Big WOW! Comic Fest

While I was at the San Jose Convention Center, I had the opportunity to attend the Big WOW! Comic Fest. It was fortunate that it was at the same time as the Pokemon Regionals, and it was located close by, in the same room that Fanime uses for the Dealers Hall. While a smaller convention, it had a fair share of amazing guests, who I took the time to speak to.

I wasn't sure if I could get in to the convention, having no funds, but I spoke to the staff and asked if a Press Pass would be possible. The woman working there was very agreeable, and after inquiring as to the nature of this blog, provided me with a pass so I could get inside. Once again, my deepest thanks to her.

Once inside, the first thing that I saw was a row of tables for the industry guests. The first guest I spoke to was C. Andrew Nelson, whose body you might recognize as that of Darth Vader in the Special Edition films, video games, postage stamps, and many other forms. "I started as a fan before I was a professional," he says, "and I haven't forgotten that."

Following that, I managed to speak to several actors from the various Power Rangers TV shows. Being a child of the 90's, I admit to having watched the show in my youth, and was pleased to see that they were all very friendly people with amazing senses of humor. They spoke highly of the convention, before going off to their panel about being in a show that was so popular during the 90's.

Next in the list of guests was Denise Crosby, who acted in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Dexter, The Adventures of Lois and Clark, and many other shows and movies. To those who couldn't make it to the convention, she said: "Next year, guys, no excuse, you better be here."

Last on my guest tour was fangirl favorite Vic Mignogna. "I love meeting fans," Vic said. "It doesn't matter where, or how few… so any opportunity to do that, I welcome." He reflected on his time before he was a voice actor and would go to sci-fi conventions, dressed in the uniforms of his favorite series, although now he's sitting alongside the same actors he used to wait in line to see.

Exploring the small convention, I found that it was mostly a dealer's hall, with half the room for vendors and the other half for industry or web artists. There was a section in the back for video games and tabletop games, but it was very limited in its options. Around the corner were the panel rooms, which were large enough to accommodate the crowds. I found the vendors had a wide variety of comic book paraphernalia to choose from, and there was even a table handing out free copies of various comic issues, as well as Green and Black Lantern rings and posters.

My time there was limited, and although it's a two-day event, I was only able to attend the first. Given the size of the convention, I didn't see too much of a need to go another day anyways, but as a warm-up to Fanime, it was quite enjoyable.

(Videos of the interviews will be added shortly.)