SuperMegaFest 2012

Well, I tried last week to get Mail Order Monday back on track again and this week I have something else to post. Oh well! This weekend we went to an annual local comic convention called SuperMegaFest. We've been going to it off and on for a few years now and it's really starting to take off and grow.

When we first started going there were maybe a couple of artists, a handful of celebrities from the past and a dealer room. Now it's expanded to a few more areas in the hotel to accommodate more artists, and for some reason, lots of overly-busty models.
You can hit the show's site to see the full guest list this year.

We weren't even going to go this year, having checked the guest list a few months ago there wasn't anyone particularly exciting we wanted to see. But I caught a tweet from Bruce Boxlietner Thursday night saying he was getting ready to head to Boston. I checked the con page and sure enough, Tron himself was going to be at the con! And so was Dean Cain. My wife's a big Superman fan. So the two of them made it a done deal for us!

We arrived around the same time we usually do and as we drove past the hotel to the parking lot, there was a line outside. In the years we've been going, there has never, ever been a line. Lesson learned for next year: buy advance tickets! Stan Lee was at the con only on the day we went and I'm guessing he was the reason for the hour long line to get in.

Once we got in, it was only about 20 minutes until Bruce's Q&A session, so I went to that. The room was fairly small, seating maybe 100 people. He talked a lot about Babylon 5, which I've never seen, but he was so funny and entertaining that it didn't matter. He took lots of questions and would go on and on with his stories and opinions on things. For the record, he doesn't care for Twilight.

And of course, Tron was brought up. He talked about how he did scene readings to help cast the leads in Tron: Legacy. He told a great story about how on separate occasions during filming both he and Jeff Bridges had to take Garret Hedlund aside and tell him to cool it with the partying. "When The Dude tells you to stop partying, you're in trouble."

He also said he really liked working on the animated series Tron: Uprising and wished Disney could figure out what they're doing with it because of its off and on airings (I have to agree with that!). From everything he said it definitely seems like another movie is in the works.

After the Q&A, it was time for his photo op. I'm not going to rant about this much but I really dislike the idea of having to pay for a photo with a celeb in addition to paying them for an autograph. Some people were even charging to take pics with your own camera at their autograph table! I guess they have to make money too. I didn't post my photo with Bruce because for a professional photo, it's a little overexposed/blown out by the flash. The pro photo ops are only 20 minutes long for everyone that bought one so there's no time for socializing or do overs. You're in, snap, you're done. I did get to see him at his table when I got his autograph.

 

Then I got to go check out the rest of the show. It was packed! It's been pretty full in previous years but nothing like this year. The dealer area is pretty much the same every year with the same people there. There was a lot more people in costume this year, which was amazing. The cosplayers are my favorite part of any con. Their creativity is inspiring, like the below...

This is not a statue or prop, this is a guy in a homemade costume!

Star Wars author Ryder Windham was there with the local 501st doing book signings. I was lucky enough to catch him when no one else was around so I got to chat with him for about 20 minutes. He was super nice and great fun to talk to because he's also a fan.We mostly talked about his newest book (which I got signed), The Millennium Falcon Owner's Workshop Manual. I asked if there were plans for more books like this and he said it was probably still a secret but there will be a similar book on the Death Star released next year. But you didn't hear it from me!

Because of the timing of Bruce's photo op, I wasn't able to go to Dean Cain's Q&A but I did go when my wife went to his booth and get an autograph. He was extremely friendly and took his time talking to fans. He seems like a really genuine type of guy. Even though I hadn't said anything to him, as he was saying bye to my wife and her friend, he offered to shake my hand and thank me for coming by.

Overall, the show was a blast, if a bit overcrowded. It's starting to feel more like an actual con than a flea market. There was never anyone there before that I wanted to hear a Q&A from and that made the day that much better. 

You can see all my con pics over on Flickr including the local Ghostbusters chapter, the Fourth Doctor, Ferris Bueller, a female Bane, Finn and BMO from Adventure Time, Demona from Gargoyles and a lot more. There's also pics from previous cons in 2009 with Cindy Morgan (Yori in Tron) and 2008 with Carrol Spinney (Big Bird & Oscar). 

And Flickr user FirstPersonShooter has more awesome pics.

I'll leave you with Wendy and Mabel from Gravity Falls.