Other than the aforementioned lunchbox incident, Mid-Ohio-Con lived up to my billing as (say it with me now) my favorite comic convention. Let me give you some random hits of the goodness that was MOC 2007.
MOC07 was my girlfriend’s first real comic convention. We did the Licensing Show in New York last May, and while that was con-like, it wasn’t really a comic show. MOC is a nice, friendly show, and I think things went well. The whole comic convention experience can be a little overwhelming, especially when you’re not as well versed in comics as everyone else around you. Christine did fine, and I’m very glad she came.
I got to hang out with a bunch of my friends, including Matt Haley and Sandy, Paul Storrie, Mariann, Lisa and Sarah, Feedback and Mrs. Feedback, and I got to meet and add The Defuser and Mrs. The Defuser to that list at this show. Feedback, of course, is the first season winner of Who Wants to be a Superhero? The Defuser is the second season winner.
It’s interesting. Both Feedback and The Defuser are exactly the right kind of person to win the show, and yet are very different people. Feedback got to define the role of the winner, and The Defuser is a worthy member of that two-person club. We all had dinner on Sunday night (incidentally, the first time I’ve been to Buca di Beppo where we had enough people to really make it work) and just had a great time.
I also hosted two of their panels. Sunday was the Q&A about Superhero, which they did along with series artist, good friend, and fellow Shatner fan Matt Haley. It was well-scheduled, being on Sunday, because I’d been able to get a decent rhythm going with each of them. That allowed me to fit in ad (I hope) add to their talk, without stepping on them or hogging the spotlight.
My favorite comedic moment was when they were talking about Doctor Dark, the second season villain. Apparently the bad doctor was supposed to turn out to be a Major Hollywood Star but it didn’t work out. Matt made the joke that it was supposed to be Sean Connery, and I, in my best Scottish accent said “As you know, we’re from the planet Zeist” to uproarious laughter.
That’s what I love about cons in general and MOC in particular: I’m with my people. In the real world, that joke gets no laughs. If I were to explain it and the horror that was Highlander 2: The Quickening it still wouldn’t be funny. But it is funny, just only to the right people. And at MOC, I’m surrounded by the right people.
Of course, the big event was the Comic Book Trivia panel. we shook things up this year. First, we made the questions easier. I think the original panel from last year was patterned after San Diego’s, where it’s Ubergeek against Ubergeek. At a smaller show, and with random entries, we had to compensate for the random eight year old that might make it in.
To better help with that, and to better utilize our guests, I came up with the idea of running it like $20,000 Pyramid. We partnered our celebrities (Matt Haley, Feedback and The Defuser) with the contestants so that there’d be a bit of a buffer on the harder questions. And, it gave our stars the opportunity to joke and ad lib, rather than just read questions.
We managed to run three heats and get to a final round that was won by a lovely girl named Victoria. All of our round winners won a DVD set of Who Wants to Be a Superhero, which is a pretty good prize. The grand prize winner, Victoria, got a Matt Haley original sketch, as well as a set of Love and Capes and an LNC shirt. On her, it was big enough to be a dress, but she still wore it on Sunday.
I sold pretty well, too. Lots of 6-packs of Love and Capes. A couple of Star Trek: Sky’s the Limit books. More t-shirts than I’ve sold at any other show. And the sketches were back.
Incidentally, let me stop here and say that whoever was at Chicago in 2003 and was set up with a scanner so that artists could keep their sketches, you had a brilliant idea, and I think the time is more right for it. I did half a dozen commissions, most of which I wish I had copies of. Fortunately, a many of the owners promised to send me scans.
I drew Judy from the Sea Devils, Zatanna, Supergirl, Chameleon Boy and Thundra, and those are just the ones I can remember. When I get back to designing and posting some of those super women pieces, hopefully a couple of those sketches will make their way onto the site.
Other than that, the show was just good. I don’t know how else to explain it. And, it wasn’t any one thing, just a low buzz of fun from beginning to end. I met some fans, hopefully made some more, and got to hang out with my friends. What could be better than that?