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Uncommon Con was uncommon, and special. Not only was it
wonderful to see a large scale convention in Texas again, it was
nice to see an old fashioned type of convention where the theme
wasnt focused on just one thing. Uncommon Con was billed as
a "geekfest" and it was: it had something for everyone.
Considering it is the same philosophy that I run my online
magazine by, how could I not like this convention? Oh, I did, I
liked this convention. As The Collector Times ended up being a
guest at this convention, we ended up spending a lot of time at
our table, handing out flyers about our magazine, and watching
Joe Singleton draw. However, we did get out and about a little
bit, and I can tell you some of the things that I really liked about
the convention.
Sidra and I can sit and watch Joe Singleton draw, its a
mesmerizing experience. Hes fast, and extraordinarily good. If
you are ever up in Dallas at a con where he has a table, hell be
happy to let you sit down and watch him. Do it, its fun.
The convention was very well run, all the more amazing because
it was a first time convention by the nice folks who put it
together. My only complaint was finding out that we had a panel
to do when we opened our program book the first day.
Someone should have told us! Someone should have told the
audience that didnt appear! We were not the only panel that
didnt have attendees, though. For some reason, folks werent
real big on panels this year. And really, there were reasons for
that, there was a lot to do.
The con had an anime movie room, a science fiction movie
room, a gaming room, a dealers room, several panels going at
once, plus additional events like concerts, and autograph
signings. Lots and lots of things to do. I spent a lot of time in the
dealers room, spending way too much money, as usual. Some
things I cant tell you about, because I bought them for family
members for Christmas, and certain people will read this, if you
get my drift. I did get my husband a bunch of old science fiction
books, mainly from the 50s and 60s. They were inexpensive,
and the authors were good. I bought a whole slew of
independent comics, which you will be seeing reviewed by
various reviewers here in the next few months. Sidra also bought
Bryan Talbots latest print, and had him sign it.
If I had had the bucks, I would have dropped a fortune. Dealers
had a whole variety of product and services. There was one
area where ladies were doing henna tattoos. Another table
offered some of the coolest dragon incense holders I have seen
in a long time. Yet another table had these S&M teddy bears
that I was sorely tempted to buy as Christmas gifts. Folks from
the Comic Book Defense League to White Wolf Games to the
Society of Creative Anachronism had tables. My long time
friend, Dick Roessler, who happens to be Comptroller of
Midway Games, dropped in to see me. He was real sorry that
his company hadnt been aware of this convention, because he
felt that they would have fit right in. It was really, really great,
because there was so much to choose from. It was really, really
bad because I didnt have enough money to buy everything I
wanted.
Oh, and speaking of buying everything I wanted, you should
have seen the art room! Most of it was fantasy and science
fiction art, and it was really beautiful. If I had had the money,
there was one painting that looked like a photograph that I
would have purchased. As it was, I also wanted an alien world
landscape, a couple of matching prints of winged people, and
another painting done in electric colors of an alien landscape.
That was only one of the art auctions, another one was done for
the benefit of PETA, that I didnt attend. That really was my
only gripe about this convention: if one is going to have an
auction to benefit a local charity, why not choose a charity that
everyone can get behind, say, something like the SPCA, abused
children, or people with serious illness? Why pick some wing-
nut organization that wants to tell the rest of us how to live? I
didnt get that, and I couldnt see my hard earned money going
to thowing pies at Calvin Klein when hes visiting Neiman
Marcus or PETA ads for MTV, so I chose not to participate in
the charity auction. Joe had donated some art to the auction, and
THEN he found out what the charity was. He wore a leather
jacket all weekend to compensate.
Another nice thing about this con was that it was large, but it
wasnt too large. We had time to talk to every creator there, and
they has time for us. I looked at Bryan Talbots original art
pages and my god, are they ever beautiful and tight. Bryans
trade paperback of Heart of Empire is coming out in February.
That was a high point for me right there. I also talked with Marty
Nodells wife for a little bit. Mr. Nodell, the creator of the
Golden Age Green Lantern, makes a lot of con appearances
and recently, had some time off to do some new drawings. If
you have a chance, buy one! They are reasonably priced,
colored, and well worth the money. I meant to buy one myself,
but I ran out of money. I met Bill Willingham, and the guys at
Outer Space Spider Comics, they kept making periodic runs
over to our table. Nice fellows, too, and it was a very friendly
atmosphere.
We attended the costume contest on Saturday night and I am so
glad we did. It has been several years since I attended a Texas
costume contest, and I had forgotten how fun they were. If
people put on costumes here, they get into the role, and
generally act in character for extended periods. The audiences at
these contests are polite, so dignity can fall by the wayside and
creativity and humor can take over. The contestants DO camp it
up, too. My favorite costume at this contest was the Catholic
S&M Avenger of the Far Future, who had everything from a cat
o nine tails to a tuning fork to keep the infidels in line (and for
recreational pleasure.) All of the costumes were great, and you
need to look at the costumes in the photo gallery to see what
delights we were treated to. I can promise you that you wont
see some of these costumes at San Diego. Some of them are a
uniquely Texas thing. Plus, San Diego audiences are brutal at
costume contests. This was a good old fashioned Texas costume
contest, and it made me glad to be there.
As you can tell, I had a fabulous time and if you get the chance,
these same folks are putting on UnCommon Con next year. I
hope to see you there, because I guarantee that I am going back.
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