Six Things We Learned At Oz Comic-Con

Oz Comic-Con wrapped up it’s run for 2014 this weekend, tapping Sydney for the first time with a lineup that included Orlando Bloom, William Shatner, Jason Mamoa, Xander and Anya from Buffy, and at least two of the dwarves from The Hobbit.

For the uninitiated, Oz Comic-Con is a convention in the same vein as its San Diego counterpart, where your childhood pop-culture heroes come together and answer all the questions you ever wanted answered — before telling you most of it was fake, explaining that everyone hates each other, and crushing your dreams of another episode ever being made.

Or maybe not. Here’s a few things we learned at Comic-Con Sydney.

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#1: Cosplay Is Fun

There’s not as much cosplay as I expected; compared to Supernova, or the American cons, the numbers here are low, with maybe 1 in 10 are doubling-down in costume.

But those cosplayers who are here nail it — some with complex and amazing outfits, others with minimal-effort-maximum-enthusiasm (i.e. onesies).

Probably most impressive is the number of gender-bent heroes. The wider stereotype of “sexy-girl-hero” and “tough-guy-hero” is there, but often ignored. I’m not sure if this is a recent change, or something that’s always happened, but the crowd don’t give a fuck that they’re supposed to be damsels in distress or troubled war heroes. It’s. Great.

The kids stand out, too. Hundreds of them, living and loving everything from Magic: The Gathering to Star Trek. I missed the kids’ cosplay competition, but the vibe as a whole was “be what you wanna be, do what you wanna do, cosplay dusk ‘til dawn, no worries”.

My costume highlights are probably the Ash Ketchum/Pikachu duo, who turn out to be newly-weds “just trying it out”. There’s also near limitless variations of Deadpool and Batman, who love group shots.

I miss some of the niche references, but no one is critical when I ask questions about their outfits. Mostly, they’re excited to share.

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#2: Danger 5. Danger 5. Danger 5.

Irreverent-Australian-made-Nazi-Spy-Comedy is an underappreciated genre. Yet it’s also necessary — they’re doing something that is seriously rare in Australia. As Dario Russo, one of the show’s creators says: “someone has to make comedy that’s not set in the kitchen.”

“Content can be made anywhere, no matter what,” he says. “So, create something universal. Don’t just tell a white, middle class, ochre Australian comedy.”

I come in early on the second day for a season two screening, and the show is great; “self-aware” doesn’t even begin to cover how well Danger 5 knows itself. The second season premiere  date has been moved because of concerns about ISIS, but the panel is optimistic.

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#3: Nicholas Brendon Is A Silver Fox

The Buffy panel with Emma Caulfield (Anya) and Nicholas Brendon (Xander) is standing room only, but people sneak into the pretty-empty platinum front-section to be closer to the stars. It’s no surprise that the room is full. Buffy is ubiquitous, and it’s not often you get such an honest rundown from cast members.

What is surprising is the goofy-best-friend, who has morphed into a chiseled silver fox. Nicholas Brendon is a well of ungiven fucks, too — happily ignoring the con’s “no sex, no drugs, no rock’n’roll, no politics” policy. Caulfield, meanwhile, is the straight-talker, holding the panel together and actually answering questions with a little more fan-awareness.

There are some questions about not-Buffy, but together the two have too much insight into the Whedonverse for people to ignore. Everything is covered, from favourite episodes (‘Once More, With Feeling’ cuts a clear path) to on-set romance, to worst and best fan interactions. Asked “would you go back?”, Brendon is excited: “Fuck yeah, I’d go back!”. But Caulfied is less sure: “Well, in the Buffy universe, I’m dead. Not so keen on playing a ghost…” Everyone laughs, but she’s serious.

Also, Brendon doing the snoopy dance with a child Caulfield invited on stage is pretty much the greatest moment of the weekend.

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#4: The Veronica Mars Cast Are Very Nice

Obviously everyone making television or cinema is thankful and aware of the importance of their audience, but Veronica Mars’ recent reboot depended entirely on its fans — and of all the panels I see over the weekend, the Veronica Mars cast who made it to Sydney (Jason Dohring, Michael Muhney and Percy Daggs III) commit the most to satisfying their audience.

Particularly Dohring, who champions every little bit of the show, doesn’t duck a single question, and is thoroughly charming throughout.

 

In two different panels, Dohring is asked the same meandering question that boils down to “Who was the biggest prankster?”. “Not me,” he says, “But it wasn’t Kristen either. Probably Rob Thomas.” On the apparently wide world of Veronica Mars fan-fic, he’s open to — and maybe into? — it. “I’ve read it. I mean, how could you not? But that’s about all I can say.”

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#5: Jason Mamoa Loves Port Adelaide, Thinks Everyone Is Racist

Well, maybe that’s not exactly what he said.

When asked about comparisons between his character in Stargate: Atlantis and Chris Judge’s character Teal’c in Stargate: SG1, he responds, “What, because I’m the brown one? Yeah, you’re a racist. Everyone who asks that question is a racist,” before bursting out laughing.

Mamoa wore a Port Adelaide jumper, tore off the sleeves, then waved them at the audience asking “Who’s a fan, come on, who is a FAN?” — before giving them away to two excited people who were obviously fans. Of Port Adelaide or Mamoa, I’m not sure.

He’s passionate though. Sometimes I’m not sure if his passion is coming from a real place because it seems to apply to everything; when he refers to his pants as “a canvas for his life”, I’m not sure if it’s ad-speak or his poet’s soul shining through.

Aside from the expected GoT/SG:A/Conan chat, there’s a lot of talk about Mamoa’s upcoming film Road to Paloma. Some of it is steered by Mamoa, who’s adept at shifting the crowd’s focus both times I see him, but the interest seems real for the most part.

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#6: If You Want It, You Pay For It

The cosplay and conversations are all excellent, but sometimes, Comic-Con feels too commoditised. As these breed of events have become more common and mainstream, they’ve become titans. Yes, it’d be great to have a photo with Orlando Bloom, but being the 200th person getting the same photo on the same background for $100 is a step away from leaving a cardboard cutout of the star in the shot.

A friend grabs a photo with Nicholas Brendon and it’s great because Brendon cares — as does Jason Mamoa, who throws at least one double shaka in his fan photos. But for the more jaded panelists it feels forced. I feel sorry for Orlando, walking past a wall of printed photos, his dead eyes screaming softly in every one.

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