“Let’s do this one more time.”
I got confirmation I’d be back for the 8th installment of Comic Con Baltics back in February, which meant I could build it into my syllabus nicely. This would be my 6th time working for the con and my seventh time attending*. I also got asked if I would do another lecture, like I did last year. Last time, due to the Superman film opening, I did a brief history of the character. This time, we settled on doing the same thing about Spider-Man, knowing the film was coming out this summer.
So even before I headed to Vilnius, I had work to do. Also this year, we were going to have more guests than ever before. Most of them I didn’t know as there were a bunch of video game performers. There was, however, one actor I did know: Finn Jones, the guy who played Iron Fist in the Netflix Marvel shows. Pretty cool.
But then, he had to cancel and was replaced with Christopher Judge. And this is where I had a weird reaction. See, about 30 years or so ago, Chris (Doug) Judge and I were great friends and business partners. But about the time I moved back to Vegas, we drifted out of contact. He was busy on Stargate, and I was busy figuring out what I was going to do with my life. To be fair, at that time I was drifting away from a lot of my life back in LA. Over the years, I’ve tried to reconnect with a number of people from back then, but I was never able to reach Doug. I had reached out to his ex-wife for an email address and sent him messages on Twitter, but got no response. Ultimately, I just figured that he didn’t want to connect. I mean my ex-wife was now married to a guy he would have worked with on set, so maybe there was some rumours I didn’t know about, or maybe he decided to take her side in the divorce. Whatever. It’s not like I was ever going to see him again, right?
So it was a really weird reaction I had when I saw him on the guest list for Comic Con. Basically, it made me anxious. Because I didn’t know why we had really drifted apart, I didn’t know what his reaction would be to seeing me, especially as it would be so far out of the likelihood of things to expect when coming to Lithuania. Part of me expected a warm greeting and hug and part of me expected it to be like Paul Simon in “Ticket Line,” an old SNL sketch where he remembered everything but not Art Garfunkel. Either way, it left me with sleepless nights for reasons I can’t quite explain.
Regardless, I did my prepwork. I wrote my Spider-Man lecture, arranged my classes to leave them with a minimal of disturbance and got myself ready for my annual gig of making fun videos and meeting cool people.
Tuesday May 19
The first guests were scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, but I was booked into the hotel from Tuesday night, so I bought my ticket, packed my bag, and when I left for work that day, I was ready to go. I had purchased a 1st class ticket on the fast train (the timing just worked out that way). It was less than €2 difference, and I knew I’d get a seat with a power outlet so I could at least get a little bit of work done on the ride. As it turned out, the fast train was fast because it didn’t stop. Took 59 minutes from station to station and there was free water on offer. All in all a good deal!
I was all set to grab a Bolt to the hotel, but Simas, who heads up the transportation team, offered to come get me. It was great to see him. Part of the fun of Con is seeing all the same people year after year. It’s like old home week. I made plans to get picked up the following day so we could start our airport runs and then I checked in. We always stay at the same hotel, which adds to the consistency and familiarity of things. It also makes it easy to know what you’re doing.
By this point I was a bit hungry, so I found a burger place Simas had recommended, Ponas Mėsainis, around the corner from the hotel. I had a tasty burger, if a bit messy, and headed back to my room. It was going to be an early night. I talked to Rasa and Monki and then went to bed.
Wednesday May 20
The hotel offers a really nice breakfast buffet, which provides a great way to start the day. I ate and was doing school work (grading and writing final exams) for a while and then headed back up to my room to plug in and keep working. That’s when the call came.
On the hotel phone.
As it rang, I wondered who could be calling me on that phone. I thought about ignoring it and then figured it might be someone from the Con who didn’t have my cell number. So I answered.
“Hello.”
“Hello. We need you to evacuate the parking garage.”
“I’m not in the parking garage.”
“There’s an emergency…”
At this point, the voice on the other end kind of faltered. They tried to get out something about warnings and airspace. That’s when it hit me.
“You need me to go to the parking garage?”
“Yes!”
Okay. So down I went to the parking garage. I was wondering if it was some kind of joke or prank but when I got down there, a few hundred people were milling about. I discovered that a drone from the Russian/Ukraine war had strayed into Lithuanian airspace and the government wasn’t playing games. At one point I got a bit cold, so I went back to my room to grab a sweatshirt but then went right back downstairs. I texted Rasa to let her know I was okay, and she had heard nothing about it. Since the drone was over Vilnius and environs, they didn’t bother to let people in Kaunas know about it.
After about 40 minutes they gave the all-clear and we could go back to whatever we were doing. That’s when I got a text message from my friend Christine, who is an American also married to a Lithuanian. She had gotten a message from her son’s school, basically telling her not to attempt to pick up her kid, they would take care of them. It freaked her out and rightly so. I would freak me out, too.
