Pass the Popcorn: Megacon 2011 WrapUp

Monday, March 28 2011 - Pass the Popcorn - by: jared_cm

Well I have to say that my first MegaCon was a resounding success. It was much bigger than I was anticipating, and the level of talent there was off the charts. I was always under the impression that Dragon*Con was more the ‘cosplay con’ but MegaCon definitely gave it a run for its money. The sheer number of creative and very well made costumes was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Granted there were a few people who perhaps made a bad choice in which costume they should wear, it was still quite the spectacle. Check out Daveomac’s posts from the weekend for just a small dose of cosplayers in attendance. I’m terrible at getting pictures, because I always just get caught up looking at something (or someone) so the moment passes or I’m just too awkward to stop and ask somebody for a picture. There was a very high number of various anime costumes, which I’m personally not all that into so I don’t get a lot of them, so between my friends and me “anime” became the go-to answer for any costume we couldn’t figure out. “What the hell is THAT supposed to--- oh, anime. Gotcha.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

As I mentioned in my pre-convention blog, the programming and panels aren’t really a major draw for me at these things, especially with this not being the type of convention that breaks any kind of movie news (me being the ‘movie guy’ and all). However, I did make it out to a couple of them panels that were pretty fun. One was a Robot Chicken panel with co-creator Matthew Senreich and writer Zeb Wells along with special guest Geoff Johns (yes, the same Geoff Johns that writes for DC). There was even a special cameo phone call appearance from Seth Green himself. It was real informal and was more just a Question/Answer type thing, but the guys were all hilarious, and the sizzle reel they showed for the upcoming episodes brought the house down. The other panel was on cover art in comics, and it was a big group of super talented guys including Frank Cho, J. Scott Campbell, Tim Sale, Joe Jusko, Michael Golden, Dave Johnson, and Amanda Conner. This was also more just a Q and A thing, but really there were only about 3 questions and the rest was just the panel discussing things like what it’s like working on covers vs. interiors, how the collaboration process works with colorers, stuff like that. It was super interesting if you’re an art nerd like me.

Speaking of art, Artist’s Alley is where I spent pretty much the majority of the weekend. I always enjoy seeing the crazy level of talent that consistently makes it out to these things. I scored a few prints from some awesome guys and had some great conversations as well. We also got a couple pieces from J. Scott Campbell and Tim Sale, but seeing as how they’re pretty big time they’re out at their own booths away from artist’s alley since their crowds would make it even more impossible to get around. It’s always inspiring to me to go to these shows and see all this art. It makes me want to just go home and immediately start drawing like crazy. You may have heard about the drama going on with a certain hack ‘artist’ who shall not be named, and fortunately that didn’t put too much of a damper on the overall mood or anything. Everyone seemed to be aware that it was going on, but the whole ordeal seemed to be contained to his one little booth, so that’s good.

All in all it was a great (albeit exhausting) weekend. Good times with good people, good art, and I snagged a couple star wars toys I’d been looking for for a long time too. After WonderCon this weekend there’s a bit of a lull in cons for a while. I may swing up to HeroesCon for a day or so just to see what that’s about, then it’s on to Dragon*Con later this year. I wish I was going to be able to make it to San Diego this year, but no such luck. Hopefully next year.

Anyway, thanks again for sticking with me on my rambling, I’ll be back to more regularly scheduled movie-focused rambling next week!