Comic-Con 2013: In Which I Get to Hang With Two of My Heroes

Highlights of Comic-Con 2013 so far:

1. The bathrooms here are sponsored by “The Bates Motel” television series, so they are labeled “Norma” and “Norman.”
2. I attended cool behind-the-scenes panels with the composers of superhero movie scores and the production designers and costume illustrators, hearing great details about how movies come together and getting wonderful glimpses of coming attractions.
3. After four years of “Twilight” events, there is a new based-on-a-series saga, “Divergent,” with a new collection of gorgeous 20-something actors.
4. I got to see the Scooby-Doo van and a Batman and Joker made of Legos.  I also saw Samuel L. Jackson, Bill Hader, Anna Faris, and Andrew Garfield.
5. I got to sit opposite the gentleman you see above, who was here to talk about the movie that is taking him back to space for the first time since “Revenge of the Jedi.” Major life list item checked off.
6. I didn’t think there was anything more fun than attending panels at Comic-Con, but it turns out that being on a panel is even better, when it includes the fabulous people from Rotten Tomatoes and critics like Leonard Maltin. They passed out paddles with fresh and rotten tomatoes to the audience and they got to debate us on their favorite over- and under-rated films. Then the whole group got to vote fresh or rotten. Many thanks to the amazing Matt Atchity, Grae Drake, Ben Lyons, Scott Mantz, Jim Vejvoda, Jenna Busch, Tim Ryan, and one of my idols, Leonard Maltin.