Now Let's Talk Conventions

Hi everybody, it's me, Faceless CalvinPitt! I hate to do that, but some of you may be axe murderers, and I don't want my face recognized. So, some general thoughts from the weekend.

- I'd say that Ken got a much bigger crowd this year, but by moving to a larger locale, it seemed less crowded. A lot more vendors, an entire wall for various creators, and even with gaming being deemphasized from last year, still there was more than enough room to accomodate them. Best of all, I never got that claustrophobic feeling I get when I feel like there are too many people around me.

- On Saturday, there was a small child who apparently has the same name as me, and the kid tended to get too far away from his mom, which lead to a lot of me looking up from a longbox when I heard some lady call my name sharply.

- I expect Ken to take the week off. The man was constantly on the move both days, checking with the guests, greeting the fans, making announcements. I have no idea how he does it.

- Had two Darth Vaders prowling around on Saturday, several Sith/Jedi, a Imperial officer (also known as Vader's Crushed Throat Whipping Boys), and a Chewie, plus a guy trying to pull of brooding Anakin in Episode 3. He did pretty well, certainly had the poofy hair. I enjoyed seeing a little kid walk up to one of the Vaders and proclaim him too short to actually be Vader. I was polite enough not to laugh then, but faux Vader ain't here, so I now say, with full impunity, ha ha!

- Having been someone who rarely pays attention to who was making the comics I was reading (until about two years ago), I don't know much about creators, including what they look like. That being said, I was still surprised that Denny O'Neil reminded me of former Clinton adviser James Carville. Or was it Agent Skinner from the X-Files?

- After making a comics purchase, the vendor I bought from threw in a Roy Thomas written Conan the Barbarian for free. Sadly, Mr. Thomas was on lunch break at the time, and I was called away to meet some friends before I had an excuse to go up and talk to him. Still not sure what I would have said, since I don't know how much of his work I've read. Missed opportunities.

- While perusing the longboxes, I came across something I had to have. Curses, I was two dollars short! I rushed out of the convention, desperate to get to an ATM. Naturally, I had the entire SEMO campus between me and my vehicle. Let that be a lesson kids: Parking far away because you enjoy walking is stupid. Fortunately, I was able to get to a cash machine and return before my prize was gone. What did I purchase, you ask? Oh, not much just...

-The entire run of NextWave!!! Can you feel the Earth tilt off its axis? Can you feel the power? Upside-Down Puppy feels it, see!

-Ah, Warren Ellis, I don't know what your beef is with Tom DeFalco, but I do know that in the afterlife, when you find out your maker likes Spider-Girl and Speedball, NextWave is going to be what saves you. Joe Quesada will likely not be so fortunate.

- I can't really think of anything else to say. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, I enjoyed myself, so it all works out. So let's end with a picture of a stormtrooper just kicking it.