
Five Existential Convention Crises
How do you like your comics conventions? Comic-cons, anime conventions, book cons, “that thing where everyone dresses funny” – call them what you will, but there are several shared experiences among many attendees that I would like to highlight. Maybe some of these convention feelings come from my own neuroses, but the five following scenarios embody the sort of thought patterns that are often expressed in spur-of-the-moment tweets and could use some reflection here. If you have never been to a con and are looking for a Convention Survival 101 guide, allow me to direct you to Kristina Pino’s excellent advice.
Let’s take a look at some of the thoughts that may go through a con attendee’s head at various points in a show.
- No one in line cared as much as I did
- I was not ready to actually meet my idol
- I recognized everyone else’s cosplay but no one knew mine
Holy frijoles, check out that nine-foot-tall Iron Man armor! How is it moving?! I totally photobombed the lineup of gender-swapped Sailor Scouts, hairy legs and all. Then I got held up by the 501st Legion of stormtroopers, who were way goofier than I thought an imperial gang would be. I really liked having all these cosplayers around, but… it also would have been nice if someone called me out for matching their costume, or asked for a photo. This outfit took hours to put together and get all the details right, and I felt like a faceless fan in the crowd among all these A-list outfits.
- I was in the middle of nerd utopia and suddenly wanted to be far away from there
- I’ve returned to work Monday morning and wish it was first day of the con again