Amazicon 2014
So, during our adventure at Monster-Mania, we found a flyer for another local convention that had all the charm of a Mom & Pop store, and the opportunity for random, intense fandom. That was from the flyer alone. Then I looked into it online.
Not done yet.
What it lacks in “pop” and mass appeal is greatly made up for in fandom and love. From the beginning of my adventure, I had to fight through the traffic en route to the area surrounding the Philadelphia Airport… And if you’ve ever experienced the hell that is airport travel, you know it’s pretty much a game of “Need For Speed” for every car on the road:
“Oh, you want to merge to the right across three lanes to reach that upcoming exit in 10 minutes?”
“No, you shouldn’t signal and slow down, this is America”
“Yeah, its a smart move to cut that guy off at the last possible moment to gamble on passing the other lanes, in the hopes every other car will allow you to pass too.”
There’s no way I could have screamed “I HOPE YOUR FLIGHT GETS DELAYED” any louder. Thanks for darkening the start of my convention journey, airport people!
But once I arrived at the convention, I was greeted with the typical fare of local conventions: Local comic vendors displaying their best condition comics, classic toy collectors, prop makers with their homemade replicas and pottery. My favorite the DVD vendors were the ones that Google searched the images for their artwork on the cases (some were VERY poorly searched, by the way). And of course, there was the edged weapon salesman with a ton of pocket knifes and Katanas to sell.
One of the first things to catch my eye was this working Batpod that was based on the “Dark Knight Rises” movie. I chatted with the creator for a bit to find out more about this working vehicle… It took about 13 months of building, referencing just the leaked pictures of the Batpod, and changing parts as more and more pictures were revealed. He originally had a based motorcycle that he trimmed down so that you could position yourself onto the vehicle like Batman… But comfortably, without the bat-cramps
One full lap around the convention floor and I bumped into Mecha-Godzilla. This guy’s costume was bulky and rigid, making him waddle with every step. His field of vision was narrow and made him accidentally smack every almost person walking by. Also next to him, was a giant Mothra status.
Another Amazicon staple is their “Doc Brown”. He’s a fan favorite. He walks around for photo ops and is always down to chat with you for a bit.
I also met a few Dr. Who fans that traveled from Maryland. They had a photo booth Tardis and some cool homemade props.
I didn’t have a list of comics I was looking for. I pretty much was playing it by eye and scanning for anything that caught my attention. So while browsing the different vendors, these are what I found:
Back in ’92 this comic was released to complete the movie experience of Batman Returns. It follows the movie plot and has almost the same dialogue. The cover art is what drew my attention with an unexplained explosion and a face on Batman that screams “I DIDN’T DO THIS!”
There is something weird about comic book form of Michael Keaton with his curly brown hair in the batman outfit. Maybe it’s because I think Batman has bad hair days when it gets too humid outside? I dunno.
I stumbled on a table with a collection of a variety of nerdy stuff like dishware with cartoon characters on them, Disney movie cells, and this gem: The Captain America board game. Back in the 70’s, Captain America was all the rage, similar to what is happening right now for the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This game features a handful of the Avengers, but Captain America is the main hero here. Players must move around the board collecting different pieces (satellites). First person to have a full set wins. It’ll be odd to read a comic about this event, as the Avengers should work together, instead of being dicks about securing satellites.
I’ll close out this entry with some pictures I snapped while wandering about.
