Chicago Comic Con, Part 3: The Long Walk Home
Guess who? HINT: Not the Iron Giant
I only took my backpack with me for this trip, as I required just one change of clothes and even then just the basics (tshirt/underwear), so I had to watch how much I bought. This did keep me from buying a few things I didn’t really need (ex: a Scud the Disposable Assassin action figure) but also prevented me from getting a couple items I would have really adored (a killer print by the artist of Cursed Pirate Girl). But my rule was: if it didn’t fit in the backpack, I didn’t buy it. Crushable items, such as prints and posters, were out of the question.
Yes, I could have bought a tube to keep prints and posters safe, but I was afraid of having to check it on the Mega Bus and something happening to it.
Cobra Commander: looking better here than in the live action movie.
My time at the con on Sunday was somewhat abbreviated, as I had to catch the train downtown around 3 PM–but I made the most of the day. Not only did I get my Frank Cho sketch, but I also picked up a Doug TenNapal graphic novel, Flink, for only $5. That ended up being my only purchase of the day, due to me leaving soon and wanting to make sure I had money for food on the way home and for any possible emergencies. There were a few tshirts I eyed, including a Han Shot First shirt I spotted in Artist Alley, but most were too expensive–one of the big tshirt sellers sold theirs for $20.25 each, or two for $35. Yikes.
If you shopped around, you could certainly find better deals, but there were few shirts I spotted that screamed for me to own them (interesting post script, the Monday after the con I bought a $10 Iron Maiden tshirt at JC Penny’s back home using the money I didn’t spend at the con).
Eventually, my time to depart arrived. I called my comrades in geek arms and informed them of my impending departure. They joined me outside and we said our goodbyes. Two of our group I have known since middle-school, another since college and the last, my oldest friend, since first grade. I was happy I decided to trek out to Chicago to see my friends once again (scattered to Washington D.C., Milwaukee, New York and Chicago in the years following college).
The con for me was not about buying comic books, or even being within inches of the likes of Ray Park (Darth Maul), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) or Billy Dee Williams (Lando). That was when I was younger, but things have changed. Now, going to the con is about seeing some of my oldest friends one more time. As we march towards our thirties, I wonder how many more times I’ll see these gents, or even have the means and/or desire to go to a comic book convention (and after last year’s fiasco, I nearly swore off going to a Chicago con ever again).
Ironically, I have heard rumors that this con could be the last Chicago Comic Con–at least in its current form (and time of the year).
I had a bit of a misadventure upon reaching downtown Chicago on Sunday afternoon. The ride on the blue line went well enough, but when I reached the stop for the Mega Bus, I looked at the clock on my phone. The time hadn’t switched to Chicago time right away when I arrived on Saturday (as my old phone would do), so thinking I was still on Michigan time, I thought I had an extra hour to kill.
Turns out, I did not.
Figuring I had time to kill, I walked away from the bus stop and ventured over to the Amtrack Station, looking for a place to get an ice cream to help beat the 98 degree heat. I entered the station and looked up at the old analogue clock on the wall.
“Oh, that can’t be right,” I said aloud after figuring out that my time was incorrect. I called my mom and asked her what time it was in Michigan.
“What time is it there right now?”
“Quarter to six, why?”
“That means it is quarter to five here–I gotta run!”
Dangit. I didn’t have an extra hour: I had been at the stop on time. I ran to the bus stop, making it with seconds to spare. That was the last bus to Ann Arbor, and it would have been a long walk home.
The ride home was not as smooth as the ride to Chicago, but that was not the fault of the Mega Bus people–there was a bunch of construction on 94 in Michigan (no surprise), which added about an hour to our ride home. By the time I drove back to Lansing, it was nearly 1 AM. Ugh.
I survived yet another Comic Con. I saw some old friends, including one I hadn’t seen in four years. I had a great time. All in all, not a bad way to spend a weekend.
