Stan Lee’s Comikaze is finally right around the corner (better get those tickets quickly)! A myriad of Geekscape writers will be in attendance at the expo, and of course we couldn’t be more excited to hang out with you at the Geekscape Booth (that’d be Booth #610)!

As the 3-day event has something for all sorts of different tastes, we thought that we’d make a list of our own personal highlights from the schedule! Here are the panels that each of us are looking forward to at next weekend’s Comikaze 2013!

If you’re attending the expo, be sure to visit us at Booth #610, where we’ll have tons of shirts available and some freebies (and lonely Shane O’Hare would love to talk to you)! We’ll be there all weekend! Now read on!

Juan Carlos Marquez

Any sci-fi-loving kid who grew up in the 80’s knew the drill on Saturdays; you started the morning flipping between CBS, NBC, and ABC, but then you tuned in to Channel 5 (KTLA) and watched the Family Film Festival with Tom Hatten. It was during this afternoon routine in which I was introduced to the glory of Godzilla. I fell in love with way the giant Japanese lizard monster tore apart miniature cities, yet helped defend the poorly-dubbed humans from the likes of Mothra, Rodan, and Mecha Godzilla.

Sunday’s panel, ‘Giant Kaiju Monsters Vs. Men in Suits Attack Japan (And Hollywood)!’ is an absolute can’t-miss for me, especially seeing that George Krstic is going to take part in the panel discussion (as well as our very own Jonathan London). I was a huge fan of Megas XLR and I can’t wait to hear his thoughts on what appears to be the renaissance of the giant monster movie genre.

The panel takes place on Sunday, November 3rd at 2:30 in room 306AB! Here’s the description:

Everyone loves Godzilla, Power Rangers, Ultra-Man, Rodan, Kamen Rider and Giant Robots! And recently, Hollywood has gotten in on the act with Kaiju and Giant Robot films like Pacific Rim and next summer’s Godzilla film. Are these Japanese mainstays the next big thing in American pop-culture (or is it just another Hollywood trend)? Join a panel of working Hollywood professionals for an in-depth discussion on the past, present, future and Americanization of Kaiju and Japanese Men in Suit properties. These properties have long since taken over Japan. Are we next!?!

Participants: Jonathan London (Host of Geekscape!), F.J. DeSanto (Frank Miller’s The Spirit, Cyborg 009, Insurgent), George Krstic (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Action Pack, Megas XLR), Robert Burnett (Free Enterprise, Femme Fatales), Tommy Yune (Robotech)

S.J. Borger

I’ve never been to Comikaze before, though I’ve lived in Los Angeles for years. The panels this year look amazing (especially the panels that our own awesome, glorious leader Jonathan London* is a part of).

The panels span an eclectic and wildly interesting set of topics—I could barely decide between some of them. That being, said, I narrowed it down from ‘all of them!’ since I couldn’t seem to find a handy TARDIS or a Time Turner anywhere.

My (current, to be updated at any time) list of must-see panels:

The Doctor Who 50^th Anniversary Panel: because, well, the Doctor Who 50^th Anniversary special—and the mysterious ‘special guests.”  Such a tease, Comikaze, such a tease! – Friday, 4PM, Room 306AB.

The Nerdist Writer’s Panel: Comic Book Edition; I’m a fan of The Nerdist podcast and comic books, so this was basically a done deal. I hope Ben Blacker doesn’t think I’m stalking him, though, since I just realized I’m attending ALL of his panels if I can. – Saturday, 10:30AM, 304ABC.

Icon: Bruce Campbell. I shouldn’t even have to explain this. – Saturday, 1PM, Hot Topic Main Stage.

Blizzard Storytelling: From the corruption of Kerrigan to managing to (by the skin of their teeth) write in Panda Bears and Aliens as beings consistent with their world, Blizzard Entertainment is one of the foremost storytellers of our digital age.  I’m looking forward to insights from the minds behind the stories. – Saturday, 3PM, Room 306AB.

In Defense Of: A panel defending the truly ludicrous choices sometimes made in comics, gaming and film (the ones that made you cock your head and say ‘Wait, what? How? Why would you do that?’…for example, all of GI Joe: Retaliation). – Saturday, 4PM, Room 301A.

The Thrilling Adventure Hour: Enough said. Seriously, I’d watch Acker, Blacker, Paul F Tompkins, Marc Evan Jackson, Joshua Malina, Busy Philips and Mark Gagliardi read from the phone book. If they could find one, I guess. It’s not really a great saying, anymore, is it? So um…I’d watch them read from the ITunes user agreement. – Saturday, 5:30PM, Room 308AB.

That works better.

Writing Genre TV: A panel of writers from hit shows like The Walking Dead, Warehouse 13, Alphas, Justified and Once Upon a Time In Wonderland discuss what it’s like to work in genre TV. – Sunday, 3:30PM, Room 306AB.

Zombies! Everything You Wanted To Know But Were Too Alive To Ask! Zombie science, history, fiction and fact. Where else would I be on a Sunday? – Sunday, 4PM, Room 304ABC.

