Emerald City Comicon and Wil Wheaton

Fan during Q&A: Did you and Whoopi Goldberg ever get it on?

Wil Wheaton: All the time.

Sunday was a great day for Seattle Geeks. I got over to Emerald City Comicon on its second day, and spent much of my time wandering about the aisles peering at the comic booths, costume booths, and toy booths.

It's not just about the vendors selling stuff, though. Sci Fi celebrities attended to sign autographs and sell pictures with fans. I caught glimpses of BSG's Tamoh Penikett, Aaron Douglas, and Michael Hogan. I also saw Firefly's Jewel Staite, and Phantom Menace's Ray Park.

But Wil Wheaton is the star I wanted to chat with. I didn't realize just how much of a geek he was until a few months ago when I read, "Just a Geek" and began following him on Twitter.

Naturally, his table had the longest line, but it moved quickly. And Wil seemed like a genuinely nice guy. He chatted with his fans, and didn't once appear arrogant. He appeared to be humbled by all the attention.
I chatted with Wil for a few minutes while he signed my copy of "Dancing Barefoot."

The show didn't seem too crowded; few people ambled about the show floor, so I wasn't too worried about the crowds at the panels. I headed down to a Battlestar Galactica panel discussion about 15 minutes before it was scheduled to open.

Big mistake.

You know all those folks who weren't in the aisles? They were waiting in line for the BSG panel. I missed getting in by about 40 people.

The next panel featured Mike Mignola and Scott Allie talking about Hellboy and the comic book industry. The discussion was more interesting than I anticipated. Particularly interesting was the comparison between the media of comics and movies.

Shortly after tha discussion ended, the room filled as anxious geeks sloshed in to listen to the new Secretary of Geek Affairs -- Wil Wheaton -- read from his latest book and take questions.


Wil read for 45 minutes and then took questions for another 45. The only Star Trek question anyone asked was the one that opened this post. Most of the questions dealt with gaming -- both video and RPG. Then, of course, there was the brief and conclusive debate about awesomeness of Lion Voltron over Vehicle Voltron.

Wheaton is emerging as a reluctant spokesperson for geeks and nerds. Several times, the discussion turned to a discussion of how geeks relate to mundanes (normal people) or, as one questioner put it, muggles.

Wil is someone who has accepted his geekness and wears it as a badge of honor. On top of that, he's a talented author and a great speaker. His session was an hour and a half of laughs, cheers, and incitements to riot.

If you ever get the chance to hear Wil speak, check it out.