By Jamie Miller
Well friends, another Comic-Con is in the books, another day for nerds and geeks to dress for the job they want, not the one they have and go out on the town.
The Comic-Con ran from Nov. 15 to 17, though yours truly was only able to attend the last day of the three-day event. Oh, what a memorable day it was.
Shortly after entering, I had the chance to speak with Captain Vern Gibbs of the U.S.S. Tecumseh, a Lansing-based Star Trek cosplay and fan group and a smaller chapter of the larger Starfleet International which has chapters all over the world.
“We all get together and we have fun”
Gibbs said of his chapter, adding “We do charity work, we do watch parties and watch a Star Trek episode online. We do potlucks, con’s like this. We do all sorts of things together.”
The U.S.S. is actually one of multiple groups or “ships” if you will, in Michigan, along with the U.S.S. Petoskey which is based in Grand Rapids, U.S.S. Motown based in Detroit as well as the U.S.S. Rhapsody based in Kalamazoo.
“We enjoy it a lot, it’s a lot of fun, especially when the kids come in here and sit in the chair their eyes light up. It’s one of my favorite parts,” he said.
After talking to Gibbs, who else did I run into but a Transformer. Upon noticing him, the Cybertronian was kind enough to let me know he was a Decepticon and pose for a picture before rolling out no doubt to hunt for Autobots. I then wandered around the con for a bit running into all sorts of strange characters. I encountered an astromech droid straight out of “Mad Max” which nearly ran over my foot. I ran into a Twi’lek and her Mandalorian hound who were kind enough to pose for a photo. I also ran into Barbie who was all too happy to pose for a picture.
On the second level of Devos Place, I was fortunate enough to talk to Jacob Marks of the Comic-Con’s gaming section.
“We’ve had a lot of people for a Sunday which is very surprising and very exciting,” Marks explained. “A lot of people renting out games, a lot of people signing up for RPG’s.”
For Marks, who worked all three days of the con, the whole thing was strange to him.
“It was a little bit of a weird one this year. It had a very busy Friday, a little bit lighter Saturday and then a very busy Sunday.” While the attendance pattern was strange, attendees seemed to have a good time and so did Marks. “I’ve worked here about four years now and it’s always a good time both working it and people always have positive things to say so all is well”
I was also able to catch up with David Jezusek of Cellar of Tales, a Grand Rapids-based tabletop gaming, comics and collectibles shop.
“Also focused on D&D, I’ve got a lot of focus on artisanal handmade items. I go to many of these Comic-Cons, I visit the artist’s alleys and vendors who are producing their own products and I try to give them a year-round venue to sell the creations that they make.” Jezusek also told me about the very first Grand Rapids Comic-Con which he actually attended back when it was in an old school house. “The first year they had it it was jam packed, line was out the door, wall to wall. If you’ve seen that episode of SpongeBob with the minnows that fill the Krusty Krab, it was just insane”
The last words he had for readers of The Collegiate were simple: “If anyone is interested in learning the game of Dungeons and Dragons that is something that I am very friendly towards and welcome new players. I want to introduce as many people to that storytelling process as I can as there’s a lot of power that can come through that, people exploring aspects of their personality and what they enjoy in a character and it’s a collaborative creative experience that is very unique from anything else that we’re getting today” And as a writer I for one appreciate his view.
After this I ran into a group of Shoretroopers evidently on their vacation who were kind enough to gift me with a Lei. I also ran into a very chivalrous Tiefling who was kind enough to pose for a picture to mark the end of my 2024 Grand Rapids Comic-Con experience. So that was the final day of the 2024 Grand Rapids Comic-Con, a friendly reminder that the second Comic-Con show, known as Spring Fling, will be April 11-13 at the Kalamazoo Expo Center. Get your super suits dry cleaned now and don’t be late.
