Rose City Comic Con: Day One

Share

The Rose City Comic Con got off to a roaring start Saturday at the Oregon Convention Center with several panel options and signings by celebrities. While getting Dirk Benedict’s autograph was tempting I had to go to the Godzilla vs. Everything panel discussion hosted by the Kaijucast podcasters.

IMG_1770

 

They went through a top ten of the best Godzilla moments in the 60 year history of the King of the Monsters. It was well done and there was a lot of interesting commentary on each scene which was determined by a huge survey they put up on their site www.kaijucast.com as well as on several other pages.

IMG_3874

From there we made our way back down to the main floor to see the vendors, enjoy the myriad and delightful cosplayers and check out the artists tables. We missed Wil Wheaton’s panel discussion but from the looks of the line it was well attended. Wil is a great speaker and he is not afraid to tackle issues that loom large in the world of nerddom. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to him or ask questions I highly recommend you check out one of his panels.

With 7 rooms designated for different panel discussions and presentations and new ones in each every hour, we had to make some hard choices. Dirk Benedict spoke at 1 PM and he is just a fantastic human being. It’s always nice to discover that the actor whose roles you enjoyed as a kid is a great person too. Now that I think of it I haven’t met a jerk yet at a con. Every actor I’ve had the privilege of meeting has been absolutely charming. Dirk Benedict is even above and beyond that if you ask me. He’s just a caring, down-to-earth person and the stories he tells are touching and sometimes funny.

The cosplay was fantastic. In my opinion the cosplayers are easily half of the fun of a comic con. Seeing how crafty, creative and enthusiastic people are about their favorite movies, games, television shows, comics or what have you lifts my spirits and makes me happy. Marvel and DC were well represented with some truly stunning Wonder Women, Poison Ivys, Harley Quins, Jokers, Batmen, Supermen, Captain Americas, Thors and Lokis. There were a smattering of less popular characters from both universes including, I kid you not, one young man dressed as the dancing Groot who was absolutely adorable. There were a couple of Star-Lords and Ronins too.

IMG_3889

 

The staple cosplays were also well represented with Doctor Who, Daleks, Star Wars, and Star Trek characters along with a few Midnas and Links from Zelda. There was a pair cosplaying Yzma and Kronk from Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove. I’ve never seen a Yzma or Kronk before and it was delightful. I also saw, for the first time at a con, from Pacific Rim, Newt and Gottlieb. The Newt cosplayer even had arm transfers of the tattoos the character had in the movie. They were very impressive and posed with someone cosplaying Sasha, pilot of Alpha Cherno also from Pacific Rim. There were some fabulous Game of Thrones cosplay and a rather large number of Ghostbusters present as well. The Ghostbusters were likely there to see Ernie Hudson.

IMG_3883

At 3PM the Buffy Panel started, an obvious choice and even more so with Nicholas Brendon (Xander) and Clair Kramer (Glory). Nicholas Brendon is as charming as can be and Clair Kramer is too. It’s always fun to hear from the actors and actresses who starred in a show you enjoyed. Oftentimes they have stories to tell that make the show that much more enjoyable.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to seeing Sean Astin and maybe attending the trivia game show. K.

Share

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.