Tora-Con 2010
Tora-Con 2010
Rochester Institute of Technology
April 24th and 25th, 2010
I’ve been going to this convention since it started in 2005, and it has really grown. I think the first year, they had about 200 people total attending. This year, they had 2500. Yikes. It got big enough to warrant “real” guests (as in, “more than just one voice actor.”) They had my hero, Billy West. And they had another one of my heroes, former Power Ranger, current voice actor, Johnny Young Bosch. And ArmCannon, a rock band that does old-school NES game covers. It was a good con.
This was the first con I had t-shirts for, and they sold rather well. People liked the “Doctor or Locksmith” shirt, so I might make more. The prints were popular, as usual, and I even sold a handful of copies of The Cow. Thank you to every person who stopped at my table and bought something! You guys rule!
Sunday, Trev and Kez and I did a panel called “Webcomics and Other Time Sinks.” It went over well with our small audience. I have video of it which I might upload to YouTube, but I need to figure out how to use my video editor first. I’ll post it here if and when I do upload it. After the panel, we met Chris Watkins of Odori Park. He came to talk to us about his comic. Go ahead, click the link, take a look at his stuff, then take a look at MY stuff, and you’ll realize why things should have been reversed. He’s GOOD. Anyway, it was cool to meet with another local webcomic guy. He has now joined our little “Webcomicker Coffee Group.”
Got to meet Billy West, voice of Fry (and most of the rest of the cast of Futurama,) Ren and Stimpy, the Red M&M, Bugs Bunny, and so much more. I went up to him and told him “Sir, you’re the reason I sit alone talking to myself in strange voices.” He got a laugh out of that. The next day, I got to meet Johnny Young Bosch, and I forgot to turn my phone off. Brian texted me when I was about ten feet away from Johnny. My phone has the Power Rangers communicator watch sound for text messages. Everyone just kind of stared at me while I turned red and turned off my phone.
Overall, the con was really fun. I’d say the only bad thing was that the Artists Alley had to be changed to a different room at the last minute, making it very crowded. Thankfully, the people behind me no-showed, so I could just climb out that way. I can’t wait for next year.
Photos
Me and Billy West. My hero is really short. That, or I’m freakishly tall. Or both.
Me and Johnny Young Bosch. Again, what’s with a childhood hero being short?
My JYB autograph. He did the COOLEST thing for his autograph. I had him sign the con program, and he defaced himself. And the little RIT mascot tiger. That’s how I want to sign autographs if I’m ever in a con program . . .
Brian as The Black Mask. No one knew who Brian was when he was in costume (he’s a Batman villain.) But when he had the mask off, everyone thought he was Light Yagami. If he had done this costume next year, people would know him since Black Mask is gonna be in Arkham Asylum 2.
A super-cool-awesome dude who bought a shirt from me. Seriously, this guy will turn into a total chick magnet because of that shirt. Girls will be throwing themselves at him. The shirt is that powerful.
Black Lantern Penny. Brian and I are getting “dead” characters to wear a Black Lantern ring for photos at conventions this year. So far, we have Maes Hughes and Penny from Doctor Horrible’s Sing-A-Long-Blog. (Sorry for the spoilers there.)
A commission of Franky and Brook. A commission I did for a One Piece fan. I really like the way the Copic markers turned out on it.
