C2E2 Recap

This year I went to the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) for the first time.  I hadn't planned on going, but my friends over at Space Gypsies convinced me to go as the Clockwork Droid, and since I love the attention I get in that outfit, I agreed to go.  Plus, John Barrowman, otherwise known as Captain Jack from Doctor Who and Torchwood, was going to be there.  Last year at Dragon*Con I got my picture taken with Gareth David-Lloyd, who plays Ianto Jones, so I thought it would be nice to have a photo of the Clockwork Droid with John Barrowman as well.

What a long day!  We went to the John Barrowman Q&A, where he was incredibly charming and entertaining.  Later, when I attempted to get in line for his autograph, they were capping the line due to the very small area set aside for the autograph queues.  They said to come back later, so I went to walk around and terrify people.  I couldn't believe how many people knew who I was.  Usually at Dragon*Con I'm mistaken for V from V for Vendetta, but I don't think a single person thought that at C2E2.  One really surprising thing was that about a quarter of my fans were African-American.  I had quite a few kids pose for pictures, too.  Two little girls ran up to me and said, "we have your doll!"  I had at least one person tell me they were a huge fan.  All in all, I posed for almost 300 pictures.  (However, that was nothing compared to the attention that my friends the Snowths got.  People LOVE those costumes!)

I also managed to get over to the Artists Alley and see my friend Jaysin Osterkamp, who I went to college with.  When we were a school, he wrote a strip called Northern Highz, and I loved reading it because his characters were students in the Communication Department.  After school, he drew the graphic novel Lost, which his friend Derek Glascock wrote.  When I got to their table, Jaysin was busy drawing, so I just stood there looking down at him.  When he glanced up and saw me, he jumped.  We chatted for a bit (as much as I can under that stupid mask), and I finally purchased Lost (it's really good so far, so if you like comics, check it out!)

I was finally let into the John Barrowman queue, along with Alyssa, one of the other Space Gypsies.  We were in line for a good hour and a half before it was our turn for autographs.  When he looked up and saw me, he jumped a little and said, "uh oh, am I in trouble?"  Well, I can't talk in that mask, so I just stood looking at him in what I can only hope was an evil stance.  He said, "who should I make this out to, 'V'?"  I almost died.  Meanwhile, his agent or whoever was sitting next to him asked if I was actually a person, or if he'd find gears under my mask.  At least he knew who I was!  Just then, Barrowman said, "lean in."  I had no idea what he meant, and he said more loudly, "LEAN IN!"  Ah, it was so that Alyssa could take our photo.  We left to meet up with the Snowths, and I have to say, I was really disappointed in my encounter with Barrowman.  I know he wasn't in that season, but he claims that David Tennant is his Doctor, so you'd think he was familiar with the series.  Everyone else knew who I was, but not the guy actually in the show?  I keep trying to chalk it up to the fact that he was inundated with fans all day and was probably just really tired.  Plus, he's gorgeous, so I forgive him. 

After that, we all signed up for the costume contest.  They were only letting the first 30 people in; I didn't think we were going to make it, but we were numbers 26 and 27.  The Snowths killed!  I went onstage and did my clockwork thing, and I think the audience loved it.  Then they brought us all back on stage and said that the audience would vote on the finalists - they had everyone just shout out the names of who they wanted as a finalist.  That was really bizarre.  I was pleased to hear a section of people chant "Clockwork! Clockwork!"  I wasn't chosen, but the Snowths were finalists.  The winner, however, was some guy who was apparently from Dragon Age but looked like a professional wrestler.  There was barely anything to his costume, and that always bothers me when someone wins with something that's not really a huge effort.  Oh well.  The Snowths got goody bags with all kinds of crazy stuff in them, including several copies of an anime film and underwear.  Weird.

After the contest, I had a lot of people come up to tell me that they had been shouting out "Clockwork!"  One guy walked past and he said, "don't touch me, but I thought you should have won the costume contest."  I think I must have misheard him - "don't touch me"?  Oh well.

At the end of the day, I realized that that was the longest I'd ever worn the costume - a full 12 hours.  I also need to work on my pose in this newest mask and wig, because they make my posture look all weird when I stand straight.  My feet were raw, my chest was killing me from being bound down all day, and when I got home, I just collapsed on the couch.  It was a lot of fun, but I'm not sure I'd want to go again.  I felt like I missed so much - I can't really see too well in the costume, and I'd have liked to spend more time in Artists Alley.  I'm not into comics, but I really love looking at all the different art, and last year at Wizard World I found gorgeous Doctor Who prints.  I think I prefer Dragon*Con, where you can be in costume for a few hours and then change.  But, I had a great time, spent the day with some wonderful friends, and it definitely helped quell my Con Fever for a while.  Next up - Labor Day Weekend and Dragon*Con!

Wizard World Chicago Comic Con

I haven't posted anything in a l-o-n-g time, partly because I've been super busy training for a marathon, and also because I've been taking a break from costuming.  I'll be starting back up this week, however, working on some touch-ups for my Clockwork Droid costume, which I'll be wearing to Dragon*Con!

However, this past weekend I attended Wizard World Chicago Comic Con as press with some of my friends, the Space Gypsies.  I was there to film panels and general Con activities.

