It’s that special time of year again, New York Comic-Con has arrived. Running through Sunday, the annual event once contained to the Jacob Javits Convention Center now sprawls across Manhattan. Professional Day opened at 9:30 AM at the New York Public Library located at 5th avenue and 42nd Street and events are also emanating from the theater at Madison Square Garden and Hammerstein Ballroom. I spent most of Day 1 located at Hammerstein with the gang from IFC’s Stan Against Evil. The horror comedy begins its second season on November 1st, and creator, writer, and producer Dana Gould as well as stars Janet Varney (Evie) and Stan himself, John C. McGinley took the stage to entertain the crowd.

Before the guests got up there, they premiered Episode 2.3 “Curse of the Were-Pony”! In case you were wondering, “Why episode 3?” Gould relayed that this is his sitcom version of the X-Files, and fans of that series will remember that there are episodes steeped in mythology and rogue monster episodes that were done for fun. That said, the “Were-Pony” was typical Stan Against Evil: utterly ridiculous with some laugh-out-loud one-liners and a charming curmudgeon in the lead. The episode’s titular beast takes the human form of Steven Ogg (The Walking Dead), and he competes for Evie’s affections against her returning ex-husband, David Koechner. Varney and McGinley have excellent chemistry on the show, but as usual the show-stealing scenes go to Stan’s quirky daughter Denise (Deborah Baker Jr.)

The trio took to the stage after the episode and talked all about the upcoming season including the guest stars like Jeffrey Combs and the original Bad Seed, Patty McCormack. The outstanding practical effects used on a small budget as well as all the different “were-pony” style creatures were also discussed. The three were asked about transitioning to Season 2 after the cliffhanger ending of the first season with Evie being sent back in time. That creates all new adventures as Stan not only has to go back to get her, but realizes he can go back and save Claire, his dearly-departed wife. McGinley described her as the Edith to his Archie Bunker, the character who grounds him.

Fans got a chance to do a little Q&A:

Question: I loved the Were-Pony, are there going to be any other cool special effect shots or monsters you can tell us about?

Dana Gould gave the fan a crash course on “necessity being the mother of invention” as a particular climactic scene was supposed to be shot in the woods, but it rained nonstop. This necessitated them to come up with something else, and that became a Nostromo-style blanket fort akin to the ships in the Alien franchise. There’s also a flying demon that McGinley admitted to being impressed with.

Gould, you can tell, is adept in stand up as he was really funny on stage. Stan Against Evil was one of my biggest surprises last year, and I cannot wait for Season 2 to begin. You can catch up on Stan Against Evil Season 1 on Hulu, and be ready for Season 2 to begin on Wednesday night, November 1st on IFC.

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[Photos by Dr. Zaius for Geeks Of Doom.]

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