Day One - June 21th, 2014
The first vendor I found was great. The stand didn't appear to have a name but it was $5 per comic and there were some great issues from the 70s. I've posted a picture of my haul below, which included House of Mystery #1 (a little worse for wear), #2 (which was written by Psycho author Robert Bloch), and Defenders #5. I also found another small stand and got the complete movie 1940s movie serials of Batman and Batman and Robin. These serials feature the first appearance EVER of the Bat-Cave and a skinny Alfred. I'll let you know how it is... if I ever get through all NINE HOURS of content.
Marv Wolfman is the former editor-in-chief at Marvel and has written over 1,500 comic books. It was fascinating to hear him talk and I ended up going to his stand the next day and bought two of his comic book scripts, DCUO #3 and Night Force Book One: Gatherers. He seems like a very knowledgeable and approachable guy. He was the only one on the panel who said he starts each page with a description of the setting and then moves on to dialogue, unlike everyone else who did the reverse.
Danny Fingeroth has written numerous books on how to write comics and I picked up The Best of Write! Now, a collection of how tos, interviews & art from writing greats like Tom DeFalco (Spider-Girl) and Brian Michael Bendis (Spider-Man).
Joe Carmanga brought up an interesting point that I agree wholeheartedly with: today writers are often forced (when writing for DC Comics or Marvel) to stretch out what used to be one issue stories to four to six issue stories, just so they can be made into trade paperbacks. Like Carmanga, I prefer the days when stories could be told in one issue.
I think the most important lesson learned from this seminar is not every writer follows the same process. Some strategies may work well for writers while others don't. The important thing, as a writer, is to figure out what fits YOU the best.
Day 2 - June 22nd, 2014
Then we enjoyed the tail end of David Boreneaz's talk. He was so charming it almost made me forget he cheated on his pregnant wife. He talked about his time on Buffy and how he started as a novice and went on to develop the character of Angel and talked about his character of Booth on Bones.
The only reason we went to the Boreneaz talk was for the one right after it for Firefly fans which featured Nathan Fillion (Castle) and Allan Tudyk (the voice of King Candy in Wreck-It-Ralph and the mayor of Weaselton in Frozen). I went for my step-dad, who is a huge Firefly fan (I've never seen it but I do enjoy Castle and love the art of voice-acting). Even though I'd never seen Firefly, the chemistry between Fillion and Tudyk was enjoyable and they are very funny. Every time they were asked a question they would give the asker a gift, ranging from a pack of gum to a fancy watch.
Honorable Mentions: Princess Tiana (a nice costume), Sharknado (a very funny costume with an Aquaman stuck in his 'nado), a decent and classic Deathstroke costume, and Wonder Woman and Superman (very realistic costumes, I'm surprised they didn't win anything).
Best Female Hero Costume: USS Enterprise (an awesome costume that actually lights up!)
Best Male Hero Costume: Proto Man (also my favorite costume, made all the better by my being a Mega Man fan)
Best Male Villain: Dr. Zaius (this guy really got into character, it took him 20 minutes to limp onto the stage and he sounded like him too, giving us a nice speech about destroying humanity - how charming)
Best Female Villain: Clockwork Droid (a very detailed and creepy cosplay)
Best Group Costume: Captain America Through the Ages (a nice group but I feel like Wonder Woman and Superman could've beaten them for this spot)
Best Overall Costume: Jurassic Park (there dinosaur was huge, pun somewhat intended!)
You can see all of these costume in the Facebook album PHILADELPHIA COMIC CON 2014 COSTUME CONTEST WINNERS (though according to the description, it's the future winners of 2043...).
There were a handful of Attack on Titan cosplays, which I expected since the anime has become quite popular. Of course, there were some Adventure Time cosplays as well, but not as many as last year. I most regret not getting pictures of a great Ace costume, a Deadpool Pirate and a Dr. Octopus cosplay (which wouldn't be complete without huge mechanical arms). It seemed everywhere I looked last time I saw bunny ears.
So many great cosplays make me want to go all out someday... maybe next time.
Day Three - June 22nd, 2014
Later on in the day we visited Out of the Toy Box. I got some adorable comic book jewelry, including Riddler and Deadpool earrings and a Green Goblin necklace. She had a huge supply of stuff with plenty of characters to choose from. If you visit her, you're bound to find a DC/Marvel character you like.
The casual and kind atmosphere surrounding the speakers continued into the next panel, which took place in the same room right after the last panel with Genese and Adam staying for the fun. They were joined by Marv Wolfman and Meredith Moriarty (artist on Princeless) for "Wonder Women of the 21st Century."
The best part of this panel was ironically a blast from the past. Wolfman talked about the Teen Titans and how, during the 80s, he and his artist intentionally made the three female members of the team different shapes because at the time all the female characters looked the same with just a different hairdo. Ironically, he didn't even realize
To end the con right I bought comics from Capes & Comics. They had a great deal going on with $2 per comics or 10 comics for $10. I got some issues of Wolverine Origins written by Deadpool writer Daniel Way featuring Deadpool (a character I love with a passion) and Daken (a character I've been wanting to read for awhile now), as well as several "Forever Evil" tie-ins including Arkham War and Justice League Dark. Thanks for the comics and the great deal Capes & Comics.
Next up: The Great Allentown Comic Con!