by “Aussie Dave” Lobato and Jayden Leggett, Reporters
Melbourne. June 30 and July 1, 2012. Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Oz Comic-Con. Without a doubt, the largest pop culture event Australia has ever seen.
It began on a chilly, breezy, typical Melbourne morning, with more lovely weather to follow. Nonetheless, the geeks were out in full force, with a queue stretching out to over 1.5kms for those wise enough to pre-purchase their tickets, and a 500m line of fans waiting to get theirs at the door. Unfortunately for some, doors closed by around 11:00 AM Saturday as the centre reached maximum capacity, with Sunday following suit. This truly was as epic an opening event as the Oz Comic-Con organizers could have hoped for, and definitely a much, much bigger turn-out than they were expecting, with staff making reference to the fact that they received around three times the amount of people turn up to experience the show.
The folks at Oz Comic-Con spared little expense in bringing some massive superstars of the comic book and pop culture industry to our fair city: Stan Lee, Sir Patrick Stewart, Mitch Pileggi, Jason Momoa, Sean Maher, Corin Nemec, Scott Allie and Agnes Garbowska just to name a few (stay tuned for special interviews with some of these talented folks). The event naturally played host to several of Australia’s talented writers and artists including Tom Taylor, Tristan Jones, David Yardin, Douglas Holgate, Christian Read, Andrew Constant and many more.
Of course, there was the massive line-up of panels. Which naturally meant queues: so many, many queues! As expected, the panels that drew the largest audiences were definitely Stan Lee and Sir Patrick Stewart, with both of their queues stretching throughout the entire floor of the convention centre (in fact, it was incredibly difficult to move anywhere within the building without bumping into eager fans who had been waiting patiently in line). There were three stages in place, the largest being Stage 1 where a sprightly almost 90-years-old Stan Lee strutted his stuff, having a laugh with his fans and having his audience eating out of his hand, with the same being true for the Patrick Stewart and Daniel Stewart double panel (coverage of these panels and more will be viewable online very soon, so stay tuned!) Stage 1 also played host to stars such as Jason Momoa, Mitch Pileggi, Sean Maher, cast members from The Hunger Games, as well names like Fran Kranz and Julie Benz. It was also host to the Cosplay parade.
Stage 2, just a little smaller than stage one, saw all of the exclusive VIP panels for those who shelled out for the prized platinum and VIP passes. These included the Stargate Atlantis panel with Jason Momoa & Sharon Taylor, the VIP Sir Patrick Stewart & Daniel Stewart panel, and the Supernatural panel with Mitch Pileggi & Corin Nemec. Stage 2 also had some general admission comic book panels: one with Francis Manapul and Nicola Scott; another with Scott Allie, Agnes Garbowska, David Yardin and Jon Sommariva; and an “Aussie’s in Comics” panel featuring W. Chew Chan, Douglas Holgate, Tristan Jones, Paul Mason, Stewart McKenny, Wayne Nichols, Dean Rankine, Nicola Scott, Jon Sommariva and David Yardin (again, expect to see our coverage of this panel and more very soon).
Finally there was Stage 3, a much smaller and far more intimate room that played host to various movie screenings, and hosted the workshop-style events for the weekend such as W. Chew Chan’s “Storyboarding for Film”, a Cosplay themed “Introduction to Corsetry”, a Madman Entertainment panel and a Melbourne Robot Workshop panel, as well as the standard Q&A panels for celebrities such as Hudson Leick, Corin Nemec and Sharon Taylor. A panel that ComicsOnline found to be quite informative from this stage was the Gestalt Comics panel with insider information and helpful advice from Wolfgang Bylsma, Andrew Constant, Christian Read, Tom Taylor, Bobby N, Douglas Holgate and Daniel Chlebowczyk.
