I'm not the comic book nerd I use to be. But not for the lack of love, mostly it has been a cost effective decision. I really couldn't afford the price tag after a certain point. Sure I still loved comics, but that was part of the problem. I liked too many characters, all with their own books, thus being a collector, or even an avid fan became expensive fairly quickly. At that same time, video games started to fill that void.
Now, I shop at Half Price Books, looking for "trades" or graphic novels of the story arcs of my favorite heroes. And though it's hard to wrap my head around what has happened to these familiar friends, being nearly a decade and a half removed, I find that I am just as interested as I was all those years ago.
So upon arriving at my first ever ECCC, I was...overwhelmed. This really was an unexpected trip, as I had my two sisters visiting for the weekend. I wasn't sure that they'd have fun at the Con, but after a short description of the Con piqued their interest, I figured "what the hell."
Before we made it to ticket registration we were greeted by a young couple and their son. They noticed that we had not paid and upon confirmation, they gave us their Saturday passes. Stunned and sixty dollars richer, I perused the booths of ECCC, admiring the old comic panels, cosplayers, and artists, while my siblings gathered a plethora of free buttons.
The WSCC is perfectly suited to host this event. As the seventh annual ECCC doesn't feel that crowded or insane as PAX does. I love my PAX, but I must admit it that it might be too big. This Con is smaller, more intimate and at the same time as informative and fun as some of the other conventions I've attended. Though this day would mean no panels (the discussion kind), I deduced that today would be a good day to see what I'd want to purchase tomorrow.
I spent the majority of the day taking pics with the phone (I really need a DSLR). I managed to get pictures of a mini Hellboy/Abe Sapien duo, the Ghostbutsers, and various Star Wars characters (the flickr will be updated tomorrow).
I did manage to find an old X-Men panel from the early 90's with Colossus, Wolvie, and Gambit. I can't remember what issue the panel was from, but it was definitely "Uncanny" material. I didn't pull the trigger as I thought that this panel would be here on Sunday and I really didn't have anything for keeping the panel intact during transit.
We only spent two hours on Saturday, we got there at 2pm and I had to work late the night before. Really though it was all my fault for waking up late. With an understanding of the layout of ECCC and an idea of what I might want to purchase, we packed up and headed home.
Coming tomorrow:
- flickr update.
- Halo panel details.
- My wares.
- More ECCC
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