We return again to our weekend at
Planet Comicon Kansas City, the region’s largest and longest-running comic and pop culture event held at downtown’s
Bartle Hall, for a closer look at some of the most interesting
Panelsheld during the three-day event.
Panels are among the best chances to hear what your favorite celebrity has on their mind, listen to behind-the-scenes humorous stories, potentially have a chance to ask your own question, and occasionally get to see or hear something completely unexpected.
Sam Jones
 Sam Jones
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Best known as Flash Gordon from the 1980 film with the memorable
Queen soundtrack, a falling out with producers unfortunately scuttled a planned film trilogy. Jones later starred in the late 80’s NBC series
The Highwayman, but is probably more known to more recent audiences playing himself in the two
Ted films.
Jones has been in some 66 films, but freely admits he’s maybe seen half of them at best, though remains thankful and doesn’t regret any previous roles, big or small. The 67-year old also revealed that as hard as acting can sometimes be, it’s more difficult raising his children and now six grandchildren, but also more rewarding.
Roy Thomas
 Roy Thomas
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The legendary writer/editor has been in the comics industry for almost six decades, starting out as a fan growing up in southeast Missouri and rising through the ranks to work on every character imaginable (at both
Marvel and
DC) and became a
Hall of Famer in 2011.
Thomas was enthusiastic when asked to bring
Conan the Barbarian to comics (a risk for Marvel at the time), having read pulps like
Weird Tales as a teen and knowing about the
Robert E. Howard source material. Thomas as Editor-in-Chief was often on a budget, so had to think extra creatively and highly values the time he spent directly with
Stan Lee and
Jack Kirby as they expanded the
Marvel Universe, comparing their partnership to that of
Lennon and McCartney, but joking that each would have claimed doing 97% of the total work.
Gaten Matarazzo and Gabriella Pizzolo
 Stranger Things
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Two of the young stars of
Netflix’s Stranger Things spoke to a crowded ballroom with a welcome young energy and were obviously glad to be in town for their first convention appearance in almost two years. Both were self-described
“Broadway Babies” starting young and honing their skills on the live stage, and taking a cue from
Stranger Things’ season three, convinced the crowd into an early sing-a-long of “
The Never-ending Story”(...
Limahl would be proud).
Asked about the upcoming season four which started filming in March 2020 and managed to finish with health protocols in place, both remained contractually tight-lipped but did cop to their favorite musicals – Matarazzo saying
Les Miz, Into the Woods and
Sweeney Toddwhile Pizzolo showed her affection for
Ragtime and
Avenue Q. They had even forgotten they had first met ten years ago while Matarazzo appeared in
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert until they were reminded.
Dennis (Hopeless) Hallum / Kyle Strahm
 Hopeless and Strahm
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In a
Breaking Into Comics panel, the two locally based creators each related their own story of getting that initial foot in the door with the comics industry and continuing to create original work. Both advocated hard work with no shortcuts and the value of networking, especially with editors, as they are the gatekeepers that request the work.
Supernatural cast (Katie Cassidy, Felicia Day, Emily Swallow, Rob Benedict, Samantha Smith and Kim Rhodes)
 Supernatural
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One of the most anticipated panels of the weekend, fans got to ask about favorite episodes, any chances of a possible continuation of the series, and what they might change about their individual characters if they had the chance.
Cobra Kai cast (William Zabka and Martin Kove)
 Cobra Kai
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While co-star
Ralph Macchio’s cancellation was unfortunate, the duo entertained the crowd and promised some surprises for
season four of the streaming series (also just renewed for a
season five), available this December. All were initially worried about signing on to the series, acknowledging the pressure involved to get the show “right” for the fans.
Both have become more recognizable in public (for better and worse) and when asked if they ever ad-lib lines on the show, both deferred to how the script reads, saying “you don’t fight a well-oiled machine”. When asked what they would be if not actors, Kove deadpanned answered “a time traveler” while Zabka kept things grounded, saying probably a filmmaker.
Stephen Amell
 Stephen Amell
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The star of CW’s
Arrow and the just premiered
Starz wrestling drama
Heels, was joined onstage by wife Cassandra and the panel started with a fan dressed as
Buddy from the
“Elf” movie who had it on his bucket list, to shoot arrows with Amell. A couple
Nerf bows appeared and both were aiming at Amell’s wife, each with miserable but fun results.
