I am working every weekend between now and the end of September to make sure all of my work gets done before the government's fiscal year is over, but I took off a little early yesterday to attend the Boise Public Library's Comic Con. For a library convention, there was a surprisingly large amount of stuff to do and see there.
The local Star Wars cosplay groups were out in Force, with representatives from the 501st Legion's Timberline Garrison for the Imperial cosplayers and the Takodana Base on the Rebel side. One of the Stormtroopers let my 8 year-old hold his blaster rifle. Our 6 year-olds were too intimidated to be in the picture.
Some of the cosplayers had their own trading cards printed up, and I grabbed whichever ones I could. I think I wound up with four of them, but they got tucked away in my wife's purse and I haven't asked her for them yet.
There was a pretty big room set up with LEGO displays and a table with a lot of pieces for kids to build. One of the twins focused his energy on building the tallest tower possible. He also liked the Great Ball Contraption that was set up on one side of the room, basically a LEGO Rube Goldberg device that moves little plastic balls around a loop of different machines.
The other twin built a complicated aircraft, while our eldest spent most of his time looking at the builds on display and asking us to come and look at his most exciting finds.
There was a pretty impressive guest list in the Artist Alley, with local artists as well as artists from around the Northwest and beyond. We were able to obtain a few sketch commissions, with the first being this Nightcrawler sketch by a local artist named Joe Bradshaw.
Steve Lieber was probably the biggest name on the guest list as far as published comic book work is concerned. We got a head sketch of Rogue from him for a very reasonable price. My social anxiety ramps up when I am out with the whole family, so I found it difficult to approach and interact with the artists. Luckily my wife was able to do most of the talking while I hung back and derped around.
Finally, we commissioned two small sketches from artist Ron Chan. We asked for Power Girl and Leia, and these sketches are perfect. I really like the Power Girl sketch. For the Leia sketch we asked for any version except Leia as Jabba's slave, and he surprised us with General Leia. I hadn't even considered that version of the character, but once I saw it I was really happy to have it. I think this might be my first sketch of older Leia.
I wasn't sure what to expect from a local library comic convention, but this one was really a nice surprise. There was plenty of stuff to see and do, and I wish we'd had more time and money to spend on art. There was enough stuff to keep the kids occupied, and there were a lot of panels and exhibitions that we didn't even get to see, like a display by the local wrestling club, some craft activities, belly dancing, a cosplay contest, and discussions for people looking to break into the comics industry. It might be worth checking to see if your local library has a comic convention or similar event.
