SDCC 2014 Day 3: Arrow, Divergent, Salem and my Chuck Palahniuk fail

Day Three of Comic Con started off much the same way as day two had, which meant camping and early morning signing ticket pulls. WB had an even larger slate for the day, which meant a harder decision to be made, although it did present a bigger opportunity to hit the line twice for some. WB brought: Mad Max Fury Road, Arrow, The Hobbit Battle of the Five Armies, Constantine, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, Gotham, Person of Interest, The Flash. On any other year, True Blood would have been at the top of my list, but not this one. Maybe its because its all coming to an end and I'm a little saddened by it, or maybe because the show wasn't bringing either of their towering hunks. Either way it wasn't on the agenda.


Fox brought also brought many shows, most of which I watch, and the decision there was equally difficult. Fox brought American Horror Story, The Simpsons, Sleepy Hollow, Family Guy, Gotham, Bones and Salem. It would be a first for both American Horror Story and Salem.

Also on the list of things to obtain for the morning was a signing bracelet from Lionsgate for Divergent. After all signing tickets and wristbands were obtained it was time to start the madness. First up was Arrow. I have a serious love for the show, and even more so for the cast. If you're not following Stephen Amell on facebook, you're seriously missing out. Besides the fantastic Amell, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Colton Haynes, John Barrowman, Paul Blackthorne, Greg Berlanti (Executive Producer), Mark Guggenheim (writer/producer) were all in attendance. Willa Holland mentioned hitting the gym, but the salmon ladder is still desperately out of reach. Although David Ramsey got to don the Arrow suit once, he's not getting his own set of tights any time soon. Colton is, and he was feeling a little nostalgic hearing about the camp out for Teen Wolf. Stephen promised more action, and shirtless fun. So this season of Arrow sounds like it may be better than ever.

Fight Club writer Chuck Palahniuk had a signing after. Chuck Palahniuk has a serious following, the man is brilliant afterall, but the signing not so much. Chuck personally went along the line and handed up inflatable bananas and told everyone that they had to blow them up before they reached the front of the line. Although the line stretched pretty far across the convention floor few people actually recognized the author. In fact a few girls behind us had no clue who the author was as he handed out his new book and swag. After standing in line for an hour waiting for the signing to start, it was cut short, and I never made it to the front. Dizzy after blowing up six bananas (no one around us could blow them up, so I blew them all up) Chuck's publicist promised to have everything signed if I made it to the Dark Horse signing the following day.

On to Salem. Surprisingly, this wasn't a signing that was highly coveted. Perhaps it was because the show played on WGN America, and as my cameraman Brad says, no one has that channel. The show was outstanding and dark. The opening credit song by Marilyn Manson still gives me chills, and the cast is pretty outstanding. Shane West, Janet Montgomery, Seth Gabel, Ashley Madekwe, Iddo Goldberg and Elise Eberle along with Executive Producers Brannon Braga, Adam Simon and Josh Barry were in attendance. Although I was overly excited to see the entire cast, my must see was certainly Seth Gabel. Cotton Mather utterly stole my heart with his bible spouting fornicating introduction to his drunken watering of his friend. Of course, Seth blushed before the conversation was over.

From there is was a quick jaunt to the Constantine press room. I'll post the video from that room in a separate post. As if I wasn't in total anticipation for the series before, the cast thoroughly impressed. Not only were they provided with the actual comic series to read up on their characters, they actually did and seem to really get them. As a lover of the Hellblazer series, its really exciting to see their level of enthusiasm.

The last signing of Day Three was the Divergent signing. Leads Shailene Woodley and Theo James were the only ones on hand, but the fans of the film still came out in droves. The pair each signed their own thick full sized black and white tattoo poster. When the first few people came out of the signing I mistakenly thought the cast was signing blank pieces of paper, and only when I got closer did I see what they were actually signing. I hate the idea of separate posters for the same movie, and Shailene agreed it was a waste of paper, so she and Theo chose a single poster and both signed it.

The last thing on my Day three agenda was the one that I was the most excited for Grimm. The press room was a lot of fun, the cast as gracious as they were gorgeous, and all the videos will be up in another post.