Ten days
ago, John and I went to our first Planet Comicon in Kansas City. For the past
several years, we have spent time at this point in the year in Orlando, where
we attended Megacon. Both are 'comic' conventions, but - as always - each has
its own flavor. I could not keep myself from comparing them, and I'd like to
share my thoughts with you.
A comic
convention is, to my mind, a giant dealer's room first and foremost. A huge
room, it contains dealers selling t-shirts, toys, models, comics and all sorts
of retail items; artists showing and selling their artwork; authors selling
their books; fans selling their craft items; fan groups looking for new
members; media guests selling autographs and photo shoots; and at least one
school trying to drum up new students. If I had to guess, I'd say Planet
Comicon's dealer room was about the size of a football field. Happily, they did
have some empty chairs lined up against the one empty wall, and I was not the
only person who used those chairs. Megacon's dealer room is even larger, with
more of all of the above types. There are no chairs along the wall to let your
tired feet rest for a moment. I managed to get about halfway through Planet
Comicon's dealer room on Friday before I wandered off to see what else was
going on, and on that day, it was not horrendously crowded. Megacon's dealer
room is always packed with shopping sardines, on any day, and I can't stand
being in it for more than a few minutes at a time.
Planet
Comicon also had a gaming room, 4 rooms for panels, and 1 room for large panels
(panels, for instance, with the media guests tend to have a huge line forming
in the hallway at least an hour before-hand). Megacon has a lot of rooms, of
various sizes; rooms devoted to gaming, to anime, to costuming, to assorted and
sundry other subjects. The largest rooms with the stages are for those panels
with the media guests, of course, and there, too, you had better arrive early
if you want a seat.
The food
vendors at Planet Comicon were mostly brands I had heard of, and their prices
were a little high, but not ridiculously so. The food vendors at Megacon are
brands I had never heard of before, and their prices are sky high. The one time
we bought something from a Megacon food vendor, it didn't taste any good, so we
tend to fill our pockets with simple snacks and refill our water bottles from
the water fountains.
After a
long day at Megacon, one has to walk back all the way through the west wing of
the Orange County Convention Center, find your way outside, take your bearings,
and then - walk to the furthest end of the colossal parking lot to find your
car. I always felt I was hiking back to Nebraska. If I had a similar thought at
the end of a Planet Comicon day, as we made our way to our car, at least
Nebraska wasn't nearly as far a hike!
Any comments on comic conventions you've attended?
