I am skeptical about how time works now.Okay, well, to be fair I got sick at C2E2, had to teach afterwards and spent the next month catching up on grading and finishing out the semester. I was guzzling copious amounts of hot tea and coffee- so I made it through, but by the end my voice was going and the next week was rough. This is the problem with Lecturing being your other gig…
Still C2E2 did not disappoint- too much! It didn’t seem to me to be up to full speed as it was pre-pandemic, but it was great connecting with some new fans and old fans. However, I will say since this was my first one back since 2019, the ‘old’ fans are MUCH older. Still the great thing about doing comics for kids is that their keeps being a new group growing into Dragon and Goat!
The crowds were pretty dense, and I did notice people maybe not as curious for new stuff as they had been in past years. Since I don’t do fan art or prints and still stubbornly cling to transmitting comics through printed books- it can be difficult to compete with the familiar comic worlds when your carving out your own cartoon spaces.
If you find yourself at a Comic Con in the near future (especially if you haven’t been before) be sure to hit Artist Alley up. There are lots of great original artists there who are happy to chat about their projects and even sketch up some fun stuff for you.
The cosplay game was strong, though! Lots of great cosplayers and creative energy out there. It’s fantastic to see how 3D Printing has really boomed. While I still recognize a fair amount of the costumes out there- there’s definitely A LOT that are getting more more out of my cartoon lexicon. I guess I need to up my binging this summer- to the Crunchy Roll!
All in all, though, it was great to get back on a show floor and see people face to face. Here are some of my favorite pics- definitely let me know if you recognize a character that I don’t. Sometimes they just look cool and even I have no idea where the character is from. While cosplay began maybe as an extension of fandom- I really like seeing it becoming a space for original characters to take life as well!
