Margaret Lake Photography creations: My First Ever Comic Con!

Ok, so I don't 'blog' in the traditional sense & most of my social media is via Facebook! I want to share my new experience & thought this blog will be a good platform for links to my other social media.

Fish Out of Water!

I attended the Dallas Comic Con Fan Expo on Sat. May 30, 2015. I've never been to anything quite like that before so I thought I'd share my perspective as a newcomer. When I got married we went to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia for our honeymoon. There we went snorkeling & my husband went SCUBA diving. It was an amazing experience in that we'd seen photos & videos of exotic fish underwater & talked to people who'd seen this before but actually being there, half way around the world, that's another story. You've heard of it, you know about it, you've got an idea about what it might be like but it's a whole other thing. What goes on in there is quite fascinating! Then there's the Comic Con Conventions & the like. They are made fun of - see this link (Star Trek Convention - William Shatner on SNL 1986) & are revered as 1000's of people crammed into the Dallas Convention Center. I've heard of them, seen them on TV, knew people who've been but being there was a whole other experience!

The event ran from Fri. May 29 to Sun. May 31, 2015. I live in Houston so I drove my two kids, Lexy, 4 & Jackson, 6, to my parents home in Flower Mound where I grew up. My husband was on an extended business trip overseas & Jackson just graduated Kindergarten. I was home alone with the kids & Jackson LOVES Super Heroes. His favorite one changes but with all the hype of the Avengers he's partial to Captain America, his Halloween costume last year. His closet is filled with a myriad of Star Wars & Superhero T-shirts. He claims Superman is his all-time favorite & that seems to be the family consensus. Superman is the best Super Hero! At this convention Carrie Fischer, (Princess Leia), Dean Cain, (Superman), & Stan Lee, largely recognized as the creator of Marvel Comics were all supposed to be there. Furthermore, the original Batman & Robin, Adam West & Burt Ward! The kids don't really know who these people are specifically but have been exposed to their work & legacy in some form or another. This was a rare opportunity for photo ops that I assumed they would thank me for later. A friend asked me why I was doing this & I said, "If you could have gotten your picture with the Lollipop Guild from the Wizard of Oz when you were a kid, wouldn't you have thought your parents were the coolest?" They're gone now, the opportunity is gone.

Even though my children are young they are well traveled, have been to several states & a few countries. We take them to special exhibits, the zoo, the circus, concerts & museums as well as lots of family time. I want to share positive things about the world that make it special or different than our everyday lives with my children. The closest thing to this type of adventure I would say is the Renaissance Fair, but air conditioned!

I have an 'in' with some of this type of stuff as my younger brother is totally into it. He's got a collection of Star Wars T-shirts (from yours truly), owns & operates a 3-D printer, plays video games with people he can't see & other 'nerdy' pursuits. He served as my guide & translator. Many times I didn't really know what I was looking at! There were plenty of people I never heard of that he wanted to see. He even made a fake gun on his 3-D printer just for the occasion like the one on his favored show, Firefly. I have heard of that star, Nathan Fillion as he is famous for Castle & I remember him from One Life to Live & Desperate Housewives. He was a HUGE draw for many fans. His line was so long my brother dropped out of it. He would have enjoyed more leisure time to do everything with a 3 day pass. I wasn't up for that for my first adventure nor did I want to shell out the dough. The more time you spend there the more money you spend. Oh, they've got that all figured out!

There were loud storms the night before which gave me insomnia. When I finally did go back to sleep I didn't wake up until 9:30am. I can't explain enough how rare it is to sleep that late. If the clock has a 7 in front of it, that's sleeping in for my children who wake me up on a regular basis. The convention was 30 minutes away & opened at 10am. I wasn't too worried but the people I wanted to see were available around noon. I skipped my workout to save time & we were out the door by 11am. It's tough to get 2 kids & yourself out the door for any given reason all the time. We arrived & looked for parking which was $15 to $20. Hoards of people were walking from parking spaces fairly far away from the convention center, not a good sign. We finally found a lot that wasn't full. I ended up parking in the grass, dirt & mud that was an extension of the lot wondering if it was even legal to park there but like a sheep I saw other people doing it so I followed suit. I let the crew out & we waited in line AT the parking lot for over 30 minutes just to get a ticket to put on the dashboard. They took credit cards & $15. The sky was overcast & it looked like rain, fortunately it did not!

We followed the costumed crowds to the entry, & then began another long wait in line. You can buy your tickets in advance but I had a line on some FREE tickets but that didn't pan out. I was glad I hadn't pre-paid for the noon people because we didn't even arrive on the convention floor until 1:21pm. I would have simply lost my money if I had. I paid $50 for my ticket, $10 for Jackson & Lexy was free. I'm sure I could have said Jackson was 5 & got him in for free but that's not how I roll. We found a bathroom, fought the crowds & finally said hello to friends of mine 'womaning' a booth for artist Bob Luedke, his wife & daughter. The wife, Sandy, was glad to see me, someone else who didn't quite fit in & was like a deer in the headlights! His booth was super popular but no surprise, he's talented & you can buy a print & then have it signed by the celebrity featured if you want to spend the time & money.

People watching was key. Lots of costumes which is referred to as Cosplay meaning 'costume play'. I chose not to wear a costume but go in my street clothes as Super Mom of the Universe. Strangely no one asked to take a photo with me, hmph! Lexy wore a Frozen dress & also a Super Girl T-shirt. Jackson wore a Captain American costume complete with muscles & a shield. He changed into a Superman T-shirt, too. Ryan wore a red Star Wars T-shirt featuring the Millennium Falcon, if you don't know what that is Google it!

