It’s Saturday night at San Diego Comic-Con and I am at the Bayfront Hilton bar. It’s packed with writers, artists, creators, publishers, and various industry people celebrating the successes of the day. Everyone is exhausted from the overwhelming leviathan that is SDCC. Nevertheless, the bar is roaring loud with residual energy, and a lot of alcohol.
I’m with Payhuan ‘Peter’ Shiao, Founder, Creator, and CEO of Immortal Studios, a Wuxia-driven comic storyverse which I’ve reported on several times here already, partially because I work for Immortal, but mostly because a Wuxia-themed comic is well within the scope of KungFuMagazine.com. What’s more, Payhuan is deeply connected to Shaolin Temple having produced the first Shaolin Summit, which is where we first connected (there’s more on this to come in this article - read on), Tonight, we’re both giddy from the huge turnout for our Immortal Studios panel earlier that day (which I’ll also discuss here soon). In celebration, we’re testing each other’s Shaolin Drunken Kung Fu with ample shots of single malt scotch.
Payhuan works the barroom like a pro, moving strategically between friends and associates, sharing laughs and tales, while networking when the opportunity emerges. I’m geeking out with fellow attendees, fangirling over shared interests, and recounting the adventures so far with a lot of strangers that I just befriended. We end up chatting up with Kelly Sue Milano and Lynly Forrest, two members of a rising indie power trio behind the female-strong comic Hex Comix. Their success story within the male-dominant comic world is absolutely captivating, although not quite within the KungFuMagazine.com wheelhouse. Statuesque, raven-tressed, goddesses of the night, and in the bar that was 90% male, Kelly Sue and Lynly command the room. As Payhuan and I sip our scotches, we’re honored that they’ve turned their attention to us.
My role with Immortal is as an Action Choreographer, and Payhuan usually drops this fact when he wants to wow the conversation. No comic has a designated action choreographer who is also the publisher of KungFuMagazine.com. It’s an angle that’s fresh and authentic, and it never fails to impress. But the women of Hex are naturals when it comes to drunken Kung Fu, and immediately after Payhuan brings this up, Kelly Sue returns the perfect riposte. She quickly counters by saying “I have an existential crush on Kung Fu.”
Wait…what?
I still have no idea what an ‘existential crush on Kung Fu’ means exactly, but if nothing else, Kelly Sue gifted me a lead in for this – my 7th Kung Fu of Comic Con installment. Thank you, Kelly Sue, for a real good time!
San Diego Comic Con’s Existential Crisis
If you have not been to San Diego Comic Con recently, it’s one of the big three mega-conventions alongside New York Comic Con and Megacon in Florida. Each of these fan gatherings boast well over a 100,000 attendees per year. And each is independent of the other – ‘Comic con’ is not a trademarked title. Anyone can host a Comic con so their attendance can range from the thousands to a few hundred for the start-ups.
When the pandemic struck, every major gathering took a massive hit, and many industry observers thought it was the death knell for mega-conventions. But last year, San Diego Comic Con came back in a brilliant blaze of fire, just like Fawkes the Phoenix, silencing all the naysayers. The only evidence of the pandemic was strictly enforced masking, but for a community that revels in cosplay, that was not an issue. I attended at the behest of Immortal Studios. It was our first panel at SDCC and it was about half full with newly won fans.
This year, San Diego Comic Con faced another peril. Both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA were on strike. This meant that the writers and actors who were part of these unions could not attend. Major studios like HBO, Marvel, Netflix, and Sony were pulling out of SDCC’s showcase panel space, the massive Hall H. Hall H is SDCC’s premiere panel platform, held in a room that seats over 6,100 attendees. In years past, those were the most coveted seats of SDCC. Attendees camped out in a line that dwarfed any major Disneyland queue, snaking back and forth between the convention center and that Bayfront Hilton. The absence of the major studios looked catastrophic, so much so that Variety labelled it as SDCC’s ‘Existential Threat’ (coincidentally – what is it with all this post-pandemic existentialism?).
Despite the strikes, SDCC 2023 was a major success with an estimated 150,000 attendees. There were plenty of celebrities in attendance as well. Some were non-SAG, like the Indian superstars of the eagerly anticipated KALKI 2898 AD, which is on course to be the most expensive Bollywood film made yet. For domestic actors and writers, as long as their work was diversified, they could promote other projects.
I was delighted to meet Kelly Hu in the Den of Geek studio, who was there on behalf of a new MORTAL KOMBAT, the game not the movie. I was asked to interview her for Den, along with the franchise’s creator Ed Boon, but I declined because I’m not a gamer and am shamefully ignorant about the subject. Nonetheless, I chatted with her informally after her interview session was done, trying hard not to fangirl over her.
I also ran into Sherman Augustus, who I befriended years ago while reporting on INTO THE BADLANDS. He’s also had roles in STRANGER THINGS, WESTWORLD, DEXTER, STAR TREK: VOYAGER and many more. He was promoting a new comic that he wrote, Daughters of Django. Badlands forever!