After having been to Dragon*Con, I have to say - I wasn't that impressed with WWCC.  They had no idea how to handle crowd control, their volunteers were clueless and rude, their exhibit hall was way too small, they had a shockingly small number of panels, and some of the autograph tables had organized lines and some didn't.  There were very few costumes - I had expected some pretty kickass comic book characters, but most of the costumes I saw seemed to be held together with duct tape.  Of course, there were several really well-done costumes, but after the high level of work that I've seen at Dragon*Con, some of the costumes at WWCC were almost pathetic.

I did not wear any costume, since I was working, but I was dressed up in my best geek attire; on Saturday I wore my Let's Play Doctor shirt, and Sunday I wore a Jayne-inspired graphic tee.  It was so strange not to have people stop me every ten feet to take my photo, but one girl did tell me that she liked my SPEW button!

I attended the Julie Benz panel and the Charisma Carpenter panel.  Julie was a total sweetheart, and Charisma was very personable.  I've noticed that all of the Whedonverse panels I've seen have been the most enjoyable; not only do the guests seem down-to-earth and pleasant, and they're really good at acting like each question is unique and they've never been asked it before.  Late in the day on Sunday, I even saw Charisma buying her son some Asian candy at one of the booths, just like a (gasp) normal person!  It was kind of surreal to walk about two feet from Cordelia Chase while being jostled by the crowd.

For as disorganized and frustrating WWCC was at times, I had a great time.  I spent the weekend walking around taking video, and to be able to do that in whatever way I wanted (as opposed to the strict rules I have to follow at work) was very liberating.  I also was able to have a few conversations with David Vox Mullen of DVM Podcast Empire about his New Who Podcast, which he produces with his stepdaughter, and Torchcast, which covers Torchwood: Miracle Day.

Not only that, but both Kai Owen and Gareth David-Lloyd of Torchwood fame were there.  I had met Gareth at ChicagoTARDIS last November, but I was in full Clockwork Droid gear and with the wig and mask off, I look a wreck (hair sticking out everywhere, creases all over my face from the mask).  So, I'd kept the wig and mask on, and the mask makes it impossible to speak, so I'd just kind of mimed my way through the autograph.  I'm always so much braver when I'm a Clockwork Droid ... So at this Con, I wanted to meet him properly, but DANG - he's so much hotter in person that it took me the entire weekend to get up the nerve to meet him!

On Saturday I noticed Kai was by himself (no Gareth around) and I took the opportunity to get his autograph.  He is a very lovely and gracious person, and he took the time to answer one of my questions about Miracle Day.  I wanted to know who Rhys and Gwen were hiding from in Wales, since at the end of Children of Earth it doesn't seem like anyone is after them anymore.  He said that he thinks the government still wants to get rid of Gwen since she knows about the government taking children to give to the 456.  I felt kind of dumb because it seemed so obvious, but really, it wasn't clear at all.  Anyway, he was great and I'm so glad I met him.  Over the last year or so, Rhys has become one of my favorite characters on Torchwood, and I love that he and Gareth do so many conventions together.  They clearly are good friends and their panels (which I have yet to see in full and in person, since I only caught about 15 minutes at ChicagoTARDIS due to the masquerade meeting) are hilarious.

On Sunday I finally worked up the nerve to say hi to Gareth, and he was just as sweet as Kai.  He seemed a bit amused when I told him I'd gotten his autograph last year while dressed as a Clockwork Droid.  After I left his table, I pulled out my iPhone to text my husband, and as I brushed some hair out of my face, a crumpled piece of paper fell out of my hair.  I almost died!  I had checked myself in the mirror before venturing over to Gareth's table!  However, on closer inspection, it was a gum wrapper that I'd had in my pocket, so I think it got caught on my iPhone and fluttered off as I reached up to my hair.  I hope so.  Oh god, I hope Gareth wasn't smiling at me because I had junk in my hair!

About two minutes after that, some nerd hit on my and shook my hand, tainting the hand that Gareth had just shaken.  ARGH!

Peter Tork from the Monkees was also there, and one of my friends is a big fan, so instead of buying her an autograph (which really doesn't mean much unless you get it yourself), I bought her a video message!  He was fantastic and super nice, and I am so grateful that he was willing to do something a little out of the ordinary.  Yeah, I know he was making money off of it, but some stars are very picky.

I also picked up some fantastic Doctor Who artwork from Kurt Wood.  I'm not into comics - even when I read the Buffy comics, I mostly ignore the artwork - but I was really attracted to his drawings of the Tenth Doctor.  (I also got an Eleventh Doctor and Amy poster for Matt.)

All in all, it was a long weekend, my feet still hurt, my shoulder hurts from carrying around the bag, and I'm just plain exhausted - but I had a lot of fun.  I'm not sure I would go back, but I definitely have Con Fever (the good kind, not anything contagious) and can't wait to see Gareth again at Dragon*Con (god, he's going to think I'm stalking him) as well as Lea Thompson.  I'm trying to decide if I should get a photo op with her and wear my Lorraine Baines dress ... Also, I'm really excited for ChicagoTARDIS, even if no one I know shows up, just because I like to lurk in corners and scare people!  Although, I know Toby Hadoke is booked, and I'm loving his book Running Through Corridors, in which he and Rob Shearman go through classic Doctor Who one episode at a time (which is what Matt and I are currently doing). 

That's all, I'll be back soon with photos of my brand new Clockwork Droid mask, wig, and shoes.  And dang it, I just found a new photo that shows that all the ruffles are lace - not sure if I want to go and replace all of my current ruffles or not ... decisions, decisions ...