I quickly discovered I left all my cash in another bag at home...sigh! So I paid to have photos with two celebrities, Dean Cain & Stan Lee on my phone & they scanned my E-mail on my phone as proof of payment when the time came to take the photo. We received a professional 8x10 portrait within minutes of the shot. It felt like cattle moving through the line, stand here, do this, move along. Dean was very personable & recognized us from the previous Q&A session he led with fellow actor Laura Vandervoort (Super Girl on Smallville & Bitten). That was free to attend & we scored front row seats. I wasn't sure how the kids would handle what might be an hour of sitting still & listening to people talk about things they weren't especially focused on. Jackson surprised me, though, raising hands & asking questions. The moderator called on him twice & his questions were so cute. 1. Why is Superman DC Comics? 2. What kind of music do you like to jam out to? This was posed to both actors. The answer to question one was basically Marvel didn't invent him & he was happy to see DC Comics making a come back in TV & movies presumably since Marvel has had such a strong presence. Furthermore, Laura said she likes Fleetwood Mac (me, too) & Dean mentioned he grew up on old school (AKA Old Skool) rap. I asked him to rap for us but no such luck. I asked a couple questions too & confessed my crush started when Cain appeared in 90210! He had a bit of a reaction to that & said I looked fantastic referring to my age as I stated I was not that much younger than him. I get that a lot but still I was flattered even if he was just being polite. I asked what types of projects did he see himself working on as his son matured (he's a single dad of a teenager & tries to stay close to home in LA to raise him). He wants to accept offers that may take him around the world, the sky is the limit for acting, directing & writing. I also thanked him for his support of the troops & he talked a lot about his friendship with Chris Kyle & their partnership on Stars Earn Stripes, a show my husband & I watched. Dean came in 2nd, not too poor a showing. You can see the talk on this link: Q&A with Dean Cain & Laura Vandervoort

I decided since I had allocated some money towards the people I did not get to see that I would at least get Dean's autograph on the photo we'd taken. He had a booth & that was a fairly short line but because he is so personable he spent a lot of time with everyone who was getting a signature. He was 'on' the whole time I saw him which I commend. That's a lot of energy & smiles. Dean is a hugger, too. When we got our photo made I reached for his hand to shake it but I knew I could have gotten a hug. When we finally got to get the signature I gave another handshake & he commented that he loved how cold my hands were because he was hot sitting there! I was a bit embarrassed because my hands are always cold. My husband loves it if I put my hands on his head or neck so they do come in 'hand'y sometimes. My brother strolled over to the table & I introduced him. Ryan said we were talking for about 15 min. I doubt it was that long but we did get cut off by the guy moderating the table so the next folks to get their signature, too. Talking to him was easy & natural. It felt like meeting a cool person at a party & you just hit it off. I like to talk & I think Dean does, too! I shared a story of how when Jackson was a baby he would be fussy in the car if we hit traffic so we used to play Rapper's Delight by The Sugar Hill Gang, considered to be the first rap song (he'd mentioned he likes to listen to rap at times). One day I discovered this song in particular soothed the savage beast so it was played MANY times. One day my parents were driving with us & Jackson started fussing so we played the song. I look in the back seat & Jackson is wide awake but my parents are fast asleep with their heads tilted back. I did take a photo with my phone but I won't post it in order to protect their privacy, I'm such a good daughter! Anyhow, Dean thought that was pretty funny or he's just really good at making me feel like I am a good story teller!

We now had enough time to complete our last adventure of the day, see Stan Lee & get a photo. His line was especially long. Lexy begged to play the card game War while we waited in line for an HOUR! The irony wasn't lost on me that the cards we were playing with were Marvel characters. Mr. Lee was friendly but less engaging. He was wearing a Members Only jacket & white tennis shoes. They had him in a directors chair & he wore dark glasses. He's 92! It's hard to believe he'd even bother with all of this, even a young, fit person would find this exhausting in more ways than one. He pointed out to Jackson that he liked his costume. We took the photo as I held Jackson's Incredible Hulk Masher action figure & Lexy held Spiderman. Ryan shook his hand & he thanked us. Then it was time for the next group.

The kids did well considering their ages, Lexy having the harder time maintaining a positive attitude. Everyone was peaceful & joyous when I bought a $15 tin pail of popcorn with refills. When I went to actually get a refill I was told it was another $8. Nope. We kept the pail, though, which turned into a fight with the kids as to who got to beat the drum.

We stopped a few times to ask for pictures with characters who caught our attention. My favorite was a group of Storm Troopers, again, Google it if you don't know what a Storm Trooper is. One was wearing a kilt? We had a kids bag in the shape of R2-D2 which was quite a hit with many passersby & folks in lines with us. It even had a button to make it talk. I took a photo with the kids in it & said, "These ARE the droids you're looking for!" You see, I am part geek & can speak a bit of the language! In character, one guy pretended to kick it & put a gun on it, too funny.

Many people were in costume & I was lightly hit by many wings & weapons in the crowds. I wasn't hurt or even annoyed, it was just part of the experience. Everyone seemed super friendly & happy to be there. I was happy for them, too & even through the few bumps, I was happy to be there, too. I felt the highlight for me was the excellent fan experience with Dean Cain. Sometimes you can admire someone from a distance & when you meet them you get disappointed. Not me, not in this case!

Will I go back again? I don't know, maybe. It depends on who'll be there & what my kids level of enthusiasm will be. I will be better equipped. I'll come early for better parking, bring cash, bring a 3 ring binder for photos, & bring more food & not just light snacks. The food is expensive & the lines were long. I'm not cheap but I don't like to waste money, either. Maybe I'd wear a costume. Or just stick with Super Mom of the Universe. That seems to suit me best!