Tales from Denver Comic Con 2015

I was a Comic Con virgin. It has always evoked images of nerdy Treky fans and comic book geeks. Neither tickled my happy parts. I haven’t kept up with Star Trek since the television series ended and the one and only comic book I bought back in the seventh grade was Archie. So when my daughter, Courtney, called and expressed interest in going to Denver Comic Con 2015, I hesitated.

Five seconds on Google showed pictures of crazed fans in costumes, most of them super heroes and some of them pretty sleazy. I hesitated again.

Then I Googled the Denver Comic Con website and read the program. Holy smokin’ geez. Tons of events would take place on three floors utilizing the entire Denver Convention Center. I had no idea it was also a literary conference. Panels taught writing classes all weekend. Simultaneously in nineteen other rooms, educational panels discussed everything from The Muppets and Empowerment to The Science of Star Wars to How to Find Financing for Your Idea.

They catered to families and offered many interactive and educational classes as well as a stage for kids. Maybe it wouldn’t be so sleazy. I was in.

Celebrities would appear on the main or mini-stage and could also be found on the top floor for pictures and autographs. I was super stoked to find out Anthony Michael Hall of Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and The Dead Zone would be there along with the original Bionic Woman, Lindsay Wagner. I was definitely IN.

I had read where comic cons could be very pricey, but a one day, all-access pass only cost $38.00. Saturday had sold out, so I bought tickets for Sunday. My experienced friends instructed me to dress up. My husband donned his tuxedo and carried an umbrella as The Penguin. Courtney rocked it out as Batgirl. She’s Alicia Silverstone’s doppleganger. I went green as Poison Ivy.

We traded our tickets for badges and soon realized the magnitude of this event. We started on the top floor. Oh man. It was crammed packed with booths with all kinds of swag; T-shirts, comic books, DVDs, posters and toys.

We found the celebrities at cordoned-off tables. Although there were handlers standing at the “entry” to each celebrity’s table, we could still see them. Pretty cool! I walked by a few who only had a few fans waiting for their moment to have a picture taken or an autograph while others had fans lined up all the way to the handler at the entrance to their “area.” I would not like to be the person next to Karen Gillan from Guardians of Galaxy and Dr. Who. I knew her from Selfie. Her line was huge and so was Gwendoline Christy’s from Game of Thrones.

When I found Lindsay Wagner I was totally star-struck. She was just as beautiful as on the show in the 1970’s, but just a tad older. She accepted free “hellos” so the three of us approached her table. I introduced myself and gushed. Danny asked her if she was worth more than six million dollars, taking into account inflation. She giggled and said, “I’m priceless.” I asked her about her new projects. She will appear in two movies in the fall. One on the “Up” Channel and the other on Pixar. She was a super cool lady and very genuine, just like I expected.

Next we found Anthony Michael Hall. I’m sure he expected us because, Dead Zone. I started out by saying, “I have a funny story for you! You’re the first guy my daughter, Courtney, ever saw naked.” He looked at me funny. “She was ten when we watched Six Degrees of Separation.”

“Not too many people mention that movie,” he said.

“It was a break-out movie for Will Smith. Anyway, remember that scene when you ran down the hall naked [full-frontal nudity] for like, ten long seconds?”

“That wasn’t me! Really. That was some other guy. I was the guy in bed with another woman.”

We laughed and he asked what our reaction was since Courtney was so young. “I ignored it since I didn’t want to embarrass her. Besides, I drew many naked people while getting my Art degree. I figured it was art.”

He signed an autograph and another handler took a picture of us. As we were leaving he asked, “Are you still drawing?”

“Yes and writing.” I thought it would sound really cheesy to say, “You’d be perfect for my movie,” but he would be!

Danny is in character as The Penguin while Courtney and I cozied up to Anthony Michael Hall.

Batgirl found Batman.

After attending an informative writing class, Sticking the landing: Ending Your Story, we ate lunch and went in search of the main stage. I had read where people camp out in the ballroom all day so they can see every star. Not at Denver Comic Con. They clear the ginormous ballroom after every show.

We lined up to see Allen Tudyk five minutes before showtime. He was the dentist in Suburgatory, Pirate Steve in Dodgeball, the Duke in Frozen along with this long list of credits. We were sent to the back of a mile long line and still got in to see him. Amazing.

He was pretty funny and answered a lot of crazy questions. He’s launching a new production called Con Man and is crowdfunding with Nathan Fillian of Castle fame. They met on the set of Firefly.

Two Penguins.

Then we returned to the top floor in search of Batman. We found his car and many artists, but Batman took a looooooong break. We settled for a picture with a sensational Robin instead.

After checking out a Legomaniac’s impressive work, we were done.

Would I go again? Definitely. What will we go as? I’m thinking about one of them…

Click HERE for a list of comic conventions for 2015.

Have you ever attended a comic con? Is it on your bucket list?