Photos and article by Katelyn Kohane, a WKTV community contributor
“Your mission should you choose to accept it…” is to follow me through the 2017 Grand Rapids Comic-Con.
“This deal is getting worse all the time.”- Lando Calrissian
Oct. 20-22 was Grand Rapids Comic-Con. I attended Friday and Saturday this year and was pleased to see that the event has been getting bigger and better since I attended a few years ago. It seems to have a lot more booths and better-known celebrities in attendance this time around, and there were also a lot more people as well.
Both days I was able to see one of my favorite actors Billy Dee Williams, who is well known for his roll as Lando Calrissian in “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.” Another roll of his was Harvey Dent in the 1989 “Batman.” I waited a few hours in line Friday to see Williams. I always find it fun waiting because you get to talk to a lot of cool people who also are waiting and you get to hear some of their stories. I actually first met Williams seven years ago while I was working at Areosmith Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster during “Star Wars” weekends at Walt Disney World. So fast forward to last weekend and I saw him and his manager again and his manager remembered me from Areosmith Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster. That was pretty cool he remembered me!
Williams’ line at the Grand Rapids Com-Con was as long as the last time I saw him and when It was finally time to see Williams, he was just as nice as I remembered him to be. It was great to see him again.
The Grand Rapids Com-Con had a number of other celebrities too. Those also in attendance were Gates McFadden from “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Kane Hooder from “Jason X,” Julian Glover from “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones,” and “James Bond,” and Catherine Sutherland from “Turbo: A Power Ranger Movie. Friday” I also walked around and checked out some of the booths and cool costumes.
Saturday, I sat in on three panels in the main hall. The panels I attended were Jim Sterarko, “Batman,” and one featuring Williams.
The “Batman” panel was for the animated series, which of course I had watched. In attendance for the panel was Adrienne Barbeau who played Catwoman. Loren Lester who played Robin. Diane Pershing who played Poison Ivy and Clive Revill who played Alfred. It was a reunion for them since most of them had not seen each other in 20 years.
One of the questions I remember them being asked was “what where their favorite episodes?” Lester mentioned the episode “Sub Zero,” while Pershing mentioned “Home and Garden.”
In between the panel discussions, the 501st Legion gave an award to Julian Glover to honor his participation in The Star Wars Saga all these years, which was cool to see.
Then it was finally time to attend the program featuring Williams. It started with a few clips from his greatest performances to get the crowed pumped up to see him. His manager came on stage to introduce Williams and also served as host. They started a question-and-answer discussion right away.
The first person in line mentioned that during his wedding his wife and he had an argument over whether or not the gentleman in a bridal magazine was Williams. Williams confirmed it was indeed him. His manager then had the gentleman call his wife on the phone and she spoke with Williams so he could tell her too. Later in the discussion, Williams’ manager found the photo from the magazine and put it up on the screen so everyone could see it.
A few people asked him if he thought race was ever an influence in whether or not he got a roll, and his answer, which I thought great, was he really had never thought how that affected him at all.
A few people asked him about any new and upcoming part for the “Star Wars” franchise. He did not say too much about the franchise but did mention that he had had lunch with Donald Glover, who plays young Lando Calrissian in an upcoming Hans Solo film set to be released next year. He also mentioned that he gets along well with the entire “Star Wars” cast.
I actually had to leave about 15 minutes early so I could go to my photo op with Williams. When he was finished with the panel, he came over to the photo op. It was so nice to see him again.
After the photo op, I walked the booths and took a few photos. Overall, it was a great weekend at the 2017 Grand Rapids Comic-Con
“May the force be with you.”
