Well Popsters, another Comic Con has come and gone and, as always, I’ve got the exhaustion and crippling foot pain to prove it! Seriously, if you ever have the opportunity to attend one of these conventions my strongest recommendation for you is this; before you put together that perfect costume, before you book your flight or hotel room, before ANYTHING, find yourself the most comfortable pair of shoes money can buy, trust me, you will be very glad you did! How all of you Batgirls and Catwomen do it I do not know but you all have my undying respect, (and gratitude.)

We’ve got a lot to cover today so, without further yada, yada, yada,let’s get this party started!

The 2012 Zombie Walk

The annual Phoenix Comic Con officially starts on a Thursday night but the party really doesn’t get into full swing until the perennial Zombie Walk hits the streets on Friday night. This year’s walk had to have set some kind of record, I don’t have an official headcount for you but my rough guess would put the Zombies, (and Zombie hunters) somewhere between three to four hundred, with the spectators easily doubling that number. No question this year’s event was an incredible success! A special shout out to the Phoenix Police Department for making it all run so very smoothly!

The Captain Comes to Town!

It wouldn’t really be a Comic Con without either Stan Lee or William Shatner in attendance, now would it? Stan the Man was a featured guest at the 2011 Phoenix Comic Con so it only made sense for Kirk to come to town this year!

Shatner was in fine form, (at least figuratively), sharing his lifetime of stories from over sixty years in the entertainment biz. From Broadway to The Twilight Zone, from T. J. Hooker to Boston Legal and, of course, the real reason he was here, his many years sitting in the Captain’s chair of the Starship Enterprise, the Shat covered it all.

During the 90 minute Q & A Shatner revealed he is currently editing a follow up to his very well received documentary The Captains, (included in our Top 11 Best Documentaries of 2011). The new film is titled “Get a Life“, taken from the now classic Saturday Night Live skit, and focuses on the collective mythology of Trekkies and Trekkers alike. The new doc is expected to be appearing on the EPIX cable channel later this year.

The truth is, it’s almost impossible to watch Shatner do one of these conventions now and NOT think of that skit. If you’ve never seen it or it’s been a few years, here ya go! It’s still as hilarious today as it was then!

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One particularly personal moment for Shatner came when a young audience member asked what was on his “bucket list”. This question set the veteran actor off on a stream of conscience monologue about aging and death that included an occasional lump in his throat as he shared the details of an impending 7 hour road trip with “Starbuck”, his 12 year old dog, for an operation to improve his four legged friend’s quality of life in his few remaining years. Many in the audience were clearly moved by Shatner’s personal anecdote and it was, as he rightfully pointed out, “a nice moment we collectively shared together.”

Shatner hinted that he may be continuing with his critically acclaimed one man show, Shatner’s World, later this year and it’s possible it could be coming to a theater near you. All I can say is, if you have the chance, jump at it, you won’t be sorry. I could seriously listen to this guy talk for hours!

Starship Troopers: The Reunion!

2012 for some will long be remembered as the year Dizzy and Johnny Rico came to the Valley of the Sun to share their war stories about killing bugs as Citizens of the Federation!

Casper Van Dien and Dina Meyer entertained the crowd with their behind the scenes recollections of filming the now cult classic sci fi favorite and they both still look ridiculously HOT! In fact, as Casper pointed out, Dina looks hotter now than she did 15 years ago when they were making the flick! You will get no argument from me on that one, I’m convinced the actresses’ mere presence knocked our temps up a couple of degrees here in the big AZ! Starship Troopers, by the way, is currently streaming on Netflix, (I should know, I watched it again last night!)

Jon Bernthal: The Talking Dead

Actor Jon Bernthal, best known for playing Shane, the character we all loved to hate on AMC’s The Walking Dead, stopped by the Phoenix Comic Con to do some talking about the walking.

Bernthal entertained and charmed the nearly packed house, (4,100), with his tales from the dead side and offered his version of how he feels Shane should have died. Oh wait, have you not seen season two yet? Should I have posted a “spoiler Alert” for ya? Sorry, as I told the couple sitting behind me at the Q & A who also haven’t made the time to watch season two, the statute of limitations is up on spoiler alerts once the season ends, you snooze, you lose!

Bernthal talked a bit about the frustrating dismissal of Frank Darabont (The Green Mile, The Mist, Shawshank Redemption),The Walking Dead’s creator and show runner, and how excited he is to currently be working on Darabont’s new show for TNT, L.A. Noir, (not based on the video game), which is expected to be airing later this year. That makes two of us Jon, I can not wait!! AMC’s loss will prove to be TNT’s gain and, I suspect ours as well!

The 25th Anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation

Yep, you read that right, 25 years! Did I just ruin your day? Feeling a little old now? God knows, I am! In a word, yikes!

Levar Burton (Lt. Commander Geordi la Forge), Michael Dorn (Lieutenant Worf), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data) and Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) celebrated their 25th anniversary with a packed house at the 2012 Phoenix Comic Con. The only person sadly missing was Captain Jean-Luc Picard, (Patrick Stewart had to cancel at the last minute due to a scheduling conflict with his new film A Good Day To Die Hard, aka: Die Hard 5 , currently shooting on location in Serbia and Hungary.)

Rather than go over all of the history and anecdotes shared by the series cast members I thought I would share with you the top 5 things I learned at this Star Trek: Next Generation panel, they are as follows.

1. Brent Spiner does a killer Patrick Stewart impression, it’s very nearly dead on.

2. Wil Wheaton still regrets having left the show and is very happy to once again be in contact with his friends and former co-workers.

3. Levar Burton and Michael Dorn had a very tenuous relationship during the first few years of the series but grew closer as time went on and now consider each other close friends for life.

4. Marina Sirtis is kind of a bitch.

On several occasions, (actually it was every opportunity she had), she corrected several audience members on everything from grammer to facts about the show. When one young attendee asked the cast about their “Favorite special effect” Sirtis rolled her eyes and exclaimed “It was ALL blue screen!“. At another point, another young audience member ended their question by well wishing the cast with a “Live long and prosper“, to which the former actress barked, “Wrong show!“, (of course she’s technically correct but, still, damn!) Brent Spiner felt compelled to comment early in the panel, “Well, Marina, not making a lot of friends today, are you?”   After the panel I couldn’t help but notice Sirtis’s line for autographs was noticeably shorter than all of the other cast members. Seriously, Marina, you might want to skip the conventions for awhile, at least until the hot flashes have passed.

Don’t believe me? This pic says a thousand words, just read the faces.

5. In spite of Marina, it was great to see the cast together again!

The 2012 Phoenix Comic Con Cosplay Gallery

Alright, so here it is, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, it’s time for Cosplay! I have to give it to ya Phoenix you geeked out nicely and you should all be very proud, you all are really what makes this Con and I had a blast taking these shots! Way to represent! Needless to say, I fell in love more than a few times this weekend, thank you ladies, be still my geeky heart!

Enjoy the gallery! (the gallery is actually an overview of the entire weekend, apologies for any photo repetition.)

Click to enlarge