The Ginja Ninja, Little Man, and I did a con today. It’s a small con very local to us, and I had no idea what to expect. I’d been wanting to check it out since I’d taken a drawing class in college and my professor was involved in getting it started, but life has interfered. So this year, we made up our minds that we were going, no matter what. Five inches of snow was predicted for Saturday morning. Ok, I said, we’ll go Sunday. Then Saturday dawned cold and gray, but nothing falling from the sky. So around ten, we decided that there was nothing keeping us, except the lack of a cosplay outfit for the Ginja Ninja. Go comfortable, I told her. Scout it out for next year.
It is a small con. Located in downtown Dayton, the convention center was hosting the ComicCon and a dance competition (think little girls in leotards, very cute, but incongruous) with room to spare. The dealer room, however, was very large and full of great vendors. Tons of fanart, boxes of comics used and new, of course, but also some really lovely orginal work. I wound up buying a graphic collection of Trickster tales and an amazing sci-fi beetle print from my former drawing professor, Andy Dailey.
There weren’t a lot of panels, but the kids talked me into going to the ‘Drawing Chibi’ hands-on session with Todd Beistel. He’s usually a horror comic artist, but as he explained, he’s got young kids who wanted to be able to appreciate his art, so he taught himself to draw chibi superheroes. I had a blast, as it was completely out of my art comfort-zone, but it was easy to grasp and his explanations really helped me work up a couple of fun sketches that I took a step further at lunch to create an original cricket character. No idea what I’m doing with him – the Ginja Ninja wanted me to do a Jiminy Cricket, so I did. The Little Man has requested an ant, in my usual style, so we’ll see. I don’t know that I’ll do a lot of these, but it’s definitely a fun style and I don’t have to worry about details and symmetry.
The Ginja Ninja says it was fun, small, but cool. She says it was cool being recognized – she met someone who had seen her cosplay at the Cincy ComicCon and knew her face. She says the twisted metal guy was cool (I didn’t get a photo, but think twisted wire sculptures of superheroes). She bought gifts for friends, and posters for her dorm room.
The Little Man says it was ok. He says his favorite part was the YouTubers that held a panel he attended. He said he was going to look them up when he got home, AGP gaming team. (he’d say more, I think, but he’s skyping a friend and playing Minecraft with him. Kids… living science fiction and totally unimpressed!)
Overall, we enjoyed ourselves, and will do this again next year. It was a very relaxed wander through the con, but the Ginja Ninja wants me to inquire about having a booth for next year to sell dragons, art, and books. We’ll see!
Comments
10 responses to “Fun Day: Gem City ComicCon”
I guess I otter look up “chibi.” Google is yer friend.
It’s a cartoon style with big head, big eyes. Chibi means cute.
Interestingly enough, I went to a small SF con today. It was a one day event, held at a local community college. No entry fee, presumably because it was run by students who were allowed to use the space free of charge. There was a vendor room, a Magic: The Gathering tournament with a 5$ entry fee and a grand prize of a 50$ gift card, face painting, henna tattoos, and a bunch of kids hanging and having a good time with their friends. They had some video games played on big screens (again, I assume that was college A/V equipment being used) and that was about it. A lot of the booths seemed to be local authors and artists selling their own work, but I don’t expect that anyone was planning on making any real money. They did it for the love of it. It was refreshing to see SF fans with no agenda but to spend time sharing their hobbies with others.
That sounds delightful!
Sounds like fun, Cedar.
You let the kids hang out with the ‘Pool? Boy, you’re tougher than I thought…
Bob Ross ‘Pool is a cool guy 😀
*chuckle* I can remember when Dayton was home to Millenicon. Of course that was back in the 90’s. (The one and only con I have ever attended.) Nice to see that they have a new con.
I attended Millenicon for three (?) years, until it’s final year. This is smaller, as far as panels and guests go, a completely different focus, but the dealer room was actually much larger, more diverse, and active, than I remember Millenicon being.
I’d forgotten that Millienicon was gone.
Since an old college associate was the art room person for several years you’d think I would remember. But, after being out of Ohio for over a decade, it gets hard to keep track of things.
The new con sounds like something I could actually handle. Not too many people, enough room to keep me from going into hyper alert/flight stage.