SDCC 2011 Round-Up: LxL Panels

SDCC is chock-full of fabulous panels appealing to fans of all ages, sexes and interests. This year, the Founders of the LxL themselves were well represented on some truly amazing panels that rivaled those showy presentations in Hall H and Ballroom 20.

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Our own Bonnie Burton is a rockstar and sat on several panels this year, including her very own. I was able to see her in action on the Oh You Sexy Geek panel on Thursday and it was a great way to kick off the week at Con. The LxL was out in force and the panel was funny, thoughtful and quite successful in my mind. Bonnie made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions and her cosplaying as a “hungover geek” was hilarious. Insights were shared, disagreements were had and our Bonnie stayed charming through the whole thing.

It broke my heart to miss Bonnie’s Star Wars Craft panel on Sunday, but I was able to be there for her WonderCon panel and I just know that fun was had by all. Give Bonnie some googly-eyes, construction paper, and some scotch tape and she can make just about anything. If you missed the panel too, check out the Star Wars Craft Book and lots of other awesome stuff from Bonnie at http://www.grrl.com.

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Stephanie Thorpe is one of the most amazing women I know. She is an extremely successful woman who commands attention wherever she goes, but once, she was a small girl who discovered magic in the form of an ElfQuest comic. If you read our interview with Wendy Pini, creator of ElfQuest with her husband Richard, Stephanie shares the story of this first discovery and the subsequent bit of magic that followed later in her life. The LxL Founders have been with Steph throughout the filming of ElfQuest, the amazing premiere at WonderCon and when we first heard the news that her panel was accepted at ComicCon. We all know how important this panel was to Steph and several of us were able to be with her on that special night.

The ElfQuest panel started late on Friday night, but the room was full of Pini fans, old and new. The gorgeous fan trailer was once again shown to the appreciative crowd, stories were told and we were all treated to some behind the scenes treats. It was truly touching to see how much the experience of making the fan trailer was to not only Stephanie and her partner Paula Rhodes, but also to the Pinis, everyone else involved in the production and the entire audience. Wendy and Richard announced a few exciting things of their own concerning their “Final Quest” and an enraptured audience were able to directly interact with their heroes. It was a truly magical night and I felt so honored to share it with my fellow extraordinary ladies.  

The ElfQuest Fan Trailer: http://elfquestfantrailer.com/

Richard & Wendy Pini, Stephanie and Paula at the ElfQuest panel.

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(Written by Stephanie Thorpe) LxL founder, and newly minted Doctor, Andrea Letamendi held a fascinating panel Sunday afternoon called The Superhero Battlefield. It was a psychological discussion that delved into the trauma and natures of heroes and villains and examined the realism of iconic characters. Using the experiences of returning combat veterans as a jumping off point, the panel discussed what could drive someone to be a superhero (or supervillain) and how they would continue to function.  While recognizing that these are fictional characters, the panelists deftly broke down how heroes or villains would be compelled to become what they are as a reaction to some severe psychological trauma.  Prime examples included Batman and the growth he exhibited, versus someone like the Joker, whose philosophy was summed up by panelist Dr Langley: “if I kill you, I win.  If you kill me, I win.  How do you fight that?” Coming from an academic background myself,  I really appreciated the perspective that that Dr Robin Rosenberg (The Psychology of Superheroes) and Dr Travis Langley (Batman in his Belfry) brought to the panel. I’d love to see them examine similar issues from a female perspective at SDCC next year.

Emily, Stephanie, Christy, Andrea, Jessica and Lisa