C2E2 2014

This past weekend was C2E2 again here in the Chicago area, my fourth time attending (2010, 2012, & 2013), and I believe my third time attending as press. This was, however, the first year I took my son along on what I believe was the first Kid’s Day for a very reasonable additional $5. It was fun to experience something familiar through his eyes and we had a terrific father/son day together. So, let’s get down to it!

There were, of course, plenty of comics to peruse:

Plenty of toys, clothing, and, well, other stuff:

But our favorite section was Artist’s Alley where the boy and I browsed and shopped and gabbed with both new and favorite artists.

We stood in Art Baltazar‘s line to get some new Action Cat comics for my daughter, and a cute Deathstroke drawing for my son. He’s always terrific:

And I got to see fellow Success in Comics presenter and Mad artist Tom Richmond as well. We chatted a bit and I finally got a copy of his book, The Mad Art of Caricature. Judging by the people lining up later, he looked to be having a good show:

We discovered Yale Stewart this year and just adored his art. I picked up this poster for my wife’s classroom and she was thrilled with it:

I tried to get in to see both Adam Hughes and Amanda Conner this year, but with the boy in tow, so much to see, and long lines for both, we had to skip them this time. We did, however, get to see Super Dinosaur’s Jason Howard again this year and he chatted with my son (his biggest fan) for a good five minutes while signing a poster and taking some pics. He’s always so nice and we just adore his art. (Note – all the good pics with Jason included my son, so I chose not include them here on the blog for privacy.)

There were a few things this year I’d not seen before, like this giant whiteboard (largely free of anatomic scribblings)…

… and the giant snakes via the Friends of Scales Reptile Rescue:

And, of course, there were tons of people in costume!

My son pointed out this Boy Scout-Trooper in line and we snagged a pic of him a bit later:

I loved these folks. The family that Avenges together, stays together! (And doesn’t the little girl look about ready to Hulk out?)

This Mom and son has uncannily good costumes:

This, I don’t what what it is;

Or this:

I talked with this couple for a minute and they told me they’d attended all three days and it took an average of four hours each day to get made up. Great costumes, and extra points for patience and persistence:

Loved these two Boba Fetts:

And these two were obviously up to no good:

Wrapping up the cosplayers are these lovely ladies who also took an adorable picture with my red-faced son. They were so cute with him!

So, all in all another great C2E2. We loaded up on comics, toys, shirts, hats, pizza, and father/son time. The boy has already told me we’re definitely going again next year.

My only quibble had to do with a minor inconvenience concerning my press pass. Thanks so much to C2E2 for the free admission, but in previous years I was able to skip the line and get in a bit earlier to get unencumbered pics and chat with artists and vendors sans crowd. It’s a small inconvenience, but please consider giving press arriving early a head start.

See you in 2015!