I have been excited about the Calgary Comic Con for a few months now. It is a real unique experience that no matter you are you will find something there that is entertaining. Be it something from the influence of TV, movies, comics, books, artwork, and models. For those of you that haven't gone here is the lay of the land when you go there. We have photo-op area for some of the bigger names, an area for the big celebrities to do the signing, and then tons of booths for artists, comic and game shops. You can find a ton of nerdy stuff here that you can't find in other places. They have areas set up for panels, and workshops all included for the price of admission. The organizers support a lot of the local artists bringing new local talent out and a bunch of stores. The venue size is constantly getting bigger and bigger year to year. This year it moved into the Corral and the Round up Center.
The Con is always less about what is there but more about the people that are there. Everyone is there because they have a certain level of nerdiness about them and it really doesn't matter what it is that you are nerdy about either way you will find something. I say this because there was things people were nerdy about that even I didn't get the reference and when that happens it is definitely saying something. The only unfortunate part is that there are some people that come out that are a bit too nerdy for their own good. Some of the folk that come out are the kind that are so socially awkward that they get treated differently. For example at the Summer Glau booth there was a blog that said something awkward to Summer so when he was getting his picture taken, her arm was around his shoulder. Her arm was near a foot off of his shoulder, hovering but that is the kind of thing you see. I was in line shouting and talking to an old friend not in line and at some point some guy beside my friend started shouting back at me... It was obvious I was having a conversation with someone else, but he seemed to just want to pitch in.
Now that the scene is set lets talk highlights shall we. Unfortunately one of the big names that I was looking forward to didn't make it. The mighty George A Romero, the creator of the modern interpretation of the zombie got in a car accident a week before and had to drop out. That was a bit of a disappointment but still had a lot of fun. On the plus side, Michael Hogan is so nice, just fantastic with fans. He is all about handshakes and chatting you up which is great. Interacting with people you have seen so many times in movies and television and realizing that they are just cool people is great. When I was at Kate Vernon's booth she was saying how I have a great voice and should look into going into voice acting. A heck of a compliment and something I am actually considering.
I think one of the best memories of a celebrity will have to be Maurice Lamarche. You won't recognize his name, you would his voice. He is the voice of the Brain in the Pinky and the Brain, and MORBO from Futurama, as well as a lot more. He did this amazing impression of Orson Welles around the time he started to lose his mind and tried to do a read for a pea commercial it was great. All of them were great. The panel had Rob Paulsen (Pinky) and Jess Harnell (Americas Funniest Home Videos). They were just so entertaining to watch them banter and tell stories. Maurice was kind enough to pose with Nicole and I and was so impressed with the Nibble Nic made he took a picture of it to show to Frank Welker who voices Nibbler.
The costume Contest was pretty epic. It was in the Corral and the best part was that the first timers stole the damn show. The pros were good but the dude in the full master Chief outfit with full lights, weapon, a mic and speakers to talk to was really amazing. There was a dozen or so X-men that did this whole little skit together were they each stepped up, did a bit and the next person fought them off for the spotlight. Really well done. I love it. Imagine it, all the hard work that these people put into making these costumes to make them capture that creativity, the fun of the things of the costumes. I would love to dress up as Jayne Cobb, and do nothing more than try to get the whole crowd on board to sing the chorus from JayneTown. I think that would just be stellar. There would probably be enough people too to make it worth doing.
Something I really enjoyed seeing was the presence of a few Steam Punks around. For those of you that don't know what steam punk is I will tell you in another blog because I quite like it.
I didn't meet Shatner, wasn't really interested to to begin with, so no issue there, but we did sit in on his Q&A for a bit and man he is one wacky dude. What was significantly wacker was how many women were literally throwing themselves at him. During one question a girl's boyfriend informed Mr. Shatner that he was her free pass. Other fans knew intimate details about his past week. Like how his dogs were sick. Imagine being Shatner and having to deal with these folks. No wonder he is crazy, everyone he has to deal with is loony tunes. And something else I wanted to mention is the mediators where the two blokes from Inner Space on the Space network. I know they aren't gay, I think, but everytime I see them I think they are carbon copies of the Gay couple across the street in American Dad. Just saying...
Met a lot of people there. I have to say Felicia Day and the cast of the Guild were entertaining. And Summer Glau from Firefly and Sarah Connor Chronicles was a real treat. I got a bit of artwork of the Serenity from Jason Palmer who does amazing work, and I will work on getting all of the signatures from Firefly including Mr. Whedon's. It will take time and work but it will be great fun I think. Here is a pic with Summer, god was she working hard there
So in summary, if you ever have a chance to check out a comic con, I highly recommend. They are great fun and no matter what you will find something that wows you, something that makes you understand why these things are cool to check out. I say this cause I didn't even have a chance to tell you guys all the sights entertainment that was there.
No comments:
Post a Comment