by Trent Rosser
I walked in Friday night to pick up my pass for the Yellow City Comic con, not really knowing what I was getting myself into. When my wife and I showed up that evening, there was already a line for people to get in. Most looked normal, but then we went into the hall that had all the vendors and special guest. That is when I started to notice that things were not all good at the civic center. Strange people were everywhere. We did not stay long, we just browsed through the vendors real quick, I shook hands with Jake “The Snake” Roberts, and we went on back home. After all, I would be there most of the day Saturday to check it out.
The next day, I walked in around noon and received the shock of my life. When I walked through the door, people in costumes were everywhere. Some costumes were very elaborate and some you could tell were just thrown together. I walked to another room that I did not go to the day before and there were tables set up for game playing. At the back of the room, there were the Amtguard. If you have not seen these guys, (and gals) then you are missing out. They dress in renaissance periods clothes and have wizards and kings and queens. They even have sword fights. They tried to get me in to grab a foam stick and sword fight with them. I knew that this would be a bad idea; after all, I did not want to embarrass them (by dragging me to the hospital with a broken hip). I walked back out into the foyer and back into the vendor area. That is when I did receive the shock of my life. Just about everyone was in costume. I met Superman and Batman. I complimented them on the costumes and ask for their names. Batman said that he was Batman; I ask for his real name, He said Bruce Wayne. Smart-aleck! These people are serious. I ran into people dressed as all kinds of super heroes and ogres and star wars characters. They had people dressed as maids and even Lego’s, yes, I said Lego. A Lego Deadpool character to be exact. To tell the truth, it was pretty good.
I am going to admit something; I am a fan of Harry Potter. I have read all the books, so when I seen a vendor selling wands from the movie… I almost broke my “cool” act and bought one. The vendors had just about everything. They not only had the wands, but there were swords, incense, hair ties, and yes, of course there were comic books. They had the special guest along with a couple of local writers and artist. I took quite a few pictures. I ran into an old friend while I was there. She said that she was there just to take the kids for the costume contest, but later admitted to me, that she was a closet nerd. I told her that was ok and then we started talking about the costumes. She asked when I was going to join in the fun and get dressed up like everyone else. My reply was firm as I told her “I will dress up when hell freezes over.”
Can you believe that it snowed on the last day of April! Yep, 80 degrees one day and snow the next. So I went back up there. I did have a reason; I was trying to catch Jake “The Snake” Roberts for an interview. Could not do it, the interview was cancelled for that day and put off until a later time. Even with the cold weather and the snow the day before May, it was getting crowded. Some of the same people dressed as they were the day before and some new people dressed up as well. So, I stuck around, and the longer I was there, the more fun I was having. This was my first comic con that I have ever been to, and to tell the truth, I really did have a good time. I did not get to get my picture taken with Darth Vader, but I did get a picture of other characters. I even went back a couple of times to the Amtguard to get pictures of the kids having sword fights. The age group is what really surprised me. I knew that there would be school age children dressing up, but people older than myself? We had an older gentleman that was dressed as obi wan Kenobi from Star Wars. There was a small child dressed as Hellboy the comic book hero. People of all ages came out. Some in costume some not. They call it cosplay.
So if you ever get a chance to visit a comic com, I suggest that you take full advantage of it. Dress up and have some fun. Take a little cash with ya, cause there will be lots of goodies to get. As for me, a deal is a deal. After all, it did snow the next day. Right before May 1st, so next year, I will be attending Yellow City Comic con. And yes, I will be dressed up. So if you do happen to go to a comic con and you see Professor Snape from Harry Potter series being dragged to the hospital with a broken hip by a renaissance group; say hi to me.
