This past weekend, Providence, Rhode Island was slammed with people of all ages in all different types of cosplays from all different cinematic and comic book universes at the annual event known to many as Comic Con. For our friends who are unfamiliar with the event, let me give you the breakdown…

A huge three-day convention is held where artists, vendors, and celebrities of all different statuses come to one place to sell their artwork, products, and (in the cases of the celebrities) pictures and autographs. The tens of thousands of people who attend dress up as their favorite characters from their favorite TV shows, movies, music groups, comics… the list really is endless. I mean, what else would a balding 39-year-old man do on a Saturday afternoon besides don his Captain America suit (that is probably like a size or two too small now) and walk around the Rhode Island Convention Center for seven hours? All jokes aside, I do think cosplaying is pretty impressive. Dedicating that much time to building your own costume from the ground up is pretty awesome. So, to all the cosplayers who may (or may not) be reading this, you’re rocking it!

Anyway, that is really what the convention is (at least in my eyes, I’ve only been twice… I’m not an expert). This year was the second year I have been and am writing this now to give you the low down on my personal experience. Because it was pretty rad.

So, I mentioned that this is a three-day affair. Being cheap, I only went on Saturday. Which, to be quite honest, is enough for me. Let’s set our scene with the line to get in. My brother, my dad, and I (pay) to park the car and we begin heading towards the door. It is here we find out that the line wraps around the building… for about half of a mile. I remember thinking “well... ain’t that just peachy.” Not really because I had to walk, but because it was cold and I left my coffee in the car.

An hour passes, and we finally feel the sweet embrace of artificial heat. We scan our tickets and into the convention we go. I have to say, for the number of people in this building, you would have thought the president was on the floor of the Dunkin’ Donuts Center (I’ll probably subconsciously just type ‘the Dunk’ after this). Obviously, not our current president. I don’t think this many people even showed up to his inauguration.

We get to the floor of the Dunk, and there are so many celebrities that I grew up watching and listening to. They had people like John Cusak, Christopher Lloyd, Robert England, and Jason Issacs. Honestly, some grade-A celebrities. And then, way down the other end of the arena, I saw it. The sign that said, “Gene Simmons – Musician.” I knew he was going to be there, but, there is something about physically seeing him that made it feel like the room did not actually exist. KISS was the first band that I ever enjoyed as a kid. How could I pass up the opportunity to meet a man I idolized growing up? The answer, for those of us who can’t figure it out, is that I couldn’t. I bought the autograph slip, took out my KISS comic book (printed with real KISS blood in the ink), and stood in line to meet one-fourth of the band that made me love the sound of rock ‘n’ roll. We got up to meet Gene, and everything kind of slipped away into a state somewhere between reality and fantasy. This could not actually be happening. But, oh friends and neighbors, it was. Gene took the time to not only sign my book, but also talk to me, my brother, and my dad. It was the most surreal experience of my life. There is still a part of me that almost thinks it is not real. But then I see the signature and realize that this really happened. The conversation was real. The fist bumps were real. It was all real. Also, quick side note: if you are ever contemplating meeting someone famous that you have idolized your whole life, do it. Sometimes, we must create our own happiness and we cannot depend on others to do it for us. So, don’t worry about how much it may cost or what hoops you will have to jump through. Don’t hesitate. Meet your idol.

Back to the story… We left Gene’s table and went on our way. We went to meet Christopher Lloyd (I didn’t meet him personally, but I will include that part in the story for continuity.) Apparently, he is a little bit out of his mind. But I don’t know much more about that. After Doc Brown, we went on to “Weird Al” Yankovic. His line took about six years to get through but once we did meet him he was a laid-back dude. A lot quieter than I imagined, but, me and my brother got a personalized autograph and the picture that you saw as the cover photo. All in all, the meet and greets were worth every penny and every minute of my time.

This brings us to the last few hours of our day, where we just walked around buying things. Well, I bought a lot of stuff. Anywho, I enjoyed looking at a lot of what was being sold. I really appreciated the artwork that people were selling. When you see the different styles of painting and sketching and drawing going on, it is one of the most incredible things you could ever witness. It always impresses me how much time and effort is put into a single work of art. It is mesmerizing. So, to that I say, art major friends, do not give up. Do not feel that your major is not valuable because what you do is necessary to human existence. It is amazing.

After this we went home, it had been a rather long (and crowded) day. But it was amazing. As much as I enjoyed everything I left with, one thought seemed to ring loud in the back of my mind. There are people here from all different backgrounds. Different sexual orientations, religions, genders, political beliefs, ethnicities, races. All of our differences coming together to celebrate one common ground. And, if I can take a moment to be frank, that is what we need right now.