Zenkaikon 2012

The Zenkaikon Convention returned to the Philadelphia area for their 6th year providing all the wonders and fun of the anime world. This was my fourth time attending the event and I can honestly say that each year it gets better (and the crowds get bigger). In 2011 over three thousand attendees were present. Clearly this is a show that is in high demand. This year the two day event was held on May 11th and 12th at the Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks, Pa.  

I have had unique experiences when attending this show. The first two times I participated as a fan who was excited that there was finally a local anime convention. Last year I was a guest on  behalf of actor Vic Mignoga who insisted I enjoy all the festivities after hosting a dinner party for him and his fans. This year I attended as a member of the press with my Blog photographer Brian and my gal pal Alisha. First Id like to say how impressed I was with the staff. They were very pleasant and helpful and also did a wonderful job with crowd control. As many of us know, the anime crowds can become a  bit too hyper. That wasnt the case at all. It was a very pleasant and safe environment. The room reserved for LARPING was especially a stroke of genius (Im not a fan of it and felt relieved I wouldnt have to worry about someone invading my personal space).

Many vendors sold imported items from Japan as well as talented artist selling their original work. Guest in attendance including voice actors Sonny Strait and Michele Knotz, comedian Uncle Yo, bands Platform One, The Asterplace and my personal favorite, a performace by Kyo Daiko. I attended the show as my original "Hatsune Loves Rainbow Dash" cosplay while Alisha was Shutterfly from "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic". I met up with other friends and we had a great time shopping (my splurge was an original Rainbow Dash hat). In closing here are my favorite pictures from the show featuring cosplayers and items on display. My thanks to the staff at the Zenkaikon convention. I look forward to next years show! 

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Dark Knight Rises Prologue Review

I love viral marketing. I especially love viral marketing when its attached to a new Batman project.
A good friend of mine was one of the first 100 people to beat the Arkham Asylum viral marketing campaign and won the collectors edition of the video game thanks to his online detective skills. Prior to the release of the 2008 film "The Dark Knight", I received campaign buttons, Gotham newspapers and a Gotham City voter registration card all in support of Harvey Dent. I attended a Harvey Dent political rally where I had the chance to meet up with fellow supporters and was given a "I support Harvey Dent" t-shirt along with campaign signs. I was even featured on the official website and was thrilled (and slightly disturbed) when The Joker hacked the system and scribbled the face of every photo of Dent supports making them resemble the Clown Prince of Crime. Viral Marketing gives us a personal connection to something we enjoy and makes us feel like were actually a part of the magic.



Batman fans around the world are gearing up for the 2012 Summer release of the final film in Christopher Nolans Batman trilogy "The Dark Knight Rises". On December 13th select IMAX theatres around the United States were screening the first six minutes of the film and you were allowed access if you knew how to get tickets. There were two showings at the IMAX theater; one at 10pm and the other at 10:30pm. My guest and I were in the 10:30pm group. We observed  the first group as they exited the theater and became concerned by the expression on their faces. People looked confused. No shouts of awesomeness or fanboy freak outs. I found out later they were confused for a variety of reasons. After handing over our tickets and my purse being inspected for recording devices, were we given promotional t-shirts that features a bizarre design and simply says "End". No one could figure out what the design is suppose to symbolize (one guess was Banes mask) and theres no indication on the shirt that its related to a Batman film.




The prologue lasted only six minutes and began with Commissioner Gordon speaking at Harvey Dents memorial service. The rest of the prologue features some mercenaries being captured and boarded on a plane. The men who apprehended them are looking for Bane and it turns out one of the captives is in fact Bane himself. After his identity is revealed he breaks free. Banes objective is to kidnap a doctor aboard the plane (who, thanks to viral marketing has been revealed to be Dr. Leonid Pavel) and take it down. A second plane filled with Banes henchmen comes into play and in what was probably the most impressive stunt Ive seen filmed in the air, Bane transfers the doctors blood to a decoy before successfully taking down the airplane and making a getaway in his own. The last few seconds of the prologue are filled with never-before-scenes featuring a new Batman vehicle (or the Tumbler transforming, I couldnt really tell), a tortured looking Selina Kyle traveling in a car, Batman on the steps of a building during snowfall, a glimpse of Catwoman and finally Bane holding Batmans mask.



