Exyle

MegaCon 2009

This past weekend I went to MegaCon for the first time.  I was not alone.  Ashley and my brother came with, as well as, some other friends.  I have to say, it was an interesting experience, but a fun one too.  I also surprised myself by managing not to buy anything.

To begin with, MegaCon is a Comic/Anime convention similar to WonderCon and the increasingly famous ComicCon in San Diego.  Artists and editors from all over the industry get together and have panel discussions and showcase their work.  You can buy original art or even comission an artist to do a personal painting for you.  There were also a number of booths selling replica swords, comics, toys and figures, models, costumes, cards, etc.  If you label it “geeky” or “nerdy” chances are it was there.  There were also “Battlebot” contests (which I didn’t get around to seeing, sadly) and media guests.  Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane in the original Superman movies, Lou Ferrigno, who played the Hulk on the television series, Philp Morris, who plays on Martian Manhunter on Smallville (and also, I come to find, owns over 100,000 comics - ridiculous), and Tricia Helfer, who plays Carla on Burn Notice and is also a cylon on Battlestar Galactica were there…just to name a few.

We sat in a few panel discussions.  One was on how to pitch a comic book and the other talked about the increasing trend of making comic books into movies.  Both, to me at least, were informative and entertaining.  The pitching of the comic book panel was useful and told Matt and I that we have a lot of work cut out for us…and that the stars are going to have to align for it to probably get published.  But you never know.  With God on your side, anything is possible.  The second panel was interesting because we were able to hear from writers themselves how they felt about their work being adapted to the screen.  Good experiences and bad…and also about the process.

Lastly, I would like to talk about the costumes.  Wow!!  I knew that people dressed up for these things, but I was totally not prepared for the amount of people I saw in costumes.  To say we were in the minority, by NOT dressing up, would seem like an understatment.  But I do have to say, some people really did an amazing job on their costumes and should be commended.  But, it was definitely like being on a nother planet.  Good times.