Montreal Comic-Con 2013 – Thoughts

If you’ve at all been following me or the site, you’ll know that Montreal Comic-Con 2013 was this past weekend. What a weekend it was! I’d like to begin by thanking the organizers for putting on a great event. Every year they build on what happened in previous incarnations of the con and improve themselves. They had a lot of hurdles set in their way with all the cancellations, and while the replacements they got to fill in were not my cup of tea, the effort involved in getting them is commendable. Kudos to Cliff and the staff!

As for my thoughts, I’m going to break it up into categories, though there may be some cross-over here and there.

THE HOTEL

Okay, so this doesn’t have to do directly with the con, but it played a role in our having a good time over the course of the weekend. The Westin Hotel is just across the street from Le Palais des Congres where Comic-Con is held. This is no small thing. All we had to do once we left the hotel was cross the street and we were at the Con! Despite getting our reservations done late, we were able to get connecting rooms like we wanted and Fab and Lyne got the king-sized bed they asked for. Like last year, I fell in love with the walk-in shower. It seemed a little smaller than the one I had last year, but it was still huge and I still loved it! The downside was that they got rid of the order-in menus they had which played a big part in our enjoyment of the hotel last year. We resorted to room service for breakfast only because we had no interest in going out for breakfast in costume (or going out for breakfast and then coming back to the room to get changed). It was pricy and there wasn’t a lot of selection.

An added plus of the hotel was that it seems like most of the celebrity guests were staying there. Sean Astin greeted us (well he greeted Lyne) as he was heading to the con. Lou Ferrigno, Dave Prowse. Michael Berryman, Neal Adams and Kevin Nash all passed by as we were checking out on Sunday morning. We came across Michael Hogan while walking back to the elevator. After the con was over and Lyne was changing out of her costume, I sat down in the lounge in the lobby and realized that Felicia Day was sitting across from me and Frasier Hines came by also. Not to mention that the DeLorean was parked in front of the hotel as we were packing the car. Now I’m a firm believer in giving the stars their personal space when they’re not at the con so we didn’t pursue a conversation with any of the guests at the hotel…well Michael Hogan, but only because Fab and Lyne got to know him at Reunion Stellaire last year…but all this talk of celebrities brings me to…

THE GUESTS/PANELS

As VIPs this year, we were allowed early admittance to all the panels held in the main auditorium. This meant good seats without long waits in line and was an incentive to attend as many of the celebrity panels as we were even remotely interested in. I assisted seven panels (Margot Kidder, Lou Ferigno, the Battlestar Galactica cast, Felicia Day, Gillian Anderson, George Takei and Sean Astin) and only sat out one (Christopher Lloyd) because it conflicted with the special photo and signature op with Chris Jericho (which I had paid for). Now for my money, I like a guest who’s entertaining and fun to listen to. With that in mind, I think I enjoyed Felicia Day’s panel the most. Margot Kidder, for someone I didn’t care all that much about, was a lot of fun too. George Takei and Sean Astin were great also, but their panels were a little deeper and less “fun”. The Battlestar Galactica cast panel was solid. Lou Ferrigno was alright and Gillian Anderson was a complete bust. As someone who has seen, at most, two episodes of the X-Files, I don’t know why I attended and after listening to her panel, I don’t know why she did either. She didn’t seem like she wanted to be there and she didn’t provide any interesting answers to the questions she was asked.

While we were discussing the panels, Fab said that the strength of a Q & A panel is in the questions that the fans ask and there’s truth in that statement. However, for me, a good panelist can take the most simple or boring question and find a way to make something out of it. Sean Astin was able to craft an incredible answer when one fan asked him simply, “How are you?”

I also think that if you’re going to bother to accept the money to come to a con as a guest, you should make an effort to have some amusing stories ready for just about any project you’ve worked on because there’s always the chance that the person asking a question will be the biggest fan of that project you just did for a quick pay day. As fans, we pay a lot of money to see you and this is the one opportunity we have to ask you a question. It’s kind of disheartening to hear, “Uh, I don’t remember…” or “I don’t know…” I’m looking at you, Gillian Anderson.

Felicia Day is a sweetheart. I brought the picture of Sass as Codex to show her and have her sign it and she loved it. I had two copies and before I could explain that one of them was for her if she wanted it, she had claimed it for herself. She said it was the first piece of fan art she’d been given at this con so far. It was a really great feeling.

Chris Jericho was a little disappointing because he was only there for a very short time (two hours). I was in the middle of Felicia Day’s panel when he arrived so I missed the professional photo op with him and the line for autographs was really long so I ended up waiting for somewhere between a half hour and forty-five minutes and I was worried I wouldn’t get to see him at all before he had to go (he was putting on a concert with his band Fozzy in another venue that night). I was able to get one copy of my picture of Todrick as Jericho signed and give him another copy. He asked if I drew it and what Todrick’s name was and I was allowed to take a picture with him with my own camera since I missed the photo op and that was it.

However, the highlight of the con was probably Mick Foley’s stand-up comedy act. Fab and I went and it was great. Bret Hart was in the audience and he joined Mick on stage for the Q & A afterwards. Another added bonus was that Mick invited Jason Sensation (a gifted wrestling impersonator) to give an added flair to one of the stories he told in his act. Jason’s impersonations of Diamond Dallas Page, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Owen Hart are incredible. I knew Mick was a gifted storyteller from reading his first two books and listening to his wrestling promos over the years, and he had us laughing throughout the show. Loved it!

