As most fans of comics, gaming, movies, and other pop
culture phenomenon already know, conventions are awesome gatherings of epic
proportions. Uniting nerds of every persuasion under one roof for a weekend of
escape from the mundane world, conventions (or “cons”, as the cool kids say) allow
fans to meet celebrities, participate in panels, costume contests, gaming
tournaments, attend screenings of movies and TV shows, and of course, buy loads
of merchandise. From comic books, DVDs, t-shirts, toys and statues to posters,
art prints, autographed memorabilia, and costumes, the convention circuit has
it all for the geeky fanboy or fangirl looking to add to their collections. For
nerds, cons are the ultimate celebration of life.
Almost
every major American city has a convention at least once a year, with comic
cons being the most widespread. San Diego and New York have the biggest cons
every year, and from their very humble beginnings in the early 1970’s they have
grown to become hotbeds of pop culture. San Diego Comic Con, being the biggest
and most recognized pop culture expo in the world, draws in major players every
year from all areas of media. Movie and television studios now use the con as a
showcase for their latest stars and projects. Book publishers bring their
authors there to promote their newest works and video game companies are
represented in abundance. The major toy manufacturers bring their latest
offerings and often have convention-exclusive toys for sale that you can only
get there. The convention circuit has become vital to marketing all breeds of
media and, of course, at the center of it all, remains the comic book industry.
For without the wonderful writers, artists, editors, publishers and, most
importantly, fans, many of whom travel halfway across the planet to attend,
none of this would exist at all.
For many
years, where I live in Oregon, comic conventions were small events, focusing
mainly on the comics themselves, with only a few or no creators or celebrities
in attendance. In recent years, though, our local scene has been building
momentum, and in February of 2013 Portland, Oregon hosted its’ first-ever
Wizard World Comic Con. Guests included actors, writers, artists, publishers,
and celebrity cosplayers and thanks to the thousands of fans who attended over
the three-day event, it was a roaring success. Comics legend Stan Lee, Evil Dead actor Bruce Campbell, Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s James
Marsters, Brent Spiner (Data on Star
Trek: The Next Generation), Norman Reedus and Michael Rooker from AMC’s The Walking Dead, and many more were
guests at the con, offering fans a chance for meet-and-greets, panel
discussions, autograph signings and photo opportunities. Vendors had booths set
up, selling everything from comics, toys, and posters to shirts, hats, pictures
and other collectibles. The Artist’s Alley played host to writers and artists from
every genre, offering custom prints, autographs, and sketches. Fan community
groups like the 501st Legion and the Rebel Legion were on hand to
promote their excellent organizations and spread the good will of Star Wars. If you are a comics fan based
in the Pacific Northwest and you didn’t go
to Wizard World this year, then you simply must
go when the next con hits in January 2014.
I had gone
to my first comic convention in the Summer of 1992. It was held in Portland,
Oregon and was a rather small event, with the highlight being that the
super-popular comic artist Todd McFarlane was the featured guest. He had just
come off his enormously successful run on Marvel’s Spider-Man and, along with a handful of other talented creators,
was forming Image Comics, which was releasing McFarlane’s highly-anticipated Spawn #1 in another month or two. As a
die-hard Spidey fan, McFarlane was the whole reason I went to the show,
although I had wanted to attend a comic book convention for pretty much my
whole life. Although there weren’t any cosplayers (a word that had yet to
become commonplace in America), major movie studio presence, celebrities or
panels, the con was a great experience. Bear in mind that in 1992, comic and geek
culture had not yet taken its’ place at the center of the entertainment
industry. Comics and video games were still fringe entertainment, animation was
still viewed as a children’s medium, and there were no big blockbuster
Hollywood flicks based off of comics, save for the Superman franchise and the
two Batman films that had been released at the time. There was no internet to
unite the fan community, the local mall didn’t stock sci-fi and comic-related
merchandise, and the big bookstore chains hadn’t caught on to the money-making
potential of graphic novels. Cons back in the day were just a bunch of sweaty
dudes and dusty long boxes filled with funny books.
