What? You didn’t spend your weekend talking about bat nipples with random strangers? Well, then… you are missing out. There was also a conversation about Wolverine and self-love but I’ll leave that to your imaginations.
The simple fact is I went to Long Beach Comic Con this weekend and had a lot of fun.
It was not a huge convention- I’ve no idea what the numbers of attendees were but except for a few moments, you could walk the aisles of the dealer room with ease. And those few moments were because some cosplayer had been stopped for a photo. Or twelve. However, for a small scale event it was pretty entertaining. At least from my perspective.
Steve and I
I spent most of the weekend with Steve Scott and Mark Texeira. And let me tell you… comic artists are a crazy bunch. This might be why I collect them. Anyways, I did manage to escape the boys for a wee bit to try to take in a panel or two, but the two I wanted to see? They were both at 2pm! And on opposite ends of the panel rooms! Argh! This did not please me. I wanted to check out the Young Justice voice actor panel (our pal, Yuri Lowenthal was on this… along with pretty much everyone who has ever voiced for that show), but I also wanted to see the panel on creating awesome female characters (another NerdLush pal, Tara Platt, was on this one). I ended up popping in to both panels but spent more time in female character one. One of the panelist had some great points- particularly about male writers saying they can’t write female characters, so they don’t even try but women writers are just expected to write female/male/black/white/alien/dog/whatever characters, no questions asked. If everyone else can and does do it, why are so many male writers not even trying to step outside and do something different? Anyways, the gist of her point was in there and it just made ya think.
I did make it to another panel, but I’ll save that for another post.
The very awesome Lance Henrickson and I
A personal highlight for me was getting to meet Lance Henrickson. I have loved him since the knife scene in Aliens. Like… loved! I know I haven’t seen everything he’s done but I’ve seen a lot. And it was an honor to meet him. And get a quick picture. I also picked up his book. When I first walked up to his booth and he was talking to another fan, I picked up the book and started reading the back. He turned to me and encouraged me to read the first page, so I did. I bought the book, which he signed to me, and it came with a personalized 8×10, too. Very sweet.
One thing I was entertained by was two tables in the far end of the dealer room- one held condoms and pushed safe sex as well as being aware of STIs, etc; the other was for a local branch of Furries. Well… I am not into furries, so I walked on by, but it made me laugh every time I walked by because of the placement of the two tables. I highly approve of the condom table, though. Can never be too safe or protected- also, to be honest, I work with a lot of guys who know nothing about safe sex and so I believe that whenever and wherever you can educate people, you should!
There was a lazer tag area, but I never stood around the area long enough to see if it was worth the $2. To be honest, it reminded me of the zombie run seen at Comikaze in 2012- was a better idea than a reality. BUT since I didn’t try it out or stand around to watch, I don’t really know if it was worth it.
My one true issue was from Sunday when I was finally making some purchases and shopping. I stopped at the BOOM! Studios booth to pick up a couple of graphic novels that had caught my eye. When I first walked up, a young man asked if I needed anything, I said no and perused titles/books. He walked away. He then left the booth. Fine, must’ve been his break time. But then after picking out the books I wanted I stood waiting while another guy finished a transaction with a customer (which got longer and longer as they were bantering back and forth) and then he proceeded to ignore me after he was done. In fact, he looked me in the face and then turned away to do something else. Not once asking if I needed anything or if I wanted to buy the books in my hands. Nothing. I was tempted to put the books down and walk away- I probably should have. But I wanted to read them, so I didn’t. But I think, in the future- I won’t deal with BOOM! Studios booths if they treat customers (or is just because I was a woman?) like that. I’ll order through Amazon or go out to a store.
I spent a lot of this convention working in Steve’s booth- hanging out or helping sell prints. It’s always fun talking to fans and other nerds about things we like/love. It’s especially fun when you get to do it hanging out with a friend. If you don’t know Steve’s work (I bet you do, actually) you should check it out. I had the great fun of being able to tell stories about some of the prints in the portfolios because I picked Steve up as a pal a few years ago (at a convention, actually) and have paid attention. Fans really enjoyed some of the commentary. And I giggled every time I saw a favorite print- which I now own a copy of, William Shatner doing “Rocketman”.
I have one question- why do conventions always have such horrid floors? I know they could put down something on top of the horrible cement if they wanted to. 😦 Also, did anyone get the wifi to work? I couldn’t. 😦
My very special Sexy Wolverine, by Mark Texeira
In the end, I came out of Long Beach Comic Con with a new posse of friends, and some sweet swag- finishing my Buffy figure collection (picked up Oz), Lance’s book plus, two graphic novels, and an original sketch by Mark Texeira. And a bucketful of memories that make me laugh. That’s why I love conventions.
Who is coming with next year?
For the rest of the pics from this adventure check out the album on the Facebook page!
Photos here and in Facebook Album provided by James Kus.
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