slides: 10 Things to See at RI Comic Con 2015
Thursday, November 05, 2015
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Lifestyle Team
Rhode Island Comic Con 2015 is set to take place this weekend, November 6th to the 8th at the Rhode Island Convention and Dunkin' Donuts Center. With new celebrities and guests coming, the expansion to the Dunkin' Donuts Center is the biggest change to this year's Comic Con.
See the 10 Things to see at RI Comic Con 2015 Slideshow Below
"What is gonna happen is we have vendors, more celebrities, larger attendance. Right now we are thinking around 60 thousand people, and so far, looking at the numbers, that looks close. This year, we have over 100 celebrities coming more food vendors and just a bigger show," said Susan Soares, RI Comic Con Press Relations Manager.
One issue that Comic Con has worked to resolve, or at least minimize, is the absurdly long lines to get in, resulting in even longer waits.
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"So this year, we have designated entrances for each badge that someone will have, so lines won't be long. There will be a will call line, VIP line, and by doing that creating dispersion of attendees so not everyone is waiting in the same line to get in," Soares said.
Featured Guests
This year's Comic Con is bringing in the man inside the Darth Vader suit in David Prowse, as well as Lou Ferrigno.
"With any show, when you have growth, that means it gets bigger and better. So the success of last 3 shows allows us to have bigger guests," Soares said.
Comic Con is also bringing in voice actor Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman, Jim Cummings, the voice of Winnie the Pooh, Tom Kenny, the voice of Spongebob Squarepants among many others who will be in attendance.
Flying Under the Radar
With so much going on at Comic Con, so many big guests and celebrities, there is always something that is going to fly under the radar, maybe not get the publicity that it should get.
"We host a kids con as part of RI Comic Con. It's gonna be on 5th floor and it's for kids under the age of 12. There will be magicians, puppeteers, story times and other activities to keep kids interested, and that tends to fall under the radar. We also have a film festival, that's gonna be on the 5th floor as well, we encourage folks to come in and view these short films from all over the country," Soares said.
Comic-Con Begins
Comic Con begins on Friday at 3 p.m. and goes until 9 p.m. and then reopens on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Soares adds, "Our goal is to provide a well-rounded experience so young and old can enjoy the convention."
With that, Comic Con is here.
For a guide of where to go, who to see, and what to do, see the 10 Things to see at RI Comic con 2015 Slideshow Below.
*Editors note: Carrie Fisher dropped out of Comic Con late Thursday night November 5th. Story has been updated to reflect that.
Related Slideshow: 10 Things to See at RI Comic Con 2015
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10.
Batman's Tumbler From The Dark Knight
While it is not the actual car from the film, an exact replica of it will be just as neat to check out and take a picture with.
There are a few cool vehicles coming to Comic Con, but this may be the best of the bunch.
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9.
Comic Book Vendors
Need to give love to the comic book vendors who will be at Comic Con showing off and selling off their collections, some of whom will have traveled significant distance to get here.
These are just normal people who happen to have comic book collections that are worth thousands, if not more.
Browse through their large selections and find a book to add to your collection, maybe you pick up your holy grail of comics, or maybe your new and looking to begin a collection.
This is a great place to start.
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8.
Winnie the Pooh
An absolute must see for those bringing young kids is Jim Cummings, the voice of the legendary cartoon characters Winnie the Pooh and Tigger.
Cummings has also played the voice of Scar in The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and various other animated movies and TV Shows.
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7.
Spongebob and Patrick
If you are bringing young kids to this year's con, then this is a must see as Tom Kenny, the voice of Spongebob, and Bill Fagerbakke,the voice of Patrick Star, will be in attendance.
Be sure to ask them to talk in their respective voices to really make your kids day.
Fagerbakke and Kenny will take part in a panel on Sunday at 11 a.m. in Ballroom A.
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6.
Meet the Power Rangers
The Power Rangers are back in the news as a new Mighty Morphin Power Rangers movie is in the works and a very dark controversial Power Rangers movie released earlier this year. The movie titled Power/Rangers directed by Joseph Kahn, was taken down off of any site within days and got strong reaction from original Power Rangers cast members.
Nonetheless, the Power Rangers panel will be interesting and will include original Red Ranger Austin St. John.
The Panel will take place on Sunday from 3:45- 4:45 p.m. in Ballroom E.
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5.
Superman - Dean Cain
Dean Cain played the Man of Steel, Superman from 1993-1997 in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The show ran for four season and at the height of it's popularity brought in at least 15 million viewers per episode.
Cain has played other guest roles in the Superman Universe since his time as Superman. Cain played Dr. Curtis Knox in season seven of Smallville and recently appeared int he pilot episode of Supergirl, as Supergirl's foster father, Jeremiah Danvers
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4.
Lou Ferrigno
The Original Incredible Hulk, Lou Ferrigno, is definitely someone worth seeing at Comic Con.
The Incredible Hulk on CBS ran for five seasons, from November of 1977 to May of 1982 and was based off of the Marvel comic book "The Incredible Hulk" written by legendary comic book writer Stan Lee.
Ferrigno has also had roles in the sitcom The King of Queens and the 2009 comedy I Love You, Man.
Away from the big screen, Ferrigno is a fitness trainer and retired professional bodybuilder, winning a IFBB Mr. America title and two straight IFBB Mr. Universe titles.
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3.
Darth Vader - David Prowse
Wondering what it was like to cut off Luke Skywalker's hand in The Empire Strikes Back? or battle Obi Wan Kenobi in A New Hope? Now you can ask Darth Vader yourself when David Prowse holds a Q&A from 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. on Saturday in Ballroom E.
Prowse will talk about what it was like to play one of the greatest and most iconic villains of all-time and how he influenced the character by his performance.
One of the interesting things about Prowse as Vader is that he never spoke a line. James Earl Jones did the voice for the character.
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2.
Voices of Batman Panel
When you think of Batman, you easily think of Adam West, Michael Keaton and Christian Bale (sorry Val Kilmer and George Clooney). However, Kevin Conroy has played the voice of Batman in more TV shows, movies and video games then you can count on two hands, literally, and he is still going strong as he will voice Batman in the upcoming animated adaptation of "The Killing Joke."
Conroy will be available for photo's and autographs as well but this panel is definitely worth checking out.
Will Friedle will also be part of the panel as he played the voice of Terry McGinnis's Batman in Batman Beyond, a show about what happens to Batman after Bruce Wayne hangs up the cowl.
Friedle is better known for his role as Eric Matthews in Boy Meets World and it's sequel Girl Meets World.
The panel will take place from 12:15 - 1:15 in Ballroom E on Saturday.
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1.
Introduction to Lightsabers
Maybe the most famous weapon in all of movies, a Jedi Knight's lightsaber.
Learn the science of how to perform lightsaber spins and various dueling techniques at the Introduction to lightsabers panel taking place from 2:45-3:45 p.m. in room 552B on Saturday.
May the force be with you.
Photo courtesy of Matt Marquez/flickr
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