Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Why I Love Conventions

Trekked downtown to Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo last Saturday to experience my five favorite things about comic book/sci-fi/fan conventions --


#5 - Cosplay!

I love seeing fans dressed up as their favorite characters. I especially love the off-the-wall or unusual costumes - like this girl dressed like a box of Pocky - my favorite Asian snack!


An adorable father/son Stay Puft Marshmallow Man / Ghostbuster combo --


Actually, there were Ghostbusters everywhere --


Plus eye candy - like this hunky black Robin - yes, please --


#4 - Geek Stuff for Sale!

When I was a kid watching the Tom Baker Doctor Who, I forced my dad to pledge $100 to PBS so I could get an "I ♥ ♥ Doctor Who" t-shirt. Now, fans can buy nerdy tchotchke for every one of their passions, from shirts --


To posters --


To adorable stuffed Chewies --


#3 - Surprises!

You never know what you're going to see at a Con. I saw Quidditch being played by humans for the first time. (Not very well, I might add, but they were having fun...) --


And I saw Wall-E!A superb animatronic robot from Walt Disney Imagineering - complete with moving eye flaps and sound!


#2 - Discovering new artists!

Like Odin of Midwestern Cuban Comics! Yes, he's a Cuban artist from Wisconsin who was selling comic books he wrote and illustrated. Living the dream --


Was drawn in by Peter Emmerich's fantastic old-timey illustrations. That's Peter's friend in the picture below, but before Peter left, I chatted with him about his freelance work with Disney and snagged a Downton Abbey-inspired postcard.


Joey Chou also did work with Disney, including a fantastic children's book interpretation of It's A Small World.


I had a copy signed for a friend and snagged a free tote bag!


And my favorite thing about going to Cons --

#1 - Seeing artists I already know and love!

I saw Mike Yamada & Victoria Ying's work for years before learning their names. They're a married couple of talented artists behind Curiosities: An Illustrated History of Ancestral Oddity - a book super funded on Kickstarter!

Was able to tell Mike how much my friend loved the Zoom Zoo Alphabet Cards I bought for his son. A perfect gift for any awesome kid!


And was super-psyched to see Nidhi Chanani again! I fell in love with her work last March at WonderCon and have loved getting her gorgeous illustrations via Twitter.

She has a beautiful heart and creative spirit which is reflected in her thoughtful, sweet artistic work. This woman knows love. She even brought her hubby to the show - adorable!


That's a wrap on another geekfest! Until the next one, stay nerdy everyone!


3 comments:

  1. so adorable teresa! you're the best ^_^

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  2. Wow great job! Thanks for saying I'm a hunk :) -black Robin

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    1. You found my blog! :) Yes, you were definitely the best looking Robin I've seen in a while. Hope you had a good time at the show!

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