Comic Con quite the spectacle for ‘geeks’ and novices alike
PROVIDENCE — When Dan Jacobvitz shuttered away his X-Men comic book collection, he never thought there’d come a day when he would go rooting around in his basement to find the pages he tore through as a child.
But as comic books have undergone somewhat of a renaissance in recent years, spurred by the popularity of the Marvel and DC Comics movie franchises, Jacobvitz found himself taking those familiar steps back into the basement to dig up his comic collection.
“I’ve found they’re really well-written stories as an adult,” he said on Saturday morning. “People can get in touch with their childhood. I thought I’d pushed that away but I’ve found it’s a way I can relax and be myself.”
Jacobvitz drove about 45 minutes from his West Bridgewater, Mass., home to be one of a crowd
of tens of thousands who stood in line in the pouring rain on Saturday morning – some for upwards of four hours – before entering the Rhode Island Convention Center, Dunkin’ Donuts Center, and the Omni Providence Hotel for the annual Rhode Island Comic Con.
The three-day convention celebrates all things pop culture, with celebrities on hand signing autographs, artists discussing their work with costume-clad fans, and comic books available for purchase.
Hanging onto Jacobvitz’s shoulders, much in the way Yoda hung onto Luke Skywalker in “The Empire Strikes Back” was his 7-year-old nephew Lincoln Mercado Lazarski. Jacobvitz said he was hopeful that his nephew would embrace comics and this brand of pop culture the way he did when he was a child.
“You embrace your childhood but you also read what you might not have read,” Jacobvitz said of being a comic book fan as an adult. “The stories are dense and heavy and pretty amazing.”
Among the celebrities Jacobvitz was most excited to meet were actors Tim Curry (“It,” “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”), Hayden Christensen (“Star Wars,” “Jumper”), and Tony Danza (“Taxi,” “Who’s the Boss”).
“There’s a lot of surprises,” he said of the celebrity guests. “They do some really cool re- unions ... They always up their game.”
Clad in black robes and red-and-gold scarves, reminiscent of the first-day attire and Gryffindor class robes from the “Harry Potter” franchise were Andrea and Levi Davies of Manchester, N.H. Wearing apparel like that, it was a safe assumption to guess who they were most looking forward to meeting on Saturday.
“We have a photo op with Tom Felton,” Andrea Davies said. Felton portrayed Draco Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” film series.
When asked what it was about the Comic Con that drew them from New Hampshire, as well as attracted thousands of others to downtown Providence over the weekend, the couple agreed that it was the creativity on display.
“It’s an opportunity to show creativity, to build camaraderie, to see (the celebrities) in person,” Levi Davies said.
For the past decade, Levi Davies said, “geek culture” has blossomed in popularity, which he attributes to the Marvel comic book movies going from the printed page to the silver screen, breaking box office records and grossing billions of dollars in the process.
Andrea Davies, meanwhile, said the most recent iterations of the “Star Wars” franchise have led to a bit of a renaissance and a surge in popularity in the film series that debuted in the 1970s.
But while they couldn’t agree on the cause of the boom of comic book-themed pop culture, the husband-and-wife duo were unanimous on one thing. “It’s cool to be a geek,” they said. That’s the kind of sentiment that could be agreed on by people like Cranston’s Jason Aponte, Manchester, N.H.’s Michael Rennie, and Warwick’s Mike Ramella. They were among a group at the front of the line on Saturday morning, patiently waiting for the doors to the arena and Convention Center to open.
They’d been waiting in line for about three hours prior to the start of Saturday’s session, but while they were a bit rain-drenched, they were no less enthusiastic about the day.
“To me, it’s a camaraderie of fans that like being able to meet people that inspire them,” Aponte said. He was most excited to get inside so he could wait in another line – one to meet Kiefer Sutherland, the star of the hit television series “24.”
Ramella, meanwhile, was excited to wait in line alongside the Davies couple, all for the opportunity to meet Tom Felton. He said the showcase of pop culture iconography displays that there are “big stars, big entertainment in little Rhody.”
“I never thought Rhode Island would have a show like this,” the Warwick resident said. A veteran of six previous Comic Cons, Ramella recalled when the show was centered in the Convention Center, but now it’s a sprawling three-day event at three venues downtown. “It’s great to see it grow every year.”
Rennie was with his son, 12-year-old Michael Rennie Jr., and had been in line since about 7 a.m. They were excited to meet comic book creator Rob Liefeld, among others. These artists, Rennie said, are the behind-the-scenes creators whose works lead to celebrities like Sutherland and Felton becoming household names.
“It takes a pebble to drop into a pond to create a wave,” Rennie said. “The creators didn’t start in the business to be stars, but this is their creation. It’s the ultimate compliment.”