Baltimore Comic Con

I love comics. That is that hard to believe considering I have a comic book themed wedding. Despite this love of mine, I have never been to a comic book convention until now. Joining my husband and a couple friends who are convention veterans, I ventured to the Baltimore Comic Con. 

It was overwhelming. If you have never been to a convention before, you don’t realize how much there is to see when you get there.  When you go through the double doors into the convention center, there are booths and displays immediately in front of you, screaming for attention, while the people swarm around you trying to get by. There is what feels like a million booths to try and look at. Some of the booths have the artist and writers of comic in them that will sign some of their work, or for a small fee draw your something. Other booths are full of merchandise that you can purchase, such as toys, tee shirts, comics, prints and posters. 

Falcon

Then there are the people. There is a large variety of people that come to comic book conventions. It is like a kaleidoscope of whimsy. If person isn’t in Cos-play, they are probably sporting an equally nerdy tee shirt. I saw everything from Transformers, to Disney Princesses, to X Men and Mario. There were probably a dozen Batman, Superman and Green Lantern tee shirts, and maybe twice that many Doctor Who players.  I felt like I could happily sit in a corner and play Cos-play Bingo if they had such a thing.  I personally think that it takes a special sort of bravery to dress up in Co-splay. Not every can do it, and those that do do it, show the love for a particular character to the world proudly.

Keith Giffen

One of my favorite things about the whole Baltimore Comic Con experience was talking with artists.  Not every one in a booth wants to talk to people and be their buddy, in fact several of them I suspect would be much happier locked in a room with a pad of paper and a bunch of pens with nothing to do but draw what ever they
wanted. However, there are quite a few writers and artists that are sociable and very kind and patient to the chaotic swirl of hot sweaty bodies.  Justin Jordan (writer of Luther Strode) and Tradd Moore (Artist of Luther Strode and Morning Glories #28 Variant) were incredibly nice to talk with while they both signed my husbands copies of Luther Strode.  Keith Giffen  charmed my husband and I with stories of Lobo that were unfit for print. It was nice that even artist and writers that were just finding feet, such as Christopher Clements were engaging about what their inspiration was. To me, it seems like every one that took the time to be there was a super hero to some one, even if they weren't in costume.

I loved the energy of all of it. Even the not so great parts weren't horrible. I don't like crowds. It was crowded. I don't like touching people. I was bumped into a million times and if I wanted to look at anything, I had to get elbow deep into a crowd. I ran out of hand-sanitizer. My feet hurt by the end of the day, and the hard cement floor was unforgiving with someone who had half a dozen graphic novels and equally that many bagged and boarded comics in a page bag.  It didn't matter. Everything was perfect, when you can look person in the eye and smile and they smile back, because you both love the same thing. With much anticipation and hopefully a much larger spending wallet, I look forward to going to next years convention.