XCON World V Convention

This past weekend was XCON World V, the South Carolina science fiction, fantasy, superhero, steampunk. video game, horror, and other genres fan convention. Fortunately, it was located just two miles away from where I work. Since I was working at different times during the convention, I didn't get to attend the whole convention. That turned out not to be a problem.

XCON WORLD VI

This past weekend, fans of science fiction, fantasy, horror, comics, gaming, and a lot more converged at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center for XCon World VI, the latest gathering of fans for all things geek.  The convention was a lot of fun -- albeit with the same problem that it faced last year.

Held mostly in one big hall, XCon World VI managed to squeeze just about everything together -- and that was reflected in the numerous costumes worn by the attendees.  Some characters were very popular -- I saw numerous Wonder Women, Harley Quinns, and the Doctor(s) from Doctor Who -- but there were also zombies and creatures a-plenty, video game characters like Lara Croft and the folks from Minecraft, Jedi and Starfleet Officers, medieval ladies and steampunk men, and even the first costumes from Breaking Bad that I've seen at a convention!  There was also a TARDIS (stationary) and a Dalek (which rolled around the convention.)

XCon World VI also provided plenty of activities for folks.  Little kids could get their faces painted, play in a bouncy castle, or receive balloon animals.  Old-school gamers could play the quarter-fueled arcade games, while a bus held XBox and PS3 games for those who subscribe to the new school.  (I saw a lot of Injustice: Gods Among Us played.)  A local Gaming Guild ran demos, including near-continuous sessions of the Pathfinder rpg.  Outside the building was a replica of the vehicle from Ghostbusters, while inside folks could get photographed with the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo, shown below.

Vendors were spread throughout the convention, selling everything from toys to classic movie posters to t-shirts and varied medieval weaponry and costumes.  There were also numerous celebrities, from voice actors-animators Bob Camp and C. Martin Croker to scream queen Cindy Crotts to Deep Roy.  Several folks from The Walking Dead were there; I got to meet Travis Love!

The main stage of the convention had a variety of events, from costume contests and battle demonstrations to the Geek Dating Game and pro wrestling (shown below), which is even sillier live than on television.  Outside the building, a panel "room" was set up with folding chairs and fabric walls for discussions, lectures, and Q&As with the XCon World guests and professionals.

Much as I enjoy XCon World, there were a few problems.  The biggest one was with the panels: With only one location, there could only be one panel at a time, which led to less variety and a lot of time spent wandering around the convention area.  (The lack of real walls also made noise pollution a problem, especially from the traffic.)  A few events got moved or cancelled (alas, no Twister with the XCon Girls), and the sound from the main stage was sometimes hard to hear over the gathered crowd.  And I was slated for a lecture, but the organizers never quite found a place for me to deliver it.

I've been to XCon World twice now, and the convention seems to be growing each year.  My fervent hope is that they can get more space and rooms, so they can provide more panels to give more variety to attendees.  That said, the convention was a blast -- and I'll be there for XCon World VII!

Written and photographed by James Lynch

I-CON 25

Ah, what a joy to have science fiction, fantasy, gaming, stars, lecturers, medieval battles, fascinating panels, a massive dealer’s room, and more all in one location! This comes to Long Island, New York with the I-CON convention. This year is I-CON 25 (and the eight consecutive one for me), being held March 24-26, 2006 at SUNY Stony Brook.

I-CON covers several genres, providing numerous guest stars for them. If you like movies, you can meet George Takei (Sulu), Kevin Sorbo (from Hercules and Andromeda), Marc Singer (star of Beastmaster), Cassandra Peterson (better known as Elvira), Ron Glass (Shepherd Book, from Firefly and Serenity), and more celebrities. I-CON 25’s celebrity author is Terry Brooks, webcomic creators Randy Milholland (Something Positive) and Jonathan Rosenberg (Goats) will be there, anime fans can meet Vic Mignogna (voice of Edward Elric on the show Full Metal Alchemist). More guests are added closer to the convention, from real-world scientists to gaming executives.

The panels are quite diverse. While the full schedule isn’t up until a few weeks before the convention, past panels have included everything from how to made medieval wooden utensils to the state of the gaming industry; from how good science fiction books get made into bad movies, to the benefits and perils of storing information on the Internet.

