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C2E2 (Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo)
2010 CONVENTION
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EVENT:
C2E2 2010 CONVENTION |
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Event Review by:
"Sweet" Dan Sweet |
Event Date:
April 17th-19th, 2010 |
Location:
McCormick Place East, Chicago |
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"..everything about this con
was awesome, with the only exception being the obviously overpriced food ..."
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It was like I was walking into my first con ever. It
wasn’t my first con, not by a long shot, but a renewed sense of trepidation and
wonder was there all the same. I was holding my press credentials in front of
me, eager to display if anyone asked, as if it was some sort of combat medal I
was awarded for bravery in the face of certain death, a downright silly notion,
yes, but what can I say, I was stoked. So with my girlfriend, my ever-faithful
partner-in-crime, Nikki J., by my side I ascended an escalator that promised to
deliver unto me, the fan, thrills including but not limited to: hob-knobbing
with pseudo-celebrities, hunting down hard to find variant covers at reduced
prices, hunting down trades and hardcover collected editions at DRASTICALLY
reduced prices, waiting in line for autographs, and maybe by chance, just maybe,
a random encounter with a guy whom you consider responsible for your fanaticism.
The first significant difference in approach from cons previous was the
atmosphere, noticeable immediately thanks to the windows that allowed an influx
of natural light and a great view of the Chicago skyline. The room was GIGANTIC
and the many exhibits, were given a generous portion of floor space on which to
sprawl; and sprawl they did, MARVEL Comics even had a small stage equipped with
flashing, twirling, nausea-inducing lights as well as loud, generic, and
did-I-already-say loud techno music playing while some guy (and if anybody knows
who he was, let me know) hooted, hollered, and gave away free swag. A lot of the
other booths were much more subdued in their approach, but that’s not to say
that they weren’t without a certain flair all their own.
Being an indy-minded mainstream comic fan I insisted that Nikki J. and I make
our way over to the Artist’s Alley so I can chat up creators whom I admire, and
those I’ve never even heard of all the same. I went in with a list of fifty or
so odd names of people I’d just be thrilled to say “What’s up?!” to, pound
fists, and part ways letting them know how much I appreciate their continued
dedication to an art form I’m engrossed in. I was able to grab prints from Geoff
Darrow, who couldn’t tell if he believed Nikki J. when she told him that it
wasn’t her first con and that she was really having a good time, Valentine
DeLandro, who was cool and totally tolerated the fact that I’d never read
“X-Factor” because I really liked his Green Arrow print, Carla Wyzgala, whom I
think Nikki J. was a bit more taken by than even myself, Chris Uminga and Matt
Fletcher, a couple of guys I’d been looking forward to seeing since the con last
August, and Jeremy Bastian, another favorite of mine for a while now.
Ron Garney is a blast to talk to, a very easy going guy who had no problem going
into his reasoning behind skipping the inking process and coloring right over
pencils. Dustin Ngyuen was pleased to find out that I still read “Authority:
Revolution” every so often, and that I thought he was going to end up in the
books as one of the finest Batman artists of all time. Reilly Brown, who I’ve
raved about before, was a real cool guy, eager to talk about the upcoming
“Prince of Power” series starring “Incredible Hercules” mainstay Amadeus Cho,
and if you know anything about me and my column it’s that I love that book and
can’t get enough Reilly Brown, so that was neat. Mike Choi’s use of colorful
language left me feeling like I wasn’t the only potty mouth on the premises, but
he couldn’t really talk about what he has coming up after “X-Force”, which was
entirely understandable.
I became an instant fan of Chris Burnham’s after getting one look at some
unfinished pages of an upcoming series he’s working on with JOE CASEY (JOE
CASEY!!!) called “Officer Downe” (sp?). I commissioned a small piece by a local
artist named Andrew Kudelka, and while I can’t even really pronounce what the
hell it is that I asked for, the guy knocked it out the park combining pencils
and watercolors to achieve a look that felt retro-inspired through modern
sensibility. When he informed me that he might get around to working on an
original series sooner or later, I informed him that I’d be sure to buy such a
series, should it ever actually exist. Khoi Pham penciled and inked a phenomenal
rendition of Bullseye that’s equal parts Miller/Romita Jr. and yet entirely his
own, and I love it.
All of that stuff was great. I bought a stainless steel replica of a
cool-looking samurai sword, and a pair of anime-kid, steam-punk goggles. I
bought a dragon (Yeah, a real one.), and some trades, and a bunch of indy books
that I couldn’t find anywhere else including the sold-out “ShudderTown” #1 by
Nick Spencer, “Cursed Pirate Girl” #3 by Jeremy Bastian, and “Funrama” by Ryan
Kelly, both of whom were extremely gracious guys thrilled to hear that I planned
on keeping my eyes peeled for anything else with their name on it. I also
grabbed a few printed collected editions of a couple of web-comics that caught
my eye, namely “Ed Contradictory”, “Turtle VS Bunny”, and “Angry Penguin”, and
you can expect a few reviews coming your way in the very-near future.
I spent two out of three days wandering the floor of the massive McCormick Place
Lakeshore Center, sat in on a really moving panel about a documentary on Gene
Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, which despite my lack of any kind of passion
for anything ‘Trek’-related, really piqued my interest. I talked to all sorts of
people, more so than any other con I can remember; even Ehren Muhammad, a Brand
Development Consultant from the Northside, cornered in a dimly-lit bathroom by
some guy with a press pass (it’s not actually as weird as it sounds, seriously I
was displaying the press pass, it wasn’t like I was, you know…) and asked what
his impression of the con was towards the end of day three said that he had been
having a fun time throughout the weekend citing the setting, and the involvement
of the major companies as factors.
Alright so everything about this con was awesome, with the only reasonable
exception being the obviously overpriced food ($2.00 for a bag of Lays?! $3.00
for a can of Pepsi?!), and since this only FELT like it was my first con I had
anticipated this very dilemma. How can a grown man and the ever-so-sexy Nikki J.
be expected to take in as many of the sights as possible at C2E2 without falling
victim to hunger-pangs? Pack a cooler ladies and germs, because if you do great
things might just happen to you the way they happened to me.
Okay, so I’m overselling it a bit, but unlike the rest I feel too guilty to
mislead you for too long. It’s not that cool, okay maybe it’s pretty cool, but
only because it happened to me, and only me, and a scant few surrounding people
were able to witness, but seriously it’s not that cool. See, I packed a cooler
before leaving the house, in order to same money for comic-related purchases and
justify making the trip out to the parking garage to have a smoke. It was on the
way back to the con from picnic-in-the-car lunch that it happened; Nikki J. and
I were walking down one of the numerous hallways one had to negotiate in order
to reach the actual convention floor when, from a distance, I spot him. Who? Jim
F*CKING Lee, that’s who.
“Jim Lee, I LOVE YOU!” is not a ridiculous thing to say to someone who you once
truly considered your idol; at least I didn’t think it was as I was shouting
from within five feet of the man. He was walking with a handler, or an
assistant, or maybe she was his girlfriend/wife/whatever, and I really, REALLY
didn’t want to be THAT GUY who just HAS to stop someone and try to get them to
sign something, or ramble on about how much their work means to me, because I
vote every week with my wallet, and I recognize that these guys are just doing a
job. Then, the damnedest thing happened, he turned his head around, as we had
already passed each other, and replied in a much more reasonable tone of voice,
“I love you, too.” |
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C2E2 LOGO
© 2010 Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo
All Rights Reserved
Review © 2010 Alternate Reality, Inc.
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