Sequential Wednesdays #10 – Bos-Con: The City-Wide Adventure of Levity

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The past week endured by the city and residents of Boston has been extraordinary and bizarre, affecting pretty much everyone in the vicinity.  Thanks, and often less than thanks, to media outlets, social networking, and alternative online resources rapidly updating news was easily accessed and spread.  Boston public service entities such as the transit authority and the police department were posting new information on twitter and facebook as fast as was available.  It was one of the first times where messages containing 140 words with an attached picture had more of a positive affect than the vast majority of national news outlets.  For those looking to find some reprieve from the events of week attending Boston Comic-Con – twitter and facebook was always open – as the Hynes Convention Center is located very close to the finish line of the Boston Marathon and is within the boundary of businesses and streets that are still closed as of today (Tuesday 4/23).  Sadly, the day before the Con was scheduled to start, the official twitter feed announced it postponed.

Not gonna lie, that really sucked to see.  I’m well aware that the situation was well out of the event organizers’ hands and that there was nothing they could do but postpone.  Nevertheless, it was all I was looking forward to during those strange and grayed-out weekdays, until I saw this retweeted by Boston Comic-Con:

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Soon after, other local Boston comic shops began advertising their impromptu signings and events such as Comicazi in Davis Square:

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And Comicopia near Kenmore in Boston Proper:

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How cool is that?  I can tell you,it was really damned cool, as I jumped from store to store to meet different creators, the thrill skewed my perspective so I widely considered the majority of the city as part of the convention.  My gloves were off; everyone walking the street was a comrade treading the same path I was, there to experience similar excited over similar things. I was well aware the most everyone else going about their weekend basking in the lovely weather and relishing the ability to safely walk outside was not actually trying to catch the train to get across town to get to Comicazi in time to meet creators such as Tim Sale (Superman for all SeasonsBatman: The Long Halloween), Ming Doyle (Mara, Eternal: Zachary’s Story), David Mack (Kabuki), and Bill Willingham (Fables, Fairest), but that didn’t stop me from acting giddy all day,  I would say “nice shirt” to the wearer of a top adorned with any design or reference I understood, asked to get a couple of pictures of people in cool clothes only to realize many minutes later that no, that couple wasn’t cosplaying, they were definitely on the way to some formal function.  I was nothing short of the most unique “con” experience I’ve had and probably the most supportive.  Pretty much everyone I talked to, fan and guest alike, was really pleased to not have the weekend wasted in wallowing “what-ifs” and felt the innate need to share that feeling across.

On top of it all, many of the events set up around the postponement of the convention encouraged donations to various fund-raising platforms going to relief for the Boston Marathon victims through raffles, give-aways, or just promising percentages of earnings.  While the totality of that week showed me just was Boston was capable of (hint: it’s a lot), the weekend showed me that the Boston Comic community is just as steadfast and willing to give.  For a full list of what went down last weekend in place of the Boston Comic-Con itself, take a look at Spandexless’s list.

Until forever,

Zach

 
 
 

Pulls

My pulls for 4/24 are:

  • Before Watchmen: Comedian by Brian Azzarello & J.G. Jones
  • Flash #19 by Brian Buccellato, Marcio Takara & Francis Manapul
  • East of West #2 by Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta
  • Jupiter’s Legacy #1 by Mark Millar & Frank Quitely
  • Lost Vegas #2 by Jim McCann & Janet Lee

 

 

 (top image contains cover art of Flash #19, Before Watchmen: Comedian #6, Jupiter’s Legacy #1, and Lost Vegas #2)
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