Hey there, comic folks! I thought it would be nice to talk about my weekend at GalaxyCon in Raleigh. I’ve been going with friends since 2019, and it has always been lovely. It’s actually where I met Jim Starlin, one of my favorite comic writers and artists! This year we decided to buy a three-day pass instead of one. There were so much we were missing out on. I was mad excited! There are many things I’ve enjoyed over the years at GalaxyCon. I love being around friends. It’s always cool seeing talented cosplayers show off their incredible work. I’m impressed by the amount of writers, artists, creators. And you know, I’m down to look at comics. Of course, the big attractions are the famous actors, voice actors, wrestlers, and cosplayers. This year was going to be wild when they announced Charlie Cox aka Daredevil from Netflix’s Daredevil and MCU’s Man without Fear would be appearing. It was a bummer to find out that a few weeks before the start of the convention, he had cancelled. Not to worry, I got to meet some great people. There were people I wanted to meet but unfortunately, didn’t have time. Either way, it was an amazing weekend!
Day 1:
The first day of our trip to GalaxyCon was usually how we spent our one day in previous years. We walked the exhibit room filled with vendors of comics, art, clothes, accessories, costumes, books, decorations, games, toys, etc. This year, the comic writers/artists or writers/artists in general were placed together while the actors, voice actors, wrestlers, and cosplayers were in other sections. I walked the floor looking at tons of Funko Pops because my sister loves them. Like I said, it was filled with so much cool stuff. It’s difficult to name everything I saw. I passed by a vendor that had old gaming systems like Nintendo 64, GameCube, PlayStation 1, GameBoy, etc. I was so tempted to buy one, even if I would rarely have time play it. It brought back a lot of memories. Believe it or not, I did not look at any comics. I held back for the first day, so I wouldn’t spend too much money. I did buy a Spider-Man cup, though! I’ve been using almost everyday, haha. Since we had people that wouldn’t be staying, we had to leave early, but that didn’t stop us from making a Q&A. I was really excited to attend it because it was Yuri Lowenthal, Nadji Jeter, and Tara Platt which are the cast of Marvel’s Spider-Man on PlayStation! Yuri plays Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Nadji plays Miles Morales/Spider-Man, and Tara plays Yuri Watanabe. Lovely to hearing them talk and banter about their experiences on set/in the booth, getting the roles, their favorite games, potential villains, the future of the franchise and so much more. Also someone needs to inform the employees of the convention to turn on the A/C in those rooms. I was sweating like I was outside.
Day 2:
This is where my villain origin story started. We make it to the convention an hour earlier, so we could get a head start with panels and guests. Today was the day Karen Gillan would be appearing. Most known for her roles in Doctor Who, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Jumanji. I wasn’t going to miss the chance of meeting a Guardian! I couldn’t miss her either because my sister bought a Funko Pop of Nebula for an autograph. She wasn’t able to make it the second day, so I had a job to do. Karen had to be my first big celeb. And I was not prepared for her line. We got to the convention around 11am and the first thing I did was wait in line for her because I saw she was signing autographs even though she wasn’t scheduled to at that time. As soon as I got close to meeting her, she had to leave for a photo op. Karen didn’t come back until 2pm, and I didn’t get to meet her until 3pm. Basically my whole day was standing line. I was so upset. I mean, I was happy I got to talk to her and get her autograph for my sister plus she was lovely and nice. But it just sucks waiting that long. My friend experienced the same thing with Ming-Na Wen. It’s just wild how everything works. I didn’t really have time to wait in other lines since we wanted to make some panels and Q&As. I browsed the exhibit floor again, and I did buy one comic. I kept walking around trying to find one good comic. There were so many, but they had the high convention price. I was stuck on what to buy. After snooping through a couple boxes at different vendors, I finally bought Daredevil: Man Without Fear issue 16! It wasn’t in the best condition, but it was the first time John Romita Sr. drew Spider-Man! I had to buy it because I didn’t think I would see it again any time soon. Also bought some cool horror comic t-shirts. After we ate, we gamed a little, sat in a One Piece Q&A, a Who Did It Better? panel, and finally to close out the night we attended a cosplay competition. I’m telling you, there were SO many talented cosplayers. I kept getting stunned by the amount of effort most of them put into their work. I had blast towards the end of the day.
Day 3
The final day was probably my favorite. We got there early for a photo op session a friend had with The Flash, Grant Gustin. During that time, I waited to meet Yuri Lowenthal and Nadji Jeter! Don’t worry, it wasn’t as bad as Karen’s line. I was in and out in 30 mins. First, I met Yuri since Nadji was a little late. Yuri was fun, man. He was so kind. I wanted to bring my PS4 Marvel’s Spider-Man case but forgot it. I bought a photo with both Spideys and Peter with the symbiote suit because you know I had to. I told him how excited I was to wear the suit and how amazing his voice is for Peter and Spider-Man. After I got his autograph, we took a selfie! Once I left his line, I went straight to Nadji. Dude had to be the coolest and chillest guy I’ve met at a convention. I felt welcomed because he made you feel comfortable. I was happy about that because I had been a fan of his since his Grown Up days! We talked about that and Miles for minute. I had to tell him to get Sony on the phone because we need a full Miles Morales game. He signed a photo of Miles and Peter going up against Venom for me then we took a photo together. He saw my phone case was a Spider-Man one, and he signed it too. Those moments will be cherish. I wanted to meet Shameik Moore also known as Miles Morales from the Spider-Verse films. I really wanted to tell him how Dope was a game changer for me. One of my favorite films of all time. His line was long, so all I could do was have a photo op with him. Don’t get me wrong, that was mad cool. I was giddy out of excitement. After the photo ops, I attend a panel with the great Jim Shooter as speaker. He explained the principles of comic books and used Jack Kirby’s art from a Human Torch and Captain American team up comic as an example. I got a bit emotional the other day thinking about the fact that I met Jim Shooter two years ago at a GalaxyCon where we spoke about Secret Wars and comics. Now, I’m sitting listening to him talk comics. Life is good! After lunch we walked the floor again looking at vendors, I didn’t have much else to do. I could have met Vincent D'Onofrio, Kingpin from Netflix’s Daredevil, but his line was long. The duo of Vincent and Charlie would’ve been insane. There were wrestlers and voice actors I wanted to meet too, but time and money got the best of me. I feel bad for anyone in Grant Gustin’s line because I had never seen that long of a line before. After going around the floor a few times, we decided to leave. I was kind of shocked at myself for not buying many comics like previous years. Maybe I learned my lesson not to spend so much since the convention price are pretty high. It’s always the same books, too. I want a rare readable comic. No CGC or CBCS. The one I did buy; I won’t be reading because it was cheap for the issue, but the condition was rather poor. It meant too much for me to pass it up. This was a fun weekend, though. I’m still happy with everyone I met, especially since they were all down to earth.
Hello there! I’m happy you took the time out of your day to read my post. Remember, if you have any questions or want to have a discussion, leave a comment! Till next time comic folks! Happy days and take care!