When the screening was over I came to the realization why the first crowd who viewed it were troubled. It was almost impossible to understand any of Banes dialogue. His heavy accent is muffled behind a mask and I can honestly say that I barely understood a line that actor Tom Hardy delivered. Many of the movie goers in the theatre said the same thing. One said:

"I dont know what I just saw but it was awesome!"

While many others clearly stated they couldnt understand a word Bane said (myself included). One joked that between Christian Bales gruff Batman voice and Bane, the next logical character to include in the film would be Beaker from The Muppets. There were numerous complaints regarding Christian Bales performance in "The Dark Knight", so much so that it was corrected for the DVD release and the result was a smoother audio delivery. Numerous complaints regarding Banes voice have all ready surfaced online and one hopes that this will be corrected in time for the films worldwide release in 2012. If not, this could be as painful as Stallone and Schwarzenegger getting into a verbal argument.

 The writing remains intelligent and though the airplane sequence was cleverly written and visually satisfying, Banes problematic voice stole the show. Clearly thats not good news. I was more impressed by the images shown after the plane sequence. In all honesty Batmans hand to hand combat among the stairs with Bane during a snow storm would have made for a better sneak peak. Im going to chalk the prologue to being entertaining but nothing spectacular.

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My personal experience Wizard World Philly 2011

Imagine my surprise and delight when I recieved an email from Wizard personally inviting me to this years Wizard World Philly/ Philadelphia Comic Con convention!
Not only was I given access to the three day event but I was also granted my own personal guest list to get my cosplay friends inside to enjoy all the glorious festivities! As if that wasnt enough and didnt make me feel like the Belle of the Ball, I was also invited to the official launch party (which sadly I was unable to attend because I was with my family) and a private party hosted by my friend, pro wrestler The Smoke. Smallville and Dukes of Hazards star John Schneider joined us for dinner and he remembered me from earlier in the day as Wonder Woman. He was very impressed with my costume when I told him my friend Candy made it for me. We had a nice chat with him over dinner. I also met actress Margot Kidder (Lois Lane) who was an absolute doll and funny as hell (she loved my costume too). After meeting Margot I posed with a fan who turned out to be Beauty and the Geek reality star Bill Lambing. I also posed with superstar artist Greg Horn.

Okay so lets talk cosplay; Friday I debuted my brand new Wonder Woman costume made by my girl Candy who has her own boutique http://www.threemusesclothing.com/   The outfit is absolutely amazing (thanks to the fans who sponsered it)! and I lost count with how many compliments I got on the costume. Everyone from celebrities to vendors to fans. One girl stopped me to tell me I was the best Wonder Woman at the show. Ive been wanting to cosplay Diana since I was a little girl spinning in the living room watching the Lynda Carter series so thank you to Candy for making my dream come true. Saturday my girlfriends and I went to the show as the Gotham City Sirens. I lost count on how many people said how "Smokin Hot" we all were. People were saying I was the best Catwoman at the show, which was very flattering. One woman marveled at my face saying I looked "Exactly like Selina!" Aside from posing for pics, converesing with Facebook, Twitter and Comic fans, friends and shopping, us ladies did a shoot with the original Batmobile.  We also did the first Cosplay Photoshoot gathering organzied by The Smoke and his friend Brian. I was a chairman for the gathering as well and it was a HUGE success; loads of cosplayers turned out! After the costume contest (where us Sirens pleased the crowd by giving them a view of our bums) we all went to dinner.

For Sundays show I decided on Black Canary, which is one of my most comfortable costumes. Catwoman is also very, very comfy. I was surprised by the Sunday crowd; in the past it was usually the slowest day with a considerable less amount of people but it was just as busy as Saturday. I expected a day of granting a lot less photo requests but I was still approached every few feet which was very cool. I only kept my jacket on for a few minutes before deciding to take it off because I was hot. Sunday we also had a second cosplay shoot where my personal favorite moment was Superboy asking if he could lift me on his shoulder. And may I add that there were many hot cosplayer men at this years show. Our second cosplay shoot was also a success and we have some big plans next year. 

Also chatted with industry friends Ken Haeser, Raven Gregory and Eric Basaldua. I got a spanking from one of them (guess who?) In closing I want to once again thank Wizard for their amazing generosity! Ive been attending the show the last 10 years and it always gets better and better. I am so grateful that they took care of all of my friends and I had an absolute blast with them! I also made tons of new friends!  Im going to leave you now with a few more of my favorite shots and some of the best cosplayers at this years event and also add that I have been cast in the next DC Comics fan film! Who will I play? Stay tuned!

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