Comicpalooza Comes Into Its Own

Nerd love fills George R. Brown as Houston gets it Chewbacca on

Word on the Internet is that Houston is enjoying a great weekend of weather.

Comic junkies are too busy hanging out at the George R. Brown for Comicpalooza to notice. It is hard to believe that three years ago, this convention wasn’t a convention at all and that it was held in an Alamo Drafthouse.

This weekend's event marks a huge step for the convention. Cult favorite Bruce Campbell made an appearance and openly admitted that he hates Dallas, Nicholas Brendon, most known as Xander from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, met fans and allowed all of the ladies to drool all over him. The guy who played Chewbacca was hilarious.

The artist alley may have been small, but it made up for it with big names. The talented and sweet Humberto Ramos sat at an undecorated table and spent his time drawing and inking artwork for fans. Andy Kuhn made it a point to really talk with attendees that stopped by his table. Rob Liefeld, creator of Deadpool and Cable, and artist J.H. Williams III — who has drawn for Hellboy, Batman, Green Lantern, Wolverine, and a slew of other big titles — got in on the action and spent the bulk of one day chatting, drawing in sketchbooks, and even giving pointers.

The tradeshow area was the best place to go to spend your (or your mother’s) entire paycheck. Bedrock City Comics had a huge spread to purchase gaming cards, graphic novels, and a few very rare pieces. All Star Comics from Nederland, Texas, had some of the best sales around. Entire comic series were neatly packed, priced, and then discounted 50 percent.

The entire X-Men Unlimited series for $50? Yes, please!

A Droid's World

There were steampunk booths, anime booths, and even a booth where guests could grab a light saber and take a picture in front of a green screen with Darth Vader and a few Storm Troopers. Webcomic big wigs, Phil Fogolio of Girl Genius and David Malki of Wondermark both strutted their stuff and gave emerging artists hope. Fantasy artist Larry Elmore sold his work before running off to a panel where he spoke about how he does what he does.

Some of the better panels and workshops included Breaking into Print and Publishing Your Own Comics. The tech workshop, Building Your Own Droid, and Prop Collecting, featured a show and tell with film favorite props from Ghostbusters, Star Wars, Men in Black, Firefly, and Terminator. Speaking of props, the Alamo Drafthouse booth displayed both the helmet from Iron Man and the Terminator arm (the robot one, not Arnold's actual appendage).

Besides booths, artists, stars, and workshops, Comicpalooza made an effort to give back. There was a celebrity auction where the winners won brunches with the actors they bid on — with the money going to the celebrity’s chosen charity. There was also an art charity event where Comic artists drew live on stage an auctioned off their pieces.

Local supporters — the Houston Roller Derby, SWAMP, Skirmisher Publishing LLC, 104.1 KRBE, 103.7 FM, and both the Houston Museum of Natural Science and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston — all worked hard to make Comicpalooza better this year, and their efforts certainly paid off.

Somewhere between all of the nerd love going on was the SWAMP sponsored Film Festival, a costume contest, and a DJ area — all of which did not get nearly enough attention. Hopefully the success of Comicpalooza this year will draw more independent film buffs next year.

The DJ thing may have to be dropped unless they plan to sponsor real parties next time around because let’s face it, no one was interested in raving at 1 p.m and that's when the music events kicked into gear this weekend.

Overall, Comicpalooza can be marked off as a success. Sure, they could work on building a larger artist alley with more big-name artists and the convention desperately needs sponsored parties, but those things come with time and experience. Comicpalooza was a fairly big hit and can easily become a “must attend” in the near future.

Get ready for more nerds, Houston.

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Movie Review

Elizabeth Holmes' doc You Can See Everything is an audacious genre-bender

Photo courtesy of A24

Nathan Fielder and Elizabeth Holmes in You Can See Everything.

Elizabeth Holmes faced one of the most public downfalls in recent history after she was accused of defrauding investors in her health technology company, Theranos. Her subsequent indictment and conviction drew the interest of many, including, it seems, comedian/actor/filmmaker Nathan Fielder. Fielder somehow convinced Holmes and her husband, Billy Evans, to make a documentary about her final days of freedom, called You Can See Everything.

It’s not immediately clear why Fielder — who only has one previous feature-length documentary to his credit — is interested in profiling Holmes, but the approach that he and co-director Lance Oppenheim (Primetime) take is one that puts Fielder in the spotlight as much as her or Evans. Fielder looms over the couple — sometimes literally, sometimes from afar — as they care for their children, make meals, try to re-establish business relationships, and prepare for Holmes’ prison sentence, which is due to start about a month after the film begins in 2023.

Fielder quizzes Holmes and Evans about predictable subjects — such as how Theranos worked, her relationship with COO Sunny Balwani, and her conviction — and ones that are slightly off-kilter, including the miniseries The Dropout, which dramatized Holmes’ rise and fall. He is met with seeming openness by both of them — the title of the movie is uttered by Holmes at one point — but there are times where their idea of transparency doesn’t jibe with Fielder’s expectations.

Through it all, the quirky reputation that Fielder has from TV shows like Nathan for You, The Curse, and The Rehearsal colors his participation, as well. He appears sincere, if surprisingly intense, in his questioning, but there are more than a few moments where it’s fair to wonder if the whole thing is an act of performance art. That suspicion grows in the second half of the nearly three-hour film as Fielder and Oppenheim go down roads that stretch the definition of what a documentary is or can be.

The film is utterly fascinating as the filmmakers go on what seems to be a full-on exploration of the meaning of truth. Holmes and Evans, either intentionally or unintentionally, carry on conversations with Fielder with wide-open, unblinking eyes, something that conveys honesty and creepiness in equal measures. Fielder meets them with squinting expressions, looking like he’s trying to determine how candid they’re actually being.

One of the biggest things the film reveals (or does it?) is that — if she’s not a sociopath — Holmes might be someone who’s either oblivious or naive. As cryptic or strange as she can be in words and actions, Evans is even more so, and as the film progresses it’s him whose motives and ideas are called into question. Control over the narrative of the film wobbles back-and-forth between Fielder, Holmes, and Evans, and even at the end it’s unclear whose perspective has truly won out.

There is no way to accurately get across what it’s like to watch You Can See Everything for the first time. The motives of everyone involved are up in the air, resulting in a roller coaster ride that’s full of astonishment, laughs, and a number of surprises. It’s an audacious film that can’t be categorized, one that will challenge the thinking of voters when it comes time for awards season.

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You Can See Everything opens in theaters on October 16.

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