Over the past couple months in-person geek culture has begun to take its first tentative steps outside, following a pandemic induced quarantine. A couple weeks ago I followed suit and attended my first convention since the fall of 2019, which seems like a lifetime ago!
Zolocon is a small (creeping toward "mid-size") local show very near my home. In fact it's within walking distance of my old workplace. Although I've been aware of the show for several years I was always working that job when the show was running, so this year was my first opportunity to attend. Truthfully it's more of a toy focused show, but there's enough comics there to still warrant the billing of "Toy and Comic Expo" which is how the promoters position it.
One of the great things about this show is the venue! Zolocon is located at The Fuge! It's an event location that was previously a US Navy centrifuge from the 1940's through the early 2000's. For decades it was a training ground for pilots and astronauts including those involved in the historic Mercury and Apollo missions. The backstory and structure make for a fun event space outside the norm of generic convention centers.
Aside from the main showroom floor there was also a smaller upper level filled with vendors as well, that was only accessible by passing through a nifty vintage control room for the centrifuge.
Standing on the platform between the control room and centrifuge gave the best view of the show floor.
Being my first convention "post" pandemic (post being a very loose term as we're still very much in the midst of it) I had no idea what to expect but was pleasantly surprised by the attendance and everyone seemed to be having a good time.
Because of the uncertainty and possibly depressed turnout numbers of conventions at present, I'm not planning on exhibiting at any shows in 2021 but intend to hit the convention circuit with some vigor in 2022 with tables of my own! Therefore I did what I always do as a guest at comic conventions and just did my best to chat up all the artists in attendance, make their acquaintance and pick their brains for convention wisdom and advice.
Being a smaller show not hyper focused on comics, there were only 5 or 6 artists in attendance and I spent most of my time interacting with a few of them, and all my purchases were from this little "Artist Alley" as well.
Chris Campana was a highlight of the show for me. I've met him briefly at a couple other shows in the past but had a nice long conversation with him here and spent plenty of time studying the original pages he had at his table. I love seeing artist's original work. He's an established and talented small press and indy comic artist with a loyal following who's always friendly and gracious. I hope to be seeing more of him in the years to come.
I picked up the first couple issues of Chris' Parker Reef series, Volume 1 of Column by Raw Blink productions, and as I can't resist an artist sketchbook I picked up RENderings by Ren Mckinzie.
All in all I had a great time at Zolocon and I will be back for more in the years to come! I desperately need events like this to help get me out of the house! Since leaving my job in April and pursuing art full time I have become decidedly more homebound! However please be safe out there. I must admit that a couple days after the convention I felt like crap and it lingered for several days. "Con Crud" is a recognized industry term that many professionals and avid fans use to describe the illness they come down with post convention. Whether it's Covid or just all the other bugs and nasties we've been shielded from for more than a year catching up to us, be prepared for some re-acclimation as you get back out into crowds.
What say you fellow Geeks!?! Are you checking out some of the many events that are cropping back up? Had any fun out there lately? Meet me in the comments and let me know!
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