Beyond the headliners — Comic Con highlights
Silicon Valley Comic Con will get attention for its headliners, which will include “Star Trek’s” William Shatner, back for the second year, actors John Cusack and “The Flash” TV star Grant Gustin, a landing by astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and a not-tobe-missed 30th anniversary reunion of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
But there are other outstanding events during the three-day convention — if you know where to look and what to look for, buried deeper in the schedule. That’s especially true for the science side of the convention, which appears to be bolstered even more this year.
Here are 10 (mostly) under-the-radar guests, groups and/or events we won’t want to miss at Comic Con, which runs Friday through Sunday, April 21-23, at the San Jose Convention Center. For the full schedule, go to www.svcomiccon.com.
Ethan Castillo: There are dozens of great comic book artists this year (Michael Golden, Michael J. Zeck, Joyce Chin), but we’re highlighting this 12-year-old Bay Area comic art prodigy. Ethan has been around for several years and keeps getting better. He’s an inspiration if you’re bringing your own young artist to the show. Drew Struzan: Based strictly on eyeballs that have seen his artwork,
Struzan may be the most famous person on the floor. He designed posters for movies from the late 1970s to 1990s including “The Muppet Movie,” “Blade Runner,” “The Goonies” and most of the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” films. Jessica Coon: One of dozens of great scientists at Silicon Valley Comic Con, Coon was a language consultant for the movie “Arrival.” She’s scheduled
to lead a “Linguistics of Arrival” panel that will explore themes from that Academy Award-winning movie and beyond.
Jill Tarter: The SETI Institute astronomer was an inspiration for the Jodie Foster character in the movie “Contact.” Tarter will be part of a Sunday panel exploring the subject “Are We Alone: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence,” and provide commentary on a 20th anniversary screening of “Contact.”
Caroll Spinney: Spinney performed the complicated and physically taxing task of taking on the role of as Big Bird on “Sesame Street” for 45 years, bringing joy to generations of children. Spinney and other “Sesame Street” puppeteers are a late but welcome addition to the Silicon Valley Comic Con schedule.
Thomas F. Wilson: The actor known for playing Biff in the “Back to the Future” trilogy is also an podcaster
and stand-up comic, with an excellent sense of humor about his place in pop culture. (He wrote a piece of music, “Biff ’s Question Song,” about the constant “Back to the Future” questions he receives.) Adam Savage: The “MythBusters” host is a big enough presence that we don’t need to remind you to go to his panel. But be sure to follow his cosplay fun on the Twitter handle @DontTryThis. Savage will come in full costume for another “Adam Incognito,” daring people to find him on the convention floor. Pepper the Robot and Professor Einstein: Pepper is a humanoid robot from SoftBank Robotics. Einstein is from Hanson Robotics. They’re part of a big push by the Comic Con team, tying in with the “Future of Humanity” theme. Look for a lot more robotics and virtual reality demonstrations at this year’s convention. R2 Builders Club: No one brings more joy to conventions than the R2 Builders Club, a group of extreme hobbyists who build life-size R2 unit replicas from the “Star Wars” movies, then operate them on the convention floor (often secretively to retain the magic for young padawans).
John Stanley: The Chronicle’s longtime culture writer and second host of “Creature Features” on KTVU has a lot of great stories to tell — working on print and TV when science fiction and the summer blockbuster were undergoing a renaissance in the 1970s and 1980s. He will be signing his books and telling stories.
Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicle’s pop culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub