MegaCon!

 

Oh con season. Have I mentioned how much I love it? Granted, with my current state of affairs I don't attend that many but I love the hell out of the ones I attend! And there is always a thrill, for me anyway, about attending a convention for the first time.

This past week I attended MegaCon for the first time. It was interesting - I would compare it to Heroes if Heroes were larger. Perhaps what Heroes will be in a few years. I confess that I wasn't able to give it my usual all - staying off-site and a week of Disney leading up to the con while trying to get all the collectable cards at the Magic Kingdom... I was a touch worn out by the time Friday rolled around.

My experience was good overall. Parking was a mess for us all three days but I assume better parking could be had if I was more familiar with the area. Either way, there were an abundance of bicycle petty cabs - I just wish I had realized ahead of time. The petty cabs are great but they only take cash. Unfortunately only one member of our group is in the habit of carrying cash and it wasn't me. So we took the cabs once or twice, at any rate my Oracle wheelchair is great for carrying other props but can't fit easily in the back of a petty cab.

Once we got inside the convention center, I have to admit that I got turned around as it quite large and with several events going on at once, MegaCon signs weren't everywhere. However a convention center employee was able to direct us - and was extremely jovial by the way - and cosplayers and signs soon appeared in our sights. I have to admit that the line to get my pass on Friday turned my stomach at first with it's length. My fears of an epically long wait were soon calmed though - the staff kept the line moving at a very reasonable pace and we were through very quickly. In addition, the line was tucked to the side but still in one of the main areas so I got to spot and chat with con-buddies. As a side note, there is something really funny about hearing someone yell your name while you are in the Batgirl getup, turn and be greeted by "I thought I knew those ears!", referring to the bat ears on the cowl!

So the line was good - I am not a fan of the wristband badge. I don't think it is a cosplayer's friend but oh well. I do wish con staff had told us where to get maps and programs - I don't think I was told until the last day. I just kinda read off my friends', which isn't a big deal for me since I rarely attend panels. I'm mostly there to shop and socialize.

The artist's alley/dealer room was huge by the way. There was a tardis, the astromech builders, the 501st, Gotham City FX... Everywhere I turned there was something new it seemed. It goes without saying that I went by the Love and Capes booth a number of times and I got to talk to Thom about the recent blog post and he approved my Amazonia cosplay. Always a good feeling!

The cosplay was great, and I'm not talking about mine! There was at least one truly awesome Iron Man suit, a lot of amazing DC costumes and the Wonder Twins. One of the great things about cons this size is that MegaCon is large enough to draw out amazing cosplayers but small enough where you can usually get a chance to talk about how it was accomplished. Unless, of course, you are like me and get surprisingly shy. And then you ask about a tenth of the questions you want, if that!

Despite my shyness I did work up the guts to head over to the Hero Initiative booth for a little while, partially because I'd seen it posted on the Superhero Costuming Forums. I am extremely glad I did that - not only did I get pictures with a Nightwing and Batgirl, I got to give George Perez a chaste smooch! *fangirl swoon*

The con staff themselves were nice as well, at least the ones I spoke with, and didn't take me to task for a rule I wasn't aware I was breaking. This seems to have been a bit of a theme for the trip! Luckily for me, genuine apologies and immediate attempts to correct my blunders paired with the graciousness of those in charge seemed to carry me through.

All in all, this was a really fun con. I am not sure if I will be able to attend again next year but I will definitely try. I like adding more cons to circuit and no longer being in commuting distance to Heroes, Steller, and WTH cons makes me sad!

The Women of Fandom

Geeky women.

We are amazing. Not to toot our horn too much, let's face it. We have been, in our unique quiet and not-so-quiet ways, invading the 'boy's club' of comics, video games and RPGs of all varieties. We come in all shapes and sizes, all flavors of fandom. We demand more from comic creators and game designers and have the strength of will to stick it out.