It should be noted that in an understandable move by the event organizers, no media were allowed access to any of the VIP sessions, as these were reserved for die-hard fans who had paid up to $500 for the privilege of being up close and personal with their idols. Honestly, paying this sort of price for tickets would have been arguably justifiable simply for the ability to bypass the immense queues, we seriously can not stress how epic this event was! As is to be expected from these types of events, fans also had the chance to receive autographs and get their photos taken with their favorite stars, provided they proved their worth with their wallets.
Accompanying the various great names in the industry, the event didn’t disappoint when it came to a variety of booths and entertainment, lying in wait for the geek populous to spend their time, as well as their hard earned dollars. There was much to see and do, although Aussie Dave was a tad disappointed that there weren’t many massive displays like the ones we saw at Supanova 2012, that allowed you to take photos within scenery from popular movies and television shows. Maybe he should just harden up a little and stop being such a baby…
The usual booths were there: local comic book stores with their wares on display, prop weapons dealers such as Armoured Heaven and Global Gear, fan organizations like The 501st Legion, various publishers including Gestalt Comics and FEC Comics and so much more. Gamers were accommodated for with a large console section where players could challenge each other to fighting game such as Marvel Vs Capcom 3, Tekken etc, hosted by Couch Warriors, a dedicated fighting game community based in Australia. In addition to this was a free laser tag arena contained within a giant inflatable dome, and fans of Supernatural were able to be up close and personal with the Chevrolet from the show, and damn is that one mighty fine looking car! Hopefully it comes with a saliva-proof finish…
Aussie Dave couldn’t help but feel disappointed that the Delorean from Back to the Future wasn’t here this time around, but seriously, haven’t we seen it enough from previous conventions? Folks are starting to get mighty sick of Dave’s whinging… Besides, whatever Oz Comic-Con was lacking in interactive displays, they more than made up for in star power.
Speaking of stars, let’s not forget the joy that we all experienced while strolling down artist’s alley, which sprawled along the southern wall of the building and featured a lot of talented Aussie’s (and international guests) displaying some of their awesome works. Some of ComicsOnline’s previous favorites such as Tristan Jones and Douglas Holgate had prints for sale, but due to the sheer number of fans in attendance, spent the majority of their time sketching out commissions for lucky customers. The many works of fantasy artist Emerson Ward took Dave’s fancy, while previously mentioned publishers FEC Comics and Gestalt Comics are two names that the Aussie ComicsOnline crew thoroughly recommends people keep an eye on; there is some awesome stuff coming out from those guys. Oh, and don’t forget Madman Entertainment’s excellent range of movies and books, all within a geek pop culture niche.
We also were able to have a follow up chat with the adorable Agnes Garbowska (interview to be posted soon), who was kind enough to give us some prints of her incredibly cute artwork, as well as taking the time to stop by our friends at the All Star Comics booth to say hi, with all of the above mentioned artists and merchants being flooded with an abundance of loyal customers and fans. The queue for Stan Lee’s booth when he was available definitely didn’t help to alleviate the congestion on the convention grounds. The weekend of Oz Comic-Con in Melbourne was definitely a fantastic place for merchants and artists to spread their name and show off their skills. Well done to everybody involved!
That just about does it for Oz Comic Con 2012, there were definitely teething issues, mainly in regards to the venue itself not being anywhere near big enough to accommodate the vast numbers of people in attendance, however that is to be expected for Melbourne’s first pop culture event of this calibre. Aussie Dave would have also liked to see more big mind-boggling displays and interactive booths. All in all Oz Comic Con put on a spectacular two days for us and in Jayden’s opinion coped with the sheer number of people incredibly well, and definitely made this a trip that was worth making the effort and waiting in the queues for. Special thanks go out to Maggie and Alex from Blue Planet Public Relations for securing us some awesome interviews with some of the stars (some of which are already online now, others will be here soon).
Rest assured that we are wholeheartedly looking forward to future Comic-Cons under the “Oz” banner.
Keep trekking back to ComicsOnline.com for more nerd event coverage and everything geek pop culture!
