Denver Comic Con 2016 Guest Spotlight: Brent Spiner

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

The summer of 1987 is a fond one in my geeky databank of memories for one particular reason, this was the year that Paramount announced that the next chapter in the grand and sweeping saga that is Star Trek would be arriving in the fall by way of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  As a young geek this was the highlight of my year and every single time a new promo for the show aired on Channel 2 out in here Denver, the volume was up and my attention was focused as the commercials counted down to the arrival of the series premiere.

Yet as I watched these promos when they popped up, one particular image kept standing out in my mind, a brief shot of a man in a yellow Starfleet uniform, with equally yellow skin sitting bolt upright, un-phased by the chaos surrounding him. The coolness of the character in that moment is what caught my attention and over the course of the next seven years (and four feature films) we would come to know the android known as Data and he was a character that found his way into our all of our hearts courtesy of Brent Spiner and his incredible performance in portraying this futuristic Pinocchio. 

Brent's work on the show allowed for TNG to question often what it really meant to be human and how precious some of the moments we take for granted truly are and his final appearance as the character in Star Trek: Nemesis was nothing short of heartbreaking. But Brent is such a versatile actor that Data is not the only character that defines his career. Brent has enjoyed a rich career over the years, popping up in films like Independence Day and its forthcoming sequel Independence Day: Resurgence, and recently he reunited with his former captain on the Starz original show; Blunt Talk. 

Truly Brent Spiner is an icon in the science fiction community and iconic actors seems to be the theme this year for Denver Comic Con since they recently announced that Brent will be in attendance for this year's convention. It's not Brent's first trip to DCC since he was here with the rest of his former cast mates for a TNG reunion last year, but it is his first solo trip to the con and it's quite amazing to see DCC announce another incredible guest with only a couple of weeks to go until the big event. Either way, it will be an honor to meet Brent in a couple weeks and if you'd like to meet him too, or haven't picked up your tickets yet...snag them today from the DCC website, and we will see all of you in Brent's line this Father's Day weekend! 

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