“You’re going to die today!” the man shouted at me, gesturing to my chest with his assault rifle.
I heard the air leave my lungs and felt my heart thud into my stomach as I stood frozen in shock.
Then, from my spot in line outside the Convention Center, I looked down at my home-made Star Trek uniform: red. I hadn’t realized it until this moment, but I was a red shirt. For those of you non-trekkies out there, the red shirt is always the first one to go in the series. I had selected the red colored uniform from the original series because it’s the uniform a historian or anthropologist on the ship would have worn. I hadn’t considered the implications of being a red shirt at Comic Con until that moment.
Inside the convention center, illustrators and writers lined either side of the aisles as hoards of fans paced the room. There was Bane carrying a baby on his hip, Batman pushing twin girls in a stroller, and Doc Oc taking a photograph with Black Widow.
We spent the first couple of hours walking the rows. In a room filled to the brim with imagination and creativity there was a lot to take in. One kid had constructed his entire Iron Man costume out of cardboard, another pair of girls had designed and built their elf dresses and accessories from scratch and many of the artists at the tables were entrepreneurs in their own right.
Anthony Del Col was one of the many comic book creators selling his art that day. Now famous as the co-
creator of the Kill Shakespeare series, Anthony struck up a conversation with us about his home town of Toronto and before we knew it we were scouring his table. When we admitted we hadn’t heard of the books before, he explained the premise to us.
“It’s basically all of Shakespeare’s villains put together, hunting after this mysterious magician…named…Shakespeare,” he said laughing. “And the great thing is if you know a lot about Shakespeare, you’ll love it and if you don’t know anything about Shakespeare you’ll love it too.”
When we pointed to the quote from Stephen Colbert displayed on the table he explained that the comic wasn’t very well known until it came up on the show unexpectedly. Anthony said he had just sat down on his couch and switched on The Colbert Report, when Julie Taymour mentioned the book series to Colbert.
“They talked about Kill Shakespeare more than the actual interview!” he exclaimed.
A few rows over, a little boy sat doodling in his sketchbook. His sign read “thumbnail sketches: $1.” Always patrons of the arts (especially when they are cheap), we commissioned him to do a couple drawings for us. A budding artist who might someday have a story like Anthony, we’ll have original art to prove we met him when…
The rest of the day was a combination of taking pictures with other trekkies and being told I was going to die. This must be how celebrities feel! I thought to myself.
“Don’t die today!” another man shouted at me, this time without a gun. I was starting to get used to this.
He backtracked for a moment, “Have you seen the other red shirt around?”
“No,” I admitted.
“Well if you see him, tell him he’s going to die today,” he instructed mischievously. “Whenever anyone tells him that he takes a swig from his flask.”
Oh comic con, the breeding grounds of art and anecdotes.
Home&Away 
i just totally love that you wore any trekkie outfit and went to a convention where people were saying, you’re gonna die. i’m so amused. 🙂
It was an adventure for sure. Kind of surreal to be told you’re going to die!
Sounds like a very interesting experience! I’ve seen coverage of Comic Con on the news & have always thought it looked fun. Will add it to my bucket list. But I be sure not to wear a red Star Trek shirt 🙂
I would definitely recommend it at least once. We saw lots of other families there, it’s great fun for an afternoon on the town. But, yes, choose a different color =)
Damn.. my heart was in throat with those opening sentences…..Great story…
Me too!! Thanks for stopping by =)
So well written! I had no idea where the post was going with the first sentence- nice and fun to read 🙂 And I’m thinking I need to get to a Comic Con eventually!
Yes, definitely make it a point to go if there’s one in your area! It was really fun to be at so I’m glad some of the fun made it across in the post =)
the red shirts were always the ancillary expendable staff! Glad you made it!
Me too! If I had given it more consideration, I wouldn’t have tempted fate like that, but I was lucky!
Omg, this was the most fun post. I was so scared at first. I love your life and the adventures you have.
It was the most fun to experience too! My life is definitely full of adventures–I wouldn’t have it any other way =)
You both look adorable.
And now you know how to do it right next year. Bring a flask. 😉
Exactly. I just had to see how it was done =)
Christ I was worried there at first!
Me too!! =P
You got my attention quickly with your first line!
He got my attention quickly with his plastic weapon! haha
What a great look inside that conference! And the tension in the beginning–wooo boy! Enjoyed this. 🙂
Thanks very much Kristen! I was hoping to give just a little taste of all of the incredibly creative people I encountered there!
I love that there were only 2 redshirts in the whole crowd!
Yeah, there really weren’t many of us! I think the other people must have taken the whole red shirt thing into consideration before dressing up for the day =)
I envy you. Comic con is definitely on my bucket list.
We would LOVE to go to San Diego Comic Con. That’s on me and my sister’s bucket list, but for now Boston was an absolute blast! I definitely recommend it =)
You scared the crap out of me with that opening sentence! It was a great hook though : )
BTW – I love the name of your blog.
Well, thank ya Karen! Hehe, that’s exactly the reaction I was hoping for =)
Love this post! I kind of miss going to cons. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Glad to hear my post made you nostalgic =) it certainly was a lot of fun!
The coverage of Comic con always looks so incredible. I do not think my mother’s love of Star Trek when I was a kid transferred well enough! 😉
hahaha, it’s never too late!!
that sounds great! i love that you wore the red trekkie uniform! the people there sound like a lot of fun!
They were so much fun! And so creative!
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Congratulations on your selection as a #yw121 Editor Pick!
Great little tale.
Thanks so much!! I am a big fan of your story this week too! I’ll be commenting when I can get my hands on a computer 🙂
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