Wizard World Pittsburgh was an amazing convention. The sights, the sounds, the vibe were all geektastic. I have been to several conventions in the last couple of years and three other conventions, including C2E2 (Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo) just this year and I would say that this was really one of the best I have ever been able to attend. What makes this an amazing thing to say is that this was the first year that Wizard World has come to Pittsburgh.
Why was it so great you ask? Well let me just tell you why. Firstly the celebs on hand made this an event to attend. I’m not just saying this because it was heavily weighted with actors who have appeared on Stargate, which is a personal sci-fi favorite of mine, but because of the general notoriety of the celebs on hand. Huge names like William Shatner, David Douchovny, and Ernie Hudson. On top of these cross-pop cultural names you had actors from programs with huge cult followings like “The Walking Dead”, “Firefly”, “The X-Files”, and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel”. These names and shows certainly proved to be enough to draw more people out than just comic book readers. On top of these big name celebs there were many phenomenal artists, writers, and merchandise vendors there as well. There was something there for any type of pop-culture junkie no matter what you were into.
Secondly the convention was a great chance to see several amazing mini reunions during the Q&A sessions. Reunions such as, Mitch Pileggi and David Duchovny from “The X-Files”, Adam Baldwin and Jewel Staite from “Firefly”, and David Della Rocco and Sean Patrick Flanery from “Boondock Saints”. It was an awesome experience to hear some behind the scenes stories from the actors as well as their answers to very good fan questions.
Some other awesome things that I saw at the convention were a whole section of the convention floor was sectioned off for gaming. What kind of gaming you ask? Any kind of gaming you wanted to play. Games like, Magic, Superfight, any of a dozen or more board games. They actually had a fully stocked library of games at the entrance to the cordoned off area. It was awesome to see! As awesome as a designated gaming area is there was one thing that really caught my attention and found to be really amazing. There was a pirate ship inside the convention hall. Now it wasn’t a full size ship but it was indeed a fair size.
The pirate ship is what caught my attention and brought me over that direction in the hall but what I really found when I got over to it was what really was the amazing part. Three pirates, from two different companies, (Captain’s Kid Club, CaptainsKidsClub.com and The Pirate Empire, thepirateempire.com) that do children’s and pirate themed parties having a good time with the patrons of the convention. What made this so great was the reason they were there, these two companies have worked together before and, I hope, will continue to work together in the future because together the make one organization, Pirates With Purpose (PWP). PWP do their zany pirate antics to raise money for good and noble causes. At Wizard World Pittsburgh they were raising money for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley. I had the chance to talk to one of the two Captain Jack impersonators to ask him about why he was there. Gary Crivellaro, from Captain’s Kids Club, said “This is what makes being a pirate worth doing. When we can do something we enjoy for a good cause.” It was really refreshing to see that among all of the venders selling their wares that there was really more going on than what met the eye on the surface at a comic book convention.
Of course what would a comic book convention be without the cosplayers, and there was no disappointment in that department. There were many great costumes from all genres of pop-culture. Some of my personal favorites were and amazing Michelangelo (TMNT), a great Peggy Carter, and a really good Matt Murdock complete with Murdock and Nelson business cards. These cosplayers and so many more were as amazing as other conventions, friendly and personable, but remember Cosplay is not Consent. (I’m a huge believer in this, all of my pictures of cosplayers were obtained with their permission.)
All in all it was an amazing convention. It was filled with much excitement and so many great memories were made there for myself and several others that I know were there. I hope that I did not drone on too much about some things and enough about others. I thank you for baring with me during this my first article and I hope you enjoyed it.
