June 19, 2011
Philadelphia Convention Center, Philadelphia PA
I admittedly, am a huge geek – video/computer game player, comic book and action figure collector & yes, cosplayer. So when the Wizard World Comic Convention comes around to Philly, I get pretty excited. Last year I was lucky enough to have a 3 day Arthur Suydam VIP pass, and dressed up as 3 different Zenescope characters (Calie and Alice Liddle and Sela Mathers). But this year because of work obligations, I could only go on Saturday, one of the busiest days for the con, which seemed to have even more support than last year. I always love seeing people dressed up and meeting artists for the first time (or again) and feeling the rush of finding a comic that I’ve been looking for.
I spend ridiculous amounts of money on comics on a normal basis at both Cyborg 1 in Doylestown, PA and Brave New Worlds in Willow Grove, PA. I read all sorts of things, although on the recent spectrum I collect The Boondock Saints and Grimm Fairy Tales Dream Eater Sage from Zenescope. I’m more into back issues of older comics like Spawn, Doom Patrol and X-Men. It’s easy to find trade paperbacks with compiled series, which is why when I go to WWCC I tend to search for things that are a little harder to find. Ever since I was a kid watching X-Men on TV and reading the comics I loved Gambit and Rogue, so since I already had all of Rogue’s limited series, I figured I could finish up my Gambit collections. I have no idea why some of these comics are so hard to find at cons, since they’re on eBay all the time, but what fun is just ordering these kinds of things online? I love flipping through boxes of comics, finding pieces of the collection that I need one by one.
I’m also a huge fan of Todd McFarland and all of his figures. Anything Spawn happens to be of particular interest, and since I’ve been drooling over his Age of Pharaohs series, I managed to pick up 3 out of the 6 figures in the set. Of course the 3 I really wanted, Spawn, Isis and The Crocodile King were nowhere to be found, but that’s to be expected. Incredibly, I also completed my Watchmen set by finding the last Rorschach variant that I needed. After countless horror and comic conventions not seeing it, I didn’t think I’d find it anywhere but eBay, so I was very happy about that.
Now, being the huge geek that I am, how could I not be a fan of Star Wars? I mean, I grew up watching the first 3 movies on VHS and had high hopes of one day having an Ewok stuffed animal. Well, last year I bought Paploo (with tag) and was ecstatic to finally have one of these Kenner creations from the mid eighties. This year I actually completed the collection of large sized dolls by buying Wickett W. Warrick, Princess Kneesaa and Latara. Yes, I am totally lame, I realize this.
I got a few things singed, mostly by artists that I’ve already met like the Zenescope crew of Raven Gregory, Nei Ruffino and Mike Defalbo. While I was there, although I don’t go to comic conventions to meet actors I also met Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus for the third time (this time not at a horror convention). The highlight of my life was last year, when I got to meet and have some comics signed by Lee Weeks, one of my all time favorites.
My preparations have already begun for Philly Con next year, but coming up in October is the New York Comic Con, for which I’m hoping to have a brand spanking new costume (Leia’s Metal Bikini from Episode VI: Return of the Jedi). It should be interesting to say the least…
- RIOT!
No comments:
Post a Comment