I was, you may recall, a big fan of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson…and since it went off, I miss it more than I thought I would. And one of the things I liked most about it was in its later years, Mr. Ferguson's sidekick — the Gay Robot Skeleton, Geoff Peterson. Ferguson is a great ad-libber and he was matched magnificently by his robotic pal. This was because of a gentleman named Josh Robert Thompson, who operated Geoff and supplied the voice, as well as the voices of anyone on the phone, the unseen bandleader, the rhino over the fireplace and several more. He was awesomely fast and funny.
Geoff Peterson, I am informed, is presently housed in a storage locker out in the Valley. He'll be back somewhere sometime but no one knows where or when. Josh Robert Thompson, meanwhile, is not in a storage locker. He's touring with his stand-up act and doing voices for cartoons…and he'll be on our Saturday Cartoon Voice panel at Comic-Con along with five other brilliantly-talented folks. We always turn away a few hundred folks (at least) who want seats for this and the Quick Draw! event that precedes it in Room 6BCF…so if you want to see either panel, get there early. The time and more info are here on this schedule of the panels I'm hosting at Comic-Con…
Thursday July 9, 2015 at 3:30pm – 4:30pm in Room 8
THE SERGIO AND MARK SHOW
The men who bring you Groo the Wanderer show their faces and explain just how and why it is they bring you Groo the Wanderer, as well as other silly comics. It's the award-winning duo of SERGIO ARAGONES and MARK EVANIER, accompanied by the equally heralded STAN SAKAI (creator of Usagi Yojimbo), and coloring whiz TOM LUTH (if he can get away) holding court, answering your questions, and doing what they do best, which obviously is not writing little blurbs like this for the Comic-Con Events Guide.Saturday, July 11 at 11:45am – 1:00pm in Room 6BCF
QUICK DRAW!
Once again, three supercharged cartoonists duel to their dooms with Sharpies, each attempting to outdraw all opponents. It's one of the most popular Comic-Con events, and this year it's personal. Our returning champion SERGIO ARAGONES (MAD, Groo the Wanderer) goes mano a mano against SCOTT SHAW! (The Simpsons, The Flintstones) and Disney legend FLOYD NORMAN. Plus, you can expect a few other cartoonists to get their licks in. Presiding over it all is your Quick Draw! Quizmaster, MARK EVANIER. No wagering, please.Saturday July 11, 2015 at 1:00pm – 2:30pm in Room 6BCF
CARTOON VOICES 1
The fine art of giving voice to animated characters is again demonstrated by a dais of the best. This year, join KEONE YOUNG (Star Wars Rebels, G.I. Joe), PAT MUSICK (Rugrats, Extreme Ghostbusters), ERIC BAUZA (Ben 10, The Adventures of Puss in Boots), JESSICA DiCICCO (Gravity Falls, Pound Puppies), PHIL MORRIS (Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Ultimate Spider-Man) and JOSH ROBERT THOMPSON (Family Guy, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson). MARK EVANIER, as usual, gets these talented folks to demonstrate what they do so well.Saturday July 11, 2015 at 4:30pm – 6:00pm in Room 5AB
THAT 70'S PANEL
Once again, this panel talks about what was so special about comic books in the 1970s, starting with all the new talent that entered the field and bonded with the old talent. Discussing those days will be CHRIS CLAREMONT (X-Men, Wolverine), BOB LAYTON (Iron Man) DON McGREGOR (Black Panther, Sabre), DEAN MULLANEY (Eclipse Comics), and others. MARK EVANIER, who was writing Yogi Bear and Scooby Doo, will officiate.Sunday, July 12 at 10:00am – 11:15am in Room 5AB
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL
It's been 21 years since we lost him and we still can't stop talking about the man some called The King of the Comics. Jack Kirby may have been the greatest creative talent the field has ever seen and once again, some of his friends and fans will be discussing why. This time, it's ROB LIEFELD (Youngblood), MARV WOLFMAN (Tomb of Dracula), J. DAVID SPURLOCK (Vanguard Productions) and PAUL S. LEVINE (attorney who represented Jack). Naturally, your moderator is Kirby assistant and biographer MARK EVANIER.Sunday, July 12 at 11:30am – 12:45pm in Room 6A
CARTOON VOICES 2
Another panel of experts at voicing animated characters convenes for your edification. They'll tell you what they do, show you what they do and probably fracture a fairy tale in the process. This time, we have JULIE NATHANSON (Final Fantasy, Spider-Man), BOB BERGEN (Porky Pig, Star Wars), MISTY LEE (Ultimate Spider-Man, Hulk and the Agents of SMASH), WALLY WINGERT (Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Garfield Show) and CHRIS EDGERLY (The Simpsons, Dreamworks Dragons). Hosting and directing is MARK EVANIER (The Garfield Show).Sunday, July 12 at 2:00pm – 3:00pm in Room 25ABC
COVER STORY: THE ART OF THE COVER
Forget about the insides! What makes for a great cover on a comic book? This topic will be discussed and debated by some artists who've been responsible for some of the best. With KEVIN WADA (She-Hulk, Adventure Time), DAVID AJA (Hawkeye, Immortal Iron Fist), LORA INNES (The Dreamer), STEVE LIEBER (Quantam & Woody, Road to Perdition), and CHIP KIDD (Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz, Batman: Death by Design). Your host is MARK EVANIER, and that about covers it.Sunday, July 12 at 3:00pm – 4:30pm in Room 25ABC
THE BUSINESS OF CARTOON VOICES
How does one get into the business of doing cartoon voices? Well, careers have been launched by folks coming to this panel and listening to some serious free advice from people actively engaged in the process from all sides. Explaining the industry this year is PAUL DOHERTY (secretary-treasurer of the Cunningham-Escott-Slevin-Doherty Talent Agency), actors BOB BERGEN and MISTY LEE, and your moderator (and voice director/supervising producer of The Garfield Show), MARK EVANIER. Only serious students need show up.
As always, participants and times and everything is subject to change. I suggest that if you want to get into the Cartoon Voices panels or Quick Draw!, you get there well before their start times. The line may be forming at this very minute.