Emerald City ComiCon opinion article (Written in March 2012)

EMERALD CITY COMICON:

GEEKS PARADISE!

By Nico Beland

           “Spider-Man was bitten by a radioactive spider!”
“Clark Kent was the son of Krypton and had awesome powers that turned him into Superman!”
“Dananananananana Batman!”
“Transformers, More Than Meets The Eye!”  

           Comic book geeks unite every year at Seattle’s Emerald City ComiCon, a convention at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, located at 7th and Pike ST, across the street from Meridian 16, where the nerds of Seattle come, most of the time in costumes of their favorite superheroes, or villains, to meet some of their favorite writers, artists, and media guests.
           Though they call it the Emerald City ComiCon, it’s not just for fans of comic books. Fans of video games, popular movie franchises, especially Star Wars, table top games such as Magic: The Gathering and Heroclix, and fans of popular TV programs like Battlestar Galactica will have fun at the Emerald City ComiCon.
            Every year special guests come to the convention and fans can meet them face to face. Last year’s ComiCon (2011) included guests such as Star Trek’s William Shatner, Marvel’s Stan Lee, Bruce Boxleitner a.k.a. Tron, Hellboy’s Mike Mignola, and many others.
           Besides meeting special guests, the best part of the Emerald City ComiCon is seeing all the “Cosplayers” roaming around the convention showing off their awesome costumes. Most of the people who attend the ComiCon appear in costumes of their favorite characters from a comic book, video game, TV show, or movie.
           The most iconic costumes at the convention include characters from Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Watchmen, X-Men, and Iron Man. It’s usually the costumes that everyone knows that get the most recognition from the other geeks who attend.
           At last year’s ComiCon, the characters from the comic and 2010 superhero film, Kick-Ass, had a lot of recognition. Even though it’s not as popular as other comic books, the movie helped Kick-Ass gain popularity. Quite a few Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl cosplayers showed up to the Con.
 I cosplay every year at the Emerald City ComiCon, so I don’t stand out because most of the people who attend the convention are in costumes. The first year I attended ComiCon was in May 2008 and since then I’ve been going every year and in an awesome costume every time.
          It’s perhaps the best nerdy convention in Seattle and die-hard fans of comics should come to this amazing convention. They always try to get the most iconic figures to appear at the convention, this year’s convention included guests such as Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and Stand & Deliver’s Edward James Olmos, Harry Potter’s Oliver and James Phelps, Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center, Date Night, Night at the Museum 2, and The Ghost Writer’s Jon Bernthal, and others.
         Sadly Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future, The Addams Family and Who Framed Roger Rabbit was unable to make the ComiCon due to a filming schedule, sometimes they can’t get every single guest they wanted but they always try to get most of them to show up.
         This year’s ComiCon (2012) was the best year so far because not only did it include famous artists, writers, and media guests, but it also included voice actors from various cartoons and movies. Voice actors include Jess Harnell (voice of Wakko Warner on Animaniacs and Ironhide in the Transformers movies), Maurice LaMarche (voice of the Brain on Pinky and the Brain and Kif on Futurama), Rob Paulsen (voice of Pinky on Pinky and the Brain, Carl on Jimmy Neutron, and Rev Runner on Loonatics Unleashed), Billy West (voice of Fry on Futurama and various Looney Tunes characters), the “Bending” John DiMaggio (voice of Bender on Futurama, Dr. Drakken on Kim Possible, and Jake the Dog on Adventure Time), the delightful Tara Strong (voice of Bubbles on The Powerpuff Girls, Raven on Teen Titans, and Timmy Turner on The Fairly Oddparents), and Kevin Conroy (voice of Batman on Batman: The Animated Series), so this was a real thrill this year at the ComiCon. People enjoyed having them at the convention and they enjoyed meeting everyone.

          Here’s what other Seattle nerds have to say about the Emerald City ComiCon.

“I like the booths and panels, this was my third or forth year at the ComiCon, I didn’t cosplay but my daughter dressed up as Batgirl”
                                                           -Chris Soethe
“I like just about everything, comics, guests, games, all under one roof, this is my first year”
                                                           -Patrick Bloomer
“I like meeting favorite artists and writers and because it’s One Big Nerd Fest, this is my second year, previous visits were five years ago”
                                                           -Dennis Poor
“I like the ComiCon because they offer a VIP pass, it’s a well organized convention and it hasn’t blown up yet, this is my first year”
                                                           -Brian Lowery
                                              
Emerald City ComiCon isn’t the only radical pop-culture convention in Seattle, Sakura Con, Seattle’s convention for Japanese anime and manga is fun too, but it’s not quite as big as the Emerald City ComiCon because a lot more is going on; more cosplayers, most of the guests are well known, and altogether a bigger and better convention.
But it’s not San Diego ComiCon big, that one’s huge.
It’s the only time of the year I’m psyched about something that isn’t a movie.