Kicking off the Con season in Dallas full force with two of the biggest conventions happening the same weekend.
A-Kon & Dallas Comic Con’s Fan Expo event – What’s a nerd to do? In my case – go to both.
You can check out our coverage of A-Kon 27 here –
Now over to the Convention Center for……
Dallas Comic Con’s Fan Expo – June 3rd-5th – Dallas Convention Center – Dallas, TX
Let’s get a few things out of the way to start – if you’ve never been to one of these: Essentially it’s a market & trade show – at it’s base, it’s just one big store. All the vendors gathered together in one convenient place. To get the fans to come shop, the convention books stars (past & present) for Q&A’s, autograph sessions & photo ops (which they sell for a premium).
Personally I would never pay for someone’s autograph but I almost suspended that policy this year for Stan Lee who was making his last Con appearance in Dallas.
However, one thing is for sure is that the fans of everything that make up this culture are so dedicated that they are more than willing & happy to part with their cash to support something that has given them so much joy. Everybody wins – not to mention it’s just SO MUCH FUN.
Day 1 (for me) Saturday June 4th
So I arrived late in the afternoon due to my dual coverage of A-Kon & I didn’t wanna be bouncing back in forth.
My plan was to do A-Kon on Friday, split it on Sat on just Fan Expo on a very awesome & packed Sunday.
Disappointed that I missed Q&A panels from both Frank Miller & John Cusack, I was excited just the same to arrive right on time for C-3P0 himself.
Anthony Daniels
This had to be one of the more interesting & certainly most entertaining of these types of fan Q&A’s I’ve ever attended.
What you can expect usually is the subject arrives & is often interviewed by a moderator who asks questions designed to plug the talent’s latest offerings & then fans lineup behind a microphone so the subject can field fan sourced questions for about 20-30 mins.
That can sometimes be the best part of the experience due to it’s spontaneity (given when it doesn’t devolve into fans crying and telling personal stories of tragedy that they somehow equate with the subject and how their performances have somehow saved them from real-life impending doom….that shit SUUUUUCKKS).
Instead, Anthony Daniels, a master performer & story-teller forewent a moderator, stood the entire time & switched between an adopted faux annoyed celebrity (for comic relief sake) & his C-3P0 persona as he stalked around the room basically turning the occasion into street theatre right before your eyes. It was masterful.
He would tell stories and then act out like full scenes with perfect dialogue and voice affectations, certainly more than anyone here had bargained for.
Bless you Mr. Daniels, it was wonderful. Probably my fave part came when a young boy around 11 or so asked “What is your favorite part of being in Star Wars?” and without missing a beat Daniels replied “My favorite part is being in front of you today sharing stories my fine young man”.
Magical.
Cosplay Contest
Of course it wouldn’t be a Comic Con without the amazing cosplayers roaming around in their awesome often self-made costumes that really make up the spirit of the con. Even if they weren’t competing this is essentially what the con is about as what would it be without enthusiastic fans?
Lauralai Woodstock & Ricky May (right)
I returned to the same spacious room where Anthony Daniels had given such a memorable performance earlier for the official Cosplay Contest.
Judge Panel
Hosts
Hosted by dude on the left (Joker) who remained in character throughout which was only slightly annoying & at at times his quick retort was actually quite hilarious. Definitely an improvement over the guy on the right who’s effeminate, elitist sounding voice afflictions (that mirror comic-book guy from The Simpsons) give me hives.
Contestants
I stuck around to shoot for as long as I could before heading back over to A-Kon but as you can see the entries lined up wrapped the room twice.
Impressive displays by all & congratulations to the winners.
Day 2 (for me) Sunday
Returned bright & early for a packed day loaded with great guests. The focus of today was going to be the amazing panels they had scheduled seemingly one awesome attraction after the other back-to-back all day. This was perfect given my double-duty with A-Kon status as I wasn’t returning to the anime fest and practically everything I wasn’t interested in covering was today.
Lucy Hale
Perfect start to an amazing day with one of my favorite actresses from one of my favorite shows, the always impressive Lucy Hale
from Pretty Little Liars.
Her panel was in the large auditorium room where the Cosplay Contest (see above) was held yesterday but today it was freezing in there.
Prior to her arrival they were playing the PLL theme song Secret from The Pierces on a loop. I realized that I’d never heard the song in it’s entireity & while it’s a great song, they played it so many times I don’t think even the die-hard fans in attendance are ready to hear it again anytime soon haha.
Her Q&A was hosted by one the Fan Expo coordinators (who looked just like my man Claude Coleman Jr. of Ween).
Lucy entered looking perfectly chic as expected but delightfully candid (she too was freezing) & great with the fans.
Her followers are fanatical so alot of the “questions” devolved into crying and tales of personal tragedy (this happens way more often than you would expect at these things I’m discovering) but she handled it all like a pro & some fans she’s got to know personally over the years (see below).
In addition to the Q&A Lucy also participated in autograph signings & photo ops. The girl in the picture on the right also attended the Q&A & one of the fans Lucy mentioned by name as she has an incredible story of overcoming some pretty intense odds.
With Chewbacca Mom who Lucy answered as the person she was most looking forward to meeting at the Expo (left)
& with designer Janelle Hansen (right)
In a nutshell Lucy is just a nice Southern girl from Memphis (who just happens to be devastatingly gorgeous & talented) & her success doesn’t appear to have changed that. I got to hang with her a bit a few Summers ago when she released her country album Road Between & performed at the State Fair of Texas while I do was doing a social media campaign for Chevy & she was as charming & down to earth as you would hope she’d be.
