I promised myself five months ago I wouldn’t hop on the “2016 SUCKS” bandwagon, but celebrity passings dominated this weekend’s apolitical headlines, at least two of which merit a few personal side notes.
Tag Archives: Indy PopCon
Indy PopCon 2016 Photos, Part 2 of 2: What We Did and Who We Met
Hey, guys! I met a YouTube star! From a channel I actually watch! That means I’m relevant now! AMERICA, LOOK AT MEEEEEEEEEE
Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:
This weekend Indy PopCon returned to the Indiana Convention Center for their the third annual gala of YouTube, gaming, podcasting, comics, voice actors, animation, and various other manifestations of pop and geek culture in general. My wife and I still regard 2014’s inaugural Indy PopCon as one of the best convention experiences we’ve ever had, but got a little lost when 2015’s event shifted focus toward luring in droves of younger fans. This time we were in the house Saturday for just a half-day with a short itinerary and muted expectations, but were happy to find ourselves another round of wacky fun.
We arrived at the Convention Center a little after 9:30 and left at 2:20. In between, we found quite a bit to do, a few interesting people to meet from the world of comics, and a few familiar faces from previous cons…
Indy PopCon 2016 Photos, Part 1 of 2: A Cosplay Sampler
Wanda and Cosmo, the Fairly OddParents! Stars of one of the last Nickelodeon shows my son ever watched before he aged out of it. Other than SpongeBob, I have no idea who their popular mascots are today.
This weekend Indy PopCon returned to the Indiana Convention Center for their the third annual gala of YouTube, gaming, podcasting, comics, voice actors, animation, and various other manifestations of pop and geek culture in general. My wife and I still regard 2014’s inaugural Indy PopCon as one of the best convention experiences we’ve ever had, but got a little lost when 2015’s event shifted focus toward luring in droves of younger fans. This time we were in the house Saturday for just a half-day with a short itinerary and muted expectations, but were happy to find ourselves another round of wacky fun.
As always we took photos for You, the Viewers at Home, over half of which were costumes. From the start Indy PopCon has attracted quite a creative crowd of cosplayers at every level, from the monetized pro circuit to the costume-contest hopefuls to the sincerest fans of varying means to literally a guy wearing an outfit made of Amazon boxes. At the crossroads of imagination, resourcefulness, determination, and fandom lies…Indy PopCon.
Right this way for a modest selection of costumes, not all of which are Deadpool variants!
Indy Pop Con 2015 Photos, Part 3 of 3: What We Did and Who We Met
My wife’s caption: “To those who know the pain of being a geek in a non-geek world…”
Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:
This weekend the second annual Indy PopCon once again overtook our Indiana Convention Center with a festive mix of comics, gaming, voice actors, established actors, animation, podcasting, and various other manifestations of pop and geek culture in general. This year’s guest list also encroached upon a new entertainment frontier: the rapidly expanding world of YouTube stars. My wife and I had never heard of any of those who were invited, but we were outnumbered several thousand to one in that regard.
We attended Saturday only for a limited time for a number of reasons with a short itinerary and modest expectations, but we took photos as usual for You, the Viewers at Home.
Part One was some costumes. Part Two was some more costumes. Part Three is some not-costumes, unless my wife’s new favorite T-shirt counts.
Indy Pop Con 2015 Photos, Part 2 of 3: More Costumes!
Vincent and Tifa from Final Fantasy VII. Longtime MCC readers know I brake for anyone from FF.
Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:
This weekend the second annual Indy PopCon once again overtook our Indiana Convention Center with a festive mix of comics, gaming, voice actors, established actors, animation, podcasting, and various other manifestations of pop and geek culture in general. This year’s guest list also encroached upon a new entertainment frontier: the rapidly expanding world of YouTube stars. My wife and I had never heard of any of those who were invited, but we were outnumbered several thousand to one in that regard.
We attended Saturday only for a limited time for a number of reasons with a short itinerary and modest expectations, but we took photos as usual for You, the Viewers at Home.
Part One had costumes; Part Two has more costumes. Part Three doesn’t have costumes except as Easter eggs.
Indy Pop Con 2015 Photos, Part 1 of 3: Costumes from the Marvel/Disney Empire
Miles Morales, Ultimate Spider-Man, prepares to spring into action.
This weekend the second annual Indy PopCon once again overtook our Indiana Convention Center with a festive mix of comics, gaming, voice actors, established actors, animation, podcasting, and various other manifestations of pop and geek culture in general. This year’s guest list also encroached upon a new entertainment frontier: the rapidly expanding world of YouTube stars. My wife and I had never heard of any of those who were invited, but we were outnumbered several thousand to one in that regard.
