Dorkgasm Gonzo Is God

Blown Expectations
By
Jenny Sobczak
Staff Writer

In the past, every time I’ve thought of a comic book convention, the image that came to mind was always of a bunch of nerds dressed up in costumes. I expected to see at least one Superman, Batman, or Spider-Man. Having been a comic-con virgin, I had only image searches on the internet to go by. Those, of course, are full of the most interesting moments from these conventions: the costumed fans or the actors and artists. I went to Chicago on Sunday, August 9, a little nervous, expecting to find loads of costumes, and hoping to see a few beloved actors from my childhood. Only one part of this stayed the same as I walked into the convention hall.

Yes, there IS a greater hive of scum and villiany...


Right away, as expected, I was greeted by a couple of Stormtroopers and a blonde Princess Leia. The costumes were less frequent than I’d imagined, however. There were a couple groups of Ghostbusters, a couple Rorschachs, some costumes I didn’t recognize, a big group of Star Wars characters, and one person dressed in a banana suit and wearing stilts. In general, though, I am guilty of expecting a lot more costumes than I saw. I didn’t even get a Joker. Of course, this might have changed if I had gone for the entire weekend, but it didn’t happen for me on Sunday alone.

I also thought my press pass might let me get away with certain things like snapping pictures of the guests, but I was wrong. I got away with it for the guests who weren’t guarded by volunteers in orange shirts, but they were pretty hardcore volunteers. I didn’t have to delete the shots I’d taken, but I was a little surprised, especially considering the person I’d taken a picture of wasn’t really that famous. I didn’t get yelled at for snapping a shot of Billy Dee Williams, but Christopher Heyerdahl was off-limits. Silly backwards volunteers. Maybe the press pass was just too small for them to see, or maybe they didn’t see the wristband that went with it.

Doug Jones, best zombie EVER!


Getting caught up in the guests was easy. I grew up on a movie called Hocus Pocus, and the second I saw Doug Jones, who played Billy Butcherson, it was a bit difficult to restrain myself. I did somehow keep from fan-girling on the outside, minus the part where I pulled my camera out and snapped a quick picture. I couldn’t bring myself to go tell him that I thought Billy was the coolest zombie ever, but I definitely wish I would have now. But he waved after I took the picture, and that was probably the best part of my day. Not to mention the picture I paid to take with Christopher Knight.



Jenny and Christopher


When I wasn’t seeing which actors were there, the vendors had all my attention. I wanted to play a game to see how many booths were selling the same exact action figures and resin busts, but it was too far along in the day before the idea popped into my head. They did all tend to blend together before long, and almost every booth had Watchmen busts as one of their top items. Rorschach grappling hooks and masks were popular too, and I couldn’t help myself. I walked out with two awesome shirts to add to my pile of the too many shirts that I already have, but I wasn’t going to walk away with nothing.

Wizard World: Chicago was a pretty good way to spend my day, though I spent just as long driving back and forth as I spent at the convention itself. It was an interesting crowd, and, probably due to the small amount of costumes I saw, I no longer think of costumed convention-goers when I think of a convention. If I get the opportunity, I will most likely try to go next year as well.