The Blot was in no way prepared for the immense crowds at Space City Con 2013! I was lucky enough to be invited to cover the inaugural Space City Con last year, and it definitely had some growing pains. Every new comic-con has trouble getting the word out and attacking both die hard fanboys and casual fans to an unknown event. Plus, last year’s location at the Houston Galleria, the city’s biggest mall, allowed convention goers to come and go too freely. But wow, what a difference a year makes!
Space City Con felt twice as big this year with a crowd ten times as large. I don’t know what the convention’s promoters did to increase awareness of the event, but they did an amazing job! At times last year SCC seemed almost empty, but at certain points this year I actually had trouble navigating the show room floor. And considering the convention actually moved away from the center of the city it was extremely impressive they were able to draw such large crowds. Now the show wasn’t perfect, but for just its second year Space City Con has made huge improvements.
I think the biggest drawing power of this year’s convention was its celebrity guests. Fans were lining up to meet an impressive line-up of Star Trek veterans, Stargate stars, former Power Rangers, Doctor Who's Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy, and Firefly’s Jewel Staite. It was true geek nirvana! Personally, The Blot was extremely excited to meet Staite and Walter Koeing from Star Trek: The Original Series. What a legend!
The convention also had a huge influx of cosplay this year, rivaling almost any comic convention in Texas. There was a huge contingency from Star Wars 501st Legion, and I couldn’t get over how many young people were in attendance wearing Star Trek costumes. Even with the new movies I didn’t think there were die hard Trekkes under the age of 30. But the best costume I heard about was a young woman dressed as Ice from Justice League International!!! The Blot’s still ticked I didn’t get to see that one in person. I did get to see one X-Men fan in a killer Jubille costume though, which I loved.
My highlight of the show was definitely meeting superstar inker Art Thibert. Hearing stories about his time in the comic book industry and his new graphic novel, which was funded through Kickstarter, was awesome. It’s also great being able to flip through an artist’s portfolio and seeing tons of pages of original artwork, especially when you own so many of the published comics they came from.
The biggest surprise coming out of Space City Con 2013 was the show was becoming biannual! During the convention the show’s organizers announced they would not be hosting a Winter Edition Space City Con the first weekend of January, just four months after Space City Con 2013! Even better still, the show’s first celebrity guest to be announced is be Jason Momoa from Game of Thrones and 2011’ Conan reboot!!! GoT fans from around the southwest are sure to be flocking to Houston this winter to meet the Dothraki Khal Drogo!!! Can’t wait to find out who else will be at the Winter Edition of Space City Con 2014.
