Baltimore Comic Con 2012

So this weekend I had the pleasure of attending both days of the Baltimore Comic Con 2012, and I had a blast! Great vendors, lots of top talent from the comic-verse, a plethora of costumed attendees and great weather; plus the added bonus that it expanded a few more rows of display booths from years past. A nerd could not have asked for more (except for an Amazing Spiderman issue #1 signed by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, of course)!

Saturday was packed! I don’t know what the gate is year to year, but it felt to me as though the crowds have increased exponentially. Which is awesome for a few reasons. Obviously, it is good to see the support for the show increasing because that means that Baltimore Comic Con will continue to happen (and as a local guy, not having to travel to get my geek on is a huge deal) but more importantly the bigger the show means the more people are fans enough of the genre to want to take a weekend to express their love of the medium. To me, that is huge! The comic book industry, like many other print mediums in this digital age, has been suffering a recession of sorts while it changes its business model to adapt. The more people outwardly showing their appreciation, for not only the books (and the people who created them) they loved in their youth but the new material being put out weekly by both the major companies and the independents, the better!

The more people attending also means the more comic royalty will decide to show up and be accessible for the fans, which is a huge deal! While shows like the San Diego Comic Con are amazing, the comic book aspect of it has been sooooo over-shadowed as the years have gone by and replaced by a lot of movie and video game content. I am not saying one is better than the other (don’t get me wrong, I had a blast attending Nerd Prom in San Diego!) but it is nice to have a place where the purity, the roots if you will, remains. Where else can you stand in one spot and have the likes of Walt & Louise Simonson, Brian Bolland, John Romita Jr, Matt Wagner, Neal Adams, Garth Ennis, Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson (to name but a few) all be within 100 feet of you? Not at the SDCC, that’s for sure! So to be able to walk up, shake your favorite artist or writer’s hand and get a sketch or a signature on your favorite piece of work is just a wonderful thing. While I was very appreciative to get a minute or three chatting with a few of my favorite artists (big shout-out to Walt Simonson and Matt Wagner for being two of the most accommodating and nicest guys and signing stuff for me) I watched some serious fan-boyishness occur at some of these booths, and it was great! To anyone reading who doesn’t understand, this is like getting to spend a couple of minutes chatting with your favorite movie-star or pro-sports player to a comic nerd; but even more impactful in a lot of cases. While you might have enjoyed actor X’s last 5 movies, a comic book writer or artist has been with a reader every single month for years in a lot of cases. These are single stories, or run of books, that not only have real impact on a comic nerd’s life but imprint themselves in their memories forever.

Example – Here I am, 40 years old, and I still remember the first time I read Uncanny X-Men #137 in 1984. I was 12 years old, trying to catch up on about 4 years of back issues of what was then my favorite series. Chris Claremont was writing in such a way, and crafting such intricate plots, that was so far ahead of it’s time while John Byrne was masterfully bringing the subject matter to life through his art. I had systematically raided friend’s collections and read the books I couldn’t find in the bins of the local comic shops when I had this bomb dropped on me. Jean Grey died. Holy.crap! To a 12-year-old, a major character dying was a punch to the gut! I can tell you where I bought the issue, how much I paid for it and where I read it for the first time. That kind of memory imprint is a rare thing, but it happens all the time in the world of comic fandom. So to have the opportunity to express your gratitude for providing years of entertainment, for creating those memories, and perhaps to get a signature or a sketch is such a wonderful thing. 

I tend to appreciate the more fringe characters… (click for more detail)

More people in attendance also means more cosplayers! As I have mentioned before in my SDCC coverage I don’t get cosplaying but I really love checking out the craftsmanship and enjoy watching the players enjoy what they do. There was no dearth of great costumes, on both children and adults alike, this past weekend. From the mainstream (Iron Man, Superman and Batman) to cosplay favorites (the Ghostbusters, Deadpool and Poison Ivy) all the way to mildly obscure (Man Thing, Beta Ray Bill and Dr Light) there were characters representing all the major and independent books. They wandered the convention floor, happily posing for pictures and to pose with people and their children. What always strikes me about this show is how polite and accomodating all the attendees are (which should be mildly shocking to anyone who grew up in Baltimore like I did) and this year was no different.

My only complaint about the show is a small one, and that is how the costume contest was run. First off, I don’t know who picked the woman who MC’d but she was lost. I felt sorry for her every time someone came on stage that wasn’t a blockbuster movie character. You could see the deer in headlight look on her face even from the back of the room. I get wanting to utilize local business/TV personalities but at least find ones who are comic geeks; it shouldn’t be that hard. Also, a little more freedom for where people sit would have been nice. I was in line early, zoom lens for the Nikon ready to go but was forced to sit in a very undesirable seat while there were many open ones which would have provided a good vantage point for actual photography (holding an iPhone overhead and blind snapping pics is fine, but I would not have lugged my DSLR around had I known I wouldn’t have been able to use it). Also, for those in less than desirable seats I would recommend the promoters use the big screen that was up on stage. A camera/projector combo would have been great especially for the kids division. This is a small nit, and I feel like I am being a bit over critical, but I didn’t want to blow to much sunshine up the capes of the folks at Baltimore Comic Con.

One final thing I want to say about the Baltimore Comic Con, for my health minded geeks out there, is just how easy it is to escape the typical convention center fare. The location, in the Inner Harbor, is within walking distance of no less than 20 restaurants where you can have a reasonably healthy meal. For the Jerd, that ranks the Baltimore Comic Con much higher than other similar events. Walk around, peruse some comics, get some fresh air and eat a salad instead of a lukewarm piece of crappy pizza and a soda.

All in all I had a great day, met some great people and enjoyed the show… how about you? Were you there? Have any good stories? Will I see you there in 2013? Let the Jerd know!