Creation Boston 2025 - Supernatural Convention

Last weekend, Mrs Dex and I went to our first Creation Entertainment convention, which was also our first Supernatural convention. 

 

 Creation has been around since 1971 and they specialize in fandom specific conventions. I've been to I don't know how many local comic conventions and a handful of Star Wars Celebrations but this was definitely the most intimate con I've attended. And I have to say, it was probably the best run con I've been to with regards to making sure people got their autographs and photo ops. Of course there were lines, but they did a great job calling up people by rows to get in the lines and keep them relatively short.

 

Supernatural fans are called family. Now, before you start getting in your Fast & Furious jokes, let me tell you I now know why that is. Everyone we interacted with from fans, to vendors, to the celebrities were all incredibly nice. They were also welcoming and excited for us when we mentioned it was our first Supernatural con. 

 

Even though Boston is about 20 minutes away, we made this our "big vacation" for the year; splurging on a hotel room, upgraded tickets packages, and a few photo ops. It was definitely nice to only be a few floors up and not have to travel into the city every day.

 

Being a smaller con, the majority of the events took place in the hotel ballroom. This was nice because there wasn't much in the way of counter programming where you had to choose one event over another. Most of the events were panels of one or more actors talking to the fans and doing Q&As. Our tickets included assigned seating which was great because we were close to the stage and it also meant we were sitting next to the same people all weekend so we got to know a few folks.

 

Rhode Island ComicCon 2022

 This past weekend was the annual Rhode Island Comic Con. This was only my second time at this show, the last time being in 2018.

I have to say, having just attended Fan Expo Boston a couple months back, the RI show was definitely better laid out. Making use of three locations really helped space out the people. I did also go on Sunday, which is usually less busy than Saturday so that probably helped too.

 

The main draw for us here was Jared Padalecki from Supernatural and Walker. There's some kind of contractual thing that prevents Jared from doing Supernatural appearances unless the con is hosted by a specific company but that's okay because we went to panels for both shows. 

 

Fan Expo Boston 2022

This past weekend Mrs Dex and I attended Fan Expo Boston, our first comic convention since the Covid hit.These things have been around for decades and they still have co-ordination issues. I'm not saying I could do it better, just that they should have figured some stuff out by now.

For example, here is a section of the autograph area. It's not even the part that was really crowded. If you wanted an autograph (whether or not you pre-purchased it) you had to stand in line. Which is fine, that's unavoidable. They sold a lot more Ming-Na Wen auto tickets than expected and to keep her line down, they were handing out numbered tickets. They would then update the whiteboard near her line saying if you had number xxx or lower, you could get in the line. Why not just make this policy for everyone? Less time in line means people have more time to spend money elsewhere! Anyway, I'll try to keep my griping to a minimum. 

There were a ton of cool guests but time (and money) prevented me from getting to meet them. But I can truthfully say I was in the same building as Ewan McGregor so that counts for something!

Rhode Island Comic Con 2018

I went to Rhode Island Comic Con this past weekend for the first time and had a blast.

If you're a regular reader, you might recall me having gone to several Boston Comic Cons in the past. The last time I went was before they moved it to the new location so I don't know how it now stacks up now compared to RICC. But I will say RI seems to work much better than where Boston used to be.

The main drive behind checking out RICC this year was that celebs from Mrs Dex's favorite show, Smallville, were making an appearance. Not that I wouldn't want to go otherwise. Who doesn't love a good comic convention? We got to the con about an hour after doors opened and although there was still a line, it went very quickly and we basically walked through the queue area and right in.

After getting in we checked out some cosplay and herded ourselves to the autograph area to check them off our list to make sure we didn't miss them. The auto area was pretty well laid out but there were some congested areas. We walked around to see all the celebs. You can see the guest list here. The "headlining" guests were in a different building altogether and I didn't even try to sneak a peek at them fearing the crowds.

We got autos from Tom Welling (Clark) and Michael Rosenbaum (Lex). Laura Vandervoort (Supergirl) was there also. Tom was a lot taller than I expected and when I mentioned that he said thank you. He followed that up with something else which all of us were laughing about when the photo was taken. We didn't do a selfie with Michael (although he was super fun) because it's all about the money. I can understand having to pay for a selfie if you don't get an autograph but having to pay extra just for a photo taken on your phone is crazy to me.

I don't want to rant too much on the whole pricing thing but I'm interested to see where celeb con appearances go in the future. Between autographs, selfies, and pro photos I can't see the prices some people are asking lasting.

After the Smallville peeps, I wanted to meet John DiMaggio (Bender/Futurama, Jake/Adventure Time) but his line was capped because he had a photo op going on. We got lunch and went back to wait in line for him. It was still going to be about 30-45 minutes before he came back but I was second in line when he did.