Todd Mcfarlane & Stan Lee
This was special beyond description regardless of who you are or what your specific interests were. Stan Lee (who sadly announced this would be his final Con visit to Dallas) was pure magic loaded with adjectives only he could invent.
Led by long-time friend & collaborator, legendary comic artist & toy creator Todd Mcfarlane, watching the rapport of these two masters was enough but what Lee brought to the table was inspiring enough to take your breath away if you weren’t so busy laughing at his masterful quips.
Seriously, at any age this was perfect, but at almost 94 years young to still have that fire & maintain the same enthusiasm that has brought so much joy to so many for so long (& watching Mcfarlane who’s half his age trying to keep up with it) was a life-affirming gesture from one of the greatest minds of the 20th Century – Bless you Stan Lee – Excelsior!
Before the next round of panels I hit the main floor where the Cosplay was still in full effect on the final day of the Expo –
Pro Cosplayers
Cosplay has influenced the advertising industry, in which cosplayers are often hired for event work previously assigned to agency models. Thus, new variant of cosplay has developed in which cosplayers attend events mainly for the purpose of modeling their characters for still photography. Some cosplayers have since transformed their hobby into profitable, professional careers thus introducing the Pro Cosplayer.
Lots of talent this year.
Leanna Vamp & friends
Holly Wolf (right)
MCubed Cosplay (right)
& checking out a few other attractions I came across some other great talents –
GI Joe Artist Robert Atkins
After getting something to eat (don’t come hungry to this Expo unless you wanna spend $9 for popcorn & there are no alternatives within walking distance) I was ready to take in the final two panels of the day (& Expo).
George Takei
While I can’t claim I’ve ever been a huge follower of Star Trek, I’ve always found cast member George Takei fascinating. I don’t know if that stems from my obsession with unique voices but he is definitely one of a kind & one of the most positive & charming speakers I’ve ever witnessed.
Like Anthony Daniels the day before, he didn’t require any assistance and spoke to the audience directly while fielding questions (standing) he was engaging, personal and didn’t stray from tough topics. As one of the most famous gay men in the world, as well as a minority in North America, he’s had to deal with his fair share (sadly) of racism & homophobia which he addressed with the same positive candor of any other question.
Thoroughly enjoyed Mr Takei’s entire panel.
Jay & Silent Bob Get Old
Last but not least (but definitely late….over an hour to be exact) was Filmmaker Kevin Smith & co-hort Jason Mewes doing a special (ticketed) event recording a live podcast episode of Jay & Silent Bob Get Old.
In their defense the reason for such tardiness was their own popularity as they had participated in a signing/photo opp appearance just prior to the show that was running late because of such demand (& you really can’t hold that against them).
Was unsure how this was going to play out after a dreadful (non-recorded) version of this show I witnessed in Hollywood back in October.
I had seen it in it’s infancy (also in LA) way back in 2010 & didn’t think much of it then & then the Hollywood appearance was a total head-scratcher.
I’m pleased to report that while it was still was far from perfect by comparison it was actually quite fun & even without comparisons, the large crowd & late hour + the recording gave it an immediacy that was a total hoot.
After getting off to a slow start (Smith rambled for almost an hour before letting Mewes even speak) to which after he said (in all seriousness) “So now let’s get the show started” people nervously laughed as if to say “Ok NOW the show is starting?”.
But the magic did come with lots of laughs & great spontaneity (that Smith is known for).
Namely being during a hopelessly stupid segment that Mewes conducts called Let Us Fuck, where they bring up volunteers in the audience to act out an improved air-sex scene. This was injected with even more surreality as it’s participants were all in Cosplay, most memorably this lanky dude that turned out to be a Martial Arts instructor that Smith goaded into kicking a Red Bull can from his hand (that he pulled off in perfect spinning heel kick fashion to huge applause).
Part II of the skit included this total babe Kalah as Thor doing an hilarious Air-Sex joke with Mewes. Kalah was one of the most fun people I spoke with & shot immediately after serving as the fitting last & totally awesome cosplayer of the Expo.
Thanks to Dallas Comic Con for having us & congratulations on another great year. To all the guests & vendors & the amazing cosplayers we met thank you for making this year extra special. See ya next time! (& check out this mini-expo below!).
DFW GI Joe & Action Figure Show – June 11th – Grapevine Convention Center – Grapevine, TX
As a life-long follower of everything Joe, I look forward to this annual event as it’s close, intimate & really the only one of it’s kind locally.
Produced by Keith & Hank they put on a great show every year full of awesome vendors, artists & good fun.
First thing I see when we walk in this awesome LARP group called the Fightin 788th who had an impressive setup complete even with personalized file cards & movie grade replica gear. Seriously awesome.
Right next to them was a fascinating character, Doug – a collector of the original Joe figures & brilliant diorama creator.
Had so much fun learning and speaking with Doug and enjoying the fruits of his labor these amazing displays all made by him with care.
Vendors –
On the left there is my old buddy Rich Simmons, fellow Joe fanatic (& frequent guest on our TrickyKid Radio Podcast).
Check out his booth at your local toy show, he’s got great prices & one of the raddest dudes I know.
On the right (& with all due respect to Rich) I almost gave this dude all my money. I no longer collect toys but naturally their are still a few things from childhood I’d still like to own (& he seemingly had like two of all of it, the original shit, MY SHIT from 1982) & all for reasonable prices.
Artists
Had a great talk with Eddie Medina, a local (& supremely talented) artist. Also a super nice guy that does some really great stuff.
Check out his site here & also I’m sure you can catch him around town as well at like-minded events.
Much thanks to Keith & Hank for having us again this year and I look forward to watching this unique show grow larger each year.
See ya next time!
Photos –
Roy Turner
Rodderick Pullum
