As a proud Bostonian, I am always pleased to see such a huge event hosted by FanExpo and to have it take place in the heart of Massachusetts. Now to preface this, this is not a ranking or rating of Boston Comic-Con. It is simply an overview of what happened and my experience of it. Also to note, I only had time to make it for the Sunday portion of the event.
The last time I made it for a Boston Comic-Con was all the way back in 2015. The venue at the time was the Seaport World Trade Center and I was not a fan of the venue. Personally, it felt like a giant room filled with as much stuff as they could shove in and it was right next to a hotel with, at best, mediocre panels. However, for this year’s event, they moved their venue to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. For all convention lovers, they already know that this is also the same venue for the highly exciting video-game convention, Pax East.
After my experience returning to Boston Comic-Con, I really wish that I could have gone to the Friday and Saturday shows too. Just to quickly mention, I arrived at the venue and actually found parking on the same road as the convention center right on Summer Street. I know, I know, if you are from Boston, you are immediately calling me out on finding a parking space in BOSTON. But from the wise words of Josh Peck, I am a truth-er. The show hall was to open at 10:00, but as we waited in line and 9:30 struck on the clock, everyone was already flowing into the exhibition, regardless of priority or VIP. The exhibition hall included the hundreds of booths, main theatre, and celebrity booths including autographs and photos opps. Even though, comparatively to 2015, they added more in the hall, it felt comfortable and appropriate. I barely felt cramped.
For me, I got the tickets to have me and friend take a photo with the main cast and voice actress of the hit online show: “R.W.B.Y”. However, due to the large amount of people who also got their tickets, the one-on-one interaction with the celebrities was super short. Unlike if you were to go to New York Comic-Con, which I have twice, I got to get a photo, an autograph, and short conversation with the show creators and actors, for free. So to experience the more business-y end of the comic-con culture was a little off-putting, but if you don’t have the chance to go to New York, Boston Comic-Con was worth the time.
I also only had time to check out one panel and it was the “Attack on Titan” Q&A panel with Trina Nishimura and Bryce Papenbrook. The show was very funny and the guests were super animated, something that I appreciate because it can be hard on the featured guests to entertain a room full of people. So hats’ off to you Bryce and Trina! They gave away some fantastic fan art signed by both Bryce and Trina to two very lucky guests, yes I was one of those people trying to get that “Twitter” question. I was also debating on whether or not to write this part, but I think it should service to all voice actors and actresses. By the end of the Q&A, a mad rush of people ran to the front, I could only assume that each one of them wanted something signed. It kind of bothered me and if Bryce and Trina are 100% OK with it and staying late, I think it should a spoken rule that any panels that have any popular guests, do not bum-rush them at the end to get an autograph for free. When one or two people go up to those tables, then a chain reaction of at least twenty people follow behind. They have booths set up in a designated area of the expo hall to get autographs and photos.
To end on a bright and funny note, my friend bought some merch to end the day. However, he did not buy the entire series of “Tokyo Ghoul” on manga, collectible figures, an autograph, no. He bought a blue twin sword set for only $40. They look like skinny machetes and if he gets any guns later, he would be set for any kind of apocalypse in the near future, in terms of defense. To reiterate, this is not a review of Boston Comic-Con 2017. I believe that if Boston Comic-Con follows the style of adding popular guests from the television, anime, and comic culture, the same venue, and show types, more and more people will get tickets for next year and at least one of those attendants will be a returning me. Tune in next week for my second convention experience featuring my first time at Walker Stalker Con-Boston and my fourteenth overall convention.