Well, make that third in line. There was a group at the front of the line with service dogs. John not only took photos with the people but also the dogs!

He was also genuinely nice and took time to chat with everyone. We then had a little bit of time to explore until we had to get in line for the Smallville panel.

The person that made these was never at their table which is too bad because I would have loved to chat with them about the Labyrinth stuff they did.

We got in line for the panel about an hour before it started. A lot more people that I expected ending up showing up so it was a good thing we got there early! After the panel, we headed to the photo op area for our scheduled time.

The people before us had to take a couple photos because the flash was reflecting off their glasses, so Michael is playing with my wife's glasses lifting them up and down during the photo. Usually these pro photos are a blink and you miss it thing and while we were only with them for a minute or two I didn't feel like we were rushed through like other times I've done these.

With the last of our scheduled things done by 5:30 we finally had time to walk the vendor floor. Of course there was a ton of cool stuff and lots of artists but I only bought one thing.

A Creature from the Black Lagoon Buddha! The photo isn't fuzzy, this "statue" was 3D printed. It looks a little better in person. The guy selling these had a ton of different ones. Pretty much whatever your fandom is, he's got something. This was also the smallest one but it was the best shade of green so I went with it. Definitely check out MuckyChris to see his 3D printed stuff, inlcuding a couple of light switch plates that are pretty neat.

The local Star Wars costuming and droid builder groups were there and had quite the crossover happen when they got a visit from another franchise.

These guys are amazing to see in person. Yes, the eye moves and makes the sound! I'm presuming these are the same guys I see at other local cons because how many of them could there be?

Normally this would be the part of the post where I send you to Flickr for the rest of my pics but there were so many great costumes I have to show off a few more.

Left is one of my favorite group cosplays. There was quite a bit of crossplay (gender swapped characters) going on at the con which is great. The dude on the right was rockin his Wonder Woman outift like nobody's business. Unfortunately, I was only able to catch him while going up an escalator and didn't get  his sword in the shot.

How awesome is that Red Fraggle?

This Gravity Falls group wasn't even together. The girl dressed as Mabel saw the other guys and rushed to get her photo taken with them. The wizard on the right goes by Brandon the Shapeshifter on Instgram. If you like incredible costumes, go check him out. It's hard to tell from the photo but the spell book lights up too.

And that's a wrap!

Even though we probably spent close to half our time at the con in line for something, be it autograph, photo, panel, or food, I still feel like we had a good day and got to see a lot. I know there are areas we didn't get near but I'm good with that. I'd still like to check out the new place where the Boston con is held and would definitely like to go back to RICC again.

Here's all the pics from the day.

Boston Comic Con 2016

Boston ComicCon was this past weekend and at best, I think I can say I had a pretty okay time. The main reason we went was to see John Barrowman again and he did not disappoint, but I'll get to him later.

We planned to get there at 11, an hour after the doors opened, figuring the line to get in would have pared down by then...

Nope!

Not only was there still a huge line, but for some reason, we were lined up in a different place than what was sent out in an email from the convention days before. The plan was to line up around the building and this line went a few blocks away from the building.

To give you an idea, the red line is where we ended up going and the green arrows show the path around the building which has a lot more space for people to line up and be out of the general public's way. I'm not great at estimating distances but if you look toward the bottom left of the green (next to the word Priest) you'll see the Spirit of Boston which is a luxury cruise yacht. Not a small ship!

Once we got to the end of the red line in front of the building, we then had to follow the green arrows all the way around to get back to the front. Maybe they did stick to the plan and there was such a line that it went around the building and then down the block? The only good thing about waiting in line for an hour just to get in, is that the days before and after were in the mid-90s and ultra-sunny and the one day we went it was maybe mid-80s and overcast.

Once we got in, we hit the bathrooms, met a couple friends, and went to grab lunch. Waiting in line for food was another hour. By the time we finished eating, it was around 1:30. We had a 2:30 photo op with John Barrowman so we went back, browsed the floor a bit and got in line for his autograph. Next to the line for the bathroom, this was the shortest line of the day, and also the hottest.

I say this every year but the event space is not equipped to handle the increasing amount of people that come. The aisles aren't wide enough and it gets way too hot. Thankfully, there was a large fan just before John's table. He had a good sized line so we didn't get to really chat much but he was  having fun with each person that came to meet him.

Other celeb guests included William Shatner, Jenna Coleman and Karen Gillan (Doctor Who), Elizabeth Henstridge (Agents of SHIELD), and a handful of people from DC television: Hawkgirl, White Canary (below), Caitlin Snow, and Det. James Gordon.

