You regular readers know I indulge in attending the local (Central Florida) comic cons as I grew up on science fiction, comic books superheroes, anime, and general geekery.
This year for some reason, Orlando hosted their MegaCon in early February (they've usually been in May). While I missed attending last year's, I decided to attend this year as there were a couple of celebrities I hoped to see during the Q&A sessions and because I am trying to get into Magic The Gathering gaming and was hoping there would be an open table session for beginners to attend.
So I braved the I-4 Saturday traffic in relatively cool weather - yes, it drops below 60 F in Florida - and made reasonable time to get to the South Concourse parking lot to get on a shuttle bus to circle five blocks over to the West Concourse (the LOOOOOONG part of the Orange County Convention Center) and begin my day's journey.
And this was the badge they gave me. Chewie Einstein. |
This is the part of walking through a massive empty space to get to the part of the West Concourse where the vendors set up. |
Once you get inside, you then have to find your events between three (or in some places four) levels. This was still early in the morning before noontime as more people got inside Megacon. |
At least I found the LEGO Club display room!!! Thank you Greater Florida Lego Users Group! |
Give me a minute or twelve to upload video of a working LEGO City! |
I showed up for Paul Bettany's Q&A session on the slight possibility his wife Jennifer Connelly would show up and keep him in line. Alas. |
This is in the Chapin Theater, an auditorium where the comic con holds a number of A-lister interviews. I was last in here for Hayley Atwell's appearance, if I recall it properly. |
You'd be amazed how many of the fans gushed over Bettany's work in A Knight's Tale instead of his work as The MCU's Vision. |
This was around 2:00 PM as the crowds were clearly packing the main floor. |
It's R2D2, rolling like a boss!!! |
Got to sit in on a panel for Frank Cho, one of the better-known "Good Girl" artists in the comics industry. It's more than just fanservice though, as Cho is regarded as one of the best illustrators, period. I got into him through his Liberty Meadows work (a cartoon strip in the vein of Bloom County but with more gratuitous sex and violence as part of the absurdist humor). |
They had a camera set up to focus on Cho's penciling as he demonstrated the illustrator's work creating a comic book scene. |
Cho took suggestions from the room, which bounced between Wolverine to Wonder Woman to dinosaurs. I suggested "Wolverine dancing with Wonder Woman with a T-Rex playing bass guitar in the background" and Cho immediately called for security to escort me out. |
So as you can see he's drawing Wolverine. |
Cho is using the mid-90s outfit that was more dark browns and more shading than the famous bright yellow uniform of the 70s-80s. |
So it looks like Wolverine is punching somebody. 'Cause that's what Wolverine DOES... |
Hey wait a second... |
Is that...? |
Oh no... |
WOLVERINE JUST GUTTED HOWARD THE DUCK!!! AAAAAAaaaaaaaa! |
Speaking of artists, a number of famous comics artists were in Artist' Alley this MegaCon, including a rare visit from Frank Miller, one of the creative forces from the late 1970s- early 1980s who contributed to the massive culture boom - The Dark Knight Returns - of graphic narratives/superhero stories in the mainstream. I took this picture late in the day to demonstrate the line that had been ongoing since 11:00AM... which stretched across the open footpath to another line you can kind of see stretching off to the right of the photo. If I had joined that line at 11, I would have arguably gotten to meet Mr. Miller and get an autographed poster or some such... in about two hours of waiting! I'd have missed half of everything else I wanted to do at the con. NONE of the other major artists had a waiting line that long. |
Speaking of long lines, THIS awaited me as I walked over to the Chapin Theater part of the complex in hopes of attending the big celebrity draw of the day: Ewan McGregor (Obi Wan) and Hayden Christensen (Anakin), both insanely hot Star Wars fandom draws due to their return in popular Disney-Plus series. |
And here's a closer shot of it at a traffic stop as I drove to where all the restaurants are north of the convention center. 'Cause after a full day of walking, I earned that pizza for dinner! |
And so that was my comic con adventure. I've gotten a little weary of attending these things - yes, I am getting too old to walk across half the landscape, and there aren't enough chairs and benches to go around - unless I can scare up any friends or family who might want to attend any cons in the future, this might be my last one. Who knows? A future MegaCon may entice with a can't miss celebrity (but it would involve me risking the entire day getting in line and waiting, sigh).
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