John Cena SpaceCon 2026

This was my 7^th and last autograph for this convention. I had many more autographs planned but 7 cancelled over the months before the convention. It happens.

It was 5PM on Saturday and I was ready to get this done and go back to the hotel. The Spurs basketball team was in the NBA finals and the game was starting just across the parking lot. I wanted to get out before the game started.

I got in line for John Cena. There were several groups to be called before us but I was the front of our line. The guy next to me was watching the Rangers baseball game on his phone and chatting with the people behind him.

The line monitors started walking through the group. Reminders to have the prepaid tickets out and the item to have signed. They mentioned John had a hard break but he could get through everyone if we didn’t chit chat and were ready with our items. Yes, I did start to worry. I wondered if I would be staying late or coming back on Sunday. I really didn’t want to come back. I wanted to relax on Sunday.

The line really did start to move. When I got behind the curtains hiding signing table and John, I handed over my ticket and photo. I mentioned I would like red for the paint pen. The handler said, the ‘red’ they had didn’t work well. John actually paused and turned to me and said I won’t like the results in ‘red’.  But I will like the results in ‘blue’. With a smile, I said: ‘Blue’ it is.

Then I was in front of John and he signed.  I told him thanks and it did look good in ‘blue’. Then he smiled and said: I told you.

I left and it wasn’t too long after 5 PM. I called The Wife and she was already waiting in the parking lot waiting for me. A short walk in the San Antonio heat and I was in the car heading to a restaurant for dinner. Then we walked the game from the hotel room.

AH

Jimmy Smits SpaceCon 2026

While I never watched LA Law, this is the show I think of when I see his name. But that doesn’t mean I wanted Jimmy Smits’ to sign an LA Law photo.

When I was prepping for this convention, I couldn’t find a photo I liked that wasn’t pixelated. I was relying on the options at the table. Even they didn’t have too many options. I chose what I thought was best. I do like this photo. The silver paint pen was great.

While Jimmy was ahead of schedule with the signing, he was taking a few seconds with everyone. I welcomed him to Texas and he asked where I was from.  I told him I came from North of Dallas. He mentioned a relative in Ft Worth. Then he asked if I grew up in Texas. I’m sure I don’t sound Texan. I mentioned Jersey. He told me he worked in Princeton for a while. I told him my Dad worked in Princeton for a while too. Then a few more comments about how pretty Jersey is. Yes, Jersey is pretty. Lots of history too.

As we parted, he told me to say ‘hi’ to my Dad.  How cool is that? My Dad got a shout out from Jimmy Smits!

AH

Famke Janssen SpaceCon 2026

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Famke Janssen’s name on a convention guest list.  So, it was time to take advantage of this opportunity.

A tradition at conventions, when the guest arrives, the waiting crowd cheers and claps.  Once we did that for Famke, Olivier Ritchers looked up. He paused in his signing and walked over to her. They are both from the Netherlands and the chatted for a few minutes. She is just shy of 6 feet but she looked short next to Olivier. But EVERYBODY looks short next to him.

I had printed a photo. It was similar to her table photo but mine was cropped to give more space for a signature. I handed over the photo and asked for white and suggested where to place her autograph.

She gave me a nice large graph in the prefect spot. Love it.

AH

Emily VanCamp SpaceCon 2026

After Olivier Ritchers, I got in Emily VanCamp’s line. When I handed over the photo, I asked for a darker blue. I told her I was trying to match the color of the jacket. I also told I didn’t want the color to ‘clash’. I‘m a guy. I’m not sure I used the word right or the context was right but I tried.

I thought she looked classy and elegant in the photo; I didn’t want the color choice to be distracting. She assured me it would look nice. I think it does.

Maybe I need to have my testosterone checked….?

AH

Olivier Richters SpaceCon 2026

Sometimes, I find a photo that really tickles me and I can’t wait to hand it over to the celebrity to see reaction.  Even though Alan Ritchson (Reacher) cancelled his con appearance, Olivier Ritchers still showed and I was excited.

Olivier is huge. I’m 6’ 3” and I’m dwarfed. He was all smiles and chatted with everyone. Someone was filming content and Olivier would pause and talk to the camera.

As I got to the front of the table, the handlers looked at my photo. Nothing but crickets behind their eyes. That’s okay. The photo ain’t for them.

Then it was my turn. We shook hands. I tried hard to give a strong handshake but I could tell, he never felt it. He didn’t squeeze back incase he hurt me. I was not offended.

He looked down at the photo and stepped back laughing. He looked over the tables photos to find it.  I mentioned I printed this one myself. He quickly said it was staged for a day that Alan was off set. It was something fun to do. He turned to the handlers and told them. He was happy to see this. I made him happy.

As he signed, I mentioned the video of him and his friend in black suits acting like body guards. Then he asked if he should do more. I, of course, said yes. He tuned to the camera and said the public wants more. They have to do more.

With my mission accomplished, I left for the next autograph.