We decided to meet up for a coffee. It’s always lovely to hang out with her (she was one of the first Americans I met when I first moved here, so I’ve known her for 15 or so years), but would have preferred to do it under different circumstances. By this point, it was getting close to pick-up time for me and she had things to do so we parted ways and I got to work.
The car coming to get me was dropping off Missy, a talent rep. I knew she was in the right place because her luggage was emblazoned with Darth Vader! These were my people. I introduced myself and then got whisked away to LitExpo.
The convention is getting bigger every year, and this year was no exception. As already mentioned, there were twice as many media guests and for the first time, we had invited actual authors (I’d be interviewing them in panels on Saturday and Sunday). Walking into the con office was, again, like walking into a familiar backstage area. It was great to see old friends and be greeted with such warmth as well. I picked up a bright orange hoodie and t-shirt (this year’s Con colors) and then was given the best gift of all…
I got a custom-made hat from Mintarė, part of the cosplay team. She had been wearing a cool hat last year and I had admired it, so this year, she made me one of my very own. Basically, it was a black bucket hat, with bat ears and the Con logo embroidered in front. But the best part was the functional zipper on the back. No, it served no purpose, but it perfectly imitated the non-dated logo of the Con itself. It’s perfect! I decided I was going to wear it for all my videos!
I got picked up at LitExpo by Julius, who has been doing camera work for the Con for years, and it was going to be us at the airport. Once there, we met up with Ugnius, the still photographer, as well as the folks who would take the guests back to the hotel.
I should say a word here about the airport pick-ups. I’m not sure how or why it started, but one of the things we do is grab the guests as they come off the plane. I don’t know if any other con does this, but then, there are no other cons in Lithuania, so maybe that’s part of the fun? In any case, we tend to grab people off of several hours-long flights, before they’ve had a chance to freshen up, and I ask them questions about being in Lithuania and to say something to the fans. Then we take a few pictures, film them getting into sponsor branded cars and that’s about it. It’s just a nice way to welcome them and to let the fans know they’re here and ready to meet them. We don’t meet every guest this way, for a variety of reasons, so we just meet them at the hotel or at the con itself, but eventually, we intro everyone!
Our first pick-up was Nathan Kress. Not only was his interview great, but during the picture, he threw his leg up for me to grab. I figured if he was game, so was I, so I grabbed and lifted him! The perfect start to our airport shenanigans!
Peter Blomquist was next and again, a great intro. He was our final pick up for the day. There were others coming in, but they weren’t on our schedule so we’d get them later. For me, it was back to LitExpo and then back to the hotel.
By this point, it was late, so I figured I’d just grab dinner in the dining room. I met Missy there, and soon we were joined by Nathan (who’s her client). Had a really good conversation before I headed up to bed.
It had been a day.
Thursday May 21
I wish I knew how to sleep longer. No matter how late I go to bed, I’m still up fairly early. Such was the case today. Not sure what the cause was. Maybe it was a holdover from yesterday’s drone event, maybe it was anxiety from various upcoming events. Either way, you can’t let fear stop you from doing what you have to, so I got myself out of bed, did a little bit of schoolwork and prep for my day of making videos, and headed down for breakfast.
At breakfast, I once again met up with Nathan and Missy. And again, we had a wide-ranging conversation. Nathan, I discovered, has a daughter who is about Monki’s age and into a lot of the same things, so we talked about getting them together through a virtual meeting. Monki has a friend in America already whom she loves talking to and sharing stuff with, and I figure a couple more can’t hurt. It gives her a chance to practice English with someone who isn’t me.
With food taken care of, I caught a ride to LitExpo where we were going to start filming videos explaining various aspects of the show. I talked about where things were and getting tickets for next year’s event (which is in September 2027) and generally just walked around the place, trying to get people amped up about stuff.
Was even able to get some more grading done. Saved me from having to do it in a rush when I got back home. When I needed a break, I went outside and had a chat with one of the officers of the NATO forces who were going to be present at the Con. It’s always wild to see the military and police presence at this thing. I don’t think you’d get that at San Diego or Atlanta.
By that point, it was time to head to the airport. We had a bunch of pickups scheduled (Doug was originally on the list but was then taken off our schedule. Wasn’t going to be seeing him today).
Our first guest to arrive was Kaja Chan. She was worried about her hair, so I gave her my amazing bat-hat to wear. She rolled with it like a champ and this set a precedent for our interactions over the whole weekend.
Tim Downie was next and again, just a delight. Tim has a book called Rituals, about English folk places, coming out soon so we chatted a bit about publishing before sending him on his way to the hotel.
Samantha Béart was next up. After the flight and some other stuff, they were just not up for doing a video right then. Not a problem. We got them sorted, promising we’d get a video done the next day. Elsie Bennett, who showed up with several wonderful family members in tow, was next. Turned out that she and Kaja are great friends, so she checked to make sure her friend had arrived safely as well.
