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Comic-Con International 2002 Saturday, August 3rd
Saturday brought twice the amount of convention goers, and twice the amount of activity and traffic. We arrived later than expected, but thankfully did not experience anything close to the fiasco on the freeway of Thursday morning. The line for the morning Dominic Monaghan session had already been capped, so I milled around the Lord of the Rings area for about an hour, picking up TTT teaser posters, postcards, bookmarks, magnets, and whatever other free goodies New Line was kind enough to give out. Naturally, there were nearly twice as many people dressed in costumes on Saturday. The WETA/theonering.net area had at least one costumed person there at all times, although I’m not sure if most of them were affiliated at all with either organization, or if they just decided to show up in costume on their own accord. At one point I saw two Galadriels, two orcs, and two elves all in the same area. One orc was very impressive which comes as no surprise since earlier I found Gino Acevedo and the fine WETA crew applying his makeup inside of New Line’s booth!

I soon returned to line up for Dominic Monaghan’s last autograph session.
  • Dominic Monaghan- Despite a few understandable delays, Dominic showed up and got to business immediately like a pro. I was fairly early in line, with only about six people ahead of me, so he was visible to me the whole time I was waiting. He signed anything and posed for a picture with anyone who requested one. After a few minutes, Decipher decided to limit to two items signed per person due to the massive size of the line at that point, which was fine by me, since I only did have two things on the agenda. At any rate, I finally made it up to the table, and presented Dominic with my Merry drawing I had done prior to Comic-Con. Some people comment very little on my drawings, some comment alot. Dominic, and everyone I met at Comic-Con, come to think of it, fell into the latter category. He was beyond complimentary and had only nice words to say. We talked for a while about it, and he asked me what I had used to make it, and I told him colored pencil. I asked him to sign it using my sharpie for consistency’s sake, Decipher had provided him with a silver marker I believe. A lot of people have touched my sharpie! Dominic was very easy-going. I asked him if he could also sign my book to which he replied “easy as peasy mate!" He was extremely nice and cordial, making this a really worthwhile experience. A lot of credit must go to the Decipher crew, who were very nice and kept things running pretty smoothly- and of course to the man himself who displayed a gracious manner that was nothing less than admirable
  • Richard Taylor- I had wanted Richard Taylor to sign my Nazgul drawing, but did not have my wits about me on Thursday to remember. I thought it would be fitting since Richard and WETA supervised and created all of the costumes, armory, weaponry, and prosthetics in the films- all of which the Ringwraiths required plenty of. I was walking around WETA one last time, when I spotted Richard Taylor again in front of the exhibit of his collection of Lord of the Rings weaponry, doing a little meet and greet. Yes! I shook his hand and told him it’s nice to see him again. I presented him with my Nazgul drawing and got a very surprised reaction. He asked “who did this for you?” (it is a common practice at Comic-Con to have an artist there draw something for you). After he found out I created it myself, he continued to compliment me on the drawing, which I had not expected, since this man sees TONS of amazing concept art at WETA workshop, so that made me feel really good. “I really like this area” pointing at the ‘ghostly’ Witch King apparition in the background. He instructed that “you must show this to our concept artists”, motioning to a couple of black-clad WETA gentlemen to the side. Rather boldly, and foolishly, I proclaimed, “one day I WILL work for WETA”. I told him I was 21 after he asked, and he told me “well you’re well on your way”. After we chatted a bit, he then looked at the drawing a bit bewildered, saying “did you actually want me to sign this?” apparently afraid he might ‘ruin’ it, which was of course nonsense. I told him yes, and that it would be an honor. While he took his time signing, I inquired "what can you tell me about The Two Towers Mr. Taylor?". After he thought it through a bit he replied in his heavy Kiwi accent, "It will be.....an epic!" Okay so not exactly late breaking info, but it was appreciated nonetheless. I shook his hand again thanking him profusely and was off on my way. One of my most memorable experiences at Comic-Con.

  • Gino Acevedo- I was about to leave the convention center, before realizing I had never caught up with Gino Acevedo, who was responsible for much prosthetic work, and maquette developement at WETA Workshop. I decided to head back to WETA one last time intent on quizzing one of the booth personnel regarding his whereabouts. By some stroke of luck, Gino was standing right there chatting with someone, and I recognized him straight away. I presented him with my trusty old book, and asked him to sign the spine where I have had all the 'behind the scenes' people sign, which he gladly obliged. Mission accomplished, I met all five of the people I wanted to meet here, and left the Convention Center satisfied. Until next year. (I actually ran into Gino and Lawrence Makoare 9 days later at a mall in L.A. of all places read about it here)
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