Professional athletes are often considered to be super heroes, by children and adults alike. Artists have created versions of players as super heroes by incorporating nicknames, puns of those nicknames, and special skills to create incredible costumed super powered beings. Fans show up at games, parties, or their own living rooms donned in their best ‘super fan’ outfits to watch their team play. And of course, many players are fans of comic book characters, video games, sci-fi, fantasy, and horror movies.
Admit it, there’s a bit of a nerd in all of us, some more than others, and there are not many things more exciting to our inner Urkle or sheltered Sheldon, than a whole convention dedicated to all things geek. At Comic Con, nerds of all types, get the opportunity to walk among thousands of “their people” with heads held high and huge giddy smiles across their faces. Last weekend, Pro Player Insiders was very excited, and proud, to be a part of the nerd herd and geek chic.
The Wizard World Comic Con Philadelphia held last Thursday through Sunday at the Pennsylvania Convention Center was the third of eight such events which will continue with stops in New York City, Nashville, Chicago, and Austin. Passes were available for visitors to attend one day or several days and VIP packages were also available.
So what exactly is a Comic Con?
Imagine the typical expo or convention, filled with booths related to new products, services, and information on home repair, insurance, landscaping, and food samples. You drag your family through, if only to spend the day in air conditioned comfort, walking like zombies through each exhausting sales pitch and boring product demonstration. Now imagine that same convention hall, filled with real zombies and loads of other awesome geeky nerdy sci-fi and pop culture related booths and celebrities.
Now we’re talkin!
Wizard World Comic Con Philadelphia featured actors, established as well as up and coming comic artists, comic creators, and a variety vendors selling all types of memorabilia from comic books, television shows, movies, and video games. There were T-shirts, art work, collectibles, toys, jewelry, and posters. And yes, there were booths with some new products and services, but each had a sci-fi or comic book spin to make it interesting. And everyone who attended was given a gift bag which included a special commemorative Wizard World Edition of Robert Kirkman’s comic, The Walking Dead #1.
And then there was the best part.
Comic conventions are known to draw a large variety of cosplayers. Cosplay is short for “costume play”. It is a combination of live performance art and role play, in which fans create costumes and accessories to represent specific characters of their choosing. Costumes can include super heroes, anime, comic books, mange, sci-fi, fantasy, video games, television and movie characters. In cosplay it is acceptable for females to dress as male characters and vice-versa, although some costumes are designed so that the gender of the wearer is difficult to determine. Meanwhile some more daring costumes of sexier characters leave little to the imagination.
Cosplayers interact with each other and hold still to create scenes. Although there was a stage specifically for them to use to hold their poses for the cameras, this activity was happening all across the convention center. Sometimes the interaction was improvised on the spot as certain characters rounded the corner to unexpectedly find a friend or foe, much to the delight of anyone nearby with a camera. Most of the costumes were very impressive, and were both exceptionally well-crafted and highly detailed. The cosplayers willingly stopped and posed for pictures alone or with someone. The interaction with them allowed others to feel involved and really made the convention a whole lot more fun.
Visitors also had the opportunity to meet celebrities including; William Shatner, Jon Cena, Henry Winkler, Sara Underwood, Lou Ferrigno, Lauren Holly, Dean Cain, and several others. For a fee, autographs would be signed or pictures could be taken with the celebrities of your choice. Booths which were very popular this year were Norman Reedus, Michael Rooker, and Jon Bernthal of “The Walking Dead”, but the longest line was for Comic Book Legend, Stan Lee. Famous vehicles included the Mystery Machine, the Batmobile, and the General Lee, all of which also allowed fans to pose for pictures both in and around.
This was PPI’s first Comic Con, but it won’t be the last. Having said that, it’s fairly certain many would not regret adding, “attend a comic con” to their bucket list. Even better, enhance the experience by making a costume and practicing your best pose for the many cameras. But be careful to spend extra time and put lots of detail into your costume, you will face a discerning, yet very appreciative audience.
For further information and tickets visit www.wizardworld.com
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