We attended Saturday only for a limited time for a number of reasons with a short itinerary and modest expectations, but we took photos as usual for You, the Viewers at Home. The first two entries will be costumes, because that’s one of those things we like to see and share. In our first lineup: characters from the synergistic worlds of Marvel Comics, Walt Disney Animation, and that faraway Star Wars galaxy. Oddly, exactly half the viable cosplay pics we took comprised personalities from their corporate domain.
Top 10 Rejected Q&A Questions for Edward James Olmos
“My question is, how soon will you return to Agents of SHIELD, and how many LMDs did they make of Agent Gonzales?”
This weekend Indianapolis has not one, but two conventions returning to town: the Days of the Dead horror show is bringing several notable movie slashers to the west side (Jason! Jigsaw! Phantasm Guy! Joe Bob Briggs!), while the second annual Indy Pop Con once again overtakes the Indiana Convention Center downtown. I’ll be honest: my wife and I thought about attending neither one. Skipping two geek-fests in our very backyard seemed wrong, but I’m not much into horror these days and she never was in the first place; and most of the Indy Pop Con guests are either anime voice actors or YouTube all-stars, which, y’know, I guess those are great for viewers under 25 and I hope they have a total blast this weekend.
For a while I thought our reluctance was the first sign that perhaps we’re getting too old for this stuff. I mulled over that grim prospect for weeks. Then Indy Pop Con invited the legendary Edward James Olmos. I had to think about that one for another while longer. Then I remembered he was in Blade Runner, and I bought our tickets that same day.
So we’re in. We’re hitting Indy Pop Con on Saturday, when Olmos will be signing autographs, doing photo ops, and has a Q&A scheduled at 1 p.m. EDT. It’s Indianapolis’ best chance to ask him all our great burning questions, pry some choice anecdotes out of him from the span of his forty-year career, and make Indy Pop Con 2 one for the record books…if we can all agree to make the most of his panel and not ask him anything stupid, embarrassing, or overused on every convention guest at every convention ever. Pretty please, you guys, BE COOL, won’t you?
Indy PopCon 2014 Photos, Part 8 of 8: What We Did and Who We Met
Hey, kids! It’s the world-famous General Lee from TV’s The Dukes of Hazzard! Everyone likes TV cars, right? TV cars are pop culture and therefore totally on-topic at Indy PopCon. Please enjoy this eye-popping, gas-guzzling, moonshine-runnin’, crooked-cop-defyin’, Southern-fried, toy-selling idol of millions and be sure to Like and Share the heck out of it on all the best social media so I can finally take one evening this week to go rest and relax without fear of the oncoming post-convention traffic plateau. Remember, the power of my recuperation is your hands.
At long last, the week-long marathon reaches the end of its journey here on MCC! Presenting one last round of photos from the first annual Indy PopCon at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Yes, we here at Midlife Crisis Crossover realize we’re still reliving this shindig long after the rest of the Midwest has gone back to their daily routine and stopped reminiscing about last weekend. And I can’t deny it’ll be nice to move on to other subjects and writing forms after this. We’re almost there, I promise.
Part Eight, then: the sights we saw (besides costumes) and the personalities we met.
Indy PopCon 2014 Photos, Part 7 of 8: the Sylvester McCoy Hour
My wife and I with the Seventh Doctor, a.k.a. Radagast the Brown. Yes, you may have already seen this photo in Part Four of this series. Keep reading for more pics…
The marathon continues! Our first six installments in this miniseries brought you all the photos my wife and I took of various costumes and cosplayers appearing at the first annual Indy PopCon last weekend in Indianapolis. Links are enclosed at the bottom of this entry for fun and clicking.
And now for something completely different: Part Seven chronicles one of the one-and-a-half events we attended at the Indy PopCon Main Stage: an hour-long Q&A with Sylvester McCoy, celebrated thespian and player of spoons. The following writeup is a rare guest contribution from my wife Anne, marking her fourth appearance in writing under the MCC masthead. Please note some questions are slightly paraphrased, but most of them weren’t complicated enough for us to misrepresent. Beyond some light editing, I turn the floor over to her. Geronimo!
Indy PopCon 2014 Photos #6: Last Call for Costumes
The marathon continues! As promised in our first installment, please enjoy more photos from the first annual Indy PopCon convention. Same guidelines apply: we’re fans, not pros; corrections and comments welcome; hope they’re enjoyable.
Part Six: our last remaining costume photos from other categories that didn’t receive separate entries — characters from movies, TV, American animation, the time-honored “potpourri” division, and ensemble setups. After disqualifying several photos that were either blurry or missing key portions of anatomy, what’s here is what’s left of our costume pics. That’s not to say the Indy PopCon marathon ends here. Two more entries should be following this week, and then MCC returns to its regularly random programming of whatever and stuff.
Japanese virtual pop star Hatsune Miku bids you welcome.
Right this way for your last chance at costumes, costumes, and more costumes!
