by Jayden Leggett, Editor

Oz Comic-Con Melbourne, 2013. That time of year had come again where the masses of fans had all gathered in the one venue to share their love of comics, videogames, movies, television and all things geek pop culture. Having realized from last year’s event that its popularity was destined to be phenomenal, the convention was now held at Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building, with the two levels and vast outdoor sections being fully utilized to ensure as little congestion as possible in terms of pedestrian traffic (and when you have over 33,000 people attending, it is essential to keep things moving for everybody).

Fans from all walks of life came to be in the presence of their idols, with big names such as William Shatner and Ron Perlman headlining the event. Those not inclined to endure long lines to gain access to panels were still spoiled for choice when it came to entertainment of the nerdy persuasion. With laser tag, hundreds of booths selling merchandise and artwork, photograph and autograph opportunities with a vast array of local and international celebrities and talent, not a dull moment could be had by anyone.

For myself however, my Oz Comic-Con experience began a day before the weekend, as I was provided with the incredible opportunity to interview a childhood hero of mine, Rob Paulsen, who voiced Raphael in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series and now currently plays Donatello in the Nickelodeon series. As a ridiculously insane Ninja Turtle’s fan, I could not have asked for a better way to start my Oz Comic-Con experience, and my interview with Rob proved to be very enlightening and fun, and I also managed to prevent myself from completely nerding out too much! Keep watching this space for the completed interview (it is definitely worth watching for fans of both the Ninja Turtles and cartoons in general).

Naturally, as soon as David, Gavin and I hit the floor of the Exhibition Building on Saturday morning, we were on an instant high, getting goofy off the nerd-tastic atmosphere (the vast numbers of pretty girls in superhero costumes were probably also a contributing factor). Speaking of which, conventions such as these are one of the few times and places in the world where you can casually ask a stranger for a photograph without sounding like a total creep, and there were some stunning costumes on display, with a lot of time and effort obviously being put in by their enthusiastic models (check out our photo albums from the event).

So, exactly what did the three of us do to occupy ourselves during our weekend of fun? Being the comic nerd that I am (and hoping to gain some local insight into the industry), I conned my two companions into attending the Aussie Comics panel on Saturday, featuring a team of talented artists and writers such as Paul Abstruse, Queenie Chan, Douglas Holgate, Tristan Jones, Ryan K. Lindsay, Paul Mason and Dean Rankine. As was expected, the show was open for its audience to pitch questions to the hosts, with many great nuggets of information being gained as a result. Our write-up of this particular panel is already in progress, so stay tuned for more information.

Deciding that we wanted to save our strength for the William Shatner panel later in the afternoon, the three of us killed time swooning over the sweet, sweet merchandise that we could purchase “if only we were rich”, while Gavin the photo ninja constantly disappeared to beg more people for their photographs, handing out some awesome free Madman Entertainment, Hanabee and Beyond Home Entertainment Blu-Rays and DVDs for their troubles.

After spending quite a few hours perusing the various goods (including Lego, action figures, comics, movies, videogames, clothing, corsets, art prints, statuettes and so much more), it was finally time to line up to see Kirk. This was no mall line either, winding itself left, right and center. Finally, when it was time to see the man himself on stage, the long wait was all but forgotten, and although he only had time to answer a few questions due to the lengthy nature of his responses, I am sure all in attendance were thoroughly impressed with his performance. Again, stay tuned for a more in-depth report on Shatner’s panel.

Sunday now (and a bit of a late start thanks to some alcohol-fueled shenanigans from Saturday night), David and I decided our time at Oz Comic-Con would only be complete once we had seen Ron Perlman live on stage. And boy, were we glad we did, the guy was pretty damn funny and also rifled through a whole stack of audience questions, providing numerous insights into his career and the people he has worked with. What’s that, you want to hear more about his panel? Surprise, surprise, we will post it here on this website as soon as we can, so stay alert!

Satisfied that we had seen and experienced all that we had planned to, we made a few quick impulse purchases (including some awesome retro inspired shirts from 8-bitty, with David purchasing the zombie design and myself unsurprisingly grabbing the Ninja Turtle’s inspired one) before deciding it was time to head home. We were tired and exhausted, but only because the weekend was long and packed full of fun and excitement. Special thanks should be given to Alana Free of Blue Planet PR for organizing our media passes and for securing our interview with Rob Paulsen (which I will not be able to get over for a very long time). Also thanks should be given to honorary ComicsOnline reporter Keshia Leggett for being my camera monkey for the interview.

All in all, this year’s event ran incredibly smoothly, and the new choice of venue was a winning decision. If you couldn’t make it to this year’s event, be sure to mark next year’s event in your calender right now! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

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