It isn't always easy being a geek female either. It's a lot more common now, with 'geek chic' currently trending and with more and more young woman proudly and loudly wearing their fandoms on their sleeves. And front and center on their shirts (I'm wearing Gir as I type this by the way and yes, I do still have a hug in me...). And on their bags. And jewelry. And tattoos... Have I mentioned that I think we're amazing? ;-)

I grew up without a lot of geekery in my life though, hindsight being 20-20 and all that, there were so many signs. I honestly can't count the number of times I slipped into comic book shops as a middle and high schooler, with my Mom tagging along behind. I kept flipping through the long boxes. In theory I was trying to find the Masters of the Universe comics (I never found any if you are wondering) but I used to look through them all. I had one Spider-Man comic that my Dad got me when I kept asking him for Spider-Man stories. Sadly, it wasn't a great issue and the employees of the stores never took any time to sit with me and help me comics that would appeal to a kid who knew she liked something about this stuff but didn't have a clue where to start.

If it was because I was a girl or because my Mom was hovering behind me, I'll never know but I do know that no one actually talked to me in a comic book shop and tried to help me figure out what I would like until I was at college. By that point, I'd kept poking at my geeky-ness, trying to figure it out. After the first Spider-Man movie (don't judge me too harshly, I was in high school then) I started dying my hair red for the first time. After the second, I turned to the Internet and became to track down every Spider-Man fact I could find. Through the course of that, I was introduced to Oracle though I don't remember exactly how. Gradually my web - bad pun! - of knowledge began to spread. So when I walked into a comic book shop in college, I had at least a vague idea of what I wanted. I wanted Spider-Man and Mary Jane and back issues of Birds of Prey.

I do remember, with distinct frustration, one of the employees looking over my comics and, in so many words, that he was pleasantly surprised by my choices. I felt more than a touch of patronization in his voice and couldn't help but wonder if he would have said the same thing to a male customer in his early twenties. My experience is, thankfully, not universal to geeky women but it isn't all that unusual either from what I have gathered.

I also won't forget my very first time cosplaying at Heroes Con - I was so very excited and I had a great time. It was amazing and I'm very thankful that I happened to run into Jeremy Dale at Free Comic Book Day to be told about it. (Check him out by the way:Yay fun stuff! ). I did have one truly weird experience that con though... I was wandering around artist's alley, where I can usually be found. A gentleman came up, made sure that I was indeed cosplaying (I get that a lot in my Mary Jane outfit) and then asked if I had been dragged here by my boyfriend, with a touch of sympathy in his voice. My response was more or less to blink in confusion and explain that no, I had dragged my boyfriend there. While his positive response to seeing a geek woman at a convention of her own free will was nice, the shock on his face did made me rather uncomfortable. There has also been a time or two when I had to pretty much jump up and down to get noticed at various branches of large scale video game stores.

Being a geeky female also means that sometimes you get followed around by very very... enthusiastic males. It is a bit off-putting at best and downright creepy or scary at worst.

http://creepyvans.info/creepy/just-a-creepy-guy.html

Not that it is all bad in the slightest. Once I got my feet under me, thank you Google, reading comics I was able to start talking and asking questions about the characters. And, thankfully, I had been just enough of a Star Wars and Indiana Jones geek as a kid without realizing it that I had some common ground. The trick was, and still is to a certain extent, showing that I'm here because I'm a 'real geek' not a bit of arm candy who doesn't know or care about anything going on.

It has always been easier with the women though and I'm not gonna lie. I'm not going to say that geek women are perfect and we all flock together like dice carrying doves. Things can be tense between female geeks, I think a lot of us have had the situations where we had to prove ourselves and our 'right' to be there. It can create stress. But despite that, it is always easier on me to start chatting with another woman at a con. We have certain shared experiences that make it easy to bond over. Never identical, each woman's story is her own not to should too corny. She may have never been teased at work for her comics but she may relate to my story of getting dumped over being too geeky. I haven't dealt with anyone ripping into my costume for not sewing it myself but I can completely relate to having to tell kids that no, really women read comics too.

I won't say that I become bosom buddies with every fellow female fan I meet. But I will say that it is wonderful to pass the time chatting with a woman who gets why I am there, in the comic shop or at the convention. And why, even when the creepers are creeping, I am not going to leave.

Geeky women.

We aren't perfect. But we are pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.