I-CON 27

I-CON 27, the Long Island, NY science-fiction, fantasy, and gaming convention, was held on April 4-6 out at SUNY Stony Brook. For me, this marked a personal milestone: my tenth annual I-CON convention, a decade of panels, games, events, and amazing costumes. And the convention remains as wonderful as ever.



I got to hear Harlan Ellison give an hour-long lecture/q&a, and he is as vibrant, acerbic, and brilliant as ever. I met Jeffrey Combs, who autographed my CD of him reading "Herbert West, Re-Animator." I listened to Tracy Scoggins discuss her career, including her season on Babylon 5. Alas, I only got to hear Billy West for a small time, due to scheduling pressures.



I-CON 27 was scattered all over the Stony Brook campus, and I got in my share of walking this weekend! Panels I attended ranged from the new-to-me area of Alternate Reality Gaming, to unrealistic biology in Star Trek, to "What Makes A Gamer Tick... and Explode," to "Things That Make People Paranoid," to "Supermisogyny!" Not all the panels were good -- the Star Trek one was a bit dry, and one computer art demo consisted of a person slowly filling in lines on a screen -- but I enjoyed myself at almost all of them. I also relaxed in the video game area, enjoyed combatants slugging it out with mock swords and weaponry, and chatted with fellow conventioneers.



I was active at the convention as well: I ran the terrific game The Great Space Race (got my butt kicked), gave my second annual lecture on "Super(hero) S&M!" (how could it not be fun?), won at a Thurn and Taxis game, and came in second place in a South Park Trivia contest! This year also marked the first time I had my biography run in the program. Cool!




Also cool were the numerous people in costumes. There were innumerable folks who came as their favorite anime costumes (I can't count how many Narutos I saw), superheroes and supervillains, original creations, and even Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar! Some Ghostbusters were there (and they turned their car into the Ghostmobile, shown above), as was someone with Captain Pike's automated chair. Corsets and medieval garb were omnipresent, and I wound up going through 2.5 rolls of film.



It was announced that next year I-CON will be held at a different college in Suffolk County; Harlan Ellison ended his lecture by vowing he wouldn't be coming back to I-CON again. Ellison noted that he's promised this before and still winds up coming back, so I hope he'll return. And no matter where the convention goes, I'll always return to I-CON.



(Also, a shout-out to Scott and Donna, who put me up (put up with me?) during the convention, and kudos to Scott for volunteering in the gaming area for the whole weekend.)

Reviewed by James Lynch

I-CON 26

This past weekend I attended I-CON 26, my 9th straight I-CON convention. This is an annual conventionat SUNY Stony Brook on Long Island, NY that covers science fiction, gaming, fantasy, medieval, anime, and a multitude of other topics. And this year had everything that keeps me coming back year after year.

For me, the highlight was running a panel on a very fun, very unusual topic: "Super(hero) S&M!" I can't go into too much detail here, for fear of offending some Armchair Critic readers; if you want more info, post a comment. I did have a packed room of between 60 and 80 people, everyone seemed very entertained, and I even got a form of my demonstration to work! And I already have plans for a similar panel next year...

I found lots to in many other areas. I enjoyed panels ranging from how to run a successful convention (including a veteran whose first convention was in 1939) to a hysterical panel on the 10 worst video games ever (and why you probably love them). Peter David and company entertained us with true tales of the comic industry, and some parapsychologists/debunkers discussed "real" paranormal phenomena portrayed in movies. A surprising disappointment was the normally entertaining "Why People Suck" panel. Maybe it was the absence of Randy Milholland, maybe the panelists weren't angry enough, but this event quickly degenerated into awkward silences, side-conversations in the audience, and the panel members passing some booze back and forth between them. What a letdown from the previous angry hilarity. Maybe next year it'll be back in form.

I-CON had plenty of ongoing and informal events. The dealer's room was large and very open, with plenty of comic books and gaming, dvds and signed autographs, old memorabilia and new toys. The gaming rooms provided both scheduled gaming and a variety of games that people could borrow for some informal play. (I won at Marvel Heroes, came in 3rd out of 5 in Ticket To Ride, and lost to fellow Armchair Critic Scott at Betrayal At House Of The Hill.) And many people went in costume, some of which I've posted.

For anyone interested in I-CON 27, the countdown has begun! The website is www.iconsf.org and while it's more than a little early for more details to be available, it's worth checking now and then to see what's happening in the planning for next time. I'll see you there!