#10YearsOfNGTV: Comic Con Memories

This year marks the 11th time Nice Girls TV has attended San Diego Comic Con, the first time being just a month after we launched the site, and boy do we have some stories! We told some of our favorites on Facebook Live last year, and in honor of our 10th anniversary, we’re sharing a few more. 

My First Comic Con

Melissa: Liz and I attended our first Comic Con about a month after we launched NGTV, in July 2008. It was practically a last minute decision, back when you could still attend SDCC at the last minute. We flew into Los Angeles, then drove down to San Diego in a rented convertible. Naturally, there was an accident on the highway, so we detoured through the mountains (Fun fact: Liz is afraid of heights. Another fun fact: Mel sunburns quickly in a convertible open to the California sun.). We arrived about 30 minutes before the first panel we really wanted to attend – True Blood‘s first appearance, pre-series premiere. We swished into a parking spot across the street from the convention center (I know!), raced inside and got our badges, then made it to the correct room, out of breath and sunburnt but triumphant…only to have the line get capped about five people ahead of us. Disappointed, we wandered into the exhibit hall and decided to stand in a random line, which turned out to be the autograph line for the cast of True Blood! So we missed their first panel but actually got to meet everyone, including Alan Ball and Charlaine Harris, and learned a valuable SDCC lesson: get in the line first, find out what it’s for second.

Leah: It was my first Comic Con. I was coming out of Ballroom 20, I was stressed, not sure where I was supposed to be next and someone said, “Hi Leah!” I had no idea who could know me/recognize me at SDCC. I’d only met Roz for all of 10 seconds at the NiceGirls gathering a day before. Roz has the most uncanny ability to spot people in a crowd. (seriously if you want to see someone famous spend your con near Roz) Made me actually feel like one of the NiceGirls.

Ange: For years attending SDCC has been on my bucket list, and I’d spend those four days obsessively on my laptop devouring any snippet of information or footage to come out of panels. Finally, in 2014, I was able to tick it off my bucket list and it didn’t disappoint. It was huge beyond my wildest dreams and even queueing up for hours couldn’t dampen my excitement. (I did, however, underestimate how exhausted I would be once those four days were over!) What also made this Comic-Con special wasn’t just the press roundtable interviews I got to take part in (Once Upon a Time, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter), it was getting to share that experience with the Nice Girls. Many of us stayed in a house together, which was fun and a great way to get to know you all. I also remember being thoroughly impressed by Mynda and Lisa’s amazing swag haul!

Celebrity Encounters

Rueben: First of all, any panel that includes John Barrowman is a blast, but when it is just him on stage – OMG, it’s just downright crazy!! Lisa and I attended at least two of his panels, and the last one featured him in a Star Wars dress where he eventually sang Copa Cabana. We laughed to the point of almost crying because it was quite the performance – so over the top BUT so entertaining.

Roz: I can’t remember why I was hanging out in the lobby of the Bayfront this year, but I was, and while I was near the scrum of fans looking for a chance to see some of their favorite stars, I was looking for someone and managed to get a very nice photo with Danielle Gillies – and then got a surprise kiss in the second photo!

Lisa: Leah and I were on the press floor and I had to use the bathroom. I literally bumped into Norman Reedus walking into the bathroom and I couldn’t wait to tell Leah when I came out. Well, the luck continued because as I was coming out of the bathroom, I bumped into Christian Slater! I looked at Leah and we both had a calm fangirl moment. We spoke to his publicist about taking a picture with him and she said sure! Rami is here too, would you like him in the picture too. Um…Hell yeah! So there we were with Christian Slater and Rami Malek. It was an unforgettable SDCC moment! 

Cay: One of my friends who lives in San Diego had been begging me to get her into a “Hollywood party”. I had a VIP invite to a Bates Motel themed bash being thrown by A&E and it had a plus one, so I invited her along. We met up outside and I quickly realized she was cosplaying – Tim Burton’s Alice. But more importantly, she had brought her pet rabbit as a prop. She was just carrying it nonchalantly in a basket like it was a purse. She managed to sweet talk security into letting us into the party with the bunny, but we ran into some resistance with another security guy inside. I left my friend (and the bunny) to get a drink from the bar and when I got back, my friend was gone, but the bunny was there – being minded by a gorgeous woman. She introduced herself as Esme and we made awkward small talk while waiting for my friend to return (I’ll admit I was freaking out that security was going to come back and I was going to get tossed out for being with the rabbit!). When my friend got back, the woman greeted her, and then a really handsome guy in a tux swooped in and they walked off. My friend turns to me and says “she was very nice” I agreed. My friend then said casually “yeah, I think she’s an actor – I think she said Game of Thrones?”. I pulled out my phone and we IMDB’ed her – Esme Bianca! Somehow my friend managed to get a live rabbit into the party, avoid getting thrown out, and find an actor from one of the most popular shows on TV to “bunnysit” while she went for a drink!!!! When I checked Twitter after getting back to my room, there were a ton of tweets #bunny #BatesMotel. Only at Comic Con!