For many
reasons, I didn’t attend another comic convention until a decade later, and in
May 2001, my good friend Shane and I made the journey to Portland for another con.
Shane, like myself, grew up on comics. He was (and is) a massive fanboy, but
had never been to a convention before. A rabid toy collector, the main focus of
the con for him was to score some sweet additions to his ever-growing army of
action figures. I had an agenda all my
own, and that was to meet Brian Michael Bendis, author of my favorite comic
series at the time, Ultimate Spider-Man.
The two of us had a great time geeking out at the con. I met and got comics
signed by Bendis and artist David Mack, bought a few toys, books, and shirts,
and spent a whole day rummaging through long boxes with fellow fanboys. It was
another great convention experience, but still nothing nearly as large or
all-inclusive as San Diego’s Con or even Seattle’s major convention, Emerald
City Comic Con. I yearned to go to a larger convention, which I always intended
to do, but mainly for financial reasons could never make the pilgrimage to San
Diego.
Holiday
season 2012 rolled around and Wizard World announced that they would be hosting
Stan Lee at their convention in Portland, along with many other guests who are
luminaries in the comic book and sci-fi fields. I couldn’t pass the chance to
potentially meet Stan “The Man” Lee and have him sign a book or two for me, so
my fiancée and I made plans to go to the con. Dani, my fiancée, has always
loved science-fiction and superheroes, but was relatively new to the world of
comic fandom. She was, however, eager to get away and experience a convention
filled with fellow nerds. With her having never gone to a con, and me never
having attended one so large, we both were unsure of exactly what to expect.
Yet Oregon finally had its’ own Comic Con, and we were going to be there, no
matter what the cost!
The Wizard
World Portland Comic Con, held at the Oregon Convention Center, was an amazing
convention held over three days (February 22-24, 2013) that exceeded the
expectations of the many fans in attendance in almost every way. Dani and I had
purchased three-day passes and arrived shortly after the convention opened on
Friday afternoon. As we roamed the floor of the convention, we saw every aspect
of nerdy fascination represented. Costume vendors, apparel booths, celebrity
photo op and signing areas, comic book retailers, writers and artists,
merchandisers, and, of course, a couple thousand geeks from all walks of life
crammed into the convention center to kick off a weekend of awesomeness! And
what a weekend it was, True Believers!
On Friday
night I had a chance to meet Brent Spiner, who portrayed the android Data in
the TV show Star Trek: The Next
Generation and in the spin-off films Generations,
First Contact, Insurrection, and Nemesis.
He was very funny, charming, and nice as he signed a photo for me and chatted
for a couple of minutes. As a life-long Star
Trek fan, it was a highlight of the whole con for me, as Data was my
favorite character from The Next
Generation. We attended a Creator Spotlight panel that night featuring Gail
Simone, current writer of DC Comics’ hit series Batgirl. After the panel I was able to meet Simone and have her
sign my hardback Batgirl collection.
Also hanging out in the Artist Alley was super-scribe Kurt Busiek, who signed
some Untold Tales Of Spider-Man books
for me as we chatted about writing for a bit. Busiek is one of the most
prolific writers in comics, and it was an honor and a pleasure to meet him.
Dani and I spent the rest of the evening roaming the con floor and taking in as
much as we could, but we still had two more days of the convention, so we took
our time and soaked in the experience.
