Denver Comic Con 2014 – Guest Post

Posted by Longbox Heroes on Jun 17, 2014 in Comics | 2 comments

This was Denver Comic Con’s 3rd year, but the first one I’ve been able to attend as my better half surprised me with tickets for our anniversary. She’s new to comics, but was excited to learn more with me & see her beloved Power Rangers.

To give you a frame of reference, Denver’s first year was pretty small, but last year saw a huge jump in attendance. They weren’t prepared for the spike & just couldn’t handle the lines. This led to horror stories of five hour waits. Luckily this year they figured out line management.

Luckily, we got there about an hour before badge exchange. The line was long, but it moved very smoothly. The poor dude in a Punisher costume had to keep reminding his Spider-Kids that there were no places in line to pee.

Friday was a lot of fun. We started the day watching a Q&A with the Blue Ranger (David Yost), Black Ranger (Walter Jones) & Lord Zed (Robert Axelrod). The main event room had a crazy echo that made it hard for the panel guests to hear the fans questions, so Yost took matters into his own hands by moving the microphones closer to the stage. They mostly talked about being role models and stuff like that, but I enjoyed the tales of pranks. I guess the Green Ranger (Jason David Frank) really enjoyed ribbing Yost.

Heeding Todd’s advice about cons, we took advantage of the small Friday morning crowd to explore the merch area & artist alley. Quite the sensory overload, but we got good recon to plan our weekend. We marked out pretty hard when we sat in the 1960’s Batmobile. It was neat chatting with the owner about the history of the car. Our buddies converted their mini-van into the Turtle Wagon, so we got pics with that as well. There was also a land speeder and KITT from knight rider.

We found Neil Adams’ booth and went a bit out of control picking out prints. He’s one of my favorite artists! It was mellow enough to have a nice chat with him. His wife had a Hello Kitty lunch box, so we hooked her up with some Hello Kitty fruits snacks we brought along.

Despite the horror stories from last year, Saturday was a lot of fun. Expecting crazy lines, we made sure to walk over early. The line had a smooth pace. We had a nice talk with a couple cosplayers about costuming which helped the wait go by fast. Once again, we got in right as doors opened. First conversation I overheard was a kid talking about Power Pack with his dad. I was impressed with how many families attended.

We started with a Q&A with the Jason David Frank, the Green Ranger but left a little early to save spots in line for the Batman ‘66 reunion panel (Adam West, Burt Ward & Julie Newman), which was awesome! They had great chemistry together and told hilarious stories. Burt Ward told tales of stunts gone wrong. Once the Batmobile door opened going around a corner & he dislocated his finger holding on to the gear shifter. Another time, his sidecar went flying off a pier into the water. Julie Newmar was feisty as ever and Adam West was the glue of the panel and was witty as can be.

Finally it was time for an actual comic panel! The schedule listed Yanick Paquette’s tips for drawing hands & feet, but there was confusion about where it actually was. Eventually, we found the room. They had no way to connect his tablet to the projector. Luckily, a volunteer found a flip board to draw on but no easel. I gladly offered to be his Vanna White & held the board as he drew examples of perspective and shading for the people there. He did a great job connecting with the fans and emphasized the importance of researching source material. I learned he has a biology background which sure explains how awesome his Swamp Thing art was. He says the tone of Wonder Woman Earth One will be more light hearted than a lot of what’s coming out of DC these days. It was just really cool getting one on one time with one of my favorite artists these days.

Sunday we took advantage of the smaller crowd to buy art. The line was crazy easy this time. We had another great talk with Yanick Paquette about how the artist, Mucha, influenced his art. I got an awesome Swamp Thing print. Steve Lieber was at the booth next to him. He had just finished up his commissions and encouraged me to hang around while he did my Shocker sketch. I guess the con canceled the Marvel Spotlight panel the night before because they couldn’t find a moderator. It was very neat seeing him work!

One of Rocky Mountain Rollergirls’ skaters, Undertaker’s Daughter, wrote a children’s book called Dorothy’s Derby Chronicles, so I made sure to visit her booth to catch up. You can preorder it at www.dorothyderby.com.

Then it was time for a pic with Adam West!! Sarah got to do the Batusi with him, and I discovered he grew up with my grandma in Walla Walla. Unfortunately, the busy nature of photo ops made it tough for a deep talk about it. After that, we bounced over to listen to Kevin Conroy talk about his work in animation and video games. I had a fun time listening to George Perez give little kids drawing pointers in an area called kids corner. He seemed to really be enjoying it. I’d really like to meet him, but his lines were long all weekend. We finished the Con by listening to reps from the Denver Public Library talk about the history of censorship in comics. They covered a lot of ground going from Socrates to Seduction of the Innocents to the Saga/itunes controversy.

Overall, I thought we were able to get a well rounded mix of different mediums and perspectives. It did seem weird that comics kind of got the lower priority, but unfortunately that sounds like the trend with conventions. I think they had something for everybody and really did well focusing on family bonding. They did well bringing in the community by reaching out to the Denver Library and Denver Symphony.

Jesse Shively is former referee for the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls, loyal listener and real life pirate! Give him a follow on TWITTAH @StiffPegPete. and check out all of his pics from Denver Comic Con on Instagram!