SpaceGypsies

I first visited the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (known as C2E2) last year and was very impressed! Held at McCormick place, which may be Chicago’s largest convention center, this con was all set to impress. With a star studded lineup of guests and vendors galore, C2E2 certainly doesn’t disappoint! Here’s the Good, the Bad and the Meh from C2E2 2012.

The Good-

Honestly, I loved this con so there were a lot of good things!

John Barrowman takes a video of the crowd for his mum.

- Organization! Reed Pop, the lovely folks that bring you C2E2 and PAX, have conventions down to a science. The full color programs are a great tool along with the mobile app, to help convention goers navigate the vendors and programming schedules.

- C2E2 Staff! I have to give a special shout out to the C2E2 staff. Those folks work hard! Not only do they work hard, but every staff member we spoke with was friendly and polite. If they didn’t know the answer to our question they quickly went to find it for us! The staff was simply lovely and made the convention all the more enjoyable.

- John Barrowman! Seriously, this man is FANTABULOUS! I admit I didn’t know much about him before his panel. I had seen Torchwood and enjoyed it, but that was about it. I left his panel wanting to watch everything this man has ever been in! He was amazing! I’m always impressed by actors who are appreciative and great with their fans. John Barrowman goes above and beyond. Yes, his autograph line was 2 hours+ long, but that was because he joyfully spent a moment with each and every fan.  You don’t see that often.

- John Cusack!Speaking of amazing celebrities, the opportunity to see Chicago legend John Cusack in person was a once-in-a-lifetime treat! He was everything you would expect John Cusack to be. He even had gracious answers for some of the rather awkward questions during his panel. I left his panel with a new appreciation for him as an actor.

With the wonderful David Newell

- David Newell! The name may not be familiar, but I guarantee most people will know him by his catch phrase “Speedy Delivery!” For more than 30 years, Mr. Newell played Mr. McFeely on the childhood classic Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. We met Mr. Newell at the Toonseum table on the vendor floor and the childhood memories came flooding back. The videos Mr. McFeely delivered to Mr. Rogers had always been my favorite part of the show. It was a honor to meet such a T.V. icon. His panel was also one of my favorite panels to date. He revealed behind the scenes stories, showed old clips and bloopers, and told the story of a man, Fred Rogers, who had touched children’s lives for generations. For me, this panel was the highlight of the weekend.

- Jake Rueth! Ever since I spotted Tiarala and Mythandros’ prints by Jake Rueth, I knew I had to have some. His art is colorful, whimsical and, well…it makes you smile. I purchased two prints from Mr. Rueth, my favorite, “Rainbow Shower” and the beautiful, “The Universe.” I can’t help but smile every time I look at these prints hanging in my home.

The Bad-

There wasn’t much bad when it came to C2E2. Overall, I have to say that nothing was particularly “bad” about this convention!

The Meh-

The Science Fiction Outreach Project was one of the many great booths at C2E2

- Programming. While C2E2′s programming was more varied than say, Wizard World, Cyphan Con (a smaller convention) had more when it came to variety of programming. If C2E2 adds more panels such as costuming and gaming, their programming line-up would move from decent to excellent.

- Food. This is more McCormick Place’s issue than C2E2′s. There wasn’t much in terms of food options. The food offered was your general cafeteria-style fair. Nothing flashy and certainly nothing healthy. Setting up food carts on the convention floor may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but ended up emitting a lingering funk in and around the food area that was a little nauseating.

- Artists’ Alley. This is the one place where more organization, or a better labeling system, would have been helpful. PlayItGrand and I spent a good hour looking for Ant Lucia, the amazing artist behind the Star Wars pin-up posters, only to walk right past him. I ended up purchasing one of his prints from a vendor who was kind enough to direct me to Mr. Lucia’s exact location in the Alley. Thankfully, Mr. Lucia was incredibly gracious and even signed my poster for me.

Original costumes from Captain America.

- Costume Contest. Granted C2E2 isn’t as big as Dragon*Con for costumes, but their costume contest was rather disappointing. First, it was limited to the first 30 contestants/groups to sign up. Given the size of the stage this ended up making sense. The PA system for the stage, however, was muddled and it was very hard to hear what the announcer was saying. (I’m sure the foam encasing our heads didn’t help either). Rather than using a pre-show judging system like Chicago TARDIS does, C2E2 used an applause-based system to determine the winners. Again, this is great if you have a costume that allows you to play to the audience, but it doesn’t really have much to do with the actual quality of the costume. A team of “celebrity judges” would have been awesome, as well as categories like Best in Show, Best Construction, Audience Favorite, etc. would have made this costume contest 100 times better.