And speaking of STAR TREK and Hall H, after viewing the installation for the FX series SHOGUN coming to Hulu in 2024, I was beckoned into Hall H because there was NO LINE. That’s unheard of. I figured I could sit down for a spell and enjoy the AC because SDCC is a trek of its own. I logged over 12 miles on Saturday so a place to sit more than welcome. But there was no panel going on in Hall H. Much to my delight, what was showing was STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS, Season 2, Episode 7 ‘Those Old Scientists’ – the crossover episode with the animated series STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS. I got to see it hours before it was released, on movie-sized screens with an auditorium sound system. Most of all, I got to see it with my fellow Trekkers, one of the oldest fandoms of all. Star Trek Conventions go all the way back to 1972. I went to one in High School. Seeing this episode, one of the best in the new crop of Star Trek series, in the expansive Hall H filled with Trekkers was an ecstatic experience for me. And while Star Trek might not seem to have that Kung Fu connection, I confess that I’m a dedicated Kung Fu Star Trek person. There’s plenty of martial arts in Star Trek, from the Klingon Bat'leth and Mok’Bara (featured in Episode 8 of STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS) to the upcoming project starring Michelle Yeoh, STAR TREK: SECTION 31. Through Star Trek, martial arts has gone where no one has gone before…
Martial Cosplay
As I’ve said before, Comic Cons are astute barometers of pop culture. Beyond the exorbitant promotional campaigns (beyond the installation, SHOGUN plastered a skin on the Bayfront Hilton – like how much does that even cost?), another measure is the number of cosplays per fandom. My observation is subjective, of course, but all major fandoms are represented. For the big fandoms, it becomes about the characters. For Star Trek, mostly I saw STRANGE NEW WORLDS uniforms. Star Wars was all about Mandalorians, Stormtroopers (as always), and ASHOKA. Marvel was mostly Loki and all the variants of Spider-Man; DC was all about Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. There was a lot of AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER (also as always), but HARRY POTTER cosplayers were greatly reduced. There were so many BARBIEs. Also outstanding were MARIO BROTHERS, INDIANA JONES, and HAUNTED MANSION cosplayers.
I indulged some in cosplay myself. On Friday, I was Tatsu from Gokushufudō (THE WAY OF THE HOUSEHUSBAND). On Sunday, I donned the Hop Wei Tong uniform from WARRIOR. I always try to go with something sort of martial, and somewhat obscure because anyone can be Spider-Man. I had done Tatsu last year at FAN EXPO SF and no one recognized it except for one other fan who did the same costume. At SDCC, I was showered with praise. Nearly a dozen people asked to take photos of me. Finding other fans is always so gratifying – it’s like finding another martial artist. There’s an instant connection. Disappointingly no one recognized Hop Wei Tong. I think everyone thought I was just a bad JOHN WICK.
It was only later when I realized I was living the stereotype by cosplaying as Asian gangsters. In my defense, my cosplay had to be practical because I was doing work for Den of Geek and Immortal Studios, so something outrageous was beyond me.
Which brings me back to that Immortal Studios panel that I mentioned at the beginning…
Immortal Studios and the Shaolin Temple of China
Our panel was titled The Immortal Storyverse: Building a New Martial Arts Universe, and it was promoted as featuring Payhuan,editor at large Bob Harras, head of publishing Hank Kanalz, and key creatives Charlie Stickney, Rylend Grant, and Jen Troy. We snuck a few more speakers on including me, Tomas Jegeus and Benjamin Frandsen.
Our panel was presented in Room 24ABC which has a theater capacity of 420. We were delighted to see a long line of fans waiting to get in. We were overjoyed to have them fill the room – SRO as we say – ‘Standing Room Only’. And we were told there were people outside who weren’t able get in.
We began our panel with a fitting video tribute to Payhuan’s father, esteemed Wuxia author Shiao Yi, then Payhuan gave an overview followed by each of Immortal’s creators speaking about their projects. We only had an hour and tried to pack too much in, so we ran overtime. I was last to speak, with the SDCC staff feverishly waving their “Time’s up” sign. I was sorely tempted to poach Michelle Yeoh’s line at the Golden Globes “Shut up please. I can beat you up, okay? And that’s serious.” But I didn’t.
My announcement was about an upcoming cooperative effort between Immortal Studios and the Shaolin Temple. As I mentioned before, Payhuan is well connected at Shaolin Temple. He’s a personal friend of Venerable Abbot Shi Yongxin. Immortal Studios is bringing the Abbot to Los Angeles for a very special event. I can’t disclose the details yet, but for Shaolin aficionados worldwide, plan to be in L.A. on November 3-4, 2023. You’re not going to want to miss this one.
Epilogue
It’s Sunday at sunset and I’m at the Brigantine Seafood & Oyster Bar with Grandmaster Y.C. Wong and a frequent contributor to KungFuMagazine.com and Kung Fu Tai Chi while we were stlll in print. It was Kurtis who first invited me to SDCC back in 2019, knowing it would be my kind of scene. Just like how martial artists can suss out other martial artists, Comic-con geeks know each other. We just know.
As SDCC draws to a close, we recount our adventures to each other – what impressed us and what looks good that’s coming soon. Kurtis has his own Kung Fu-themed comic now, SHADOW GHOST and spoke on a panel about his previous involvement in the comics world. As lifelong fans of so many fandoms, we reflect on the growing influence of Kung Fu on pop culture and comics. We’ve come so far, especially in the last few years, and what a long strange trip it’s been.
San Diego Comic-Con forever!
