Re-reading this, I think of how geeky this will seem to some of you. And it was geeky. But it was more of an afterthought. Being there, at the FIRST “Harbour con-fusion” felt like so much fun, and with so much incentive to participate, like participation ribbons, trophies and supportive cheers, it was hard to not get in on the excitement. But I had never been to a convention before…

I didn’t want to go. I had long planned to, but by the time July 28th/2012 rolled around, there was more against my going than for: A recent run in with a comic book shop staff member left a sour taste in my mouth about the comic book community, there was a surprise family supper planned over the week end I would not be able to attend, I’d miss helping two friends move, and none of my other friends could come with me to the con… I would have to go solo. I thought, “If at the very least I could do some networking for thedarkopera.com then maybe it would be worth it.” Luckily, it turned out to be much more than that.

I was so uncertain about the whole event that I didn’t even reserve a room at the hotel in case the con was a bust. That way I could salvage my week end by jetting back to Fredericton depending on the time or maybe head down to Moncton and visit with friends.

To make matters worst, I got a flat tire on my way in to Saint John. The culprit? A screw from Saint John construction no doubt – Yes, I was SCREWED. That could have turned me into quite the 'Debbie Downer', but all was washed away by the incredible energy at opening ceremonies. 

Right from registration, I met fellow con goers (both who do excellent cosplay as Wolverine and Sabretooth) and was later invited to lunch with them and others. Thanks again for the French Vanilla Kevin. After they had gone to get their pictures taken by the Harbour con-fusion photographer, I accidentally dumped the rest of that hot drink all over the front of my white T-shirt in my haste to run a few errands in between panels. Could anything else bad happen to me?

After all was settled and I was changed, I returned to get the most out of the vendor rooms and panels that I could. There, I met up with Chris, one of the many awesome con staff and chatted him up a little. I got to meet up with an old friend a little later on. I also stopped and talked to some very creative guys promoting their first web comic issue of “Liquid” which I hope to be posting more about later on this week. And there was so much other cool stuff going on too, like a massive assortment of origami of every kind, people doing drawings for commission, selling artwork and even retro video games. 

The Vendors, those doing cosplay, and the panel members… If you are looking for creative and passionate individuals, plan to come to Harbour con-fusion next year because it had so many people like that.

The panels! (They are 1 hour or so sessions where people come in to talk about various topics) They were all great, some examples of these were:

StarkTech. There’s this gentleman named, Phillip Vautour who had an excellent panel on his work in creating a professional Iron Man suit. Dressed as Tony Stark, equipped with lit arc reactor and dawning a “Stark” jacket, he talked about resources and ideas for how to execute tech for your cosplay.  For example, he talked a little about hitting a switch that would send a signal for a functional (but not in a deadly way) arm cannon to rise out of an arm piece and light up when fully extended. Great stuff. It was so wonderfully in-depth and inspiring, I wished that I had taped it. 

Also, "The Geek Dating Game".  There, 3 guys sat side by side, backs against a screen behind which the lucky lady - who was also a Harbour-con organizer - was stationed. In classic dating game style, the hostess – in this case: Catwoman – facilitated the game as difficult questions where thrown out to the guys. Let me tell you, answering them didn’t sound easy. As the title implied, there was a strong geek flavor and the three contestants did an excellent job at being witty and injecting hilarious and intentionally awful (Corny) innuendo (and why not? This panel had an older audience). A gentleman by the name of Sean Brown, who earlier that day introduced himself by standing up from his seat with one hand raised high and in a rising tone exclaimed, “ I’m Sssseeeeaaan Brown” had the audience in a stitch at the dating game and grabbed himself celebrity like status that had others echoing his call throughout the con. This was the guy who answered, “What emoticon would you be?” with a pause to build anticipation; then a resolute, “the Sssseeeeaaan Brown emoticon”. Really, there could have been no other. 

The dance also was a great time. Where Con Volunteer and friend, Josh (same name, different guy) did his best to ‘cut a rug’ to keep people on the dance floor. Con staff Dj’d as lights danced across the walls and music pumped from the nearby speakers. The play list had some geek flavor there too, where the last song of the dance was a Dr. Who remix track. I hadn’t danced like that in a while, and got to meet some other con goers with help from Heidi who had such great energy and was such a blast to be around. Who really did her best to make people feel welcomed. 

A game called “Circus Imperium” was also a great time. What really got me here was the inclusion of some of the kids in the game. A man named Joe Hatfield, Who also put on an excellent lightsaber duel (and can take a hard hit or ten like a pro), helped run some of the players through the game as he encouraged audience participation and really made it fun. Everyone was cheering and getting involved. It was then  that I looked around the room at the crowd huddled around the table and felt like this was a really tight community of people making good memories together.

The whole thing sounds kind of like a love affair doesn’t it? To be fair, the con wasn’t without those who are snarky, those who push boundaries in terms of rules, and sometimes what was ‘family appropriate’ got lost in rapid-fire reactions including in being witty, but someone was never too far off to remind people about what the con was really about. I myself might have acted differently if I wasn’t open to having fun. To letting loose a little. I might have left. But the atmosphere there was so relaxing and welcoming that it was hard not to get engaged. 

