So this year, I was able to get Press pass to go to the 2014 Connecticut ComiCONN. This was my 3rd convention this summer and the line up they had promised for the event had me very excited. The event this year was held at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Ct. Not that far of a drive from Hartford, CT…especially when you are going with your son and good friend. So we get there and luckily find a parking space maybe a block away from the arena. As we walked up to the arena, I automatically noticed a impromptu photo shoot going on. The set up was very simple. Outside of the arena they had various classic police cars and next to them was a SHIELD truck. Next to the truck was a man dressed up as a SHIELD agent. In the truck next to him was a lovely women dressed up as the female Loki…in what was one of the best Gender bent Cosplays I’ve seen.
Now unlike at the ConnectiCon, there wasn’t much action outside the arena. But as I was warned when I walked into the arena…it was packed. And packed was a nice way to put it. Which brings me to my only gripe about the whole event. The site of it was small so it was hard to walk through areas and if you were trying to get pictures done, you either had to risk holding up and blocking a hallway or try to fight your way back outside. Even thought I got alot of great footage, alot of pictures I had to turn down due to the fact of spacing.
But in saying that…that is also a testament of the turn out that the event had. Back people showed up…and showed up in a large set. Even with venders and artists set up in the hallways, the inside arena still ended up being filled to the brim. With that being said the interaction with guests and fans were amazing. At one point I went from taking a picture with William Katt from Greatest American Hero to chatting it up with the voice of Lion O from the Thundercats, Larry Kenney.
If that wasn’t exciting enough then you had such great comic artists like Neal Adams and Mark Morales doing autographs and drawing prints for people. The Cosplay aspect for the event was also amazing as I saw some outfits that I haven’t seen before. From a cool little kid’s Minion outfit to a family that came dressed up as various member of the Batman comic universe. Which is another thing that brought a smile to my face about the event. I saw alot of families there. Even if they weren’t dressed up, there were there to support the family member that was. And in a time where Cosplay bullying and harassment has become an issue, that was great to see.
And there was a little something for everybody. They had stands for old school classic hero movies and Sci Fi shows. Dozens of stands for comics ranging from very old issues to recent ones. There were also places to by badges fro your fav. show, from Agents of SHIELD to Star Treks. An insane amount of toys from a working White Lanterns and ring to Captain America’s shield. I was on memory lane as I looked at old school Hulk Pez dispensers and classic G.I. Joes.
And if that wasn’t enough you could go and take pictures with the Christian Bale Batmobile and bike. Or maybe take a picture with KITT from Knight Rider. If that isn’t your speed, maybe you could reenact the idol swap scene from Indiana Jones or pose with the visitors from “V”. Did I mention that Ray Park was there aka Darth Maul and even Xander from Buffy made appearance as one of the set of actors that they brought in. And mind you this isn’t even including the panels and workshops that they had going on during all of this.
Panels like “Hip Hop & Comics”, “How to do a podcast”, “Art & Comic Book Art” to “Clerks vs Comic Book Men”. Then there was an Adult and Kids Cosplay contest. singers, comedians…you name it. Once you made your way through a sea of people you had many things to do. Overall, even crowded it was an amazing event to be apart of and it is something I would love to do again and again as the years go on.
