Howdy, folks!
This is normally the time of year where I’d be posting about my experiences at G-FEST, Chicago’s annual giant monster convention. In fact, right now, I’d probably be at the Pickwick Theater, enjoying a sampling of kaiju awesomeness on the big screen, two more days of Godzilla nirvana ahead of me…
To say that G-FEST is like my home away from home would be an understatement; Every July for ten straight years, I’ve made the pilgrimage to Rosemont and spent the weekend of the convention nerding out, shopping, and reconnecting with friends.
Unfortunately, of course, my decade-long streak got broken this year for reasons that were VERY out of my hands. Due to current health-related unpleasantness around the country, the normal summer convention season was decimated. G-FEST XXVII was canceled, and – even though I’m incredibly grateful that my fellow fans and I will be home, healthy, and safe – it’s still weird to not be at the Crown Plaza right now. I’ll miss spending time with friends and supporters of the GNP, enjoying panels, meeting special guests, seeing the amazing art, and spending WAY too much money on kaiju collectibles…
However, this is where the proverbial record scratches to a halt.
Why? Because starting tomorrow, I – and you – WILL be able to spend time with friends, enjoy panels, meet special guests, see amazing art, and spend money on kaiju collectibles!
How? Well, an enterprising group of Kaiju fans – headed up by the Kaijucast’s amazing Kyle Yount – decided that DARN IT, Godzilla fans were going to have a convention after all! And so, Kaiju Con-Line was born.
In case any of you haven’t heard about it yet, Kaiju Con-Line is an entirely internet-based convention that will be running for practically an entire weekend, from Saturday the 11th through Sunday the 12th. Programming includes the usual kaiju-related panels, interviews with special guests, an artist ally, live art demos, shopping opportunities, live-streams of movies and footage from G-FESTs past, and MUCH more!
Needless to say, it’s going to be an exciting weekend. And it’ll be a particularly big one for me, because, as it turns out, I’m a part of it!!
That’s right, I – your humble author – will be participating in not one, but TWO panels over the weekend! At 2:00 PM EDT on Saturday, I’ll be joining Kyle Yount and Steven Sloss of the Kaijusaurus Podcast for a discussion about Steven’s ambitious Godzilla Unmade series of audio dramas based on unproduced Godzilla scripts. Not only was I lucky enough to be cast in the project and play the role of Dr. Shida in the third episode, I was invited by Steven to join the panel and talk about the experience! I’m still pinching myself that I was a part of this project, and I’m incredibly grateful and excited to get the chance to talk about my small contribution to it!
Last but certainly not least, I’m excited to announce that I’ll once again be joining forces with writer/podcaster/friend Nathan “The Monster Island Film Vault” Marchand to present an over-researched and insanely in-depth panel! Last year, Nate and I teamed up for a panel discussing the lives and careers of Toho screenwriters Shinichi Sekizawa and Takeshi Kimura. This year, we’re taking a deep dive into all things Showa for a panel called “The Original MCU”! This presentation will attempt to connect the proverbial dots and piece together a (mostly) coherent timeline of events that take place in Toho’s “Showaverse”. In fact, much of this presentation is derived from years of research I’ve done on the topic, all of which has been building toward the eventual publishing of the GNP’s official Showa Timeline on the website!
As longtime readers know, the GNP’s Timeline project is one of the most detailed and research-intensive parts of the site, and the three timelines that are currently published – those being the Sony, MonsterVerse, and Anime Timelines – are among the GNP’s most popular pages. That said, development of a Showa Timeline page has been ongoing for over two years, and finally, enough information has been cataloged that it can be shared with the fans!
So if making sense of convoluted timelines, rationalizing the irrational, discussing the minutia of Kong diasporas and multiple undersea civilizations, and disseminating nearly 30 films worth of information into a 45 minute presentation sounds entertaining to you, be sure to join us on Sunday at 2:00 PM EDT! We hope to see you there!
But don’t just come to hear me nerd out; come because this weekend is going to be something truly special. Come because a group of fans wanted to give the community a gift during stressful times. Come for the guests and the camaraderie, come to support artists and small collectibles companies. But most of all, come to have fun. If ever there was a time when we needed a kaiju convention – and each other – it’s certainly now.
The festivities kick off tomorrow morning! Click here for a rundown of all the awesomeness going on during the weekend, and for information on when/where/how to participate.
And be sure to stay tuned to this website as the weekend continues… there may be a few surprises in store!
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you all tomorrow and Sunday for this most unconventional convention!
The Godzilla Novelization Project 