And thus my 2010 convention tour concludes. There was a time, not too long ago, where I could only look forward to going to one con a year, so I feel very lucky to not only have gone to five this year, but to have also had good reasons to be at all of them. From Wondercon to C2E2 and from SDCC to NYCC, it’s been a wild ride, and I couldn’t think of a better place to wrap it up than at the Long Beach Comic Con. All you maniacs will, of course, remember that I had my fateful "island encounter" with Comic Vine at last year's LBCC and, thus, the show will always be special to me.
Part of the appeal of going to a smaller convention like this is the chance to have more access to people you're fan of. Tony, Joey, Sora and I were actually all pleasantly surprised (and even a little startled sometimes) to be on the other end of that equation, as a good number of attendees recognized us from the site (one even knew Sora from his YouTube channel!) Between that and the official/unofficial meet and greet, I need to give proper shout-outs to Grim, DCGal, Kitschy, Love Nuggets and SDaoudi. If I met you, but didn't catch your screenname, please let me know in the talk back so you can be properly recognized!
Like I always say, interacting with fans and users is what's really fun about attending shows like this and I got a special enjoyment out of getting to do another trivia challenge on the floor. This time, no less than Kick-Ass and a Ghostbuster participated, and we even had some players try phoning in a friend for help. == TEASER ==
While I didn't do any signings at the show, I still had plenty to keep me busy. I got the excellent opportunity to MC LBCC's opening ceremonies and introduce Tim Bradstreet, J. Scott Campbell and an odd group of Batgirl, Chun-Li, Supergirl, a Stormtrooper and the Hulk to the media. I had the great honor to participate in a panel on writing for comics with industry heavy weights Marv Wolfman, Jimmy Palmiotti and Barbara Randall-Kesel. Having been a fan of their work since I first got into comics, I really can't express how surreal it was to be sitting with them. I also had the dubious distinction of winning the Indy Comics STREET FIGHTER IV tournament that Video Game Saturday put on - - something those piles and piles of quarter used in my misspent youth can account for.There are videos of all of these that'll be going up eventually. In the mean time, you can enjoy these pics...
And, of course, there was the cosplay. I didn't get to take too many pictures of the attendees, but I'll tell you that it was definitely (pun intended) treat to see them all on the convention floor and at the Hero Initiative costume party...
LBCC's already got plans to come back next year, and there's also going to be a one-day expo next spring. Even though I'm looking forward to getting some rest after this long convention tour, I'm definitely looking forward to attending those events too. Two-for-two, LBCC has been uniquely incredible experience for me.
UPDATE == And here's the video of the opening ceremonies that Sora's generously provided....
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE . Order them on Amazon here & here .
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