I’ve always wanted to go to the “MOACC” (Mother of all Comic-Cons) in San Diego, and actually never even considered going to one of the lesser versions anywhere else. However, my wife and daughter had the idea to give me tickets to the local Boston show for my birthday- and today I return home with some observations- along with some ideas for arranging my own booth at the Rhode Island Mini Maker Faire this coming weekend.

First off, I need to note that I was pretty wiped out after a long drive back from PA yesterday- a trip that included trying to teach my parents how to use an iPhone, a family reunion, a trip to Kennywood Park (the inspiration for my RACER design), a Pirate baseball game in beautiful PNC Park, and a costly game of poker with my two brothers, Scott and Jeff.

So I wasn’t exactly fired-up about the Boston Comic-con, even though in theory I should have been.

I arrived with my wife Linda, my daughter Amanda, and her boyfriend Ben a little before noon. The lobby looked a bit like the Star Wars Cantina scene, and I felt underdressed (or more correctly- oddly dressed) with a throwback Pirates top and baseball cap. As we entered the hall, a full sized embodiment of Jabba the Hut was posing for pictures, a crew of Pirates taunted onlookers into sword fights, and several ghostbusters showed off their back-pack technology. My interest was piqued, and I even toyed with the idea of asking the Pirates if I could join their motley crew- given my ensemble and all. I thought better of this after realizing that I was in Red Sox territory, and that the idea was stupid.

I had heard about the cos players, and they did not disappoint- there were the expected super heroes and villains (I especially admired/was terrified by a Bane clone), along with the sexy (and not so sexy) women in skimpy costumes. I am not a huge comic book fan, but I love science fiction, video games and horror, so I was pleased to get most of the references. We met and spoke to a few independent artists and authors, and I tried to deposit some goodwill in my karma account by buying some of their wares.

We also attended a Q&A forum with authors and artists from the “Locke and Key” comics- a favorite of my daughter’s. I got an appreciation of the genre after listening to the creators- one of them the son of Steven King- he was obviously brilliant, insightful, funny, and extremely creative and talented. He gained a fan today and I will read/ look at their work.

As we exited the venue, I thought about what I observed, and what I could take away from this experience that I could apply to my little venture. I realize now more than ever that there are a lot of very talented people in the various genres on display here, and that they are very passionate about their work. These people tend to be pretty smart, and there is a depth to their work that most outsiders would not realize. I recognize the passion, the depth, and the intelligence as concepts that I too value, and want to cultivate in my own creations.

I also got some cool ideas for organizing my booth at Maker Faire.

Thank you cosmos.