I wanted to get Karen's autograph because she played Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy but the line seemed very long and I had to make the choice of standing in another hot line or possibly seeing the con floor. However, when my friends made a bathroom break on the way to Barrowman's photo op, she and her handler passed by me. I said, "Hi, Karen!, she said "Hi!" back, so there was that.

We lined up around 2:15 for the scheduled 2:30 photo op. Eventually the line moved into a smaller room and at 3:15, John came out with a megaphone and entertained for a couple minutes before we were herded through the photo process. He also wanted people to make sure what pose they wanted because you they have to move a lot of people through. But he said he was open for just about anything, including groping anatomy of either sex! The only rule was no kissing because he got swine flu after last time.

By then, it was 3:45-4 and we had a free 90 minutes. We were in desperate need of a drink so we went out to the 7-ll next door and the line there took about 20 minutes. You've probably never seen a line that long in a 7-11! We got to walk the floor for a bit. I did some browsing and no buying. It's not that I don't like buying art, it's just that it ends up in a pile or a box somewhere within a couple weeks, forgotten. There were a lot of the same vendors from previous cons so I didn't take pics. That and I just didn't feel like it either due to the heat or people being in the way.

Peter Pan's Shadow

Then it was 5:30 and we got in line for John's panel. He came out in a Zap Brannigan outfit with white high heels.

Despite it being all ages, he didn't hold back too much and was hilarious. He talked for a bit up front and the rest of the time he took questions. Some of the topics included how he likes ot watch movies at home, acting, writing (books and comics), and Torchwood. He really wants to bring Torchwood back to TV. If you like the show, go out and buy the books, audio dramas, and comics so the BBC will take notice! Not a much better way to end the day than to see John Barrowman being John Barrowman.

And so ended my day of hurry up and wait at the con.

I would have had more fun if it hadn't been so hot inside, and probably taken a lot more photos. I kind of hate myself a little for not being able to power through it because there was a lot of great cosplay going on. So many Harley Quinns I lost count. And there were a good number of Reys, including a couple of male ones! I also saw quite a few Gravity Falls cosplayers which made me happy because I love that show and miss it.

There are a few more pics posted to Flickr.

Boston Comic Con 2015

This weekend was the annual Boston Comic Con. The organizers did a pretty good job this year but I still think they need to relocate to a larger place. I know it's a con and maybe if you go to SDCC, you expect the aisles on the show floor to be packed from side to side, but this ain't San Diego. A lot of people packed in = a lot of heat.

Last year I had several posts covering different aspects of the con. This year, it's all jammed into one. The biggest reason being I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked. Mainly because I was miserable for at least half of the day due to being overheated and light headed. Not the best frame of mind to make me want to take photos. The second reason being sometimes there were just too damn many people to be able to shoot what I wanted.

We got there a couple hours after the doors opened and had no wait to get in. Unless you count having to walk around the convention building. They have it set up so that you check in in the front left corner, then walk all the way around to enter in the front right corner. I can appreciate this as a good idea when crowds are waiting for the doors to open but it seems a bit excessive to force people to do this when there's no line.

Stan Lee autographed guitars

We trolled the con floor until it was time for our 3:30 photo op with Billie Piper. I have to give them serious props for relocating the photo area this year and despite the length of the line, it went super quick. After picking up our photo that was nearly instantly ready, we went to the autograph area. Billie was scheduled to come back there at 4:30 and with it only being 4, we thought we'd get a jump on the line. The good news is, we did. The bad news is, for whatever reason, she didn't get there until 5.

It wouldn't have been such a huge deal, but also at the con was Elvira. I'm not talking just Cassandra Peterson, but full-on Elvira! Figuring Billie would probably arrive the moment I left the line, I wasn't able to meet Elvira. She had started, and finished, her signing time while I was waiting in line. That kind of bummed me out.

Other celebs included the a lot shorter than you'd think Robin Lord Taylor, (Gotham's Penguin). Marvel stars Brett Dalton (Agents of SHIELD, Ward) and Haley Atwell (Agent Carter). Oh yeah, Stan Lee was there too but there was no way I was getting anywhere near him at those prices!

Speaking of Agent Carter, the Carter cosplayers were out in force in a variety of outfits and she was probably the most popular costume I saw. There were also quite a few Age of Ultron Scarlet Witches, a number of Gravity Falls, and Supernatural characters among the usual assortment of comic characters.

There was even a whole family (parents included!) that dressed up as the gang from Gravity Falls, the dad was Grunkle Stan and it was great. There definitely weren't as many Deadpools as last year. I did spot a couple of Netflix Daredevils and even a Kingpin.

After I took this photo, Foggy handed me this...

How's that for going the extra mile?

Not only does this guy look like Peter Griffin, he does the voice and everything!

