I Went to Comic Con and All You Got Was This Stupid Blog Post

New York Comic Con—a smaller version of the behemoth held in San Diego in summer—was held last weekend, and I attended for the first time. I went just for a day, with the rest of the Tuned In family (the Tuned In Jrs. got into a packed-to-the-rafters lecture by the author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid), in part because, compared with the summer event, there are relatively few TV panels. 

I did, however, manage to catch the Chuck panel, which fortunately for me was moderated by Alan Sepinwall. meaning I can simply refer you to his write-up. I skipped the Dollhouse panel, whose centerpiece was a preview from an episode I'd already seen, and had to leave before Life on Mars, which Mrs. Tuned In told me had a sad couple of fans lined up outside the meeting room. (Dollhouse, on the other hand, packed a massive theater at the Javits Center.)

A Fringe panel, meanwhile—with most major cast members present, since the show tapes in Brooklyn—was entertaining and yielded one tidbit I wasn't aware of (though it may be common knowledge to bigger Fringe fans): those weird icons that flash before the commercials actually mean something.

Said executive producer Jeff Pinkner, the icons form a code that "will eventually speak to the larger controlling mythology behind the show." Also, apparently (and this has flown right over my head) each episode contains—besides a hidden appearance by the Observer—a clue as to the subject of the next episode. (A clue, I assume, other than the trailers for next week.) 

Beyond that, I discovered that all the clichés about superfans coming to Comic Con in costume are true. At the Fringe panel, a guy in a sweltering-looking stormtrooper outfit took off his helmet and wearily listened from the back of the room. And a costume with Jar Jar Binks' head decorated in Darth Maul's tattoos will haunt my nightmares.