Damn You, Deadpool!

"Just stick me in a quiet room and let me throw up for a minute" would be the best way to describe how I felt after leaving NYCC. I can honestly say that I haven't walked around with my head tilted skyward in years. It's one of the trademarks of a tourist in NY and that is exactly how I felt during this Con.

There was more to take in there than I had ever experienced before. It was loud, there were flashing lights, people screaming from every direction, and the flow of the crowd was non-stop.  To be honest, I thought back to the stories friends had shared about their experiences of shopping in Tokyo and wondered if this was what it was like.

About an hour into it, my friend and I seemed to have enough. We turned to each other with wide eyes and we could tell something was up. I was dizzy and he wanted to throw up. The two of us wanted nothing more than to sit down, close our eyes, and shut the world out for a few minutes. Of course, this wasn't going to happen.

So, after taking a breather, we split up to cross off items from our own agendas. We decided that using our cell phones to keep in touch was the best thing to do. Boy were we wrong. God knows how many fanboys were posting pictures on their blogs, twitter, and facebook pages straight from their phones. The service was shot to hell. It wasn't until I turned off 3G (barbaric, I know) that I was able to send out a text.

There's an upside though. As much as I couldn't stand certain aspects, I can't wait for next year's NYCC. I saw things I would never see in my normal life. I took a picture with a life size Optimus Prime, witnessed Chewbacca hug Mr. T, snapped a photo of Shaun in between his slaying of zombies, and had a few Sonic Screwdrivers pointed at me. Trust me, I'm going to plan that trip a lot more than I did this one (there was no plan. We didn't know what we were in for).

It also helped me realize how much I freaking love Doctor Who. The very first thing I saw was an Ironside Dalek. As I snapped a quick photo of it, I knew it was going to be a great time. I also learned that I'm really not a nerd. Yes, I watch Doctor Who and submit a pull list to a local comic shop, but I'm not a nerd. My friend Josh said it best, "we're cultured in those areas, but we're not nerds".

Here's to knowing that I'm just a normal guy who knows what he likes. Oh, and being called a hipster by a fat girl cosplaying as Deadpool. Allons-y!

Photos from NYCC:

Creature From The Back Room-goon

By the time this post goes up, I'll be gearing up for the New York Comic Con. It'll be the first time I'm surrounded by complete comic book nerds and hopefully, many half clad women. I'm sure that the majority of them will have their guts hanging over their belts, but I stay optimistic. I'm talking about the women. Overweight comic book nerds are a given.

So, what should I expect from my first "Con"? Will I be disappointed or glad? Will I accept these nerds and furthermore, will they accept me? Either way, I'm headed in with a good friend who is like me.

We're both the type of nerds that aren't really nerds at all. Many of our friends are just cool people with nerdy attributes. Yes, he loves Planet of the Apes and I have my undying allegiance to The Doctor, but we can both successfully drink our weight in beer and hold a conversation with women. Not to mention we've both spent many years playing in bands (guitars, not marching).

The shyness of nerds has always been a laugh for me. I crack up every time I see a caricature of the nerdy group of guys who constantly push their glasses to the bridge of their nose, breath through their mouths and freak out as an attractive girl approaches them. My friend and I encountered these very nerds while we were checking out a comic shop. 

We walked in and spent some time browsing the racks, chatting up the owner, and found out there was a section in the back with more stock. So, we make our way to the back half of the store where we were greeted with the sight of five guys, one barefoot, sitting around a table and arguing about the direction a writer was taking a certain superhero comic. I couldn't believe it. The very guys I saw in comedy bits and on TV were sitting before my very eyes. One was flipping through his pages of playing cards while the others thumbed through comics, only lifting their eyes to state their opinions. 

We made our way back up front, paid for our books, and walked out. Neither one of us said a word until we both sat in my car and just started laughing. It was such a shock to the both of us that these guys existed and we couldn't be more happy that we weren't like them. Don't get upset though. We were both very appreciative of these guys and know that they have a good time being who they are. It just made us appreciate who we are and how great it was to have each other as friends.

What cracks me up is that this entire blog entry could have been written by one of those guys. In their version, we're the weirdos and they laughed at us as we walked out. Either way, I was the one able to laugh about it with a girl later that night.