Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Fans geek out at Wizard World Comic Con in Philly
As if they jumped off the big and small screen and out of the pages of their bright and colorful comic books, superheroes and villains ran wild in the City of Brotherly Love this past weekend.
The annual Wizard World Comic Con converged on the Pennsylvania Convention Center June 1-4 bringing with it a host of celebrities, artists, retailers and thousands of fans, many of who were decked out in full costume, to help celebrate the occasion.
Among the big name draws at this year’s con included actor Jesse Eisenberg, “The Social Network” and “Batman v. Superman Dawn of Justice,” actor Chuck Norris, “Delta Force” “Walker: Texas Ranger,” Gene Simmons, the co-lead singer of “Kiss,” actor Michael Rooker, “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Doctor Who” actresses Billie Piper and Pearl Mackie and “X-men” star Famke Janssen.
For the many fans and artists in attendance for the convention, Wizard World’s perennial appeal had less to do with what stars would be stopping by and more about the chance to have fun and let your geek flag fly proudly.
Dressed as The Flash and Wonder Woman, Jason Nieves and Natasha Carmona, of New York, said they feel these types of conventions draw a large crowd because of the wide net they cast.
“I feel like it has a little bit of everything for everybody,” said Nieves. “You have the people who like to shop and buy art, knickknacks like that. Then you’ve got the people that are here for the celebrities, whether it’s the autographs or the photo ops. And then there are people who really do like seeing the cosplayers walking around dressed up.”
Nieves said people approached him regularly to tell him he was dressed as their favorite character or as a character they rarely get to see. Likewise, following the release of “Wonder Woman” in theaters this past weekend, crowds have flocked to Carmona to get a photo or praise her costume. She said conventions are a family affair.
“It’s pretty much meant for everybody, everybody in the family,” she said. “There’s a lot of kids. All ages. It’s a lot of fun here. I love it.”
Lauren Coates, of Hatfield, came with her mom MaryAnn, and asked for a picture with Nathan Skreslet, dressed at Doctor Who.
For Coates, the convention offers a chance to meet other fans of the show and feel like part of a bigger community.
“I am not alone,” she said. “This is amazing.”
For Skreslet, and Ly Cao, Virginia natives, who were selling products from their “Doctor Who”-inspired art project “Pixel Who,” Philadelphia’s convention offered a chance to reach interact with fans at one of the largest conventions east of the Mississippi.
“I love coming to conventions simply because it’s like coming to your home planet,” said Cao. “Outside of the geek community, nerd community, a lot of people don’t get your references. But you come here and suddenly everyone understands your language and everyone gets your references and you kind of have this connection with people. It’s amazing.”
“There’s always a sort of celebratory atmosphere here at these things,” said Skreslet. “Everyone is here because they enjoy something. There’s nothing really negative about it.”
Tim Durning, of Philadelphia, and Gary Ward, of Pennsauken, N.J., dressed as Cyclops and Beast from the X-men, respectively, credited the popularity of Hollywood blockbusters for the rise of convention attendance.
“Between the superhero movies that are being made and they’re being made so well now, the great comic books, people are attracted to them,” said Durning.
Plus, as Ward said, it allows people to “be somebody else.”
“Forget about work and have some fun,” he said. “That’s what it is.”