Boston Comic Con 2015: The panels, part 1

There was a lot going on at Boston Comic Con 2015. There was a game room, a giant room where artists and vendors were selling comics, toys, prints, clothes and more. There were comic-book panels and celebrity panels. I couldn't be in several places at once, so I mostly spent time in the panels. They didn't disappoint.

In the celebrity Q&A panels, the actors discussed their characters, gave insight into the past and future of their shows, talked about life outside their characters, and got silly and personal with their fans.

Below is a recap of three of the first panels I attended, and all the entertaining, juicy moments they contained:

Brett Dalton (Grant Ward, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

For some inexplicable reason — not because of his character — I wasn't sure if I'd like Dalton in person. Well, my doubts were very ill-placed. He was incredibly funny, charismatic and engaging from the second he walked into the room for his Q&A panel to the minute he left the panel he crashed at the end of the weekend (more on that later).

Dalton kicked things off by jokingly welcoming the audience to Hydra, to which they responded by expressing their willingness to "stand with Ward" or accept honorary Hydra status.

After Dalton adorably dodged a request for a Boston accent — because Ward is from there — by pretending the mic cut out as he did it, things got real.

He was asked if it's weird as an actor to know he's going to screw people over. To this, Dalton pointed out that he isn't much different from Coulson — they're both determined, resourceful and they get the job done. They both end up causing the deaths of many agents in order to save one person (for Coulson it's Skye, for Ward it's Agent 33 at one point).

"We're really similar but he has an eagle on his badge and I have an octopus thing on mine."

On killing his brother, Dalton said that by going back to the most climactic part of his life — his brother and the well — he was trying to rewrite his past and change the course of his life.

"He wants to confront the events in life that most shaped him — it's owning the future by changing the past."

Other thoughts Dalton had about Ward:

- He's "a man of his own code" and doesn't think S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol is always right.

-"For Ward it's personal. It's not about world domination, he's just anti-S.H.I.E.L.D./anti-Coulson. He's not a bad guy, he doesn't wake up going how can I destroy the world."

-"I don't think Ward does anything without knowing how it comes across."

-"He denies his own feelings by pretending he doesn't have feelings." (He later mentions that Ward fell for Skye despite all his training because deep down "he's still a scared little boy" and Skye got to him.)

Other things Dalton had to say:

- He addressed several rumors and hopes for the show/Ward's future. He said talk about a spinoff started, then stopped. Regarding a Daredevil crossover, he said Daredevil feels like its own family since it's on Netflix, so "it's always possible but I don't know." Regarding rumors of Ward becoming a superhero — Hellfire, Punisher or Taskmaster — he said those characters are cool but he didn't think it made sense because S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be about the other guys, regular guys, except for Skye.

-His favorite comic book character is Death's Head II

-He feels bad about what Ward did to Fitz Simmons because he loves Iain (De Caestecker, who plays Fitz)

-He wants everyone to know he's rebranding Ward.

-His favorite part of the show is still working with the original six. "For a lot of us this is our first big break so we've gone on this adventure together. It's kind of art imitating life so anytime we're in a room together it's awesome."

-He thinks all the Marvel actors are great but in particular he thinks Paul Rudd is really sweet and he has a talent crush on Robert Downey Jr. — he even got nervous and star struck when he saw RDJ at the Avengers premiere.

-He doesn't want Chris Pratt on S.H.I.E.L.D. because he'd show him up in shirtless scenes.

-He's glad he didn't know that Ward was Hydra sooner because he thinks he would have tipped his hat — the next time he was on set he was second guessing himself, wondering if he seemed like a spy. "The knowledge is a blessing and a curse."

-He thinks Hank Pym (Ant Man creator) is doing some cool stuff.

-When asked about his reaction to finding out Ward was hydra, Dalton made a shocked face, then shared the story of how he was told. He thought he was getting fired since network executives showed up Friday (firing day) to talk to him. When they finally told him it was just that he was Hydra, he thought that made sense for Ward.

"It was like he's been wearing a mask... now there's something more to him... it seemed like you had only seen the top layer of Ward... the tip of the iceberg."

If that's true, fans will likely get to see more layers when Ward — and the man behind him, Dalton himself — graces our screens again for season 3 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., kicking off September 29.

Billie Piper (Rose Tyler on Dr. Who, Lily/ Brona Craft on Penny Dreadful)

Billie Piper was also very sweet and endearing. She happily asked the panel supervisor if she could be the one to choose audience members for questions, and it gave the panel a very intimate feeling.

There were two main themes that emerged from those audience questions: they asked her in several different ways who her favorite Dr. Who actor was, and they tested her memory by asking very specific episode-related questions.

