The dust has well and truly settled here at Ultraman Connection after the wildness that was San Diego Comic Con (And GenCon, we stopped by there for a bit!), and we find ourselves looking back at that incredible weekend with a mix of gratitude and wonderment. When we think about how much the Ultraman Series has grown with fans like you, we are overcome with appreciation. So, let’s finally talk about the big finale of our Comic Con adventure!
The event started as so many Ultraman Connection events do, with Producer Jeff Gomez coming out and greeting the fans, bringing them to the current moment in the series. JW Starrett from Mill Creek Productions came out first, to talk to fans about the new release of Ultraman Taiga, and even the upcoming release of Ultraman Blazar — and right on time, he was joined, unexpectedly, by Taiga himself!
After JW and Taiga left, Eiji Shishido, head developer of the Ultraman Card Game came on stage to greet fans, introducing them to the game and its October 25th release date. That wasn’t the only upcoming release however, as EJ Couloucoundis, UC editor-in-chief, hopped up next, Emi in his pocket and Gigantron in hand, to thank the audience for utterly destroying the Rising toyline at SDCC, which had sold out TWO DAYS BEFORE. In addition, he reminded them of the upcoming dual comic release, with Ultraman X Avengers and Ultraman: Along Came a Spider-Man coming on the same day of August 14th!
Once EJ left the field, the real show started, as Christopher Sean, star of Ultraman: Rising, took the mic from Jeff and invited an incredible panel of guests! Directors Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima, voice of antagonist Dr. Onda, Keone Young, and movie composer Scot Stafford joined Christopher in a fun, heart-filled discussion about the wonderful story they all created together.
At the end of the panel, despite all the love, tragedy struck — as Shannon Tindle himself, one of the biggest fans of Ultraman of all, suddenly declared his intention to destroy the hero. He was a fake! Ultraman himself appeared to protect the guests and audiences from this “Imit-Shannon Tindle,” who was revealed to be the evil Alien Zarab! His deception exposed, Zarab attacked, but was easily defeated by the Giant of Light, who stayed around just long enough to take a picture with the remaining panelists — Poor Shannon, having been knocked out before the show, showed up at the end, wondering what he missed!
With that, the panel came to a close, but not without one final announcement from Chris Sean himself — Ultraman, and of course Ultraman Connection, will see you at New York Comic Con next! We at UC will share the details of that as soon as possible, but make sure to pick up your tickets now so you don’t miss an incredible experience like this! And for the moments you do miss, count on Ultraman Connection to put you in the know!
