Boston Comic Con took place on August 3-4, 2013 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, MA. The event was postponed from April to August because of the Boston marathon bombing. It was originally going to be held at the Hynes Convention Center in downtown, but it was moved to the smaller seaport trade center on the other side town. Boston Comic Con celebrates a wide variety of pop culture, but still keeping true to comic roots. Guests such as Laurie Holden, Bill Willingham, and Billy West headlined the two day summer event. This was our first time hitting up Boston Comic Con, though we stayed only for Sunday, we got the most out of our dollar.
The Seaport World Trade Center is a few miles away from downtown. Close to some of the best local seafood joints, Boston Comic Con was a hop away off the silver line. The press estimated over 15,000 attendees. While Sunday was the lighter of the two days, there were still a lot of local nerds that showed up to the comic fest.
Programming was very limited. There were only two panel rooms and most of the presentations were very industry focused – not that it’s a bad thing. Saturday had more creator spotlights (ie: Bill Willingham) and Sunday’s big event was The Hobbit presentation featuring Dean O'Groman and Aidan Turner. Panel rooms were small, hopefully this is a temporary problem that will be remedied for 2014.
I attended Yaya Han’s Cosplay 101 panel. A good number of both veterans and newbies showed up to learn what cosplay is all about. Yaya also talked about her new show, “Heroes of Cosplay.” Her role is similar to that of Gordon Ramsey on Hell’s Kitchen and Tyra Banks on America’s Next Top Model. She talked about the inception of the show from years ago. One thing that Yaya highlighted was cosplay competition then and now. To show off your cosplay back then, before social media, you did so by entering in masquerades and cosplay contests at conventions. “Heroes of Cosplay” aims to highlight the competition aspect and will follow cosplayers aiming to win top honors at a convention masquerade. The panel ended with a trivia contest giveaway for 1001 Cosplay Ideas coffee table book. Questions included naming three of Yaya’s original design costumes and naming all of Daenerys’ dragons.
The main exhibit hall floor had plenty of things to check out. There were fan organizations such as the 501st / Rebel Legion and Ghostbuster of New Hampshire. The 501st had a giant Jabba the Hutt just hanging out at the front of the exhibit hall. Mon Mothma was taking donations for photo ops with the illustrious Hutt. Likewise, there were dealer tables. I found it interesting that there were a few booths that sold leftovers of their Comic Con exclusives. Hardbound copies of the first My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic set were easy to be found. Some booths had retro toys and classic comics. There were artist tables of varying styles and stories. I ended up getting a commissioned sketch from Busty Girl Comics.
The cosplay contest started around 3PM. The event was hosted by Yaya Han. The judges were a mix of veteran costumers – Mercy, Panda Valentine, and Brian. The first set of costumers were the kids. We had kids talk about how their parents made the costumes or they had a sister who nudged them to cosplay from Homestuck because they looked like the character. All the kids who entered won a tin lunch box of their choice.
The main contest started. It was essentially walk-ons of costumed characters appearing on stage. Most of the costumers walked on and walked off. There were a few memorable characters – Bain from Dark Knight Rises, Steampunk Batman and Harley Quinn, a very glittery and fabulous Zeus original design, Axe Cop, Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter, Superman, the cast of Futurama, among others. The judges then deliberated on who the winners of the competition were. Judging was merely based more on craftsmanship than presentation since this was all walk-on only. Top honors went to Bane (first place of $300), Zealot (second place prize of $200), and steampunk Batman and Harley Quinn (third place of $100).
The day was winding down. Dealers were packing up and getting ready to go. A few booths had crazy last minute sales – one booth had buy one TPB and get two more TPB’s for free. I ended up getting autographs from some of my favorite artists who were there; Sarah Richards of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Joe Eisma of Morning Glories. I regretted not having a copy of Fables with me for Bill Willingham to sign, but I know he is a New York Comic Con regular.
Boston Comic Con was an excellent adventure. For a casual comic book fan like myself, it was worth it to go for just a day. These are the comic cons I prefer; a good balance of fan life, media guests, lots of nerdy do-dads to buy, and artists all around. The costumes are very diverse; a good mix of anime, pop culture, comics, television, movies, and more. While Boston Comic Con is a much more medium sized convention, it still embraces comic book characters and nerd culture. Shoutouts to everyone who recognized me as Madame Mirage; I was quite surprised people remember this short lived series, but I gotta represent strong femme fatales in comics. Thanks to Team Misaki for the photo shoot and having New England clam chowdah on the seaport. And shoutouts go to the new kids whom I had to explain why the Green Lantern movied sucked - hope you guys research and read more Green Lantern. Until then, see all of you nerds at New York Comic Con! (if anyone is willing to spare two three day badges...)
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