DCC: Day 1

Day 1: Denver Comic Con 2012

When you go into something based on your experiences with something much larger, you tend to be...stunned.  When I arrived at the Colorado Convention Center last night around 3:40 (registration started at 4), I found a line wrapped around the building. Somewhat expected.  When I made it through registration in a half hour and discovered I had another hour and a half to wait until the Exhibit Hall opened... unexpected.  So in the interim, I did some listening, exploring and some picture taking.

The kid behind me in line and his friend in her "slutty shorts" were talking about all the people who had dressed up.  He insisted he could have been Deadpool, and he could have been a better Deadpool than all the other Deadpools he had already seen, since there were so many Deadpools and so many varieties of Deadpools, he just didn't have time to make a costume in the last six months.  Then, noting all the people dressed up, he said he was going to go home and put together a costume to wear on Saturday.  I'm sure it will be better than anyone else's.

Costuming:

There were some great and not-so-great costumes running around, but I applaud anyone who is willing to step out there and take a risk dressing up.  One thing that got me worked up right away though: "If you're going to cosplay, don't get annoyed when people stop and ask you for a picture."  The first group of people I encountered, when I praised their costumes and asked for their pictures, rolled their eyes, slumped their shoulders and acted completely put out.  Hey kids, it's 4:45 on Day 1.  You better get used to it or change into some street clothes.  I got their picture anyhow to show what grumps they were.

There were some outrageous Iron Men robots, a very brave Aquaman, a Powergirl with boobs to rival those in print, and a cute Batwoman working a booth who had clearly never done anything like this before but looked great nonetheless (I took her picture for you, Mr. Kane).

I think my favorite so far were the Robin, Red Hood, Nightwing trio I saw running around.  I don't think they were all together, so it made the encounter that much more incredible.

You can check out all of my DCC cosplay photos on my DCC 2012 Facebook album.

Exhibit Hall:
After waiting a bit and re-feeding my rockstar parking meter, I got "in line" for the exhibit hall. After experiencing lines at CCI, this one was easy peasy.  Strangely, I got in line directly behind two friends, Craig and Tony and spent the rest of the time there with them.

Having learned a little from San Diego, I wandered the Exhibit Hall not trying to see everything.  Since it was a relatively small hall in comparison, I knew I'd be able to come back and explore more.  I found some great items that I will return for this weekend and decided to avoid Artists' Alley totally.  I want to spend a great deal of time there on Saturday.

Yes, I left a little early and didn't partake in any "around the town" events, but got a solid foundational feel for the rest of the weekend.  Given the size and Sunday's repeat panels, I may not go back for Day Three, but Saturday is always the biggest day at any con.  It will definitely be worth the trip and all the money I'll spend in the hall.

And of course, I hope the panelists will be good too.