Surviving Boston Comic Con 2011

[SDragon]

Day 1

The first day of Boston Comic Con started early for me, as I got in line at 9:00am. This seemed like it would be boring at first, since the con started at 10. The very first thing I noticed, although I didn't think too much of it at first, was that I wasn't the only one there with a military jacket; a couple people in front of me, there was this Italian-looking guy with a spiffy flight jacket. Well, it was a small amusement for the hour, I thought, when... does that name patch say Jo--? I had to get a closer look, and yes, the name patch on the flight jacket did, indeed, say Jordan. The show hadn't even started, and already I saw the first cosplayer of the weekend. Neat.

That was the first sign of things looking good for the con. The next sign was when I heard a voice ask  "do any of you mind the smoke?", causing me to turn, and... Wow. I don't typically generalize con-goers, but just by looking, I was already getting a very strong sense that she was supposed to be attending a table. A resounding "no" came from a couple of guys nearby, including myself.

After chatting for awhile, I found out that I was right; She did belong to a table. She was a model, and the site she works for was there. It was her first con, and she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do, so she waited in line with the unwashed masses. After a few phone calls to her friends/comodels, she must have eventually realized that she could just go right in. She left the line, and I continued to wait.

"Ronald Reagan? The actor? Who's his vice president, Jerry Lee Lewis?" could be heard from behind. I looked back, and although I didn't see Doc Brown, I did see Blade. Still not even in the door yet, and already two cosplayers and a model. By this time, the line was starting to move, and I was chatting with others as we headed in.

A little aside, here. If you've ever been to a comic convention-- or, presumably, any convention, for that matter-- you know that you can chit-chat with a large percentage of the people there. With so many people together, everyone knowing that everyone shares at least one unifying interest, conversation comes quite naturally. Talking to complete strangers is quite common.

I mention this because in rural New Hampshire, where I live, the people are a little like that. If two people are outside at the same time, or were both outside at some point earlier the same day, they have just enough in common to say hi to each other. Although such a stranger, if walking, may or may not stop, the conversation (usually, but not always, about the weather) can be likely to continue until both people are out of casual earshot of each other.

The con, however, was in Boston, and Beantowners aren't like that. Sure, you can say hi to strangers, mention the weather to them, what have you, but they'll look at you strangely if you do. Specifically, they'll look at you as if they're waiting for either your sales pitch or the chance for them to go about their day.

Back at the con, however, I had just walked in. I know I just spent five paragraphs on the hour before the con, and to be quite honest, each of the following seven hours should warrant at least twice that, but the day was just a whirlwind of activity. While I'll do my best to cover as much as possible, I'll likely get only the major highlights. I probably won't even get them in proper chronological order, either.

That said, I'm currently burning out from writing, and still recovering from the trip back home, so I'll have to continue later.

[SDragon]

I forgot to mention, I had made a sketchbook for the con. I had printed out a total of 50 copies, and separated them so that I had 25 for each day. These had five quick sketches, and in the back, my email address. I figured I could treat these as business cards. I also licensed the sketchbooks under the creative commons by-nc-nd license, allowing other people to copy and redistribute them. Clever marketing: get others to do your dirty work. The first two were handed to the model I mentioned earlier, and the other guy that was talking with her.

Once in, I showed the copy of my ticket at the, er, 'gate'. That is, the short hallway with either side lined with tables, ticket sales on one side, and bracelets given to ticket holders on the other. I got my two-day bracelet, was told to keep it on for the weekend (I still have it on as I write this, though out of laziness at this point), and sent in to the con.

I was then in another hallway, this one reminding me of a movie theater lobby. The walls were even lined with red fabric! To the left was the exceptionally crowded freebies table, and to the left was the food vendor. Next to the food, there was a Shoot A Trooper booth with the 501st Legion, next to that were the Ghostbusters of New Hampshire, and a few tables down from that-- hey look, there's the table for Riot Grrls! (I'd give the link, but it's far from SFW) I waved to my new friend, said hi, and...

And this is when I got quite confused. Just around the corner was a small empty lobby, and just past that was the table for the Joe Kubert School of Cartooning and Graphic Art, but not much else beyond that. Was this really the entire con? Where were the vendors? Where was the Artist Alley? It was quite clear where Mr. Kubert would be showing up on Sunday, but surely a convention that could have him would be much bigger. Besides, other major names were supposed to be there, too. But where?

