Storm troopers, Carmen Diego, Zombies, Samurais, WaWaWubzy. These are just a few (and I mean few) of our fellow Wizard World Comic Con attendees during Family Day.
As first-timers, entering the convention overwhelmed our senses and forced us to take pause to remember this is for-real and not a super-hero and villain saturated dream.
Kids were given a passport book to have stamped at certain booths, once filling it a prize was rewarded. The kids were just as excited as the adults going from booth to booth meeting their comic culture heroes! My daughter even enjoyed handing over that passport for a stamp. Come on, in kid-dom, ink stamps are just as valuable as stickers!
One of the stampers was the very talented cartoonist/illustrator contributor to the little known cartoons Sponge Bob Squarepants and Dora! Yes, Dave Aikens not only stamped B’s passport, he also drew a quick SpongeBob sketch in it!
Immediately my eyes went all spirally and I was 2 stroller clips away from having him sign her Dora underpants-then I had to step back out of the whirlwind of celebrity regain my composure and Press Credential Professionalism. Now I understand how some people get so star struck they end up with autographed body parts. Phew, crisis totally diverted and a great topic to discuss with my therapist!
Once the inappropriate parenting urge was diverted we headed to Celebrity Row or Rows as there were quite a few. Represented were new comers, old-timers, has-beens and will-be’s all excitingly willing to take your money in return for an autograph or picture. Lou Ferrigno was charging $40 for a Polaroid with him! I can go buy the entire series of the Incredible Hulk for less than that! Sorry Lou. Sadly we did not come prepared with cold hard cash (um, I’m a mom of a 3 year old I’m happy to remember a bra most days, let alone go to an ATM to withdraw some germ infested paper bills that spend just the same as a debit card) so I lost my chance for a picture with one of my favorite paranormal investigators Amy Bruni from Ghost Hunters. But wait-Peter Tork (The Monkeys), the guy who was Chibaka, Porn Stars, and many, many others could not escape my ninja like phone camera talent! So I did end up with some blurry side-of-the- head shots of once larger than life celebrities. Hmm, I think I may have created a new comic heroine.
At 2pm the kids costume contest was held. All costumed kids won a prize. Let me tell you there were just as many kids in costume as adults. It was a sight to behold. Really, we were totally outnumbered in the suburban dressed family versus Samurnauts. Once the costume contest ended and B got her passport prize (a beautiful gem studded tiara of course) we took our totally inappropriate shoes off and travelled the long walk back to the parking garage to head home. Overall Family Day was well orchestrated, though for newbies more signage and maybe a separate area outside of the main event to get started would have made the transition a bit less shocking.
It’s been a few weeks since we went and I’m still basking in the afterglow! I met some great authors/illustrators who were not afraid to speak to us…many people stopped and looked at us like we were freaks, we did after all just come from church! I was introduced to an entire subculture that I knew existed, but thought only in fairytales. My daughter talks about Comic Con just about every day and I am counting down the days until ComicCon 2012!
Here are a couple great peeps I met. I'll be writing individual posts on each, that's how awesome they are. In the mean time, check'em out on your own!Thank you to Wizard World for providing me my Press Credential and 2 free family tickets to cover this event. No monies were exchanged and all opinions are mine and the real deal!
Unshaven Comics: Matt Wright, Marc Alan Fishman, Kyle Gnepper http://www.unshavencomics-online.com/
Bret Johnson: Skatey Katey http://www.skateykatey.com/
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