Hi, everyone. Speedster Dave here. I am new to the community, just joining within the last week or so after meeting you at New York Comic Con. NYCC was my first convention ever. I had been interested in attending for a few years, but felt weird going by myself. Fortunately, I was able to attend with some friends in the area. I’m so glad I was able to finally go! It was so wonderful being around fellow geeks and so encouraging to meet fellow GAY GEEKS! Before this community, I felt very alone in my combined gayness and uber geekiness.
This will hopefully be the first of a series of blogs talking about geeky stuff that interests me and hopefully the community as well. Since NYCC was my first introduction to gay geekdom, what more appropriate first topic for my blog that to talk a little bit about my experience at the con. Like I said, this was my first con ever. It was a wonderfully overwhelming and heady experience.
When I first walked into Javits Center about 11:30 Friday morning, I was completely besieged and bewildered! Where do I go? What do I do first? Where are the artists? Where are the con exclusives? Where is the Geeks Out booth? I wandered aimlessly for the first few hours, nabbing some Hallmark geek ornament exclusives and eventually heading over to Artist Alley, an amazing experience in and of itself with table after table of big names in comics.
For the next 3 days, I meandered back and forth in geeky bliss between the Show Floor and Artists Alley with an occasional foray into panels... Some highlights...
Autographs! Lots and lots of autographs! A friend scored me autographs of Geoff Johns - my comic writing hero - and Jim Lee on my Justice League #1. For days, I got choked up every time I looked at it. Geoff Johns got me back into comics after 15 years and even turned me into a DC Green Lantern and Flash fan! I’ve also been a fan of Jim Lee’s since the 90s. Seeing them together was like seeing movie stars. I got a signed Hellboy comic from Mike Mignola as a gift for my friend's upcoming wedding (You're welcome, Jon!). I also met legendary writers and artists Peter David (Hulk, X-Factor), Chris Claremont (X-Men), Francis Manapul and Brian Buccaletto (The Flash), Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Saga), Walter & Louse Simonson, Ryan Ottley (Invincible), Shane Davis (Superman Earth One), and even Grant Morrison (Action Comics, Batman, JLA, Happy). Amazing... my mind reels at meeting these comic book gods!
Jim Lee and Geoff Johns
Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
I spent a lot of time standing in line waiting for autographs... Sounds boring, right? Not at all! I am normally an extremely impatient person. But when you're standing in the line at the post office, you don't have a endless parade of often scantily dressed, muscle-bound, spandex-clad cosplayers walking by you! Plus, being able to meet and chat with fellow geeks makes it all the more worth it. For instance, I made a new gay geek friend while standing in line for Grant Morrison.... "I gotta admit... I kinda wanna make out with him." "Yeah, me too." Don't judge... Bald guys are hot! Secondly, have you SEEN the Grant Morrison underwear pics?!
The panels. While I would have LOVED to have attended more panels, particularly The Walking Dead panel and the Firefly reunion panel, what I did see I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, I also missed the gay marriage in comics panel - glad to hear it was packed! I did get to see Stephen Amell in the Arrow panel with the ubiquitous Geoff Johns moderating. My favorite moment was when a young man stepped up to the mic: "Stephen, speaking for some of the guys in the room and most of the women, you are HOT!" I'm sure there was a brilliantly posed question as follow-up, but I was too busy admiring Stephen Amell's stubbly face on the projector, thinking "Yes. Yes, he is."
The afore-mentioned stubbly face
I also caught Kevin Bacon and Sean Ashmore pimping the new Fox show The Following, Harry Potter director Chris Columbus promoting House of Secrets, his new young adult book co-written with Ned Vizzini, and a whole host of DC comics creators/gods, including my boyfriend Geoff Johns, promoting Justice League comics.
One of my favorite aspects of the con was the cosplay! Oh my god, the cosplay! It was wonderful! Even the bad cosplay was wonderful. It was just great seeing people have such confidence in themselves and enjoying doing what they were doing. I loved seeing how inventive and creative people were. I wish I had their skill to create such amazing costumes - not to mention the bodies and confidence to pull it off! I took over 100 pictures of cosplay, feeling like a little kid at Walt Disney World. I've uploaded just a few pics below that I think you might enjoy the most!
So, I am no longer a con virgin, and I'm definitely coming back! I plan to hit the much closer C2E2 in Chicago in April 2013, as well as NYCC again in the fall... Unless I go to San Diego!
Thanks again for creating this wonderful community. I look forward to reading and contributing more in the future!
