Gail Simone
06-13-2009, 08:40 AM
Wow!
Okay, I have to say, my expectations were a LITTLE bit low for this event. I knew it would be fun and cute, but the town of Metropolis is very small and kind of distant from anything, and when I asked what there was to do locally, the list seemed a little bit short.
Man, was I wrong. I'm having a great time!
First, the trip over was brutal. Drive four hours to Portland, sleep in a hotel for four hours, get up to be at the airport by six am, then three flights to get to Paducah, and on the last flight, they almost bumped us. So it was almost two days to get here.
But once I got here, John Ostrander and his amazingly talented artist friend Mary were in the seats right in front of us, that was fun. But we arrived and were greeted by this smiling group of people all wearing awesome Superman shirts. The welcoming committee included Karla and Lisa who arranged for us to come. They were incredibly nice and welcoming. We went out to eat (it was late!) and the restaurant had croissant rolls drizzled in honey butter, which I'd never had before. Tasty!
We took a quick drive through Metropolis. It is AWESOME. There's Superman everywhere. The newspaper is called the PLANET and has the bronze planet in front of the doors. There's a gym here, THOR'S GYM,that has the Marvel character as its mascot. There are statues and paintings of Superman everywhere, including the bronze statue that you've seen before, I'm sure.
We loved it right away. And I have to say, man, the the people in this area are the nicest people EVER. Total strangers are nice to you. They're nice to everybody! It was really pleasant to be around such nice folks.
The main street of the town (it's small, about 6500) goes Superman crazy for the celebration. There's a carnival and lots of food and gift booths, and fan films, and an art show, and Superman celebrities (including the great Noelle Neill) and tons of events, like a Superman softball game and carriage rides and just tons of fun stuff.
It's not a convention, it's more like a town festival, but surprisingly, there are a TON of comic fans here, and I was busier at the signing than I have been at a couple small cons. Had people bringing books to sign all day and met some really great people. I hadn't realized so many comics people would be here.
And the hospitality is ridiculously great. Our room had fresh flowers and a Superman gift basket, and we comics people have been treated wonderfully. We were given framed SUPERMEN OF METROPOLIS awards by the chamber of commerce after our panel. I love that. I'm hanging that right in my office whenI get home.
It's crazy how every store sells Superman stuff. Even the Chamber of Commerce has a ton of cool Superman stuff for sale, and I could go broke at the gift shop for the Superman museum. Bought a ton of Wonder Woman swag I'd never seen before.
The museum itself is INSANE. You can't walk through without getting a sense of amazement at the impact Superman has had on the world. There are costumes from the series and films, two sketches drawn by the original Superman creator for the museum AFTER he'd been declared legally blind (they looked awesome!), statues, props, scripts, toys, it was fantastic. I'm told that the museum has only about a tenth of the owner's Superman collection on sale. NO SUPERMAN FAN should miss this place.
It's great to see so many people go Superman crazy. EVERYONE is wearing a superhero t-shirt, and lots of people are in costume. One of the coolest things I saw was four guys, all fit and attractive, dressed as the four replacement Supermen from the Death of Superman story.
And there was a young man dressed as Superboy Prime who had a terrifying costume and really would not break character...he was AWESOME.
There are Wonder Women and Zatannas and Black Canary...and a couple little girls in Wonder Woman outfits, which I freaking LOVE.
Some of the people who brought books to sign were just amazingly sweet. I really didn't expect so much comics love...I thought we'd kind of be in the ghetto in that regard but that's not been the case at all.
And the food is crazy good. They brought roast pork with delicious barbecue sauce yesterday. You can't get this stuff where I'm from!
A really fun, fun event. I HIGHLY recommend it. Come if you get the chance, you'll have a blast!
Okay, I have to say, my expectations were a LITTLE bit low for this event. I knew it would be fun and cute, but the town of Metropolis is very small and kind of distant from anything, and when I asked what there was to do locally, the list seemed a little bit short.
Man, was I wrong. I'm having a great time!
First, the trip over was brutal. Drive four hours to Portland, sleep in a hotel for four hours, get up to be at the airport by six am, then three flights to get to Paducah, and on the last flight, they almost bumped us. So it was almost two days to get here.
But once I got here, John Ostrander and his amazingly talented artist friend Mary were in the seats right in front of us, that was fun. But we arrived and were greeted by this smiling group of people all wearing awesome Superman shirts. The welcoming committee included Karla and Lisa who arranged for us to come. They were incredibly nice and welcoming. We went out to eat (it was late!) and the restaurant had croissant rolls drizzled in honey butter, which I'd never had before. Tasty!
We took a quick drive through Metropolis. It is AWESOME. There's Superman everywhere. The newspaper is called the PLANET and has the bronze planet in front of the doors. There's a gym here, THOR'S GYM,that has the Marvel character as its mascot. There are statues and paintings of Superman everywhere, including the bronze statue that you've seen before, I'm sure.
We loved it right away. And I have to say, man, the the people in this area are the nicest people EVER. Total strangers are nice to you. They're nice to everybody! It was really pleasant to be around such nice folks.
The main street of the town (it's small, about 6500) goes Superman crazy for the celebration. There's a carnival and lots of food and gift booths, and fan films, and an art show, and Superman celebrities (including the great Noelle Neill) and tons of events, like a Superman softball game and carriage rides and just tons of fun stuff.
It's not a convention, it's more like a town festival, but surprisingly, there are a TON of comic fans here, and I was busier at the signing than I have been at a couple small cons. Had people bringing books to sign all day and met some really great people. I hadn't realized so many comics people would be here.
And the hospitality is ridiculously great. Our room had fresh flowers and a Superman gift basket, and we comics people have been treated wonderfully. We were given framed SUPERMEN OF METROPOLIS awards by the chamber of commerce after our panel. I love that. I'm hanging that right in my office whenI get home.
It's crazy how every store sells Superman stuff. Even the Chamber of Commerce has a ton of cool Superman stuff for sale, and I could go broke at the gift shop for the Superman museum. Bought a ton of Wonder Woman swag I'd never seen before.
The museum itself is INSANE. You can't walk through without getting a sense of amazement at the impact Superman has had on the world. There are costumes from the series and films, two sketches drawn by the original Superman creator for the museum AFTER he'd been declared legally blind (they looked awesome!), statues, props, scripts, toys, it was fantastic. I'm told that the museum has only about a tenth of the owner's Superman collection on sale. NO SUPERMAN FAN should miss this place.
It's great to see so many people go Superman crazy. EVERYONE is wearing a superhero t-shirt, and lots of people are in costume. One of the coolest things I saw was four guys, all fit and attractive, dressed as the four replacement Supermen from the Death of Superman story.
And there was a young man dressed as Superboy Prime who had a terrifying costume and really would not break character...he was AWESOME.
There are Wonder Women and Zatannas and Black Canary...and a couple little girls in Wonder Woman outfits, which I freaking LOVE.
Some of the people who brought books to sign were just amazingly sweet. I really didn't expect so much comics love...I thought we'd kind of be in the ghetto in that regard but that's not been the case at all.
And the food is crazy good. They brought roast pork with delicious barbecue sauce yesterday. You can't get this stuff where I'm from!
A really fun, fun event. I HIGHLY recommend it. Come if you get the chance, you'll have a blast!