What was your favorite part of the weekend?
My favorite part of comic con was the atmosphere. I really enjoyed being in an area surrounded by people that share the same love that I do. It was a wonderful community of people, merchandise and knowledge. My favorite thing though was one of the first things Stephen and I went to; a Civil Rights in Comics panel. In which we learned of the most groundbreaking moments in comics and how the LGBT community is represented in comics today. Also discussed was the way that Luke Cage fought racism and how he never used derogatory slurs as a way to represent that “bad guys” use hurtful words (and believe me, some of the things were unbelievable that they were printed in comics) and that our hero never uses such hurtful or degrading words.
What was the biggest disappointment?
My biggest disappointment was the lack of Magic; The Gathering. Yeah I know that sounds funny for it to be my biggest let down, but I was really looking forward to meet some artist of a card game I love just as much as comics. And I really had to think about this question because I didn’t have any disappointment until Cody asked me to come up with a few. Now, I later found out there was a room of people playing but I still would have liked to meet the people that design the cards. I play kitchen table magic with friends, nothing tournament level or any sort of competitive play.
Craziest thing you saw?
Out of all the crazy things I saw, two really stuck out for me; the first one being a hilarious shirt, it had a picture of Jar Jar Binks, and all it said was “Never Go Full Retard.” I about died laughing when I saw that. I really wanted to pick it up, but I was there for comics and not t-shirts. The second thing being Cosplay, I have two different cosplays for this pristine award.
1) Comedian, I got to get my picture with him. He was the only cosplayer I got a picture with, I felt weird asking girls for a picture. I wasn’t sure what proper etiquette was for that. And this dude totally looked like Edward Blake, it was a really solid, well put together outfit.
2) Two-Face. Dude, why the hell did you even show up? It was by far the worse cosplay I have ever seen. Let me describe him to you; He was in a white shirt, half of it scribbled black with what looks to have been a sharpie. He was wearing a clip-on tie; it was cut in half diagonally. And then to make things even worse, half of his face was colored back, I mean come on man. It looked like you were in “black-face” and should have been preforming in the early 20th century. To me, that was in terrible taste.
On a lighter note, Stan Lee walked by me. Yeah sure, Cody got to meet him and get an autograph, but for FREE Stephen and I got to watch him walk by us. Take that!
How do you plan to go next year?
I have to say, I am really looking forward to Comic Con next year in Nashville. I hope that some bigger names will be there in modern comics, I’m looking at you Scott Snyder, Brian Azzarello, Geoff Johns, Jonathan Hickman and/or Matt Fraction. I think next year I am just going to do the Saturday pass unless there are some crazy, and I mean CRAZY panels that I just can’t let myself miss. I am going to say, I’m giving Nashville Comic Con 8 out of 10 stars. I look forward to seeing how things will change next year and I am thrilled my city finally has its own con that isn’t lumped with horror or anime.
(Thought I would share with you guys my main grabs from Nashville Comic Con, I picked up a good condition issue of Uncanny X-Man #136 and Thor and Loki; Blood Brothers along with a bunch of other less cool things)