Comics! Role-Playing! Fantasy Adventures!

My birthday was quite awhile ago, but the best sister in the world made it last just a bit longer than usual.  She knows I love sci-fi/fantasy stories and she knows I've wanted to go to Comic Con for several years, so she put those two things together and got me a ticket for this past weekend's big event!  Unfortunately, she didn't realize she bought tickets for the same day she was supposed to go see the Broncos beat the Jets, so she had to bow out (more on that later).  Fortunately, Von was ready to step in and guide me through this world of cosplay, panel discussions, and sneak previews.

The first thing I noticed was, of course, the crowd.  There were thousands in attendance (total attendance for the weekend was over 100,000.....go NYC!) and moving around was not going to be a fast process, not even a little bit.  But, that did offer plenty of opportunities for people watching and vendor shopping.  In fact, I might have missed this photo op if I would have been moving at my normal NYC pace:

This goes well with my Doctor Who t-shirt

This stop in our journey also alerted me to all of the Doctor Who memorabilia being sold just a few steps away from this replica of a Dalek (good marketing people!).  I found my very own Sonic Screwdriver, albeit one small enough to fit on my keychain (but it still lights up when you press a button, so it's almost like the real thing!).

We didn't get a program of the day's events, so we were flying blind for awhile.  Once we sat down to eat something, a guy in some type of military gear, complete with plastic guns, gave us his so we could figure out where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see.  We found a panel discussion was about to start about Doctor Who, so we headed out into the masses of people to try to get there in time.  Being naive about this event, I didn't think they wouldn't have room for everyone that wanted to check out what's up-and-coming in the world of the Tardis, but, alas, they didn't get my psychic message to save two seats for us, so we were turned away to hang our heads low in shame.......  Okay, that last part isn't true, but the rest happened just like that!  I thought I could wash the sadness from my mind by attending the "Lost" reunion just a few rooms away, but they had canceled!  Was I never going to experience the wonderfulness of a Comic Con panel discussion?!  I had to find out some spoilers at this event that no one else on the outside knew!!

So, off we went to try to attend the "Gotham" panel, but that one was even closed by the time we got there.  Hmmmmmm, we had to think of a different strategy.  We figured we would have to get in line at least an hour in advance if we even hoped for a shot at getting inside one of these evasive shrines to nerd-dom.  We walked through the vendor area a bit longer, nabbing a couple shots of creatures from "The Hobbit."

Of course, no trip to Comic Con would be complete without a sighting of Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers!

After a couple more purchases, a Heisenberg action figure for me (he came with a bag of cash and a small bag of blue meth, how cute!) and a Daryl Dixon figure for Faith, we made our way to the panel for "Sleepy Hollow."  Now, this is a show I've never seen, but Von is a big fan, so I figured at least one of us would be happy (once I found some popcorn, I got happy, too).  We were more than an hour early, but there was already a line and it grew quickly:

The security people had to reassure the crowd they didn't need to run, that they had plenty of time to find a seat, but that didn't stop these costumed hoards from rushing in to get as close to the stage as possible.  We chose our seats rather calmly and, once I had my previously mentioned popcorn, we were good to go!  We got to see the first half of the newest episode of the show (not a huge spoiler since we were finding out only 24 hours early, but still) and three members of the cast and two executive producers talked about what they go through in bringing the show to the screen.  Orlando Jones was the most entertaining of the group, interjecting funny comments throughout the conversation and even putting a couple audience members in check who needed to calm the heck down!  In the end, I left fully satisfied with my first panel discussion and thinking I might just check out this show about headless horsemen and pied pipers....

With that, we decided we'd gotten everything we wanted out of the Con and headed out onto the streets of NYC.  I could tell you about the intersection on our way to the train where hundreds of pigeons were sitting all over the light posts, looking at us with hate in their eyes, but that's another story for another time.  Suffice it to say, the birds are going to rise up and we are ill-prepared!

Comic Con 2014 is over and I have to say it was quite an experience; lots of people sharing common interests across all walks of life and ethnicities.  Not a bad way to spend a Sunday!  Can't wait for next year!

Oh, yeah, and getting back to Faith at the Jets/Broncos game, she was having her own cosplay experience:

Don't you just love her!