This year’s Rhode Island Comic Con was a general success.  The Comic Con attendance greatly exceeded the organizer’s expected turnout compared to all prior years.  In fact, the Rhode Island Convention Center exceeded their expected numbers compared to all other events… ever!  (Nerd pride.)  However, the convention was not without problems.  You can read about the over-capacity debacle here:

https://nerd-base.com/2014/11/02/rhode-island-comic-con-2014-exceeds-capacity-fans-stuck-out-in-the-rain/

But for now, let’s focus on the other experiences, which were generally positive.  The con took place on November 1st – 2nd with a Halloween party the night before (on Halloween).  The party was decently attended.  I enjoyed the drink list which had tasty choices such as the Ecto-1, the Ooze, and the Beetlegeuise.  And of course, it was a great place for the cosplay to begin.

…oh, and a fight broke out:

 

Next day, the actual con.  The organizers got their usual impressive gallery of guests and included a group from Star Trek folk (William Shatner, George Takei, Michelle Nichols, Walter Koenig), Buffy’s Eliza Dushku, a bunch of Walking Dead and Supernatural people, and much more.  Personally, I was much more excited for last years guests.  I mean, they had every single Star Wars bounty hunter last year! Still, I was happy to meet William Katt (The Greatest American Hero).

Honestly, I didn’t attend more than part of the William Shatner panel.  Nothing really appealed to me this round.  Last year there were really cool voice-over panels, animations shows, etc.  I am not really the type to hear an actor or a group of actors discuss stories that I assume they have told hundreds of times.  Plus, I was much more interested in the over-capacity story.  Perhaps people will always attend the Star Trek panel so maybe it’s just me.  I’m glad The RKO Army cast was still performing Rocky Horror though.

 

I thought the vendor floor was well done.  It was a good mix of local artists, more well-known artists, and geeky dealers.  There was even one company that made a complete body scan of people and could make actual 3-D figurines!  But, these great vendors also leads me to my biggest complaint… bigger than the over-capacity issue.  I was really disheartened to see large spaces supplied to big chain stores.  I understand that good business comes along with the interest of these mega-shops but they add nothing to the atmosphere and cheapen the experience over-all.  Tables like Barnes and Nobles and GameStop do not produce anything on their own.  They simply sell an aspect of geekdom, and usually not the best.  Also, it looked like the floor was largely filled with more worthy tables so why even allow them to be there?  It’s a bad trend that can lead to a slippery slope.  Please, RICC, next year… get rid of those guys.  You made me sad.

I still had a great time.  I think there was alot of energy this year and the cosplayers stepped up their games.  Ok, perhaps it’s not a NY and San Diego Comic Con but who is?  If you would like to attend a more manageable comic con, then this is a great one to visit and hopefully, the organizers and convention center will right their mistakes and it will be even better next year.

Below are some of my favorite cosplay photos and the total collection is at the end:

 

…and the rest of the photos: