Tony

I’m not what you would call a “Comic Book Enthusiast” (read: NERD). People are trying to turn me into one but I’m not there yet. I don’t have the breadth of knowledge most comic book fans have. I’m not even sure I want to. I know I can’t afford another hobby, that’s for sure. I do know enough to be dangerous, however, and I do have my favorite characters, but the stories and histories are foreign to me. I’ve never fully immersed myself in the world but as I geek I feel a camaraderie with comic book fans and I respect them for their dedication. James, my bro-in-law and fellow blogger, is a comic book nerd of the highest order (with all due respect). So we decided to head to the yearly comic convention here in Central Ohio, the “Mid-Ohio Con“.

This was the first “con” for both of us. I think we had an inkling of what to expect, having read about conventions like the San Diego Comic Con or the New York Comic Con and seen the pictures online, but we weren’t sure exactly what to expect. Here are a few pictures recapping our trip (A complete set of these images can all be found on Flickr.).

(Note: I felt somewhat awkward asking people to pose for pictures. Most of these were snapped when other people were busy asking for poses.)

Most of these photos are of the crowd, of the cos-players (a sub genre of comic book fans that amaze me).

The first up was the gathering of Ghostbusters. This seemed to be the most popular costume of the convention. I was under the impression there were four (five if you count Tully) but there were quite a few more than that in Columbus last weekend:

I think these two Predator costumes were the Best in Show for James and I. Both were extremely detailed (the masked Predator even had the three-laser sight, which was extremely cool). They even scared the kids. That brightened my cold, dead heart. GET TO DA CHOPPA!

Of course, no convention is complete without Darth Vader and his cadre of Storm Troopers and MOC had its Vader. Here he’s talking to Boba Fett with his helmet off. This Fett costume was actually very well done.

Speaking of Boba Fett, one of the “celebrities” at this year’s MOC was Daniel Logan, the child actor who played the young Boba Fett in Attack of the Clones. It was actually kind of cool to see him there and being able to instantly recognize who he was. He seemed like a nice guy who was clinging to whatever was left of his fifteen minutes.

The highlight for me was meeting James Kyson Lee (AKA Ando Masahashi on Heroes). I haven’t been following Heroes as closely as I did the first few seasons, but all along Ando has been my favorite character, and it was pretty cool meeting him and snapping this picture (and professing my undying love to him):

So, all in all, it was well worth the price of admission. I’m sure James could do a better report of which “Comic Book Celebrities” there were, but I was fascinated by the dedication of the fans, the talent of the artists on display and the general feeling of acceptance that permeated the show. I don’t know if I’d go back again, but it was definitely an experience.

(As a bonus, here’s my four year-old son with the Spiderman mask we brought him):