* I take cash or paypal, Jonathan.**

** You’ll take a pass to Comikaze is what you’ll take! – Jonathan

Shane O’Hare

This is my FIRST Comikaze convention. I’ve been a huge fan of the expo and organizaiton (DJing their Comic Con party didn’t have anything to with that praise :P) and have always wanted to go. This year, the planets aligned perfectly and I was able to get off work to join in on the fun!

This being my first trip to Comikaze I really want to check out the booths and the main floor, I love seeing how cons other than SDCC stack up. I also really can’t wait to get to work at our very own Geekscape booth (booth 610) as well!

The Pacific Rim (Friday, 2PM, Room 306AB) and Sharknado (Friday, 4:30, Hot Topic Main Stage) panels on day one are a must see. The Lion Forge panels (Saved By The Bell is Saturday, 11AM, Room 306AB, Knight Rider, Airwolf, Miami Vice & More on Sunday, 12PM, Room 301A) are also a must attend as all their newest books are top notch and I am super excited for all of them.

Come Sunday I find myself stuck in a conundrum. Do I stay at Comikaze or head on down to Anaheim and join the Mega 64 Boyz for their annual Gamedays meetup at Disneyland? Decisions…decisions.

Either way, I am very excited to be attending Comikaze, especially since it’s in LA! My sister better get the couch ready cause baby brudda is coming for a visit!

Kari Lane

This will be my second year attending Comikaze, and there are definitely a few panels/films that I’m really excited to see!

I’m looking forward to the Geek Girls: Sexism Within the Geek Subculture (Friday, 1:30PM, Room 301B) panel because it has been a fairly common discussion topic lately. The Adapting Sherlock Holmes (Friday, 3:30PM, Room 301B) panel sounds cool since I just recently started watching the show (yes, I’m a little behind on some shows because I generally don’t watch live TV and have to rely on Netflix.) The Dollar Baby Film Festival (Saturday, 9AM, Screening Room 411) on Saturday also sounds awesome because it will be short films based on Stephen King stories and I love good horror stories. There’s a Grimm Fairy Tales Animated Pilot (Saturday, 11:30AM, Room 308AB)I am really excited about because I saw their presentation at the Long Beach Comic Con and I’m stoked to see their final product. And, of course, Weird Al will be at Comikaze this year. I’ve seen him in concert at least three times and he never fails to entertain. 🙂 I’m also curious to see Sweethearts of the Galaxy (Sunday, 10AM, Room 304ABC) because I interviewed those two lovely ladies not so long ago and their show seems really fun. There’s also several horror panels I wouldn’t miss such as a Ghosts, Bigfoot and Beyond: Paranormal TV (Sunday, 1PM, Room 304ABC) because who doesn’t enjoy a little paranormal in their life?! And last, but not least, there will be a screening of Legend of the Red Reaper (Sunday, 2:30PM, Screening Room 411) which I have been hearing about for quite some time so I’m really looking forward to seeing it!

Derek Kraneveldt

I absolutely cannot wait to get back down to Los Angeles and head to Comikaze! Of course I’m beyond excited to see all of my fellow writers again (and to meet some new ones too), and also participate in my very first 5K. The whole reason that I’m going down is for the expo however, and here’s what I’m most looking forward to:

It’s called Stan Lee’s Comikaze, so of course I need to meet Stan at some point. I picked up a copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #252 (first appearance of the black suit) at SDCC, and I would love to have him sign it. That being said, getting a photo with Stan the Man would literally make my life, as I’ve idolized the guy since before I could speak! He did say good morning to me at SDCC, but I need more!

I was a big fan of Pacific Rim, so as Shane said up above, the From Robots to Monsters: A Look Into Pacific Rim and Godzilla (Friday, 2PM, Room 306AB) panel is a must see for me. I’m also looking forward to the Full Time Creative on a Part Time Schedule (Friday, 2:30PM, Room 301B) discussion should be an interesting one. Between a full-time day job and my work for Geekscape, I find a hard time doing any of the creative writing that I used to love doing. Maybe this panel will offer some tips on how to find the time?

Later that day, I’ll be headed to the Making A Comic Step-By-Step (Friday, 4PM, Room 304ABC). This should go hand-in-hand with the previous panel, as it’s something that I’ve been interest in for as long as I can remember, but have simply never found the time to do. I’ll also want to check out the Fangasm: The Interns Reunite (Friday, 7PM, Hot Topic Main Stage) as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the show (which ends tonight) and I’m sure that there’ll be plenty of laughs at the panel.

All that stuff, and that’s just the first day! I’m also looking forward to:

-The Death of ‘Superman Lives’: What Happened? – (Saturday, 2PM, Room 304ABC).
–Inspector Spacetime: The Panel – (Saturday, 6PM, Room 304ABC)
-The Writer’s Journey: Breaking Into Comic Book and Hollywood Scriptwriting – (Sunday, 10AM, Room 306AB)
-Meet The Actor’s From ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ – (Sunday, 11:30AM, Room 306AB)
-So You Wanna Start A Podcast – (Sunday, 5PM, Room 308AB)

I’m sure that I’ll find even more to attend once I get to the expo, but these are the events that immediately stood out to me!

Our very own Jonathan London will also be hosting (and participating in) a few of Comikaze’s most prestigious panels. You know you’ll want to be in attendance for those. The panels are:

– Icon: Edward James Olmos – (Friday, 5:30PM, Hot Topic Main Stage)