I also picked up a few things, because what's a con without shopping, right? I hemmed and hawed at a few booths that had LEGO bootleg figures but I didn't like how shiny they were and ultimately passed on them.

But I did snag this book because Halloween! The Pumpkin Wizard is about a kid that stands up to his bullies with the power of his imagination and a pumpkin army. The creators say it's going to be a six book series so I guess I've got some waiting to do to see how it all turns out.

And I also got these buttons from Monsters Are Good. 

They have some pretty rad shirts, check out their site!

There was one booth I didn't get pics of but I really wanted to share. It's called Gilded Dragon Designs. This woman handmakes some very cool stuffed dragons inspired by different characters ranging from Star Wars to classic Monsters to superheroes.

I think that about wraps it up!
If you want to check out the rest of my photos, head over to Flickr.
 

Boston Comic Con 2014 - Celebs & Cosplay

Welcome to the second post all about Boston Comic Con 2014. 

Today is all about the celebrity guests and cosplayers!

First is Sam Witwer. You might know him as Doomsday on Smallville, the voice of Starkiller in the Star Wars: Force Unleashed video games, Darth Maul in the Clone Wars animated series, or his current role on Almost Human. He didn't have a huge line so we got to speak with him for a few minutes. Not only was he super cool, but he's also a fan.

When I mentioned I was a big Star Wars fan, he started talking about working on the Clone Wars series and how big of a fan he is himself. I said it's great when you have people that are fans working on something they love. He said everyone at LucasFilm is like that. He said Dave Filoni calls him sometimes just to talk Star Wars after he's been working on Rebels (the new animated series) all day. As we were finishing up, I asked him if Dave had mentioned anything to him about doing voice work on Rebels. Sam kind of cocked his head and said he had no idea what I was talking about while giving me a look that said he totally did. So we may be hearing more from him in the Star Wars galaxy!



The main reason we went to the convention was to see John Barrowman (Doctor Who, Torchwood, Arrow). We had a professional photo-op with him and then got in line for an autograph. After finishing his photo ops, he sat down and told us he was going to take a little break and laid his head on the table. He got in either late the previous night or early that morning and hadn't gotten much sleep. When the crowd gave a sympathetic "aww" he started hamming it up for a bigger reaction. If you only know him from Arrow, you probably wouldn't have any idea just how funny he can be.

Sitting next to him, was his Torchwood co-star Eve Myles. She snuck over while he had his head down and gave him a playful spanking.

They chatted for a few minutes and then he got to the meeting and greeting.  Also present were James Marsters (Buffy, Torchwood), Jewel Staite (Firefly), Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones), Sean Astin (everything), and Run DMC's Darrell McDaniels. We didn't get autographs from any of them but we did see them while in the autograph area. Jason walked by us on the con floor and let me tell you, he's a big dude!

There were a ton of cosplayers at the con, which I always love. There were so many Doctor Who and Supernatural costumes that I actually ended up not taking photos of any of them. There were even a few Welcome to Night Vale cosplayers! Also present were a lot of Deadpools. I don't know if they have a club or what but there had to be at least 20 of them, one of which was a female Deadpool in a wedding dress.

Here's a few of my favorites. You can see all my Con photos on my Flickr page.



This guy was a huge hit, which is no surprise. You don't see Orko everyday! He had some kind of light up rods on his left hand to simulate magic.



Carl from Up! He even has the grape soda bottle cap pinned on his left lapel. We saw him later in the day and he was still holding those balloons. I wonder if his arm got tired from doing that all day.



These were the only Gravity Falls people I saw all day. I don't know what's cooler, seeing younger people or older people dressing as Mabel and Dipper Pines.



I caught this Agent Venom in a little park outside the convention center. I had to chase him down but it was totally worth it! He's one of my favorite newer Marvel characters and was the only one I saw all day.



Kasima from Orphan Black! Before getting her pic, I conferred with my wife to see if she also thought this was a cosplay and not how she normally looked because I didn't want to come across like a weirdo for asking this girl to take her photo if she wasn't dressed up as someone. So I asked her if she was supposed to be Kasima and she said yes but she forgot her lab coat. I told her if I knew who she was supposed to be without it, she didn't need it.

I saw this group as we were leaving and what a gathering! Archer and Lana on either side. Harley Quinn, The Flash, an unmasked Deadpool, and Thor behind Leonardo. And the Red Hood next to Lana. The TMNT costume was pretty impressive in person.

And the award for best parent ever goes to this guy! You can't see it too well in the photo, but little River is doing her split fight pose. They were so cute! Dad also had a couple of dinosaurs just in case the outfits and oodles of guns weren't enough to sell it.

And the last one I'll leave you with is Spider-Man dressed as the Fourth Doctor. Why? I have no idea but there you have it! There's more to see over on Flickr, so stop by!