These four were just amazing all weekend long. They made my job much easier and I’m not sure I’ve ever laughed so much doing guest videos as I have with them.
Our last pick-up of the night was Benjamin Byron Davis. I ended up catching a ride back to the hotel with him and again, had some very insightful conversations. Once we got back to the hotel, I decided to hang out at the bar with Peter and then met an interesting guy who does cybersecurity for Milka. In a rare moment, I had a gin & tonic, which really hit me. I went up to the room and was passed out by midnight.
Friday May 22
At last, it was day one of the con! I started the day by having breakfast, again, with Missy and Nathan. Afterwards, I sat and talked with Ben and Todd W. Langen, the guy who wrote the first and second Ninja Turtles movie. We talked about art and artists and the separation of the two. Then I was whisked away, back to LitExpo to get the day really started.
It was busy! Lots and lots of people. I was busy as well, doing videos to catch up with the people we’d missed at the airport (like for Mark Pellegrino and DJ Qualls). Now, Julius was organizing all the video shoots for the whole cone and I was partnered with Justus, who is also top notch. As we wandered, I noticed Doug was doing the signing and photo thing. I didn’t want to interrupt, but as he was finishing his photo-op sessions, I was able to walk up behind him and say hi. And yeah, I was nervous.
“Hey Doug.”
He spun around. No one has probably called him Doug in years if not decades. He’s been Christopher professionally since at least Stargate SG-1, which was in the late 90s. He looked at me and it took him a second to realize what he was seeing. “Holy shit,” he said. “What are you doing here?” And then he turned to his friend/agent and introduced me as “this was my first writing partner.”
So he did remember me. Then he gave me a big hug and we had a brief catch up. There would be more later, but it felt good to reconnect with my friend again.
Of course, we were both working, so we were off to do our thing. I was off to do my Spider-Man panel, which was reasonably attended. The audience included some of my students, which was nice, and I came in exactly on time, a feat of which I was rather proud. The guy working the tech remembered me from last year and asked if I wanted a copy for my daughter. I did**.
The rest of the day was a blur of doing wrap-up videos, having a chat with Doug, grabbing a pizza from one of the fabulous food trucks and running around like crazy.
Rasa and Monki drove in from Kaunas, stopping at Rasa’s cousin’s new place for a little bit before coming to meet me at the hotel. They were hungry when they finally got there, so we took a walk to the old town for an Italian dinner. Rasa had a pasta dish while Monki and I split a pizza. This tends to be how we do things – Rasa gets her food, and then I split whatever Monki wants. It generally works out okay.
At the hotel, even though Monki had her own rollaway bed, she still ended up in the King size hotel bed with us. I still didn’t sleep great.
Saturday May 23
The three of us had breakfast at the hotel, where I was able to introduce them around to the guests who were present. Then Rasa drove us to the con. They were going to go back home after the show today. It just made more sense for them to only stay one night, since Duke would be on his own and really, the crowds were going to wear them out.
We did have cool VIP parking, though, which was nice. Our plate number was on the list so as we drove up, they double checked us and a couple of volunteers opened the gate for us. I walked them in and showed them a few things before sending them off to explore while I worked.
As always, I wandered around being a professional idiot. I jumped in to try different things, including a climbing wall, a few games of skill (I stopped a timer exactly on 10.000, which neither Rasa nor Monki could do so they thought my take was rigged) and even got “arrested” by the police.***
Whenever I had a break, I caught up with the girls. I definitely had a lot of fun introducing the family around. Monki and I even got to do one thing together, which was this virtual driving thing where you were piloting a radio-controlled car, but doing it through a monitor where you’re watching a camera mounted inside the little vehicle.
She had her bucket list of things she had seen from me and remembered from last year and I think she accomplished most of what she set out to do. Plus, she and Rasa discovered new things.
I did a filmed bit with Elsie, Kaja, and Nathan and was laughing so hard, Kaja took the microphone away from me. It was an absolute riot. They are so much fun!
My one scheduled event of the day was a panel with our YA fantasy authors, Laini Taylor, Alwyn Hamilton, and Adrienne Young. I was so excited they were here! I’ve been trying for years to get actual novelists/prose writers as con guests. I’ve also lobbied for actual comic book creators, so hopefully they’ll be next! Our panel was good, with lots of talk about writing and process. Our ostensible topic was about “Heroes, villains, rebels, monsters — and the blurry line between them,” so that covered a lot of our 45 minutes. They’re all really great people. Laini was traveling with her family, so I got to meet them as well. Her husband, Jim Di Bartolo, is awesome and a comic guy in his own right, so maybe next time, we can get him as a guest.
