Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo 2015 – Sunday Bitter Sweet Sunday
Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo 2015 was about to draw to a close… it was Sunday! The plus to Sunday was that the time change occurred during the night meaning we all had an extra hour to get ready for the show. For some of us that meant we didn’t have to get up earlier to pack and check out but had that “extra” hour to get it all done.
Sunday of Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo 2015 is also what I call Bitter Sweet Sunday. By this point in the show you are both looking forward to and dreading the end of the show. You are looking forward to it because you are, or are getting, tired and know after another day of the show that will change to exhausted. Dreading because you will have to say bye to friends, some of whom you may only see at this show so it will be another year before you might see them again. It is the best and the hardest day of a show for both reasons.
Surprisingly it was still more than possible to find things at booths that over the preceding two days you have not spotted, such as the cloak crafted out of Magic the Gathering cards which I somehow did not spot even though I had been by the booth it was at several times over the previous two days.
It was a morning of waiting to see a friend cosplaying a character from another friend’s comicbook. Am happy to have these photos of Elizabeth Gray cosplaying Death Vigil by Stjepan Sejic. She did an amazing job creating this even though I was starting to wonder if she would get to the show in time for us to see it.
Going exploring with the Death Vigil, errr I mean with Elizabeth, including one of just a few runs by Rafael Navarro’s table to see if my sketch was done. Stopping to take photos of friends and strangers alike. Just enjoying the show floor at a slightly more leisurely pace than when I hit the floor alone and am trying to get to certain events on time.
It was a day with adventure as Bridget Silvestri and I went in search of Jimmy Jay’s Comics in search of some comicbooks. Have to say we had a good time when we hit Jimmy Jay’s after almost missing the booth completely (perseverance people, perseverance!)
Along the way to find Jimmy Jay, Bridget and I managed to make a stop to see if Rafael Navarro had completed the piece I had commissioned before the doors even opened on Friday! Lo and behold, it was done and I was finally allowed to see it. Rafael had decided to make me wait until it was completed for once rather than letting me get glimpses of the work in progress. Thank you Rafael, it turned out amazing and has gone in the mail to my friends for their enjoyment.
From there we trekked to Mile High Comics in search of more comicbooks at which we both scored some finds and had a great time shopping. The team was friendly, helpful and the layout of the booth is fantastic for shopping. The amount of books they had on Sunday makes me wonder at the amount of work it must take to transport it all and get it setup in such a well organized manner. Well done!
I will warn you, if you are looking for a legendary comicbook creators work at a show he is signing at, finding what you want becomes much more of an adventure as many will have sold out of everything and anything that they have created.
Once we made our way back to the Top Cow booth it was more photo ops of fans and friends. Even managed to get photos of Jacqueline Goehner cosplaying as, drum roll please… Jacqueline Goehner for once LOL Don’t think I have ever managed to get photos of her not in character before.
It was a day of making new friends, and strengthening existing friendships.
One last trek to the back of the hall to take photos of Rob Liefeld with his family at the end of his signing session. Was great observing the family all taking part and Rob, thank you for the opportunity to take the photo. I know by this point in the weekend you most likely were simply looking forward to getting out of the convention center, getting decent food and some downtime.
Thank you to everybody that made the show, and especially the last day of the show, so magical. It was another great show for Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo 2015. Hope they know they have raised the bar on our expectations for next year!
