NYC (Comic Con), Ep. 31

October 8, 2010 — Technicolor hijinks outshined some technical hiccups when masterpiece mash-ups collided with subversive cartoons at LDM NY Comic Con. Escalating to a feverish finale where comics heavweights R. Sikoryak and Michael Kupperman battled in a bout of Name That Superhero Jeopardy! that saw Sikoryak win by a closer-than-it-seemed 7-0 victory to claim LDM victory!

First up, in Round 1:  writer/director Anthony Lappé and Kupperman. Lappe went meta, recounting an astounding feat of journalism — leaping Giant Redwoods in a single bound to interview an eco-superhero. Next, Kupperman narrated a fantastical comic where astronauts Einstein and Mark Twain destroy meteors and rescue alien babies. 

Lights up, and judges on. John Reed, author of Tales of Woe and Substance Judge concurred with the separated-at-birth resemblance of Einstein and Twain. Performance judge, Ashley C. Williams, star of The Human Centipede, appropriately appreciated the choreography of step, step, cross that Lappe applied to his reading. Dan Pirarro (creator of the Bizarro comic) on intangibles congratulated the readers for the uncanny repetition of 'green baby' which appeared in both readings. A tight contest, but after much nailbiting, Kupperman took the round. 

On to Round 2: Emily Flake vs. Sikoryak. Flake's urban dogsitting nightmare, followed by Sikoryak's Kafka chameleon and nihilistic Superman. Williams loved that Flake looked like the star of her comic, only without pupils. Pirarro said it got him thinking about women's intangibles, generally. Sikoryak was also well regarded — all the judges declared he made them want to read more classics, as well as his comics. Ultimately they decreed Sikoryak the victor of Round 2. 

Zooming along towards the lighting-quick finale, exec producer Ann Heatherington hosted Name that Superhero Jeopardy!, cycling through snippets of masks, armor, and capes on the big screen. Guessmaster Flash Sikoryak had a 5-3 lead going into Final Jeopardy. Kupperman went all in in an attempt to unseat the odds-on Sikoryak, but failed to spot The Joker, and Sikoryak emerged victorious with a 7-0 shutout!