A Little Thing Called Comicon

So we started a family tradition of attending Comicon. We started going last year in Calgary, when I was pregnant with Lewis and had a crazy good time so we thought, why not go every year?

I don't know what it is, whether it's the nostalgic toys and comics that can be purchased from my childhood days of yester-year, the awesome speakers, or simply the people-watching. Some folks go all out with their costumes that it is more intense than Halloween!

Big Guy and I were so enthralled when Stan Lee spoke last year that the 45 minutes just flew by. Hearing him talk about why Hulk went from grey to green because it looked better on print, why Gwen Stacy died and how Marvel comics got its name were just some of the few things he briefed the audience on. We HAD to go again.

Ottawa didn't get as many "big names" as Calgary as it was only the second time they had an actual Comicon in Ottawa, they usually just take place in Montreal. We were excited to hear that most of the 1960s TV Batman actors were supposed to be present. However, Adam West backed out last minute because of an alleged incident involving his dog and falling on his back.

We were able to see Julie Newmar (Catwoman) and Burt Ward, not to mention, LaVar Burton (from Reading Rainbow, Roots, and Star Trek), and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian from Star Wars!) I am a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan and was psyched to see Nicholas Brendon (who played Xander Harris from Buffy) but alas his Q & A was the same time as the Masquerade and I simply couldn't miss that (you will soon learn why).

It's only at Comicon when massive crowds of nerds and wannabe nerds get together and instead of harboring feelings anxiety because of the claustrophobic conditions we all get along quite nicely. There are more, "Excuse me"s and "I'm sorry"s uttered than a typical Canadian day. In fact, I had a girl who was the typical "nerd", not make eye contact with me as she was looking at the ground, say "I'm sorry, I am just trying to figure out a way to get over there" to which I made room in the line I was standing in so she could walk through. Where else in the world does this happen?

So this little event that happens at every Comicon is called The Masquearade. People dress up to the 9's, no not even 9's... I would say full 10s. There are various categories of competition and we entered our Little Dragon in the youngsters category. There is 4 or so other categories, each one increasing in difficulty of the skill level of creation (making the props and sewing the costume). Lucky for me, in the kid category they don't judge on workmanship. Have you seen me try to work a sewing machine without the help of a certain Mrs. Shyla? It's a disaster waiting to happen.

Anywho, I had this all planned out when Little Dragon was just a'swimming lengths in my belly. He would be Batman, his stroller would be transformed into the Batmobile and of course, Big Guy would be the loyal Alfred. Makes sense, right?

We won a ribbon! That's my BOY!

I am thinking next year we might try to go for Thor and Odin. We just need Little Dragon to work on growing some more hair! WA ha ha ha ha! Here's hoping...