Comic Con Germany - Stuttgart 2019

This post comes about 2 weeks late, as I needed to think about how I felt about the Comic Con, as it was a mixed bag of goods. Now after some consideration and a week vacation in my home country I have formed my opinion. 

This year's Comic Con Germany was downsized from two halls to one hall, despite raising the entry fee. Although they used the gallery in hall 1 in addition to the floor space one couldn't shake the feeling that there was something missing and it felt somehow crammed. At least they managed to solve the heat problem of the last few years in the hall and it was pleasant despite it being one of the hottest days of summer so far. 

The also decided to add a medieval market in the park. Considering the heat the market was deserted and personally I believe this was merely added as a filler. Don't get me wrong, I love a good medieval market, but it felt quite out of place at a Comic Con. 

The star guests were few in number for my taste with 8 guests (I think at one point in the past years there were around 20) but they were all worth their money. The list was compiled by: Richard Dean Anderson, Iwan Rheon, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spinter, Karen Gillian, Pom Klementieff, Lou Ferrigno and Alexander Dreymon. A good thing was that all the panels took place at the foyer, so everyone was able to listen to those and it was amazing! Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes have never been funnier and told wonderful anecdotes from their time filming "The Next Generation". 

A personal highlight for me was the Richard Dean Anderson panel, as I have been a huge fan of his since MacGyver and of course Stargate. He certainly looks healthier again and seemed agile. It was almost as having Jack O'Neill (Two LL!) on stage. 

All panels were enjoyable with each actor bringing to it his and her personal flavour. 

What really bothered me were the prices for autographs and pictures. While they were moderate in comparison to other years it seems overpriced considering the high entrance fee, which has been constantly raised each year a substantial amount. At one point on the Comic Con Facebook page when someone complained about the small amount of star guests there was a snarky response from the admin, that if the people would buy more pictures, more guests would come. I found this extremely inappropriate. I have heard that the guests make the prices for the pictures, if so, at least the entrance fee should be reduced in my opinion. 

Another thing that was missing were cosplayers. Of course there were still some but significantly less than in recent years. I attribute this to the extreme heat of the last years in the halls, which can be taxing for people in costume. Since this has been fixed this year, hopefully next year more people will come to the Comic Con in costume. As cosplayers it a major point for the Comic Con and give it this special nerdy flair. Also some of these costumes are real pieces of art. 

All in all it was a nice event, with ups and downs, but sadly the quality seems to be diminishing each year. Since it is the only event close to where I live I will continue visiting it, although from next year on I will only take a ticket for one day instead of the whole weekend. But it is not an event I would visit if I would have to travel for more than an hour. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Character Analysis - Hayley Marshall-Kenner (The Originals & The Vampire Diaries)

Since some people have told me, that I always write these about characters that I like I have decided to change that and pick a character I don't like: Hayley Marshall-Kenner. Before getting into the character in details, let's clear something up: While I dislike the character, I find it is very well crafted and Phoebe Tonkin portrays her excellently. She is a stunningly beautiful woman yet manages to believably pull off the tomboy and though girl. She also does justice to the emotional range of Hayley. But let's take a closer look at the character itself.  When we meet Hayley in "The Vampire Diaries" we learn that she has helped Tyler break the sire bond, meaning that although she grew up outside of the werewolf community she has learnt about the supernatural world. Not much is known about the family that adopted her only that when she turned into a wolf her parents kicked her out.  Hayley is what can be called street smart, which makes sense since she spend time...
Read more

Science Fiction & Fantasy - Escaping Reality

When talking to people I often get the question: "Why do you write Science Fiction and Fantasy?" This is usually followed by a tirade that they don't like it, because it is so unrealistic. What they don't get: That is the point! With these two genres the fact is that the only limit to your writing is your own mind. While in reality we are limited by physics, biology or simply life. This became very evident to me when my mother, who loved those genres probably even more than I do, fell severly ill. At one point it became evident that there was nothing the doctors could do for her. My reaction was the same one as for everybody who is loosing a loved one: I tried to find a solution and went through the five stages of grief. I spent hours on the internet researching her illness and looking for the latest breakthroughs only to come to the conclusion that medicine was not yet ready to safe her. The feeling of helpnessless was overpowering especially since my writer...
Read more

The 10 most badass female characters in Science Fiction and Fantasy

Many people still think of women as the weaker sex. Science Fiction and Fantasy however have already given us some memorable badass women. The fight with strength, intelligence and charm. But it is not only their skills that make them badass but their will never to give up.  These are my top 10 most badass female characters in Science Fiction and Fantasy: 10. Zoe Washburn from "Firefly"       If a tv series, a movie or a book features a female badass character it is usually the lead and she is often passionate and a natural born leader. Joss Wedon's Zoe Washburn is very different. She is the second in command and the embodyment of a level headed, cool soldier. You wouldn't want to mess with her. At the same time she manages to be a dignified woman, who is deeply in love with her husband, although he is not a fighter.  9. Katniss Everdeen from "The Hunger Games" Jennifer Lawrence brought her to life in a brilliant way. What made Katniss ...
Read more