By the time the con was over for the night, I think the girls were ready to go home. I walked them to the car, said good-bye, and while they drove away, I headed back to work. I did a couple of things and then I headed out myself, catching a ride back to the hotel.
Since it was Saturday, that meant the annual “night out” was upon us. I gotta say, this is one of my favorite nights of the year. The general idea is the guests and moderators and con staff all gather at Busi Trecias, a great little brew pub in Vilnius, about a twenty-minute walk from the hotel.**** The idea is to let the guests get to know each other, and at the same time, share some Lithuanian food and drinks. There is a habit of people getting crazy drunk. A couple years ago, Rob from Cyanide and Happiness and I had to do a panel the following Sunday and we were both very hungover.
This time, things were a bit more sedate…at least to start. I began the evening sitting with the author gang. Conversation flowed and we all had a great time. At some point, I got up to check something and ended up hanging out with Tim and Sam, with whom I pretty much stayed the rest of the night. We talked theatre and literature and how skeevy Neil Gaiman really is when you’re working with him. It’s just a great time to relax and just talk, without worrying about work.
There was one moment where a small group of us, including Mike Hollingsworth, the supervising director of BoJack Horseman, who was one of our guests, and a few of the cosplay team, including Zel, who I’d worked with a few years ago, were all passing shots around. I tried a few but it could have gotten a bit crazy.
Afterwards, there was a tour of the basement brewery. You have to love a bar where the taps link directly to the brew tanks! By the time that was over, it was time to head back to the hotel. I guided Sam and Tim home and I was in bed by midnight.
Sunday May 24
Sunday morning was my last day at Con and last day in Vilnius. Originally, Rasa was going to stay the whole weekend and then we could all drive back together, but since she left Saturday, I needed to pack and take my suitcase with me to LitExpo. Not a big deal. Of course, getting to the train station at the end of the day might be a logistical nightmare, but I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.
At the con, I spent my morning doing wrap-ups. Again, trying to film with Elsie and Kaja proved difficult. These two feel like they’re joined at the soul, and they were having just as great a time simply hanging out with each other as they were greeting fans. When we were filming, I could barely keep a straight face, and they took full advantage of that. When I suggested we take a picture at the photo op area, they agreed. And then things got completely out of hand doing a “crazy pose”!
I also had the opportunity to have a nice chat with Doug and with Laini and Jim. Did some of the last bits of filming, getting last thoughts and wrapping up day three. Then it was time for my panel.
This one was called “What Makes a Punchline Linger?” And featured Todd W. Langen, who wrote the first two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films, and Chris McCoy, who writes and draws a web comic called Safely Endangered Comics. It went really well. Had a lot of fun and for Todd, this was his last comic-con panel ever. So we made the most of it.
Now, up until a few days earlier, this would have been it for me. But I kept telling Marta, who was in charge of panels, that if she needed me to fill in, it was no problem. In fact, it was a bit weird that I only had three panels over the whole weekend (Not complaining, mind you, but it was weird). But on Friday, I got a message asking if I could take over a panel with Mark Pellegrino and DJ Qualls, two stars of the TV show Supernatural. Naturally, I said “yes.” Not a problem at all.
Of course, I didn’t watch the show so I asked my friend Janna, who is a devoted fan, if she could proffer any possible questions. She came through in spades. She had some great, insightful questions so I felt ready to jump right into the fray.
This panel, called “The Devil and the Hunter: A Supernatural Reunion,” was set to be the last major panel of the con. I was told that if it was going well and needed to run a little long, that was fine. No one was waiting for the room.
Time came, I walked onto the stage and introduced the guests…and didn’t say another word for the next hour. Okay, I exaggerate, but only slightly. I made two small comments and then announced the start and end of audience questions. And that was fine with me. Marta was worried that I would be upset, but nope, not at all. The attendees didn’t want to see or hear me, I was there to facilitate their interaction with the performers and if the actors were fine going off on their own, I wasn’t about to stop them. I did feel bad I never got a chance to ask Janna’s questions, though.
And then it was pretty much over.
We did our group picture earlier than usual, so after that, I was ready to go. Of course, by then, almost all of the guests had gone back to the hotel so there were no cars to give me a lift to the train station. But then I saw that Nathan was doing a little bit of extra cool stuff, hanging out with the NATO forces, and when he was done, I was able to jump in with him and Missy. We dropped them at the hotel, and I went on to catch a train home – Another successful Comic Con Baltics in the books.
* I’d been asked to be on a panel back in 2018
** at first he sent the panel which was before mine, but we got it sorted out.
*** we tried to get them to do this last year but they weren’t having it. This year, they were all too willing. I did find out later that the policewoman who called me over to do it, was a friend of a friend and so knew who I was.
****and we had to walk because the Vilnius half marathon was happening (like last year) and the roads were closed to cars.
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 