By the time closing ceremonies came around at 1900 Sunday evening, I was hooked.

Margaret, a con organizer, closed things off with quite the rousing speech about Saint John being ready for a regular convention like Harbour-Con that really rallied the audience. Of the excitement of wrapping up the event and naming who won what at the silent auction they had, the staff announced having met financial goals and was able to make a sizeable donation to their local S.P.C.A (what a good cause!). For all the staff’s work, the crowd gave a much-deserved standing ovation. Everyone lingered a while afterwards saying good-byes and planning on meeting perhaps at the upcoming Hal-con. While some organized some post convention celebration, I, like some others, made my way back home in rainy evening weather feeling pretty damn satisfied with the entire event.

I had still to figure out what to do with that flat tire I had got on my way into Saint John. My plan to deal with the tire didn’t go as well as I had hoped, and couldn’t drive with it anymore after a particularly rough stretch of highway road construction about mid way between Saint John and Fredericton. I decided I would hitch hike back home, so I took to the road as night began to set in and the highway became dark. Luckily, a man and his wife saw me on their way back from Fredericton to Saint John. They turned around to get me and were kind enough to help me change my tire (I didn’t have a jack). Big Thanks to Corey Wright and his family for that.

I ended up home a little later than expected. With the energy of the week end still buzzing inside me, it was hard to be without smile. I had a story I needed to share…

I say, If you want to go to a con but have some reservations, set em’ aside and walk into one with an open mind and just go with it. It can be such a great time if you let it.

-Josh 

If you want all the news on the next Harbour Con-Fusion, click HERE for their Facebook page!!

*** Big Thanks to Ralph Jackson for letting me use his photos (The first three) for this post.***

I want to start by saying, I was pleasantly surprised by the collected edition “Welcome to Lovecraft” of the Locke and Key series. Sure, I haven’t heard any bad reviews about this and have mostly been suggested to read it, but I still wasn’t sure I could get into a comic book about the supernatural. In fact, every time I hear the word “supernatural” as part of any series in any medium, I cringe a little and am reminded of the pop and pulp flavored supernatural that while sometimes is a guilty pleasure, is mostly disappointing.

When I want to get into supernatural, I want it dark (big surprise), I want mystery, tension, sense of fear, lingering creepiness, maybe some quirkiness... that kind of focus. Mostly, the delivery is on the action, the jump out at you scares, the gore and the special effects. 

I get that a lot of people like that other stuff and would argue what I’m looking for is in what they like, but it’s not enough of piece of the bigger picture for my taste.

Every once in a while, people get supernatural right (see: the way I like it). Twin Peaks did it as a T.V. series. Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez did it when they put together Locke and Key (at least they did for this first collected edition I read).

The gist is this: The Locke family are visited by a two men intent to do them harm if Mr. Locke doesn’t surrender a key he seems to know nothing about. Their bizarre request goes unmet and the family and visitors are forced into a tense showdown with tragic consequence. The mystery and grief are backdrop to uncovering the secrets of key house - a place the family moved to after the incident. Things become all the more strange when the youngest Locke boy, Bode stumbles across a woman stuck at the bottom of a well claiming to be his echo, but was his father’s before him. What wild things do the keys of key house unlock and what is the connection of the well woman to the visitors early on? ... see for yourself!  

At first I wasn’t a fan of the artwork. It’s not my style. What hooked me was the story telling which Joe Hill does an excellent job at. The story gives you room to wonder about different things and despite the lead into the next bit of the series at the end; it leaves you feeling satisfied with what you read and wanting more. Gabriel’s artwork will grow on you. the panels with the picture of the well house are appropriately spooky.

I will recommend this comic to anyone who likes a good horror/supernatural story. Pick this one up. I don’t regret it and am going to buy the second one shortly. 

- Josh

Comic Books are something that I don’t have a lot of exposure to. At one time I got into “The Darkness” and loved it. I really enjoyed Silvestri's work. My experience with comic books though has mostly been that they are pretty to look at but are lacking in content. 

and I mean, have you ever been in a comic shop? There is a hell of a lot of different comic books in there. Just thinking about navigating those titles is exhausting. Thing is, you hit too many crappy comic books and it might turn you off to em completely.

Here’s “Comic Book girl 19” to help out. Heard of her? She recently did a piece on the Avengers and  “How to start reading Comic books” that got pretty popular. I’ve included a bit from her youtube called “Batman Night of Owls. Critical Comic Book Reviews”

There's swearing but she's enthusiastic, comes off as really being into comics and wanting to share some of the cool stuff out there. Take a look:

great, eh?! So what I loved most about this piece and why I wanted to post about it is A) she mentions what sounds to be an awesome twist in artwork at  3:52 when she talks about Batman getting drugged and the panels start to go in different directions... That’s awesome! That somebody felt that they could be creative about it and do that is just awesome. 

Bonus points for the Batman voice at 5:36

And B) enjoyed at 6:05 when she talked about the emotional and character development aspect of that comic book. THAT’s the content that’s missing from a lot of other comic books.

Check out some of her other videos, especially the two I had mentioned earlier.

Click through to Youtube to subscribe to her channel. I did. 

- Josh