Regarding the latter, she passed the test, remembering almost every single episode or scene someone mentioned.

Regarding the former, Billie emphasized that she loves all the actors. About Matt Smith (who played the Doctor from 2010-14), she said, fondly, "those episodes were great, really smart. Matt was perfectly cast as the Doctor, he possesses all that madness himself."

About Peter Capaldi (the current star), she said "He's lovely, I really rate him, he was a brilliant choice."

Regarding the two actors who played the Doctor during her tenure as the "companion" — Christopher Eccleston (2005) and David Tennant (2005-2010) — she explained that with Chris's season, it was new. When it became a success after the first season, everyone involved became confident and hyped up, and that energy carried into the next season (with David).

"So I was more relaxed with David, everyone was," she said. "I really knew what I was doing by then, and he was such a fan, a mad Doctor encyclopedia."

Here's some of the other things that came up during the panel:

On if she might ever return to Dr. Who...

"I feel like I always come back, but not even as Rose, they keep making new parts for me. I don't know what I'd come back as next."

On why she chose to do the show...

"I wanted to act. I read the script and thought it was a great character I could sink my teeth into and enjoy... she was a cool chick, a young girl living a normal life but she's bored by it and has this wild opportunity to travel through space and time. What's not to like about it?"

On her favorite Dr. Who episode...

Father's Day and Doomsday... "I love the episodes with the human part, the domestic stuff. I can't understand the sci-fi stuff..."

On if there was any prop throughout her career that she's hated...

"I really hate corsets, which I've been in most of my career... you have to eat lying down on your stomach, there's no napping on your back."

On what her catch phrase would be if she was a Doctor...

"'Let's go home'... that's why I can't be a doctor."

On working with John Barrowman (who played a recurring Dr. Who character and now a key character on Arrow)...

"He's an absolute freak, he's naughty," she said noting, humorously, that some things he does would be harassment in other work places. "He brings a whole different vibe to the set."

On if it was hard to move on after Dr. Who...

"Yes, I was really spoiled with the writers, production, everyone, I don't think I've met people like them since," she said. "I thought all jobs would be as lovely as that but that's not been the case. I've come to terms with it but it was a rare feeling in that place that's not been topped in the kindness, generosity [of the Dr. Who team]. They take care of you like parents."

On her favorite thing she learned from doing that show...

I learned everything about being on a show and part of a production on that show... on the personal level, it taught me about getting something made with quality but also made with kindness, not fear or power wielding... it was a humble, generous group of people."

Clearly fans will always remember Billie as Rose Tyler on Dr. Who, but although those days are over, she can still be seen in early summer on Showtime's Penny Dreadful, which just wrapped its second season.

Comics & Comics: A stand-up comedy show with geek comedian Tom Franck

This event wasn't quite a typical panel — instead it was Franck recording his new comedy special "Never Die with Smart Bombs" — but I feel it's worth mentioning for two reasons.

One, it was brilliant. And two, he hit great topics — women in comics, the evolution of Comic Cons and geek culture, technological advances etc.

About Cosplay changing Comic Con, he joked: "Years ago if someone showed up dressed as Iron Man, there was a good chance he thought he was Iron Man."

About women in Cosplay, and how incredible it is that women have become a part of the comic universe, he joked that it must mean everyone is in an alternate universe.

Here's some of his most memorable other jokes:

-LeeAnna Vamp (a well-known female Cosplayer, who is really skinny and tall) is so hot that "even Sir Mix-A-Lot would like her."

-Yoda would see Tinder and say "Hot babes this finds, out of here the f**** get."

-"Worf (a character on Star Trek whom no one listens to) is like a female staff writer on Entourage. She's just there for the dental plan."

-Transformer nerds are winning — they're the most awkward, likely to spit out trivia and self righteous posts but they have the best slang. Not cool = GoBot. "GoBot is so fetch. It should be used for everything — 'My opponent's stance on health care is so GoBot.'"

If you don't find these funny, maybe you had to be there because I found them to be pretty darn amusing. And that's what surprised me. I wasn't sure what to expect from a comic-themed stand-up.

He sometimes did as I feared and went off into tangents about Star Trek characters or other true comic nerd material I couldn't follow, but for the most part he had the perfect blend of humor that spoke to comic nerds but also could be enjoyed by basic-level fans like myself. He was smart, fast, and creative and made plenty of references to universal subjects — like Mean Girls, Baby Got Back and politics. He was really impressive and I enjoyed his show more than I could have imagined.

Check back soon for a recap of the other panels from the weekend.