Today was the final day of Fan Expo. Typically Sunday is the lighter day, which was true for the beginning of the morning. The afternoon got much busier.
Since I spent all day at the show yesterday, and left the panels to the rest of the CBD staff, I cruised the floor to get see what was happening for the day.
The first place I hit was artist alley to pick up the artwork I scoped yesterday. I then made it to the DC booth because they had some new give-aways today, and I wanted to see what they were giving out.
I headed back to artist alley to and talked to several independent comic producers. One of them has a free web-comic and he paid for his booth out of his own pocket to try to promote his website. After talking to him I now have an appreciation to the creators of web-comics. The passion he showed for his comics is outstanding. Even though he was at the show for a loss, he is that passionate about his work and hopes to be discovered. Tune in to my Friday column where I will focus more on him.
My wife came with me to the show today (thankfully with her awesome camera so she could be my photographer for the day), and I followed her around the show. I wanted to see what she was interested in. What she was interested in surprised me. The aisles we went down are probably not frequented by your common comic book fan.
We checked out the tables for the “craft” artists. We checked out the wares of the artists who made pillows, book bags, jewelery, and steam punk accessories (which one yelled at us for wanting to take a picture of her goods, so unfortunately you can’t she what she had for sale). These artists are as passionate about their crafts as the artists about their drawings. Some of their articles were very cool and kitschy.
We walked through the horror section. This area seemed busier than yesterday.
We walked through the celebrity area. This was very busy and the Fan Expo staff would let you take a picture of the celebrities without standing in line. The only celeb who wouldn’t let you take a picture of him was Lee Majors, but hey, why give it away for free.
Since it was the final day there were many deals to be had. One vendor I checked out yesterday had trades and paperbacks available for $10. Today they were discounted to $5 for paperbacks and $10 for trades. I missed out on a Warriors Three book I passed on yesterday. I changed my mind overnight and wanted the book, but you know the old saying “He who hesitates…”
We went to the G4 booth and had the opportunity to talk to Victor Lucas and Shaun Hatton. Both of them are very nice to talk to. I have been an Electric Playground and Reviews on the Run fan since the première in 1997. Shaun, my wife and I talked for a very long time about G.I. Joe, Resolute and the Rise of Cobra. He is a G.I. Joe fan, so we had a lot to talk about. My wife got her “geek” on and got her picture taken with Victor and Shawn. No doubt those pictures will be her Facebook profile pic soon.
There were not as many costumes today as yesterday. Yesterday was a very big day for the Cosplayers. Today there were not as many Cosplayers, but there were quite a few. The Cosplayers were very easy to approach and ask for photos. My wife got lots of great photos of Cosplayers. Check out my column on Friday for some of the pics she took.
In my opinion this is the one of the best Fan Expos in years. Hobby Star did an amazing job with crowd control. The lines moved very quickly. It was easy to get in and out of the venue. Fan Expo was also held in the right building. The show is big enough now and there is enough Fan-Expo-Goers that this is the right place to hold it. To some people (for example the vendors) four days may be too long, but this is great for the fans. It gives the fan many days to choose from, to go to whichever day will fit their schedule.
No doubt the plans are already started for next years Fan Expo, and there will be no doubt Comic Book Daily will be there covering it for you. I can’t wait.