As busy as
the con was on Friday, it was nothing compared to the crowds that gathered on
Saturday. An estimated 6,000 fans attended the event on that day alone. Even
getting in line to enter the con was crazy, as the line length was close to a
half mile by the time we arrived that morning, and it kept growing after we
took our places to wait. It was by far the busiest day of the convention. The
day was filled with panels, celebrity meet-and-greets, signings, cosplayers,
costume contests, and much, much more! The benchmark for me was having the
chance to meet Stan Lee, comic legend and creator of most of the major
characters from the Marvel Universe. I had attended his excellent Q&A panel
earlier in the day and then waited in line for a couple of hours to meet him
face to face. He signed my hardcover Stan
Lee Meets… collection for me, a collectible I will treasure for the rest of
my life. He even gave me a fistbump, hopefully transferring some of his godlike
powers to me in the process. I should note that Stan Lee and George Lucas have
influenced my creative life more than any other people, so having the
opportunity to bask in the presence of such a legend held a lot of gravity for
me. At 90 years old, Mr. Lee still has all the wit, charm, and humor he’s most
well-known for. Earlier in the day, I also had a chance to meet the legendary
Chris Claremont, long-time writer of The
Uncanny X-Men, along with a slew of other titles. His comics work, which
includes the groundbreaking Wolverine limited
series (which was drawn by the equally-legendary Frank Miller) and the X-Men story arc Days Of Future Past, have inspired the current feature films of
those characters. He graciously signed some comics for me, and was kind enough
to answer some of my burning questions about Mutantkind.
Saturday
was also the Day Of Panels, as they were constantly going on from morning until
evening. I attended a Writing In Comics panel with Gail Simone, Scott Lobdell,
and Nathan Edmondson as guests. It was a hilarious and informative study of a
writer’s life in the comic book industry. Actors Michael Rooker and Norman
Reedus answered questions from the fans about the hit AMC television series The Walking Dead at their own panel.
Whatever your fandom or area of interest, there was a panel at Wizard World
that catered to you.
Later in
the night there were a couple of different costume contests and as the con
floor closed, the cosplayers descended to take over! Hundreds of superheroes,
anime characters, Star Trek characters, Jedi Knights, zombies, and pop culture
tokens gathered to participate in the Maquerade Ball. These were no ordinary
Halloween-type costumes, mind you. Most were handmade and of movie-studio
quality, as cosplayers spare no expense or labor to make the best costumes they
can. Impressive. Most impressive!
Exhausted
and nearly-broke, we went back to our motel room on Saturday night to rest up
and prepare for the final day of the convention. Sunday was mostly spent
shopping, getting photos taken with cosplayers, and attending panels. Some
great costumes were on display, as comic fans never cease to amaze me with
their creativity and talent. One of my favorite examples was a homemade
Galactus costume. He was even holding the Earth in his hands and had a small,
true-to-scale Silver Surfer suspended from his shoulder- awesome! Many great-looking
DC characters were also present, most of them being from the Batman family of comics. Lots of
characters from X-Men and The Avengers were also represented,
along with a few Ghostbusters and lots and lots of Star Wars characters. For those of you who love making and dressing
up in crazy costumes, the level of skill that a lot of these people display
will shock, amaze, and inspire you!
The last
event we attended before leaving the con and going home was Brent Spiner’s
Q&A panel. He was hilarious as he answered fan questions (mostly about his
time on Star Trek) and entertained us
with stories and impressions. It was an awesome panel, and made me wonder what
the panels at many Star Trek
conventions are like, where Spiner is often joined by his former cast-mates.
They must be a blast! Spiner’s panel was the highlight of Sunday for me, and if
I had to leave the con, then at least I left on a high note.
We had an
absolute blast at Wizard World Portland Comic Con, and I can say without any
doubt that we’ll be going back next year. If you are a comic book, movie,
anime, or general pop culture fan then you owe it to yourself to attend this
next year, too. It’s times like that when I’m super-proud of being a fanboy,
making the criticisms and ridicule that I sometimes receive in the outside
world all worth it. Being a geek can sometimes be a lonely existence. We have
the internet to serve as a medium to communicate through, but it doesn’t compare
to having several thousand like-minded people gathering and sharing their
mutual excitement and enthusiasm for the things they love. It unites us and
somehow validates our interests, making our fandom come alive, giving us a
sense of belonging, and erasing some of our loneliness. Kinda like Woodstock,
but for nerds.
To everyone
who attended, as either a guest or a fan, I thank you for making Wizard World
Portland a success. To anyone who is thinking about going next year, you should
stop thinking so hard and just go because it’s more fun than a thousand issues
of Deadpool. It is, afterall, a
no-brainer. Onward to Comic Con!
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