This past weekend The Blot attended the inaugural Space City Con here in Houston, Texas and loved every minute of. The first year of any show can be challenging, but Space City Con really took me back to the types of hotel comic book conventions I grew up attending back before most comic-cons turned into pop culture extravaganzas. The Blot wasn’t sure what to expect last weekend, but I was pleasantly surprised by the show’s mixture of celebrities, all star comic book artists, and vendors of everything from comics and toys to t-shirts and handmade dolls.
The highlight of the show was definitely getting to meet legendary X-Men artist Art Adams. I was like a kid in a candy store watching him draw, and was blown away by the Booster Gold sketch he did for me. It was also great catching up with the Loyal K.N.G. crew, as well as Texas artists Joe Eisma (Morning Glories) and Nick Pitarra (Manhattan Projects). But what I really love about attending cons is meeting new people like Khoi Pham, Cody Schibi and Robert Wilson IV. All three were so gracious to spend a few minutes chatting with me about their craft and the creative process. Having no talent myself, it’s always cool to pick such talented people’s brains.
While Space City Con was all about comic books for The Blot, the star of the convention seemed to be the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ original Green Power Ranger Jason David Frank. Everyone I talked to was raving about his panels and how great it was to meet him. Little did I know Frank actually lives in Houston! I missed out on the whole Power Rangers craze, but after this show I can’t deny the series’ culture impact. Everywhere I looked last weekend people were dressed up as their favorite Power Ranger. I seriously had no clue how big Power Rangers was to people in their 20s and early 30s.
My one regret from Space City Con 2012 is not getting to meet Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols. I don’t know how it happened, but I kept missing all of her appearances. One of the true legends of the small screen and I missed her! Although I did see an awesome cosplayer in an authentic Star Trek IV admiral uniform. All in all, for its first convention Space City Con was great. It was well organized and had a great line up. Clearly there is always room for improvement, and hopefully Space City Con 2013 will build on the foundation of this year’s success.