There is always something to do at I-CON. The dealers’ room is massive, offering old toys, new DVDs, handmade medieval garb and armor, and original artwork. Movies and TV shows are usually airing on large screens, games (of the board, card, roleplaying, and LARP varieties) are played all three days. You’re likely to see demonstrations of medieval combat or martial arts on the great lawn, and you’ll always see someone walking around in costume.

Is I-CON perfect? Alas, no. While this convention some of everything, that means if you want to spend all your time focused on one area (like horror movies or gaming) you’ll find more at a convention aimed only at a specific area. The various events are spread over numerous buildings over the SUNY Stony Brook campus, so be prepared to do a lot of walking. Due to campus security rules, you’ll find neither bladed weapons (for sale or in use) nor Nerf projectile weapons (obviating bringing my Nerf gatling gun). The final schedule isn't posted until a week or two before the convention. And the convention has really cracked down on bootlegs, so you can find plenty of rarities but nothing copied from elsewhere.

I-CON is my annual vacation, my pilgrimage out to eastern Long Island. If you enjoy science fiction, fantasy, horror movies, gaming, shopping, history, science, or any number of items, head over to I-CON 25. (And I’ll be running a B-Movie Night of Z-Man Games on Friday night, followed by a live Knights of the Dinner Table Reading on Saturday. Check it out!)

I Con 25

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

XCon World VII

This May brought two things to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: lots of motorcycle riders for Biker Week, and lots of fans of comics, sci-fi, fantasy, zombies, and more for XCon World VII.  Since I'm a huge geek (who's also terrified of riding a motorcycle), I spent the past three days immersed in the area's annual slice of fandom delights.

XCon World VII was set up largely as the past few conventions were.  Almost everything happened in the central area, with an screening room off the main room for movies and a tent outside for panels.  There were lots of booths for comic books, statues, stores (like Medieval Times, MagiQuest, and the Hard Rock Cafe), artists, costumers, and more.  A semi-local gaming group had a table and ran demos through the convention.  There were celebrities, such as: Richard Hatch, from Battlestar Galactica; Ming Chen, Michael Zapcic and Bryan Johnson, from Comic Book Men; Sam J. Jones, star of 1980's Flash Gordon; Olivia Olson and Jessica DiCicco, who do voices on Adventure Time; and Soni Aralynn, a costumer and cosplayer who posed with me:

There were other attractions as well.  Little kids could play in a Bouncy Castle, while bigger kids could thrill at seeing full-size versions of the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters, the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo, a Dalek rolling around the convention, and the Batmobile from the 1960s tv show Batman.

There were lots of panels and interactive events happening through the convention.  Panels included a Zombie Apocalypse Prep Class, getting an independent comic book made through Kickstarter, a Wrestling Q&A, and even some Nerd Church on Sunday morning.  People could also participate in the Geek Dating Game, the Nerd Trivia Game (I won against my two opponents!), or battling with foam weapons or medieval weaponry.

Geeks have been dominating movies and television, and it's no surprise that pop culture affected a lot of fan costuming.  There were numerous characters based on Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Frozen, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  Classic characters like Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and different versions of the Doctor mingled with folks from Teen Titans Go!, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead.  And since Deathstroke has been the main villain on Arrow, it's no surprise that multiple versions of him were at XCon World VII.

Change is inevitable from year to year at the convention -- this year there were a lot fewer t-shirt sellers and a lot more vendors with bootleg dvds -- but, alas, some of the problems with XCon World remained.  There were no classrooms or sealed areas for panels, resulting in a lot of noise pollution either from being surrounded up on the main stage, or from passing traffic in the outside tent.  With only two areas for panels, there wasn't that much offered, resulting in a lot less time picking where to go and a lot more time circling the convention floor.  Instead of spending the whole day there, you could pick one or two panels of interest, go around the convention area once or twice, and be done for the day in just a few hours.

But even with those flaws, XCon World VII was still pretty fun.  I talked to a lot of interesting people, I loved the costumes (not to mention that this was the first time I saw people dressed as Jesus and a piece of watermelon), and I look forward to going there next year.  Probably not on a motorcycle, though...

Written by James Lynch