Amell took in a
Royals game the day before and were also in nearby Lawrence the day prior, wandering downtown and stopping into a used video store and spotting DVDs of the early
Arrow seasons. Deciding to sign them, he was initially refused a
Sharpie from the clerk, who didn’t recognize him, but another thankfully did (and the seasons quickly sold).
Amell admitted that he wished that Arrow would have met
Bruce Wayne during the show’s run, and also wanted the trademark
Oliver Queen goatee but knew sacrifices had to be made along the way, to better service the overall show and always liked its street nature, compared to other superhero shows. When asked what his
Arrow training regiment consisted of, Amell replied “Weights, cardio, diet,...and
fear!”
Cindy Williams (Laverne & Shirley)
 Cindy Williams
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The retro TV actress spent her birthday weekend at the show, charmed by show staff visiting her booth to serenade her on her special day. She recently debuted a one-woman show called
“Me, Myself and Shirley” which will reveal numerous anecdotes about the classic comedy.
Williams mentioned the famous
"Schlemiel! Schlimazel!” from the show’s opening, was actually how co-star
Penny Marshall and director brother
Garry counting their steps to school as children
Jodi Benson
 Stephen Amell
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The voice of
Disney’s
The Little Mermaid for the last thirty-six years came across as very positive and whose favorite joy has been the fans’ reaction to her voice work. Benson has represented Ariel in every category- from digital, to merchandise, to gaming and in other media, saying the one time she did not voice Ariel was for a licensed toy vanity set, which her young daughter received one Christmas, but immediately could tell it was not her mother’s voice as expected. Needless to say, Disney people were on the phone to the manufacturer the next day.
Benson reminisced about her early years, originating the song “
Disneyland” on Broadway for 1986’s
Smile, and praised working with Disney lyricist
Howard Ashman (and the recent documentary
Howard) and
Alan Menken who composed the
Little Mermaid score as well as other hits like
The Little Shop of Horrors.
Britt Baker
 Britt Baker
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The current
AEW (All Elite Wresting) female champion is actually a
dentist by day in Winter Park, FL. The Pennsylvania native only began wrestling in 2015, but quickly gained attention and joined AEW in early 2019. Well spoken and personable, she related the story of filming a bout during the pandemic, in front of only a few dozen vaccinated fans, all raucous with high energy to make up for missing numbers. During the match, Baker suffered a
broken nose but played up the drama, knowing how much the fans appreciate the showmanship.
Baker said her dream international match destinations would be to stage one in the UK and/or Japan, mostly due to the fans in each country, being so passionate about the sport and Baker’s finishing move, dubbed
The Lockjaw, is one she’s very proud of.
Misha Collins
 Misha Collins
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The angel
Castiel from CW’s
Supernatural was one of the big draws of the weekend, filling the large ballroom for his solo panel. Wearing a “♥KC” t-shirt, fans immediately connected to him and very open to Collins and everyone listening about how his character influenced their confidence in overcoming personal odds, gender-preference reveals, and life-changing moments.
Collins lightened things up mentioning the 1967Impala featured in the series, couldn’t realistically have driven as much as it did without constantly breaking down, and was proud that the show was set in the Midwest. His favorite part of his character was the powers he had, which also gave him more overall freedom. As to a potential title of a Castiel autobiography, Collins first replied “The Humans Who Broke Me” which got a laugh, then thought and changed it to “For Love”.
Greg Cipes
 Greg Cipes
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The seasoned voice actor best known for
Beast Boy from
Teen Titans Go! (as well as
Astro Boy, TMNT, Ben 10, and more) came out with his small dog in hand, singing about waffles then had the crowd meditate to start his session.
His own voice-acting beginnings started as a child, making prank phone calls and horsing around on a CB radio, and Cipes is no surprise, a big fan of the old
Crank Yankers show.
Cipes loves his life in Venice Beach as a self-described vegan free spirit and frequent surfer and calls his fellow voice actors on
Teen Titans Go! all close friends and an extended family.
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Start counting the days, after necessary postponements to make the 2021 edition finally happen,
Planet Comicon Kansas City returns to its more traditional schedule, next held on
April 22-24, 2022.
(click any image to enlarge, photos by
Brian Davenport / Beed Photography)
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