- The C2E2 App. After having experienced an app like Dragon*Con’s, C2E2′s was kind of a disappointment. Mostly the app wasn’t fully updated and offered a poor search function and only marginal information in some cases. This made it difficult not only to find where a guest could be found, but when they were appearing throughout the weekend. For example, guests were listed as signing from 10:00 until 7:00. That’s a large window of time. If it were broken down to the actual times the guest would/should be sitting at their table signing it would eliminate the need for fans to constantly be returning to the autograph area to see if the guest was there.

A steam-powered computer...and it worked too!

- The Mailing List. Apparently registering as press for C2E2 automatically puts you onto a mailing list for various vendors and companies related to the convention. Pre-convention this is a great resource. It gives you an inside to some of the cool previews available at the con. After the convention it’s just annoying. We’re still receiving e-mails from companies who have clearly gotten our information off of the C2E2 press list. I don’t think this is C2E2′s fault. Obviously they can’t control what these outside persons do. Perhaps in the future, Reed Pop’s Media Relations staff should give guidelines to those who receive the press list and request that they not send informational e-mails post-convention.

Overall, C2E2 is a great convention. The location is great and so are the guests. Fans are just as friendly as you would expect convention goers to be. And the variety of vendors, artists, and guests is refreshing. This is a convention where you go to have fun. The expert way Reed Pop runs this con makes it relaxing for the con-goer. There’s very little frustration here. No unorganized lines or crowds. No rude or inexperienced staff members. This is, quite simply, a FUN convention!

John Barrowman is truly a force to be reckoned with. His panel was by far one of the most entertaining I have ever seen. A self proclaimed, “Gold Star Gay,” he didn’t hold back. He was also unbelievably gracious with his fans at his autograph table, taking a moment to chat with every person in line. John Barrowman is not only a Gold Star Gay, but an all around Gold Star Guy!

Enjoy!

ROSWELL, GA– JordanCon, a literary fantasy convention held near Atlanta, GA will host an exclusive viewing of the art of legendary science fiction and fantasy artist Darrell K. Sweet as well as a preview of the forthcoming final novel in the Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light. Reading a selection from this highly anticipated conclusion to the series is Harriet McDougal, editor of the series and widow of its creator and author, Robert Jordan.

At the time of his death on December 5, 2011, Darrell K. Sweet was working on the cover of A Memory of Light. The concept art for this cover, as well as a special exhibition of Sweet’s artwork—including never published rough drafts and concept art—will be on display at JordanCon’s art show.

A Memory of Light is scheduled to release in January 2013, and is the 13^th and final novel in the best-selling Wheel of Time series, which was begun by the late Robert Jordan and is being completed by Brandon Sanderson. Darrell K. Sweet was the original artist for the series, and has illustrated each of the series’ covers. Renowned artist Michael Whelan is painting the cover for the final novel.

Sweet illustrated science fiction and fantasy novels for over 35 years, and is well known for his cover illustrations for the best-selling series The Wheel of Time, as well as many other novels, including best-selling novels by Piers Anthony and Terry Brooks. Sweet was nominated for a Hugo for his work in 1980, and was the Guest of Honor at the World Fantasy Convention in 2010. He was slated to be the Guest of Honor at the 2013 World Science Fiction Convention.

Sweet’s son, Darrell R. Sweet, himself a noted artist, will be attending the convention and will be a featured artist in the show.

ABOUT JORDANCON:

JordanCon is an Atlanta-based fantasy literature convention founded in honor of the late author, Robert Jordan. Jordan was the author of the best-selling The Wheel of Time series. JordanCon features four tracks of simultaneous programming, an Art Show, a Dealers Hall, and charity events benefiting the Mayo Clinic.  Past guests have included Harriet McDougal, Brandon Sanderson, David Wong, Jana G. Oliver, David B. Coe and Eugie Foster. This year’s guests include Hugo-award winning author Mary Robinette Kowal and artist Sam Weber.

In 2012 JordanCon is being held April 20-22 at the Doubletree Hotel in Roswell, GA. For more information visit www.jordancon.org.

It’s spring and we’re experiencing some unseasonably wonderful weather here in Chicago. Springtime here means one thing…it’s almost time for the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo! C2E2 is an awesome event held every April in downtown Chicago. Run by ReedPop, the company that brings you New York Comic Con and PAX, C2E2 is Chicago’s very own multi-genre convention.

The SpaceGypsies attended C2E2 for the first time last year and we were blown away by the quality of the convention. Granted it doesn’t have the nice intimacy of a smaller convention like Cyphan Con, but it does have other qualities that make it awesome. The venue is gorgeous and very easy to navigate. There’s lots of space in the Dealer Room and the staff do a great job of getting you to where you need to go. They also do an excellent job of loading and dumping the large panel rooms, which is no easy feat.