About ready to leave, I walked toward the door, just past the still-crowded freebie table, but something pulled me back in for another look. No way could this be it. I scanned over everything I had already seen-- Freebies, Food, Troopers, Busters, Girls, Lobby, School. I looked further back, past the table for the school. A couple of artists I didn't recognize. I turned back, ran my eyes across the hall... Wait, had I noticed that door before? Surely it can't hurt to take a peek.

And bingo. This was the convention floor. It had to be. This was exactly the size I was expecting; The second largest con I had ever been to.

More coming soon. I'll even get around to posting some of the pictures I took!

[SDragon]

The con floor, upon first walking in the door. Note that this is a bit too blurry to make out just how far away the back wall is. I must admit, my hands are far from steady with cameras.





The daywalker himself.

[Nomadic]

Awesome, sounds like you had alot of fun. :)

[SDragon]

I really did. I had a total blast! I'll try to post the rest of Day One, then get to Day Two, but I doubt I can keep up this pace. I'll have to sacrifice some details.

[SDragon]

Came across some videos of the event on Youtube.


This first one is an interview with Sci-Fi Saturday Night, who were between the empty lobby (which was used by many for resting, and apparently also by cameramen) and Joe Kubert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30Mr3PR6WJ4&feature=player_embedded

This second video is of the many talented (and some of the slightly-less-than-talented, IMO) cosplayers of the con:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0KW8ausYog&feature=related

Some highlights of this video:

First, at 0:45, you can see Link and Green Lantern (Kyle) posing with two girls from Riot Grrls. The brunette on the right is Rocket Riot, the one I met in line. This isn't the only time I'm going out of order, by the way.

0:26 isn't really cosplay. That's the logo for Newbury Comics, a chain based in Newbury, MA, with locations all over New England. Great store, but when I last went to it, years ago, it seemed more focused on music, merchandise, and nifty novelties. Judging from their vendor tables, not much has changed.

At 1:11, in the background, is a woman wearing an awesome wide brim hat. That is E. J. Barnes, who I had met once at another con. She has some rather... interesting... comics that she self-publishes. The ones I've seen were adaptions of Tales of the Ling Master, an occult private detective that apparently wears a wine-stained pillow case (with a single eye-hole) over his head. So... Yeah.

At 1:16 is Big Bertha and Mr. Miracle. I saw them, and shortly after I took their picture, I heard someone (a friend of the couple, from the sounds of it) ask, "ma'am, do you mind if I touch your husband's junk?" Well, she didn't mind...

Jumping around just a little, at 1:28, you can see the announcer for the costume contest at the end of day 2. This is for reference, because...

At 1:20 is Spartacus. Or, as he was introduced at the contest, "Sparta-- Wow..." After he posed for the cameras, before leaving, he said he didn't know what to do. "Just look pretty..."

1:33 has Deadpool. There were two that were, I think, equally well-done. The other one, however, had the distinct advantage of really having fun staying in character.

1:37, Sinestro, who won "Best Hero-- no, wait! That's the villain! Best Villain!"

1:39 is the contest. You can see me on the floor here.

2:18 is a group shot of all of the contestants. Near the end, you can see both Deadpools; The one in the back was the one that stayed in character, and he was absolutely fun to take pictures of. Before the picture that I took, he posed with his hands on his rather forward-thrust hips. During the contest, he gave the same pose, proudly saying "take it in, take it in!" I'll post the picture I took soon.

Lastly, for this video, notice the male:female ratio. While I didn't see all of the cosplayers in here, there were some that I did see that weren't included, and I'm convinced the ratio was much more unbalanced than the video portrays.

This last video is of some short interviews:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkycDgM5zSQ&feature=related

Highlights:

This opens up with a shot of the hallway I mentioned, best seen at 0:09. It looks bigger in this shot, but you can still see why it looked too small for the entire con.

1:10 Shoot-A-Trooper! Yes, I did. I hit the guy in the neck with one of the rounds. $5 very well spent.

1:32 Ming Doyle, whose artwork is as lovely as she is. She was at the table with Agreeable Comics. After asking one of the guys at that table a few questions, it was clear that they are, in fact, quite agreeable!

2:00 "In 1972 , a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem...if no one else can help...and if you can find them...maybe you can hire...The A- Team." The contest announcer was impressed that one of the judges had that completely memorized. She also offered to be B.A.'s sugar momma. So... Yeah.

