Twin Cities Con Day Two

Getting to Twin Cities Con early on Day Two, it was clear the density of the crowd would be a lot heavier on the weekend compared to the Friday of Day One. With time to spend before any of the morning panels got going, I ended up chatting with a few of the exhibitors. One was Hal Greene, writer, artist, and creator of Across Space. This is an all-ages graphic novels in the sci-fi and related genres. We spoke a bit about the process and heavy logistics involved in getting those stories into actual brick & mortar stores. As you might expect, the early work of getting ISBNs and related metadata correct is extremely critical and Greene was infectious with his excitement as they move forward on that quest.

One of the most enjoyable side rooms wasn’t a panel, but was the Cosplay Photoshoots/Meet Ups. There was a schedule for certain themes (Marvel, Lord of the Rings, etc.) for anyone dressed up to come and interact with others in their particular universe of characters. I got over there for the One Piece meet up and it was so much fun to see some great costumes, but mostly to watch people complimenting and truly loving other people’s cosplay efforts. At one point before the doors opened, one of the participants left their group saying, “I’m off for interacting”. This may have been the Comic Con vibe in a nutshell, and I was really glad to witness some of it.

This is probably a good a point as any to talk about the very wide range of costumes. There were super tricked out, clearly expensively bought ones (think a full Batman suit), to ones that were well thought out, but put together with individual pieces of clothing and props. There were also DIY outfits, with creative use of cardboard (most commonly seen with several Transformers characters). I also realized that some of the most convincing costumes also appeared to be the least comfortable, either being too hot (particularly helmets) or with props that were unwieldy or heavy. Some of those DIYers looked much more comfy.

A quick stop at a panel on World Building 101 had some great insights such as “don’t go for original (it doesn’t exist), go for originality”. I did not catch the speaker’s name, but he was fantastic both with his energy and his clear advice to aspiring creators. His quick ideation of a world for “The Mighty Toaster” graphic novel was an impressive sketch out and showing how to get feedback and ideas from simply planting the seeds and getting it out there.

One of the biggest events of the day was a panel with many of the actors from the 1999 film The Mummy, celebrating its 25th anniversary. This had Brendan Fraser, Patricia Velásquez, Oded Fehr, and Kevin J. O’Connor. O’Connor was all jokes at first, which had the audience laughing from the start. And while that humor played through, there were a number of heartfelt moments, with Velásquez talking about the great group of actors and how well they got along together. Fehr’s perspective was pretty evocative (it was one of his first films), and the group had fun as they lovingly roasted the actors not there (John Hannah, Rachel Weisz, and Arnold Vosloo) showing their shared love of the overall cast. Fraser’s self-deprecating story of nearly electrocuting himself on the set was amusing. Their stories about being cast (Fehr found out a couple months later, Velásquez the same day, without really knowing she was auditioning, O’Connor who knew director Stephen Sommers from a previous film) was an interesting range of answers.

Headed back to the smaller panels, I caught the very end of the Sketch Duel Battle: Pat Gleason x Ant Lucia. It’s a clever series where two artists create a couple of sketches to be given out raffle style while also spending the time talking through a Q&A. Some happy winners headed out into the crowd. While waiting for the start of Dance like an Idol – Kpop Demon Hunters RDP, I simply poked my head into a room across the hall called Sewing Tips and Tricks for Newbies, and dear reader, it was absolutely jam packed, which was so very great. That diversity of subjects was another positive point for the Twin Cities Con. Back over to the Kpop session, the set up was pretty basic: they would play about 30 seconds of a random K-Pop song and if you knew the choreography, you were encouraged to come up and start performing. This was pretty brilliant and there was a great supportive crowd for the dancers. It was pure energy (there’s some complex choreo!) and a crowd singing along to most of the songs. What a session!

The Amy Jo Johnson Q&A had the multi-media artist (actress, musician, filmmaker) walking through her different career arcs. I was intrigued by her discussion about music and how she is trying to find the right producer to help her create the sound she wants. Of course, the topic of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers had to come to the fore. Johnson’s appreciation for her fans was obvious and she spoke of how that community has helped her fund other projects. I learned about the concept of private zoom parties that she hosts and it was a view into the many ways that technology allows new connections and revenue streams outside of the more traditional top down systems.

A final run through the exhibit hall found it very congested as people were swarming the different booths depending on their interests. It was another great day of cosplay (see photos below) and the evening sessions were just starting to come alive as I headed out for an evening concert. More from the final Day Three tomorrow.