NERDS UNITE! This weekend brought the incredible second year of the Silicon Valley Comic Con back to the San Jose Convention Center. This time around, the convention has been making use of numerous venues and facades in the surrounding area, including the Plaza de Chavez for events like the 'March for Science', and City National Civic, a larger scale venue ideal for the E-ticket panels that made an appearance yesterday. This year has undoubtedly been bigger than last year's panel, and we're here with a quick recap of some of our favorite moments from yesterday. Expect a full-post show recap last this week, along with a massive photo gallery from our contributing reporters!
Tom Felton and Grant Gustin appearing at The Flash panel at Silicon Valley Comic Con. April 23, 2017. Photo Credit: Jared Stossel.
A Spotlight on: The Flash's Grant Gustin and Tom Felton
City National Civic
Out of every panel that our staff attended this past weekend, this one surpassed any expectations we had in regards to turnout. Taking place at the completely packed City National Civic, Grant Gustin and Tom Felton, stars of The CW's The Flash, took the stage to speak about their careers and presence in various cinematic universes (Felton played the role of Draco Malfoy, a villainous character in the massively successful Harry Potter film franchise), and their experiences with attending various comic con/fan events over the years. The discussion was followed by a quite entertaining Q&A session with passionate fans. Hilarious, insightful, and massively entertaining, this was one of our top five panels of the entire SVCC weekend.
Actor/musician Billy Boyd speaking at Silicon Valley Comic Con. April 23, 2016. Photo Credit: Jared Stossel
A Spotlight on Billy Boyd
San Jose Convention Center
Shortly after The Flash panel concluded, a great deal of fans flocked their way across the street and to the other side of the San Jose Convention Center to take part in a unique spotlight conversation with actor/musician Billy Boyd. The actor, well known for voicing Pippin in the epic film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, took the stage to hold a discussion and Q&A surrounding his role in films like The Lord of the Rings, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and his work in music as the frontman for rock band Beecake.
SyFy's Stars of Cosplay Melee Panel at Silicon Valley Comic Con. April 23, 2017. Photo Credit: Tawni Kuhn.
Syfy’s Stars of Cosplay Melee
San Jose Convention Center
Syfy is back at it again! Cosplay Melee is the channel’s second show focusing on this community, and has been well received thus far, this time focusing on individuals and their craft. This is a more encouraging and welcoming spin on the cosplay world, which will hope to inspire others to start creating. This panel brings episode one winner, Xavier Conley (also known as Ebony Warrior Studios), and episode six’s Jacqueline Goehner. The pair discuss how they entered into their hobby, what encourages them, and answers questions about the show, as well as their expertise. If you want to catch the next episode, Jackie’s episode airs Tuesday, April 24th on Syfy.
Tom Wilson speaking at Silicon Valley Comic Con. April 23, 2017. Photo Credit: Jared Stossel
Q&A With Tom Wilson
San Jose Convention Center
One of our biggest highlights of the weekend was the Q&A Session and discussion held with none other than Tom Wilson (well known for portraying Biff Tannen in the Back To The Future trilogy). Wilson is a multi-talented artist, having immersed himself in the worlds of acting, comedy, music, and even painting (if you haven't seen his work, you can check it out at www.TomWilsonUSA.com.) Wilson answered a great deal of questions surrounding a mixture of each of these topics, talking about moments from the filming of Back To The Future, his favorite films, and his love of comedy.
Steve Wozniak speaking at the closing ceremonies of Silicon Valley Comic Con. April 23, 2017. Photo Credit: Tawni Kuhn
Closing: Steve Wozniak, Speed Drawing by James C Mulligan and MORE
City National Civic
Heading into City National Civic, SVCC closes out with Disney illustrator, James C. Mulligan. As staff discussed the success of this weekend, as well as took commentary from the audience, Mulligan painted Woz’s face onto canvas. Excited with the success of the weekend, they want to assure the crowd that next year will be bigger and better than years previous. And how else could you close out the biggest Comic Con in the Bay Area, other than with the man behind it? Steve Wozniak discusses how creativity is so important, and how thankful he is that everyone is so passionate about science, “geek”-dom, and art.
“What happens at Comic Con stays at Comic Con. And the internet.” – Steve Wozniak.
We will be posting a comprehensive post-event photo gallery and some more coverage surrounding SVCC towards the end of this week. Stay tuned for more!
This has been another Shameless Promotion.