Build a bigger con and they will come!
Thousands of comic book and sci-fi fans packed the Oregon Convention Center for Rose City Comic Con this weekend. In just one year the Portland con quadrupled its show size with more celebrity guests, more panels, more game tournaments and more everything geek-tastic in a town that’s known for comics.
Avery Brooks who played Captain Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was a huge draw and among the brand new celebrity faces greeting Northwest fans for the first time. Some of the faithful brought DS9 comic books, one brought a baseball since his character loved the game and I just gushed about his direction of two of my favorite episodes including Far Beyond The Stars which is a must for any sci-fi fan. While some say Kirk or Picard…there’s a devoted fan base that proclaims “Sisko!” and for us this weekend was designed by the Prophets (those angelic aliens from the series.)
Lee Arenberg of the Pirates of the Caribbean series and Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager along with Pirates co-star Martin Klebba helped pave the way for a spirited group of pirate cosplayers to join the party. (You’ll even see a pirate Deadpool down below!) Sam Jones of Flash Gordon, Jewel Staite of Firefly and Stargate Atlantis, Christopher Judge of Stargate SG-1 welcomed excited fans for photo ops, autographs and recollections about the beloved series. There was a lot of hometown love for David Guitoli who stars in the Portland-based series Grimm. There were huge lines and halls filled with laughing fans as voice actors John DiMaggio and Billy West of Futurama channeled beloved characters from several animated series. An overall huge kudo to the Rose City team for bringing in new celebrity guests for their first Pacific Northwest appearances.
Portland’s own comic book creative community was in force at Rose City Comic Con. Matt Fraction answered fan questions about Hawkeye and X-Men and previewed his upcoming projects Sex Criminals, a creator owned Image book out this week and his next big Marvel project, Inhuman. Fraction smiled when a fan asked if there might be a Pizza Dog/Lockjaw crossover. (Pizza dog starred in his own stand-alone Hawkeye issue and Lockjaw is the time dog pet of the Inhumans.) I was surprised to learn his sci-fi/spy Casanova series began as a pitch for a Dominic Fortune relaunch. Fraction is working with Fortune creator Howard Chaykin on new Image comic, Satellite Sam.
Fraction’s other half is Kelly Sue DeConnick, writer of Captain Marvel, Avengers Assemble and her upcoming Pretty Deadly with artist Emma Rios. DeConnick was the creative mind behind Ms. Marvel’s transition to Captain Marvel and one cosplayer honored the writer by dressing as a member of the Carol Corps. DeConnick was behind one of my favorite con moments. While on stage at a Marvel Comics panel with Fraction and Sam Humphries (Uncanny X-Force, Avengers A.I.) we kept getting interrupted by huge laughs and cheers from panel rooms on either side so DeConnick rallied our audience into a sudden group scream of “NOOOOOOO!” in a fun group act of defiance.
DeConnick will be appearing at Seattle’s GeekGirlCon in October. I had to celebrate Greg Rucka on his new Image series Lazarus and for his incredible panel at the 2012 GeekGirlCon. I had several copies of Fearless Defenders for Cullen Bunn autograph and to thank him for bringing back Hellcat and Clea to the all-female team.
X-Men artist Terry Dodson, Steve Lieber, Jeff Parker and Jonathan Case were among the Oregon based artists who contributed to an exclusive comic calendar by Rose City Comic Con and Portland based Periscope Studios. You could splurge on custom sketches, rare prints, talk with the creators about the characters you love and of course get autographs.
Parker and Case are the creative team behind Batman ’66, a new comic book based on the classic television series. Fans could pose with the actual Batmobile from the series.
Rose City Comic Con listened to the fans, aimed big, took creative risks and it paid off with a wonderful gathering of artists, writers, celebrities and experiences for fans of all genres. The homegrown convention soared in it’s sophomore year and What’s next on the geek-agenda? Geek Girl Con in Seattle on October 19t and 20th, Jet City Comic Show in Tacoma on November 2nd and Emerald City Comicon (co-producers of Rose City Comic Con ) in Seattle for three full days March 28-30, 2014. Until then enjoy some of these moments and cosplayers from Rose City Comic Con 2013.
By Editor