Denver Comic Con

            This past weekend I finally made it out to see “The Avengers” and all I can say is why did I wait so long?  It really was a great show and I think I will have to try and see it again before it goes to DVD.  Watching Hulk toss Loki around like a rag doll was practically worth the admission price right there.  I could say more about the show but since I must be one of the last people on Earth to have seen it what’s the point?

            So while I was looking at some cosplay pictures from the recent Denver Comic Con. http://www.geeksaresexy.net/?s=denver+comic+con+cosplay&x=0&y=0

I remembered that I have not talked about going to my first comic con yet.

            Going to the San Diego Comic Con has been a dream of mine for some time (it runs July 11-15 this year).  When I realized that I could scrap together enough cash to make it to the first Denver Comic Con I just had to go.  I thought of going to the Comic Con here as a good first step toward the bigger dream of getting to San Diego.  Also I figured it would be good practice at waiting in line for the various events to start.

            I learned a number of things while at the Con., most important of which was that there was a line for everything.  There was a line to get into the exhibition hall at the start of every day but what wonderful things the dealers had for sale! 

I stood in line for an hour Saturday morning to see Wil Wheaton and he wasn’t even at the convention!  He canceled at the last minute and in his place he sent along a 30-minute video where he talked and then answered mock questions from a mock audience.  The amazing part was that the video was entertaining, and funny.  He talked about a You Tube video series called, “The Guild” by Felicia Day.  It sounds like a lot of fun so I have to start following that.  Hey, maybe Wheaton isn’t as nasty a person as he appears to be on “The Big Bang Theory.”  He just better show up next year.

James Marsters did make it to the Con and the wait to get into see him was another hour.  I got behind a group of people who settled down on the floor and spent the entire time talking about “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”   I did not know that his background is as a stage actor.  He talked about how that helped him shape the way he played the role of Spike in Buffy.  Apparently he is also something of a rock star, which I did not know.  The other thing I found interesting was that he likes the Hindu creation story.  I did not expect to get Philosophy in a comic book weekend!  Now I have to go read up on that subject.

Next I went back to the exhibition hall where there was no line to get in.  There were lines to get food and drink though.  Back in what they called Artist Alley I talked to a couple of creators of small independent comics and bought some of their stuff to help support their work.  It is encouraging to meet and talk to people who have a dream and are willing to risk whatever it takes to make it come true.  Dreamers are my favorite kind of people.

The last big event I wanted to be a part of for the weekend was the costume contest and yes, there was a line, a very long line.  In fact the line was so long I actually wondered if I would get in.  I was sure some of the people behind me would not.  The room, in fact, filled up shortly after I got my seat and a bunch of people were turned away at the door.  I heard later that the Fire Marshall was being pretty strict and that the Con essentially sold out for the weekend.

For the record I am not a costumer myself.  I do appreciate the time and effort people put into building their costumes.  That is the reason I always like to watch costume contests when I go to conventions.  This costume contest was every bit as good as I hoped a bunch of comic fans could produce.  See the link above for pictures if you haven’t already checked it out.

So those are my high points from the weekend when I did it for the first time, go to a Comic Con that is.  Even though I spent a lot of the weekend waiting in line (at one point the Men’s room even had a line) it just didn’t matter.  I got to spend the weekend with my favorite kind of people, creative people, dreamers, and fellow Geeks.

Now I think I’m going to dig out my script about a dating service made up of zombies and try to find an artist who can help me turn it into an online comic book.

Keep dreaming everybody!