Con Man panel at WonderCon 2016,
featuring Alan Tudyk, PJ Haarsma, and Shannon Eric Denton
The panel for Con Man at WonderCon 2016 brimmed with energy throughout. Alan Tudyk’s enthusiasm is infectious and his sense of humor thoroughly delightful. The exuberance for the whole project was clearly shared by the other two panelists, Executive Producer PJ Haarsma and Editor/Artist Shannon Eric Denton. Tudyk gave out random signed prizes to question-askers, including unused wallpaper samples from a recent remodel, mousepads, tickets to past events, a broken Firefly toy, and more. The panel revealed some tidbits beyond release dates. Apparently fictional character Wray Nerely has some real-world acting credits. They also showed some of the artwork from the upcoming comic (more on that below!). And the team announced they will visit as many LA comic book stores as possible on Free Comic Book Day (the schedule is now on the Con Man website).
In case you’re not familiar, the crowdfunded web series Con Man is the brainchild of actor/writer/producer Alan Tudyk (known for his role as Wash on Firefly). Con Man centers on struggling actor Wray Nerely, played by Tudyk, who played the role of pilot Cash Wayne on a cult hit sci-fi show Spectrum some years ago that was canceled too soon (enjoying the meta levels yet?). While Nerely’s friend Jack Moore, played by Nathan Fillion, has gone on to great fame, Nerely tours the convention circuit as a guest in order to make a living. It’s a poignant and often hilarious series that provides insight into the world of fandom, while still respecting the (admittedly somewhat crazy) world of pop culture events. Tudyk initially tried to find a producer for the series, but was turned down by several before turning to crowdfunding and raising an astonishing $3,124,214.
Spectrum, the fake show-within-a-show, now has a very real future in the form of a four-issue comic. The series from Automatic Publishing is written by Tudyk and novelist/producer PJ Haarsma, with artwork by Sarah Stone and overseen by editor Shannon Eric Denton. The first issue drops on May 7th for Free Comic Book Day. Tudyk and Haarsma developed Spectrum to take place in the universe of Haarsma’s Softwire series. Haarsma is also working on writing a Spectrum novel, which will pick up where the comic leaves off.
In case that wasn’t enough, there will also be a mobile app game where players try to put together the best convention. If the convention is successful enough, enemies from the Spectrum universe start attacking and have to be fended off with weapons such as rolled posters. Signed posters of course do more damage. Expected launch is in July, in time for San Diego Comic-Con.
You can dive into the expanding world of Con Man by visiting www.conmantheseries.com.
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