[Nomadic]

I loved the short clips, the shoot a trooper thing made me chuckle a bit. I've never been to a convention, the closest thing would be the county fair here (which is larger than a convention but more varied with less theme behind it). To be honest I would love one of these days to actually take the campaign builder's guild to one of the RPG conventions as a booth. But that's a dream for the future :)

[SDragon]

I loved the short clips, the shoot a trooper thing made me chuckle a bit. I've never been to a convention, the closest thing would be the county fair here (which is larger than a convention but more varied with less theme behind it). To be honest I would love one of these days to actually take the campaign builder's guild to one of the RPG conventions as a booth. But that's a dream for the future :)

I doubt there's a member of the site that wouldn't be willing to go. Where is the highest density of CBG members? Off the top of my head, I know of three in New England, and I think I've heard of others, too.

Also, go to a con. They're a total blast.

[Nomadic]

I loved the short clips, the shoot a trooper thing made me chuckle a bit. I've never been to a convention, the closest thing would be the county fair here (which is larger than a convention but more varied with less theme behind it). To be honest I would love one of these days to actually take the campaign builder's guild to one of the RPG conventions as a booth. But that's a dream for the future :)

I doubt there's a member of the site that wouldn't be willing to go. Where is the highest density of CBG members? Off the top of my head, I know of three in New England, and I think I've heard of others, too.

Also, go to a con. They're a total blast.

We've got a number spread across canada. Steerpike, Llum, and TMG are 3 I can think of off the top of my head. We've also got a number of members on the east coast... Vreeg and Limetom for example. I myself am west coast, not sure how many we have over here (I know snargash used to be near me but don't know if he's still in Portland or not). I would absolutely love the chance to go to a con... and to take the cbg with me would rock even more. Who knows, maybe I could harass someone like RobA or gamerprintship into joining me and setting up a Co-booth.

[SDragon]

Vreeg was one of the three New Englanders that I was thinking of. Since I'm already shuffling around, I might as well continue on that point...

DAY TWO started with an exciting text message. It gave the make and model of a vehicle. I was already outside the apartment building that I was staying at for the weekend, and it didn't take long for me to notice the black SUV pull up and park. The man inside welcomed me in, and when I called him by the name I typically use for him, he insisted that I call him Norm in person. That's right: I met Vreeg.

We drove around for awhile, discussing various topics while looking for a place to eat. "The thing about Panera Bread," he mused, "is that they're everywhere, until you need to find one." He was right. Fortunately, the ride and the conversation were both very pleasant. If we hadn't had plans for breakfast and Guildschool character creation, I would have been content to simply continue with that until the con. He can correct me if I'm wrong, but I got the impression that he felt the same.

After exploring the streets of the Greater Boston Area-- during which, he even pointed his main office-- we did eventually find a Panera Bread. I had a steak and egg bagel and an espresso, and he had... To be honest, I didn't really catch what he ordered for himself, but it had "power" in it somewhere. We found a booth, sat down, and continued talking until...

BBRRRWAPPPP! The buzzer-- something that isn't common at the types of restraunts that I tend to go to-- announced that our food was ready. Well. That was fast. We got our food, and the conversation grew closer to Guildschool and the Steel Isle Game before we started working on my character. We continued on the character until the end of breakfast, when both of our schedules granted us little more time. The character, unfortunately, wasn't finished, but we had a good head start.

Yes, I'm jumping around even in this, but when we in line to order, a good friend of mine, whom Vreeg and the other IRC regulars are familiar with, sent me a text message. "what's he like sober?", she asked.

"I wouldn't know." was his near-instant response when I mentioned the message, and I couldn't think of a better response. In all seriousness, though, I will say this about the man. I'm sure all of us here realize that it's probably hard for any man to quite fill the chaps-n-wine charicature image that we have of Vreeg. In person, he's further from that than one might expect. Granted, he was headed for work after dropping me off, but this was still a casual meeting between two CBGers. I didn't even notice that he was wearing all black until halfway through my meal. I think it was the collar that threw me off.

This was one of the things we discussed on the ride to the convention center. We both had noticed that many people, in attempt to become unique, end up defining themselves as walking stereotypes. We agreed that, while labels such as "geek", "goth", "professional", etc., can describe aspects of people, they don't define the sum of who we are. "I've found that there are some parts of my life that, while important to who I am, are completely or almost completely irrelevant to other parts of my life." I explained.

"I'm going to have to ask you to get out." was his response. Wait, did I say something wrong? "We're at the convention." He added. Ah. Well, yes, that would be a good reason for me to get out. We said how much we enjoyed the visit, agreed that we should do this again if we ever get the chance, and parted ways. The con had already started, but this was well worth walking in an hour after the doors opened.

[Nomadic]

Vreeg was one of the three New Englanders that I was thinking of. Since I'm already shuffling around, I might as well continue on that point...