Last year was an expensive year for me and celebrity guests. This year was less so. When Carrie Fisher cancelled, that left me with Felicia Day (the least expensive of all the guests invited) and Mick Foley’s stand-up comedy show as the only celebrity purchases I really wanted. I let myself be tempted with the prospect of meeting Chris Jericho (with the results you’ve just read about). My wallet appreciated it. Speaking of spending money, let’s move on to…

THE SHOPPING

I was more reasonable this year than I’ve been in years past. I came out of Comic-Con with forty dollars left from the budget I’d set for myself (compared to last year when I went $200 over my established budget). The truth of the matter is, that there wasn’t as much that I felt was special enough to buy. Honestly, with the internet today, I can buy just about anything I want at any time. Con shopping now is the search for that special something that you didn’t even know existed or finding incredible bargains.

With all the panels I attended, I didn’t have as much time to root for special finds and I don’t much care for digging through bin after bin for cheap comics. I still think I made out well, but there was no singular item that made me go “Oooh! Wow! I can’t believe I found this!” this year as I have in past years. I did buy a plushie though (it’s important for me to find a plushie I want to buy at a con) and fill in the most important gaps in some of the comics I collect which was nice. Imagine that! I went to Comic-Con and bought COMICS!

COSPLAY/COSTUMES

Before I get to my cosplay experience, I have to say that there were a lot of great costumes again this year. It’s great to see all the hard work that the fans put into their costumes. Even the ones I don’t recognize. I give major kudos to those who have the courage to dress up. I know that Fab, Lyne and Frank had a great time dressing up. As for me?

I think I’ve touched on before that I don’t feel very comfortable in a lot of social situations. I don’t exude confidence, so putting a costume on and walking around a con is not something I ever thought I’d do.

There are different reasons to dress up at a con. You may want to show your skills as a costume maker, you may enjoy attracting attention to yourself or you may just want to demonstrate your love of a certain character. Usually though, it’s a mix of the three (and more). Whatever the reason(s), when you put on a costume, you’re putting yourself out there. When people recognize you, compliment your work and/or ask for a picture, it’s a reward. The discomfort you may feel because your shoes/clothes are a little too tight, or the elastic from the wig you’re wearing is digging into your skin doesn’t seem so bad…not to mention the money you put into your costume doesn’t seem like such a waste.

I mentioned before that I had two costumes for this year’s con. On Saturday I was going as Flint from GI Joe (the same costume I wore last year) and on Sunday I was going as Ted “Theodore” Logan from Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey.  From wearing the Flint costume last year, I knew I wasn’t going to attract much attention. I was doing it as a favor for Fab who was going as Joe-era Sgt. Slaughter and who was going to be the Bill to my Ted on Sunday. As it turns out, our schedules kept us apart for most of the day and Sarge didn’t really need Flint for back-up as he was a big hit on his own. As for me, I felt like my costume was always getting in the way as I was trying to walk through the crowded halls or sitting in on the various panels and the only recognition I got on my own was from a vendor who was trying to convince me to buy an expensive Sideshow Collectibles Flint action figure (and he succeeded, gosh darnit). I had a lot of fun at the con on Saturday, but none of that fun came from being dressed up.

In contrast, I was really psyched to dress up as Ted on Sunday. My expectations were modest because of my past experiences, but I loved my costume (except for the wig and the shoes). The bonus was that for the people who didn’t recognize the character there was nothing I was wearing that was so odd as to make me feel silly (except for the wig). Fab, coming off his great day as Sgt. Slaughter, probably had higher expectations and I let him build up mine a little bit. Bill and Ted were not hits however. They’ve fallen out of the collective consciousness for the most part. There were a couple of really nice moments though. One vendor said that we had the best Bill and Ted costumes she’d seen in a long time (or did she say ever?) in all the cons she’d been to. A couple of people reacted positively to seeing us and expressed their desire that the much-rumored third movie gets done and I did get some requests for pictures (about the same number as I did both times as Flint combined). My modest expectations weren’t quite met, but I had a LOT more fun dressed up as Ted than I did as Flint and if I can find a better more-comfortable wig, I can see myself dressing up as Ted again even without a Bill alongside me.

Lyne suggested that I choose something ultra-popular for my costume next year. However, I need to have a connection to the character I’m dressing up as and my tastes can be somewhat eclectic or as we’ve ascertained, outdated. I’m also not dedicated enough to learn how to sew or craft things so that means that my costumes are assembled from pre-made pieces I buy. That makes some of the character’s I’d like to dress up as, incredibly difficult to pull off well. Given that I’m already less than comfortable with the idea of dressing up, I won’t compound it by wearing something that I feel looks terrible. I racked my brain this year to come up with a manageable idea I could get behind without much success. Ted came about because I lucked upon a dyed red denim jacket while looking for other things and I’ve always wanted to own a vest like the one Keanu Reeves wore in the movie.  The work I needed to do to make the jacket into the vest was just about the limit of my costume-making abilities.

Given all this, there’s a very good chance I won’t be dressing up for Comic-Con next year. I’ve tried it twice now and didn’t have nearly as much fun as I would have liked, so I’m not sure I want to try again. Who knows, I may come up with a killer idea for next year and come up with it early enough to actually make it happen or I may get caught up in the enthusiasm my friends all share for getting dressed up and whip something together.

CONCLUSION

After reading all this, it may not be clear that I had a good time at Comic-Con, but rest assured I did. There were disappointments and I don’t believe in ignoring them. They were however, outweighed by the bright spots. I arrived home tired but happy and I’m already looking forward to next year’s con!