Over Memorial Day weekend, the Space City found itself in one of the largest geek invasions Texas has ever seen, Comicpalooza! A three-day celebration for comic books, video games, movies, anime and more, Comicpalooza took over Downtown Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center, filling it up to the brim with all things geek.
I found myself in the middle of it all for the whole three days with one question in mind, who’d win in a fight? Hawkeye or Green Arrow? My money’s on Clint, but then again I’m no foolish betting man. In search of the answer, I walked through Artist Alley, watching important industry luminaries like Dave Johnson, artist of 100 Bullets, and legend Joe Kubert, who has held more jobs in the comics industry than I had fingers in my hands. I don’t think Joe heard my question, I decided to leave before the man next to me, who was wearing a rickety Iron Man outfit, explodes.
On to the Dealers area of the con, it’s more a kick in the wallet than in the pants. Making my way through the cosplayers, occasionally taking a picture of a pretty girl or two in costume, I knew I wouldn’t make my way out of the Dealers area without taking a hit to my bank account. With rare comics and figures around me, I was lucky to get out of there with only an Ayanami Rei figure in my hand. Against all rules, I took her out of the box and placed her on my desk.
Out of the Dealers room, I then found myself among people bigger than me. Figuratively, of course, I’m a pretty tall dude. In the back, I saw Sean Patrick Flannery, of Boondock Saints fame, gunning down photographers with a Nerf gun. I managed to escape the fray only to hear a fan of Richard Horvitz praising his work in Invader Zim. Did you know that guy was also Alpha in the first Power Rangers series? Now I do. I managed to wave at George Takei when I left the area, he didn’t see me.
A loud cacophonous noise drew me away from the celebrities and towards the stage. Austin group group, ArcAttack was playing a Doctor Who theme with the help of Singing Tesla Coils. In the middle, three hapless dancers swayed their hips to the music inside a Faraday cage. Light repeatedly struck the cage, but the dancers inside were relatively safe. I think. I’m not exactly a physicist.
As the music quieted down, I followed the trail of tabletop gamers. Moving past them, I found the maze of panel rooms, where I found the folks over at Timegate Studios critiquing portfolios and giving general tips for getting a career in gaming.
It’s an epic weekend that can barely be described. It didn’t even mattered that my question wasn’t answered. If you missed Comicpalooza, Space City Con is coming up this August. If you’re into anime, Onicon takes place during the weekend before Halloween.