DAY TWO started with an exciting text message. It gave the make and model of a vehicle. I was already outside the apartment building that I was staying at for the weekend, and it didn't take long for me to notice the black SUV pull up and park. The man inside welcomed me in, and when I called him by the name I typically use for him, he insisted that I call him Norm in person. That's right: I met Vreeg.

We drove around for awhile, discussing various topics while looking for a place to eat. "The thing about Panera Bread," he mused, "is that they're everywhere, until you need to find one." He was right. Fortunately, the ride and the conversation were both very pleasant. If we hadn't had plans for breakfast and Guildschool character creation, I would have been content to simply continue with that until the con. He can correct me if I'm wrong, but I got the impression that he felt the same.

After exploring the streets of the Greater Boston Area-- during which, he even pointed his main office-- we did eventually find a Panera Bread. I had a steak and egg bagel and an espresso, and he had... To be honest, I didn't really catch what he ordered for himself, but it had "power" in it somewhere. We found a booth, sat down, and continued talking until...

BBRRRWAPPPP! The buzzer-- something that isn't common at the types of restraunts that I tend to go to-- announced that our food was ready. Well. That was fast. We got our food, and the conversation grew closer to Guildschool and the Steel Isle Game before we started working on my character. We continued on the character until the end of breakfast, when both of our schedules granted us little more time. The character, unfortunately, wasn't finished, but we had a good head start.

Yes, I'm jumping around even in this, but when we in line to order, a good friend of mine, whom Vreeg and the other IRC regulars are familiar with, sent me a text message. "what's he like sober?", she asked.

"I wouldn't know." was his near-instant response when I mentioned the message, and I couldn't think of a better response. In all seriousness, though, I will say this about the man. I'm sure all of us here realize that it's probably hard for any man to quite fill the chaps-n-wine charicature image that we have of Vreeg. In person, he's further from that than one might expect. Granted, he was headed for work after dropping me off, but this was still a casual meeting between two CBGers. I didn't even notice that he was wearing all black until halfway through my meal. I think it was the collar that threw me off.

This was one of the things we discussed on the ride to the convention center. We both had noticed that many people, in attempt to become unique, end up defining themselves as walking stereotypes. We agreed that, while labels such as "geek", "goth", "professional", etc., can describe aspects of people, they don't define the sum of who we are. "I've found that there are some parts of my life that, while important to who I am, are completely or almost completely irrelevant to other parts of my life." I explained.

"I'm going to have to ask you to get out." was his response. Wait, did I say something wrong? "We're at the convention." He added. Ah. Well, yes, that would be a good reason for me to get out. We said how much we enjoyed the visit, agreed that we should do this again if we ever get the chance, and parted ways. The con had already started, but this was well worth walking in an hour after the doors opened.

Nine kinds of jealous here, I want to meet vreeg. Quickly I want to say regarding your note of the wine and black chaps vreeg that I imagined he wasn't exactly like he is on here. But in my experience people almost never are the same in real life as they are online. I can tell you straight out that I am very reserved in real life and that if you passed me on the street I might nod to you but I wouldn't say anything unless you stopped and asked me something. I imagine you yourself aren't the same as you are on here :)

[SDragon]

Nine kinds of jealous here, I want to meet vreeg. Quickly I want to say regarding your note of the wine and black chaps vreeg that I imagined he wasn't exactly like he is on here. But in my experience people almost never are the same in real life as they are online. I can tell you straight out that I am very reserved in real life and that if you passed me on the street I might nod to you but I wouldn't say anything unless you stopped and asked me something. I imagine you yourself aren't the same as you are on here :)

You can ask Vreeg to be sure, but I've always felt that I'm essentially the same person online and off. There are some differences, but they only really apply to relatively specific situations.

[SDragon]

Boop boop be-doop--

[Nomadic]

Nine kinds of jealous here, I want to meet vreeg. Quickly I want to say regarding your note of the wine and black chaps vreeg that I imagined he wasn't exactly like he is on here. But in my experience people almost never are the same in real life as they are online. I can tell you straight out that I am very reserved in real life and that if you passed me on the street I might nod to you but I wouldn't say anything unless you stopped and asked me something. I imagine you yourself aren't the same as you are on here :)

You can ask Vreeg to be sure, but I've always felt that I'm essentially the same person online and off. There are some differences, but they only really apply to relatively specific situations.

Then you'd be a minority, most people I've known are quite different in real life and even most of the ones that aren't are still a bit different in some ways. It's a strange world we live in. :)