Derek’s Emerald City Comic-Con 2019 Recap: Saturday
After all of the crappy food that I put in my body yesterday (read about it here), I expected to wake up today feeling a whole lot worse than I actually did (I think the lengthy sit in the complexes hot tub must have helped)
I rose as the sun did, took an energizing shower, drank some energizing coffee, had a bit of a morning chat, and before long it was time to start the day.
Courtney is obsessed with Critical Role, so the plan for the morning was to wait in line to get for the Main Stage area, where the Critical Role panel (with the cast itself) was set to kick off the day. We planned to arrive about an hour before the panel began… but then I received a notification from the stellar Emerald City Comic-Con app letting us know that the room was already at capacity. I was pretty surprised at this to start (as the panel was over 90 minutes away at this point), but then I remembered that it’s Saturday, the convention’s busiest day, and that Critical Role is a freaking phenomenon that raised millions of dollars on Kickstarter in just a couple of hours just a few weeks back.
So instead we went to breakfast. We ended up at a greasy-spoon style diner near our accommodation called CJ’s Place, where I had a classic eggs benedict that was delicious, if not a bit too drenched in hollandaise sauce.
Then, a quick Lyft later we were at the convention centre, and Mikaela immediately left us and went full force in the courtyard to stock up on photos of many of the amazing cosplayers in the area. We didn’t have too much time to spare, however, as after the Critical Role incident this opening, we wanted to make sure we made it to the main stage long before the convention classic Twisted Toonz was to start.
We quickly perused the show floor, grabbing a few books along the way before finally making it down to the tabletop and video game section of the convention. I always really enjoy gaming demos at events like this, as it typically turns me on to neat gaming experiences that I might never even hear of otherwise, and getting to see a game in actually is obviously far more convincing than simply reading a box or looking at photos online. Last year’s ECCC sold me on a game called Grimm Forest, which I’ve only played a couple of times so far, but is a title that I see myself going back to for years.
The gaming floors also hosted some Microsoft-sponsored gaming tournaments, classic arcade machines set to free-play mode (which looked very popular with the kids), a massive learn to play Magic: The Gathering area, and a room dedicated to a sponsored M:TG tournament. A phenomenal idea that I’ve not seen emulated yet at other conventions is the idea of a game ‘lending library’ — a huge area of the gaming floor was an area where you could check out board games and try them out with your friends. You couldn’t even buy them there; if you found a game that you liked, you’d have to hope that a booth in the main expo hall had it for sale. It’s an unreal idea, and as someone who typically carries a fairly small budget to events like these, is one that I’m sure many, many people appreciate.
We met back up with Mikaela and took a few more cosplay shots, and shortly after we arrived (and snapped a few cosplay shots ourselves), we were lucky enough to see a super cute real-life proposal between a decked-out looking Deadpool and a well-done Sailor Mars (she said yes)!
Mikaela had spent this entire time in the courtyard, and as tonight would be the Western Championships Of Cosplay, today was absolutely the day when the most impressive costumes would be out for show. She spent so much time here that by the time we arrived, her phone’s battery was already nearly empty, and as we made our way to the Hyatt Regency (where the main stage was located this year) to get in line for Twisted Toonz, she began a new quest to locate a lightning cable (which for some reason we’d left at the apartment).
As always, Twisted Toonz did not disappoint. This year’s group consisted of James Arnold Taylor, Vanessa Marshall, Jonny Cruz, Nolan North, and Ross Marquand for a hilarious reading of The Wizard of Oz. Seeing Ross Marquand sing Somewhere Over The Rainbow as John C. Reilly, or Ross again as John Malkovich playing Dorothy, or Nolan North reading Glynda as Jason Statham, or Jonny Cruz narrating the story as Morty from Rick and Morty had me (and the rest of the audience) in tears. It’s absolutely worth going through the backlog of these performances, as each and every one of them is completely wonderful. At the conclusion of the presentation, the group auctioned off a couple of signed scripts, with the proceeds going to charities like St. Jude’s hospital, and the SPCA. Two scripts sold for $900US, which I think is pretty unreal for an auction that was completely unexpected.
We were pretty hungry following the Twisted Toonz performance, and there wasn’t too much time remaining until we’d need to get in line for the insanely popular (and totally worth it) cosplay competition, so we walked a block over to the nearby Johnny Rocket’s for some burgers and fries. I’ve never eaten at a Johnny Rocket’s before, and the food simply felt like pretty standard burger fare. On the plus side, I was ID’ed when I ordered a beer, which made me feel young again, so that’s always nice.
All that was left was to get in line for the cosplay competition. We wanted to make sure that we made it with plenty of time to spare, as if there’s a single event that you’re going to attend at Emerald City Comic-Con, it needs to be this one. After about 90 minutes of uncomfortably cramped hanging out in line (not long at all in the grand scheme of comic book conventions), we finally made it inside the hall. The show kicked off with a presentation and reveal by Magic Wheelchair, which is an amazing organization that builds unbelievable costumes for kids in wheelchairs. I remember last year’s competition, when the group debuted an awesome Demogorgon costume, while this year’s costume was an incredible, giant R2-D2 unit that enveloped the wheelchair inside of it. Unfortunately, it looks like photos of the costume haven’t actually made it online just yet!
The competition is split between three categories: armor, needlework, and FX. Naturally, these cosplayers are the best of the best, so each and every cosplay was completely awe inspiring. From insane, hand carved ice dragon from Game of Thrones, a Green Goblin that looked like it could be in the next Spider-Man film, a beautiful cancer support-skinned Mercy from Overwatch, an amazing holiday-themed Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, that actually had laser-etched Jack Skellington faces across its velvet fabric, to an incredible 1800’s themed Princess Leia, to an unbelievable hand-dyed Jane Porter from Tarzan. The event was unbelievable, and the diversity of those on stage, spending hundreds upon hundreds of hours of effort in celebration of their fandom was totally inspiring, and almost makes me wish I could do something incredible like it.
Naturally there could only be one big winner, and this year the $1500 grand prize (and entry into the finals at C2E2 in Chicago) went to Artemis Wild (who I also remember being a standout from last year), who built an outstanding Frost Lich Jaina, complete with a staff outfitted with programable lighting, and a skull on her shoulder that even produced its own smoke. Totally incredible, and again, absolutely worth the long wait in line.
Following the competition, we ran into a few friends from Vancouver that had somehow eluded us all convention, and then decided it was time to head back home. Mikaela’s heavy focus on shooting and editing cosplay photos means that there won’t be a recap from her tonight, but be sure to look for a piece filled with the best cosplay we saw around the show to be published in the next couple of days.
Tomorrow marks the very last day of the show, and I’ll be using it to hit the Stranger Things panel first thing in the morning, and then simply walk around the rest of the show floor and absorb as much of the fandom as I can. Following the convention, we’ll be taking the drive back to Vancouver, so while I won’t have a recap for tomorrow, I just wanted to say just how rewarding this Emerald City Comic-Con experience has been. As my first and only convention prior to July’s SDCC, it’s a great reminder of just how cool it is to like the things we like, and how much fun it can be to get together and celebrate our passions.
Also, without this year’s ECCC, I would have never learned about BAKUGAN BRAAAAAAAAWWWWWWLLLLLL.
Thanks for coming along on this journey with me, and look for more ECCC coverage in the coming days!
