WaffleAfterHours: Hal-Con 2012

So, Hal-Con 2012 has come and gone, and this year, I thought maybe, instead of a video, I’d make an article about the two days for this blog. I’ve never really done stuff like this before, so let’s see how this goes.

First thing I noticed once I had arrived, a Thorn cosplayer, complete with Fone Bone plushie! That made me smile. First thing I noticed after walking in the door; Slenderman in the line-up! Much shorter than the omnipresence malevolence in about half a dozen vlogs, but still quite amusing to see. Infact there was about three or four Slenderman at the Con. Someone even showed me a photo of two of them standing together.

To be honest, there were quite a number of repeat costumes. More Thors and Lokis than I ever expected. (Most of which were actually female.) There were multiple Deadmau5, Mass Effect, Adventure Time, My Little Pony, Doctor Who, Joker, Poison Ivy, Mario (and Nintendo in general), Harley Quinn, Vocaloid, WarCraft, X-Men and Deadpool con-goers. Even a Lady Deadpool and Headpool prop! There were also more Homestuck cosplayers than I could count. A class must have all agreed on them or something. But as many doubles as there were, there were plenty of surprises. I hadn’t seen Lady Shredder, Mister Freeze or Hellboy characters last year. Definitely would have remembered Obama.

In terms of purchases, I kind of wish I bought more but I kind of glad I didn’t. The biggest thing that caught my eye was some rare HeroClix. The set that had Stan Lee and company.

I mostly bought HeroClix. Got Batman and Green Lantern figures. Also bought a comic book longbox that now hold the majority of my comics. And two of the four TMNT classic figures. And A Kermit Funko POP figure that won’t stay up. Got the IDW TMNT issues 13 and 14. Forgot I never bought 11 and 12.

Friday night, after the vendors closed up, I headed up to the third floor, dedicated to gaming. They had numerous tables opened to games such as HeroClix, Warhammer, Munchkin and ones I had never even heard of. As much as I’d like to learn to play HeroClix, I headed straight to the video game room. They had several televisions set up to Playstation 3s, playing Super Street Fighter 4, Persona 4 and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, among others. Also, pinball machines from various decades.

I really should have taken more videos. Heh...

I went straight towards UMvC3, and my first opponent ended up being the Slenderman from the beginning of the day. I managed to win two matches out of the few I played, but the end of one match kind of was embarrassing. I was playing against a girl dressed as Tanya from Mortal Kombat, who’s team consisted of Felicia, X-23 and Phoenix I think. I used Zero, M.O.D.O.K. and Shuma-Gorath. I won the match with Shuma using his Energy Drain grab move on Felicia, and judging from the reaction, Tanya and her colleagues didn’t know Shuma could do that. Heh…

Speaking of the third floor, one of the most fun moments for me when Kitana and Mileena entered the same room as several DC heroines. I got them to do a picture of “Mortal Kombat versus DC Universe”. Supergirl and Catwoman stand against the twin ninjas when who showed appear but Scorpion! As it turns out Scorpion was apart of the Halifax Circus, doing a presentation for Hal-Con, as was Harley Quinn and possibly that Supergirl cosplayer. So, Scorpion, being exceptionally strong, posed for a picture with Kitana and his shoulders and lifting Mileena off the ground at the same time. Needless to say it was most entertaining.

I entered the costume contest and was number “007” of the “Presentation” division, meaning that I personally did not create my costume. I went to the Con as a Star Trek TNG officer the first day, and Star Trek / Mario the day of the costume contest. Even dug out my toy phaser for the day. Did a little Gangnam on stage. The Deadpool that followed did it better.

The big winner of the contest was this gentlemen in a wheelchair who’s costume was almost an exact replica of Dr. Arliss Loveless from the Wild Wild West film. Other costumes included the Yip-Yip Martians, which the kids and kids-at-heart enjoyed, and an AT-AT walker from Star Wars, which I believe was also apart of the Halifax Circus, as a video I saw on YouTube where Scorpion took down the AT-AT with his patented spear a la Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back.

Can’t really say this year was celebrity-filled for me, in comparison to last year. Didn’t get autographs from John Rhys-Davies or Rene Auberjonois, but I did see Ajay Fry walking on the streets at 9. I yelled “HI SPACE MAN!!!” He yelled back “HI HALF – Mario…?”

I walked into Haven actor Richard Donat and spoke to him for a moment. Even shook his hand. (Not sure he appreciated being called the 'Haven guy'. Heh...)

I wasn’t able to get to as many as the panels as I had hoped. I did manage to go to Drakaina’s panel, I was the only one to bring drawing utensils with me and I did a sketch of Drakaina and her friend during the panel. Even got a picture of her holding the picture. I came in late for Lenore Zann’s panel, and I thought I’d just walk in quietly and find a seat. First thing I hear when I walk in is “STEVE!!! COME ON IN!!!” Hehe…she even told the crowd that I had made the autograph she had with her. I got my first sitting ovation! ^////^

I did get to see Gail Simone and Darwyn Cooke. Two things I learned from those brief conversations; I need to check my hearing because they were both hard to hear over the 5997 other patrons of the con.

And if I’m ever going to get ahead in life, in terms of writing and drawing, I have to do it every single day.

Considering that I just turned 28, and so far my single biggest accomplishment in life is graduating, I have to take their advice.