The Blot kicked December 2012 off with a bang by traveling to New Orleans for the day to attend Wizard World’s New Orleans Comic-Con! Unfortunately I could only attend that Saturday, but the show had a line-up that was definitely not to be missed. Because of scheduling conflicts this was actually the second NOCC of 2012, meaning there won’t be another Wizard World event in the Big Easy until the beginning of 2014. Thankfully they crammed this convention chock full of amazing guests and events.
The Blot’s main driving force to attend New Orleans Comic-Con this year was Stan Lee! I’ve never met the comic book legend before, and I wanted to make sure that happened before twins arrive and my traveling days for comic conventions is indefinitely suspended. So I booked the earliest and latest flights to and from NOLA and set off on an adventure. All I can say is the trip was well worth it! I got to meet Stan Lee a few times, got a picture with The Man, and even got a few things signed by him. Just listening to him talk about comics to fans was a real treat. He seriously is a living legend.
Getting to the con before it opened meant I was able to get my Stan Lee fix in early and still enjoy the rest of the show. I had heard from many fans and artists that New Orleans was a smaller, laid back convention compared to Austin Comic-Con, but that was honestly not the impression I got at all. This show appears to be growing by leaps and bounds, and by Saturday afternoon the convention floor was packed!
I might even say I enjoyed New Orleans Comic-Con more than Austin, because it had a much wider variety of vendors. I’m never sure how a vendor chooses which convention to attend, but NOCC was packed with comic book stores from around the country including some awesome toy booths. While I only had a small messenger bag with me, I definitely ended up buying more stuff at this show than the past two comic conventions I attended.
Along with NOCC’s Star Trek: The Next Generation 25th Anniversary Cat Reunion, the show had huge lines for the cast of The Walking Dead, Eliza Dushku and Adrienne Curry. I was pretty excited to finally meet Curry in person, who was as friendly and approachable as she portrays on Twitter. Getting a picture with her was definitely one of the highlights of the show. After that I roamed the artist ally, got a few Booster Gold commissions, and chatted with some very talented artists.
While I never had the time to brave the line for Kevin Eastman (co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), I did watch him sketch for a while which was real treat! I’ve never met Eastman in person but you could tell what a huge following he and the TMNT still have today. His lines for free sketches were hours long and seemed never ending! If I had been able to stay for Sunday I would have just camped out at his table the whole next day.
All in all New Orleans Comic-Con was excellent and I’m already thinking of ways to convince Alyson to take a family trip with me there in 2014! If you’re considering traveling for a convention in the next year or so, definitely consider heading to the Big Easy for New Orleans Comic-Con February 7-9, 2014!
