Going into this assignment, I was excited (obviously!), but also a tiny bit nervous. I’ve never been to a con before and–although I felt I knew something of what to expect thanks to all the reports I’ve heard and read for other con goers (especially the Comic Geek Speak podcast), I still wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Just how crowded would it be? Was there any chance of actually getting a seat for the panels I wanted?
Some of these questions and concerns remain unanswered after today, but quite a few were laid to rest as well. While it’s my understanding that Saturday will probably be much more crowded, Friday was actually a lot more sparse than I was expecting. Definitely not in a nobody’s-here kind of way, just in an I-wasn’t-expecting to-get-through-the-aisles-easily kind of way. It was just the right amount of people, actually, and it wasn’t nearly as stressful as I had feared.
Since ECCC didn’t start until 2pm today, I had the morning to do some sightseeing around the con’s lovely host city. This included a trip to the Space Needle (of course), and the Sci-Fi Museum/Experience Music Project. An odd combo to be sure, and the Sci-Fi museum was under renovation except for a small Battlestar Galactica exhibit, but it was a good time all the same. They also have the single best sign for any museum I’ve ever seen:
Then, finally, it was time for the con itself. In spite of printing out the wrong part of the confirmation email, and thus having to run 10 blocks back to my hotel to print out the attached PDF file I was supposed to have, I did finally get my badge and get in the queue to enter. Immediately, I made a beeline for the booth of one of my heroes, Greg Rucka. While beaming in what must have been an incredibly foolish manner, I got him to sign my Batwoman trade, along with a copy of his latest novel, The Last Run (spoiler: it’s really, really good.)
Fangirl needs assuaged, it was time to explore the rest of the con floor…and be completely and utterly overwhelmed by the size. Rookie that I am, I made the mistake of not having a plan. I knew, generally speaking, who it was and what it was I wanted to see…but no route in mind, and no clue where they were in relation to each other. The solution? Wander aimlessly!
Lucky for me, I wandered directly into Matt Fraction! And wouldn’t you know it, my tpb of his Eisner winning Invincible Iron Man is in my backpack. Autograph please!
Filed under: Features, Other | Tagged: cosplay, ECCC, Emerald City Comic Con 2011, Emerald City Comic Con report, John Giang, Wil Wheaton | 1 Comment »
Weekly Comic Book Review 