The Wild, The Weird, and The Wonderful by Cerece Rennie Murphy

The Wild, The Weird, and The Wonderful
Getting in Touch with Your Inner Geek


Why Everyone Should Go to a Comic Convention at least once!

A few weeks ago I went to my first Wizard Con in Philadelphia and lost my mind. It happened unexpectedly, while I was previewing some of the brilliant graphic art work on display at the convention with my mother. Calm and collected, I strolled down the aisle until  He rolled by. The perfect dome of his head caught my eye immediately, but his shimmer stopped me in my tracks. A girl could wait her whole life and never meet someone like this. I threw my purse onto the nearest table, handed my camera phone to a man I’d never met and screamed, “R2-D2!,”  before falling on my knees to hug him.

Yep. This is me, completely freaking out…


For those of you who don’t know, Wizard Con is just one of many comic book/sci-fi fantasy conventions held throughout the US each year. If you’ve ever noticed someone with a full Batman costume on, standing outside your local convention center with a few more of his Super Friends, they were probably going to a comic- convention or “comic-con” as they are often called. On any other day besides Halloween, you might have been tempted to assume that this type of thing is not for you. But here’s the thing that is especially true of comic-conventions – you won’t know until you step inside.

There are so many wonderful things to see and experience at a comic convention, from meeting celebrities from your favorite shows to discovering new artists and authors to exclusive previews of blockbuster movies or even having your waist measured for a fitting of clothes made from iron and leather. The thing I like most about these conventions is that there is almost no limit to the way you are allowed, encouraged and even expected to revel in your own unique view of the world.

When’s the last time you were given permission to act-a-fool in pubic, get dressed up and pretend you are someone else, or better yet, BE somebody else for 4 days?  Probably not since you were 3 years old and when you did, no one wanted to take your picture. But at a comic convention, when you dress up, when you express yourself, not only are you celebrated for it, everyone WANTS to take your picture. The essential truth about comic conventions is that they are huge playgrounds for adults – a 3 or 4 day party where you get to be whomever you want to be, remember the giddiness of your wonderstruck childhood or just sit back and enjoy the view as people live out their favorite childhood fantasies. No one will mind if you stare, in fact, they want you to look. They want you to be a part of it. That’s why they’re all there.