The Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo was this past weekend, and it was a blast. We got weekend passes (which was probably more than I could realistically handle), and we got to interact with some great people, celebrity and average cosplayer alike. This is the second year for the Expo, and it was about three times the size of last years event.
At first, I wasn’t planning on doing any sort of costume or cosplay, but the more I thought about it, the more that sounded like less fun (also, my baby belly is not letting me wear any of my awesome shirts at the moment, so I would have had to go totally plain clothes, and that sucks.) I decided to dig through my closet and do something pseudo-steampunk. I say pseudo because I didn’t really have time to get anything really awesome together. I pulled out a black peplum jacket, black trapeze dress, short black crinoline, and a pair of burgundy oxfords before heading to the mall to grab a few other essentials.
It took me just over three hours to find a wide belt in the right colour (I was looking for browns and camels), that didn’t look like it belonged on a club goer. Apparently, the trend is going back towards skinny belts. That sucks. I did manage to grab a great one on sale at Anthropologie, an I also picked up a new satchel, some mocha tights and a cheap-y steampunk gun from the Halloween store. Between those things, what I had, raiding my hat collection to fond something that would work, and deconstructing a necklace I never wear so I could glue in the watch parts inside to my face, I think it turned out all right. Shawn threw some stuff together, my brother dressed up like a ninja, and we were good to go. Take a look:
My mum, taking pictures of us old school Halloween style. It was great.
The guest line up this year was pretty good. Karl Urban was there on Saturday (swoon!), and we made a point of getting both autographs and a photo-op (on Sunday) with Ron Perlman. Being huge fans of his body of work and Hellboy, this was a must for both of us.
He kissed me and everything!
I honestly don’t know how the media guests put up with all the fans for as long as they do. Some people are complete whack jobs, obviously, but it would just be so tiring to be on all day. Karl Urban was looking a little haggard as the day wore on but John Barrow man (Oh Captain Jack, I love you!) just looked like he was having a great time no matter how many people he talked to. I totally creeped on him when we were in Ron Perlman’s line. I couldn’t help it.
We also came across the most amazing artist in our stroll through artist alley. Chasing Artwork is worth a look on Deviant Art. His stuf is unreal, and we managed to snag an Edmonton Expo exclusive print of Hellboy for Mr. Perlman to sign. I already have a spot picked out for it on the wall. We also got three other prints: two Ninja Turtles in flavor for our room and one of Toff from The Last Airbender for the Little Man.
Speaking of the Little Man, we got Tabitha St. Germain and Andrea Libman, two wonderful voice actors from My Little Pony, to sign a couple things for him. So, even before he enters the air, he has signed artwork made out to him. What a lucky guy! We also got them to sign our only copy of the MLP comic book (we only have one because IDW really dropped the ball on the writing, and we couldn’t justify getting more issues. Sad.) I was particularly stoked to meet Andrea Libman because Flutershy is my FAVOURITE!
Did anyone else watch ReBoot when they were kids? No? Well, shame on you. You should. Michael Benyaer, the voice of Bob, was there, and he, as well as one of the digital artists, signed a concept art book for us. That was awesome. He’s a really cool guy. They also had this dude sitting on their table:
For any fans of the show, this will make you squee as much as I did. Shawn insisted that I take this picture, and how could I say no?
We also managed to grab the first three volumes of a comic series we hadn’t read before. Atomic Robo struck me as soon as I saw the name, and when i found out it was about a sentient robot soldier who had originally been designed by Nicola Tesla and was now working for the US Government fighting all manner of weird things with action scientists from his company Tesladyne, I had to have it. I got through the first volume last night, and I’m sure the other two volumes won’t last long. Check it out. It’s great.
It was a long weekend, but well worth the effort (even though the cosplay for Sunday consisted of Shawn in his Gryffindor hoodie, me in my Hufflepuff scarf and two wands), and we’re already working on our cosplay ideas for next year. Yes, before any of you ask, our plans include the Little Man. How could they not? The tinier the cosplayer, the more awesome it is (as we were reminded by the little tenth Doctor we kept running in to. So cute!)
I’ll leave you with a few more pictures:
Sitting on the floor at the Expo Centre and feeling the Little Man wake up and have a good kick.
And one more prominently featuring the Little Man. His first con was a success.
Another shot of our lazy cosplay.
Shawn whipping out the ReBoot concept art book to flip through the whole thing before we even got home.
Mom, Wife, Geek 