AH

Tom Hiddleston SpaceCon 2026

The second and last autograph I had for Friday was TomHiddleston. That was supposed to be at 7 PM. The previous autograph was 5 hours earlier. Makes for a very long day of doing nothing.

When I got in line, I learned Tom was still doing photo ops (running late) and had about 50 or more people that he had not finished before the photo ops. They would be done before he started on us.

Not really an issue other than it’s getting to my bedtime. The wrinkle is Tom had a panel starting at 8 PM. There is no way he will get to me by 8 PM. At 7:30, Tom returned from the photo ops.  I’m checking the convention schedule to find if Tom is signing on Sunday. I don’t expect he will get to me. I really don’t want to at the convention until 10 PM or later. I’m tired and getting cranky…maybe I’m ‘hangry’ and need a Snickers. I rather leave and come back another day if possible.

As the line management people started checking tickets, I stopped a guy and asked if Tom was coming back after the panel to sign.  He said, no. BUT Tom would be signing for everyone before the panel started. They were delaying the panel.

To me that made sense as those people had places to sit. We were standing in place on hard concrete.

With Tom’s return, he was put into overdrive. He started signing and the line moved at a steady pace. Until your feet and back ache, you don’t appreciate how nice it is to move a step every 10 or 15 seconds. It took 40 minutes until I was in front of Loki himself and watched him sign my photo and thank him for coming to Texas.

He signed VERY thickly with the green paint pen. It took a long time to dry. The San Antonio humidity did not help. I left the photo out to dry for over 36 hours…just to be sure.

While a little too heavy handed, I like it. Even better, there was an extra charge for the character name. Tom added that without even asking, meaning I didn’t pay for it. While I really like having the character name or quote on a photo, I don’t like to pay for it and I really don’t like when that extra is almost as expensive as the autograph.

I left a happy albeit tire puppy. The car had a new tire and The Wife picked me up near the building. I didn’t even have walk far.

AH

Adrianne Palicki SpaceConSA 2026

Other than a tire blowout on I10, the drive to San Antonio was uneventful.  The Wife and I found a safe space to pull over (a few miles down the road) and had the joy of changing a tire in the heat and humidity of San Antonio. I thought I changed my last tire decades ago. Teach me to think.

Friday morning, The Wife went to Discount Tire and got that taken care of while I worked SpaceCon.

My first autograph was Adrianne Palicki. I usually think of Marvel Agents of Shield and Supernatural when her name is discussed. I think most people associate her The Orville.

She had a very pretty light blue pen I liked. I asked for it to be used in the sky but after she signed, I should have asked her to sign in the sand. My bad.

After she signed, I mentioned SDCC. Yes, I am bad about name dropping those adventures. I told her I was a lucky winner of a secret lottery at SDCC. She didn’t know what I was talking about. And I’m sure she didn’t. She had people taking her place to place at SDCC. It was all back corridors that the crowds never walked. None of the celebrities knows what happens on the floor.

I continued and mentioned I had a winning ticket to the signing for the movie, Legion. Yes, a long time again. She smiled.  I still have my signed poster with Bettany and Gibson, and her autographs.

She said she loved working with Paul Bettany. she had a few more accolades about Paul. Which is great to hear as I like his movies too.

AH

Pam Grier Comicpalooza 2026

This was my last autograph for Houston. I was tired. Not from standing in long lines but lack of sleep and the long drive. I was ready to go home.

Pam Grier had about 20 people in line. She was chatting with everyone. And she was inclusive with her chatting. Everyone in line was part of the conversation, not just the person in front of her. I heard a lot of what she was saying. It was interesting. She talked about growing on a farm in Wyoming and moving to Denver and riding a bike everywhere. Then going to college and the start of her career.  Even though I was tired, it was informative and entertaining.

AH

Marcus Chong Comicpalooza 2026

Marcus Chong was also in The Matrix and in Houston for Comicpalooza. At the time, he didn’t have a line and was busy straightening his table photos.

He signed in a neat green paint pen I wanted Laurence to use (get over it, I say to myself). Since he had a few seconds, I mentioned seeing Matrix at The Cosm outside of Dallas. He wasn’t aware of this immersive version. As I mentioned he needed to check it out, another fan came to the table and I wandered off.

AH

Laurence Fishburne Comicpalooza 2026

The big reason I wanted to be early at Comicpalooza was to ensure I didn’t miss Laurence Fishburne. He was the big headliner and I expected to wait hours for this one.  While I did wait, it wasn’t that bad. Based on the line and the size of the waiting area, they did not get the crowd they expected. Bad for Comicpalooza but good for me.

A few weeks prior, I found a photo I liked and printed it. at the show, the table photos had some photos which were similar but not as good as my photo and not cropped how I wanted.

The encounter with Laurence was brief and done before I knew it. I did get to say I loved Searching for Bobby Fisher. He replied the movie still holds up. I agree.

I wish he wasn’t so fast to sign. He had a nice green pen that would have given a neat Matrix green contrast to the black and white of the photo.  His black sharpie does look good and it’s a nice sized signature.

I’m happy.

AH