Tora-Con 2011

Rochester Institute of Technology
April 16 & 17, 2011

My seventh Tora-Con, egads. And much like the first Tora-Con ever, this year’s event fell on my birthday. Yay me.

This was the first con I had my book at. The book collects the first eight issues of The Cow. (If you don’t know what The Cow is, you’re on the damn website for it . . . Take a look and take a read.) I sold a copy right off to someone who started reading after last years Tora-Con. If that wasn’t a huge enough boost to my ego, I sold several copies to people who had never read it and just thought it looked interesting. If any of you are reading this, THANK YOU! You totally made my year! I also managed to sell out of small and medium “Doctor or Locksmith?” shirts, so that’s awesome as well. It was a pretty good con for me.

The con was a little odd this year, as it was spread all over campus. I guess the guy who originally booked the rooms dropped out and the reservations got scrapped, so Artists Alley was four buildings away from the dealers room, which was two buildings away from the panels. And it was raining. But still, good turnout despite the odd problems here and there. Oh, and some assclown pulled the fire alarm Sunday afternoon, causing Artists Alley to clear out. Everyone had to stand outside in the freezing cold for half an hour, clutching their money boxes and laptops until we were given the all clear.

One of the oddest things about the con was the fact that my table was right next to the Cosplayers: the Movie table. While I was setting up, a cosplayer dressed as Rosalina from Mario Galaxy came over and said hi. I did a quadruple take, as it was a guy I went to college (and the first Tora-Con) with. Turns out, there were a few crossplayers manning the table: a Peach, Daisy, Rosalina and Bowser. A Toadette, too, but it was a girl, not a crossplayer. Anyway, Cosplayers: the Movie seems kind of interesting, I’d suggest checking it out. The proceeds go to charity.

In one of the artists alley rooms was my friend Alan. Alan had been asking me questions for months about running a table at a con, and he was really nervous about it. And when the time came . . . he made twice as much as I did. I’m so freakin’ jealous! He had some sweet custom action figures, prints and paintings. I’m glad he did well, but . . . but . . . yeah. Jealous. Not gonna lie. Hope to see him at more cons now.

Photos
Taskmaster – Brian tried cosplaying as Taskmaster on Saturday, but it didn’t last long. We made the mistake of spray painting the boots and the smell was overpowering. But we got a few pics.

Taskmaster part II – The shield was spray painted too, and that didn’t help with the fumes.

Taskmaster and Deadpool – Brian and our friend Alan. He makes an amazing Deadpool. I’d had shot some pics of them fighting, but there was an incident with pants ripping . . . The less said the better.

Hunter S. Thompson – Gotta love the random things people dress up as.

Flapjack/One Piece – A commission I did of a mashup between Flapjack and One Piece. (I didn’t know that the one guy has wooden arms and legs or else I’d have done it a bit differently, but I still like the way it turned out.)

Nostalgia Critic – I did the “Bat Credit Card” test, and he yelled so loud, it kind of made the entire alley get quiet. Amazing.

Lucas Lee and Todd Ingrahm – I dressed up as Evil Ex #2 from Scott Pilgrim on Saturday. Not too many other Pilgrim cosplayers, but there was this awesome Todd, so we got a pic together.

Lucas and Ramona – Aside from me and the Todd, there were a few Ramonas. Oh, and I guess a Knives, but I didn’t see her.

Starscream – I found out later that it actually transformed. I just didn’t have my camera at the time.

Joker – Hey! A good Joker! Not quite any particular version, but I mean that as a compliment.

Joker #2 – One of the reasons he was so good was all the props he had. The chattering teeth and Bob-Omb were a nice touch.

My tattoo – Sharpies are the closest thing I’ll ever get to getting a tattoo.

“Winning” – Brian dressed up as Charlie Sheen on Sunday. He’s been getting jokes about his favorite shirt for years, and it just seemed like an easy costume with perfect timing.

GlaDos – A nice take on Glados. The personality core hair pieces were really cool. (The photo doesn’t really do it justice. It was a really cool costume.)

Shaun of the Dead – My only nitpick is that the name tag said “Shawn.”

Katamari Damacy – It was funny seeing them walk down the hall with their extra-wide heads . . . people were ducking to get out of the way.

Lucas Lee – Why did I pick a character known for skateboarding? I can barely stand on one without falling over . . .