week. On Thursday afternoon, I saw Henry Winkler walking toward me on Market Street. I then saw him appear on a panel at WonderCon, at the end of which he gave us a bit of "The Fonz". The audience loved it, but I felt kind of embarrassed for him.
I can also report that Luke Skywalker was quite amused by those new-fangled hand blow-dryers, where you stick your hands in the giant toaster & it blasts the water off. I guess they don't have these on Tatooine.
As far as I know, Mr. Hamill is the only celebrity I have shared a restroom with, so I think you can still be proud of taking a piss with Mr. Thomas.
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