C2E2 promises amazing guests from the comic and entertainment industries. Last year’s guest list was awesome and this year will be no different. Fans can expect to see such amazing guests as Chris Hardwick (Nerdist), John Barrowman (Doctor Who, Torchwood), Josh Gates (Destination Truth), Axel Alonso (Marvel’s Editor in Chief), David Finch (The Dark Knight), Tony Moore (The Walking Dead), Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill),  John Cusack and many many more!

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased in advance by clicking HERE. Single day tickets are only $25 and full weekend passes are $50 if purchased in advance. For the more excited fan, VIP tickets are available for $165 and $199 and come with tons of neat perks.

We were very impressed by C2E2 last year. If you’re turned off by larger corporation-run conventions, we urge you to give C2E2 a try. We’re sure you’ll add them to your list of favorite cons!

C2E2 is April 13 through 15th at McCormick Place, Chicago.

This article was originally published in the ever wonderful Steampunk Chronicle and has been reposted here with permission. You can view the original article HERE.

A Peek into the Doomsday Device called “Angelmaker”

Professor Upsidasium gives us a review of the upcoming novel “Angelmaker” by Nick Harkaway.

By Professor Upsidasium

Anglemaker is about the clockwork of fates and destinies that interconnect us all, asking the question “Is our collective internal bearings true? And if not, what were to happen if someone went about ‘fixing’ that…?” More chillingly, it dares, “…And what would happen if that someone got it horribly, terriblywrong in the attempt?”

Ages, like gears, mesh together behind the backdrop of a dreary, very mundane contemporary London where the unfortunately named Joe Spork is living in the twin shadows of his father and grandfather.  Grand-dad Daniel was a master-class clockwork artisan and daddy-dearest Mathew was a master-class gangster in the 50s.  Overwhelmed by their legacies, Joe has grown into a disappointed and disappointing shade of a man, drifting without many options, stuck between gears.  When the ancient Edie Banister tests Joe’s ability to fix ever-stranger bits of clock-driven machinery, it brings both of them to the attention of vast forces seeking to find and control the “Angelmaker,” a nearly mythical device which could either push mankind into a hopeful nirvana or destroy the whole human race.

Anglemaker as a book dives head-first into several titanic ideas.  Flipping the normal “Old technology meets new influence” paradigm of many fictions, Angelmaker brings the past unexpectedly erupting into a future (our present) ill-equipped to deal with mad science and illuminati-style conspiracies and aging British super-spies.  Will this blow the mind of many people overly-engrossed in the “what makes something steampunk” debate? Most definitely!  More importantly, no matter what school of [adjective]-punk you subscribe to, is this a highly entertaining read.   I had to go back over more than one chapter just for the sake of the near poetic text.  The action sequences were broken-glass sharp, and the romances were just as heartbreakingly painful at times.  While I can finish most books of this length in a few dedicated hours, Angelmaker took me a full week to work through like a box of treats you don’t want to consume at once, or too soon.  I found myself reading passages out loud not just for the fun of watching my other half’s reactions to the great shenanigans, but also to soak in the luxurious language of this text.

There are broad and gracious nods at much of Steampunk’s early root materials, in particular with notes of Jeter’s Infernal Devices and Morlock Nights in the mix, but Anglemaker retains a robust and original army of characters endlessly whirling about each other like the teeth on wildly flailing cogs; some will mesh and blend while others will painfully clash, showering down sparks whenever they meet.  Joe Spork is on his hero’s journey, trying to plumb the depths of his own family’s hidden history in time to avoid global calamity, but he is not the sole point of view here; few things can prepare you for the counter point of Edie Banister’s career as a globe-trotting spy for the Edwardian throne and their secretive cabal of super-makers.  Decked out Steam-trains, ultra-submarines, and dangerous liaisons in strange countries all figure prominently for Edie, who brings the depth and perspective to what could be mankind’s greatest peril.  When she hands the keys of this legacy to Joe, all hell literally breaks loose, and I think you are going to enjoy every minute of it.

Nick Harkaway brings a fully realized, alternate, hidden history to the page and dares you to imagine a time when modern men are forced to pay heed to the forgotten springs and switches laying buried in the artifacts that our world is built on and in the histories that we build our lives upon.

Angelmaker will be released March 20, 2012 and you should immediately add this to your growing steampunk library.

Professor Upsidasium is a contributor to Steampunk Chronicle.  He uses the Visuatronic Audiographic Steampunk Archive to capture images and sounds of events he has been to and individuals he has had the pleasure of speaking with.  You can follow his ramblings on Twitter or explore the current iteration of the archives on YouTube.