ComicCon (Warning: Long Post, Lots of Pics)

Us at ComicCon two years ago as Malcom
Reynold and Inara Serra.

In honor of today being Star Wars Day (may the fourth be with you!), I thought it appropriate to finally get around to posting about our awesome trip to ComicCon back in March.

It's taken me forever to post about this not because it wasn't awesome, but because it was so incredibly shiny and there was so much to tell that it was difficult to even begin figuring out how to post about it all! Thankfully, the fact that it's Star Wars Day lends a little structure to this post and makes my life easier.

Last time we went to ComicCon (two years ago) we went as Malcom Reynolds and Inara Serra from Firefly/Serenity. Eric was decidedly the more recognizable of that pair (mostly because Inara has a different outfit every episode rather than a trademark one that's easy to place). That resulted in him being the one who garnered the most initial attention. (Though lots of girls were envious of my red satin dress!) 

We opted to hit the ComicCon in Salt Lake again because (a) it's big enough to draw big name stars without being so big you can't get tickets, and (b) the city is very navigable and visitor friendly. (Although I won't get off on a tangent here about all the awesome food we got while we were there, I must give kudos to SL for having a slew of top-notch restaurants that make online menu perusal and reservations easy, and don't so much as blink when you tell them you need to eat gluten free! )

Us at ComicCon this year as Luke and Mara Jade
Skywalker. Note the purple light saber because
I'm "morally ambiguous". Hahaha!

This year, we went as Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker from Star Wars. 
Obviously, Luke is well known, though the movies really don't do him justice. He's much more powerful, creative, and fun in the books! (He was Rogue Leader, after all.) His wife, Mara Jade, played a huge role in the Extended Universe (EU) books but is no longer considered cannon now that Disney has bought out the franchise. (Note: This is positively criminal, because she is amazing.) For those who have not read any of the books, Mara Jade was raised from childhood to be the Emperor's Hand... aka, personal assassin who reported directly to the evil Emperor. She met Luke when assigned to kill him... happily, the whole blaster-to-the-head thing didn't stop them from starting a strong friendship when she opted not to kill him after all. She has red-gold hair, green eyes, a snarky personality, is never caught unarmed, and is possibly the last person in the galaxy you want to piss off. After the Empire falls, she becomes second-in-command of a smuggling/information brokering organization before eventually becoming a Jedi and marrying Luke. She then spends what remains of her life running around saving the galaxy and restoring the Jedi order with him and raising their son until her untimely death at the hands of the Sith Lord Darth Caedus (aka Leia's eldest son Jacen).


Mara's exclusion from the new round of movies has made a lot of people nostalgic for her character, so this year I was the one who tended to garner more instant recognition as we walked around. That may also have something to do with the fact that Luke wears traditional Jedi robes, and Mara never lost her penchant for the bodysuits she wore as the Hand and a smuggler...

Mara Jade, getting rid of a few Weeping Angels.

A friend with a 3D printer made one of the pieces for Mara's jump harness; my talented husband did all the rest of the leather working involved in the harness, arm bands, and weapons belt. I cannot begin to tell you how much I wish belts like this were standard attire. Look - lots of room for a blaster, to hang your light saber off of, even room to pack a few thermal detonators if you want! (And really, who doesn't want to keep a few on hand, just in case?)

Luke and Vader face off.

Happily, with the new movies out, there was an abundance of other Star Wars characters to interact with. It was kind of sad to see a lot of the younger kids have no idea about the EU, but I was impressed by the number of people who knew who I was and were happy to see Mara Jade not forgotten in the cosplay world. I was also delighted to see both an excellent Vader and top notch Mandalorians, as well as a generous sprinkling of famous sith lords. (Note: Mandalorians are bounty hunters/mercenaries ala Boba Fett.)  

This year, I definitely wanted to get to some more panel discussions. We hit a few duds (and left them early), but we also sat in on some really, really good panel discussions. My personal favorite was the one of structuring your life to support creativity, which was hosted by professional authors and illustrators. We also got a sneak peak at the trailer for the new World of Warcraft movie, sat in on an energetic debate about one-season wonders and their untimely demises, and a heated debate over which Star Trek captain was the best. (I'm still genuinely shocked that that one never devolved into a fist fight, given the passions involved.)

One of the things I personally loved about sitting in on those panels was watching other geek couples in the audience. In a lot of venues these days- even traditional ones like churches - marriage and strong, loving relationships don't get a lot of respect. This feels doubly true, I think, for people like me, who have physical touch as a Love Language. So it was incredibly refreshing to spend three days surrounded by examples of really happy couples enjoying things they loved together. There were fun couples costumes, couples snuggling together while hanging out at panels or in the halls outside conference rooms waiting for panels to start, and couples holding hands (or claws, depending on their costumes!) while wandering the vendor floor. In case you're wondering, this respect for strong happy relationships and lack of self-consciousness in showing it appears to be distributed equally between the good guy/Light Side/hero side of things and the villain/Dark Side/Hoarde proponents.

Luke takes on a Mandelorian!

We spent a lot of time just wandering around the main vendor floor being overwhelmed by shiny things, doing impromptu photo ops with people, and appreciating other people's awesome costume ideas and creativity. I had a great time talking to the people at the book/publisher booths and insanely expanding my reading list. As much as I adore amazon, it's nice to occasionally talk to real people who actually listen to your preferences (and 'can't stand' list) and can make informed suggestions about what you might like next. I also did a lot of drooling over shoes. I am definitively not a shoe fetish person, preferring to only ever have a handful of shoes at a time, but I'm apparently not above shoe voyeurism because I ogled a lot of gorgeous heels and boots this trip! In my defense, there were some really nice, really fun shoes, boots, and other creative foot wear! As usual, I was a bit of a hair voyeur as well. I was super happy with my own red locks, but I'm always impressed by the way some people can pull off electric blue, purple, and other unique colors. 

Okay, I think that's all the rambling. Now on to a smattering of fun pics! These are in no way a comprehensive representation of all the awesomeness we saw, but they'll give you an idea of the diversity and creativity you encounter just wandering the halls. 

Mara's jump harness, in progress.

Emperor Cusco from the Emperor's New Groove.
Beware the groove!

Luke Skywalker vs. Xenomorphs from Alien. Hooray meta!

I am so glad someone did this! Giorgio Tsoukalos (sp?)
from the History Channel. If you haven't seen him, seriously go
to youtube and look him up. Lol.

Kaylee's shindig dress from Firefly!

Really good Leeloo from The Fifth Element. Multi-pass!

Mr. and Mrs. Terminator, cybernetic eye and all!
They were super nice, incidentally.

This guy gets the Dad of the Year award for ComicCon this year.
Their costumes were super simple in construction and cheap in material, but really well done. Kudos to all
geek parents who teach their kids thrifty creativity and not to be shy about what they love!
(Just like mine did.)

This girl was hysterical. She wandered around with a couple Disney princesses.
Her book is titled "How to Be An Evil Stepmother for Dummies"