Indy PopCon 2014 Photos #5: Gaming and Anime Costumes!
The marathon continues! As promised in our first installment, please enjoy more photos from the first annual Indy PopCon convention. Same guidelines apply: we’re fans, not pros; corrections and comments welcome; hope they’re enjoyable.
Part Five: at last, anime and gaming! This is always the section where I can use the most assistance from You, the Viewers at Home. If you recognize a character I didn’t, please feel free to speak up so that others might learn and possibly discover a new universe to explore. Better still, help this old man become fractionally less ignorant of stuff you like. If some of these are original characters, introductions are always welcome.
Longtime MCC readers are aware of my soft spot for Final Fantasy, so it’s a logical starting point. Behold: Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII plus follow-ups, and Genesis from Crisis Core.
Indy PopCon 2014 Photos #4: the Costumes of the Doctor
The marathon continues! As promised in our first installment, please enjoy more photos from the first annual Indy PopCon convention. Same guidelines apply: we’re fans, not pros; corrections and comments welcome; hope they’re enjoyable.
Part Four: people and things related to the world of Doctor Who. After years of avoiding his corner of universe, my wife and I finally relented and began watching the show last winter. We’re now partway through season six and hoping that major events such as Indy PopCon stop sucking up our precious TV-watching time so that we might stand a chance of catching up with the rest of the world before season eight arrives in August. If Netflix would hurry up and add season seven to their roster, that’d be outstandingly helpful to us as well.
Anyway: what once flew over our heads and outside our camera range in previous cons is newly fascinating to us. We’re naturally obligated to commence here with the Ninth Doctor because he’s our “first Doctor”. It’s also the first time I’ve spotted anyone as him at a convention. Accompanying him in the costume contest was an adorable li’l Seventh Doctor.
Right this way for more Doctors, including a real one! Allons-y!
Indy PopCon 2014 Photos #3: Costumes from Comics
The marathon continues! As promised in our first installment, please enjoy more photos from the first annual Indy PopCon convention. Same guidelines apply: we’re fans, not pros; corrections and comments welcome; hope they’re enjoyable.
Part Three: characters from comic books past and present, with a few special guests here and there from other media. Exhibit A: Wolverine as Weapon-X, hanging out with Vanellope von Schweetz from Wreck-It Ralph, Tinker Bell, and…uh, the winged one at far right was introduced at the costume contest as “Space Fairy”. Maybe that’s a thing?
Right this way for more Marvel, DC, and one creator-owned character!
Indy PopCon 2014 Photos #2: the Big-Budget Blockbuster Costumes
The marathon continues! As promised in our first installment, please enjoy more photos from the first annual Indy PopCon convention. Same guidelines apply: we’re fans, not pros; corrections and comments welcome; hope they’re enjoyable.
Part Two: characters from big, big, recognizable movies. Exhibit A: representatives from the 501st Legion — one of the Emperor’s Royal Guard, your standard-issue Stormtrooper, an Imperial Officer, and R4-M6, Mace Windu’s astromech droid. The new character in the middle is my wife, a notorious Jedi sympathizer.
This way for more world-famous heroes and other intellectual properties!
Indy PopCon 2014 Photos, Part 1: the Costume Contest Winners
Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:
This weekend the inaugural Indy PopCon will paint our fair downtown red with a healthy mix of comics, gaming, actors, LARPing, and various other manifestations of pop and geek culture in general. My wife and I will be attending Saturday only, partly as a budgetary measure (by which I mean, the longer I’m there, the less money we’ll have for vacation in July, or for utilities) and partly because we’re still feeling a bit burnt after last March’s the inaugural Indiana Comic Con went, um, not according to plan.
We’re pleased to report we worried for nothing. Today was one of the smoothest convention experiences we’ve had in ages. All the high-profile guests showed up. We never waited in a line with more than ten people ahead of us. The exhibit hall aisles were spacious and never in danger of fire marshall intervention. The comics dealers had some sweet bargains. And those in charge of the costume contest came up with a brilliant new strategy that allowed the crowd to get much better looks at the contestants. Perhaps everything went well because 100,000 fans didn’t converge on the scene at the same time, but it’s clear that a lot of people put a lot of thought into this shindig.
Over the next entries, we’ll be sharing our photos and anecdotes from the experience. I don’t know how many entries yet because it’s late and I’m exhausted and the power-level indicator on my brain went from green to yellow hours ago. We’ll figure that part out later. Caveats for first-time visitors to Midlife Crisis Crossover:
1. My wife and I are not professional photographers, as is obvious if some pics are viewed through any gadget larger than an amulet. These were taken as best as possible with the intent to share with fellow fans out of a sincere appreciation for the works inspired by the heroes, hobbies, artistic expressions, and/or intellectual properties that brought us geeks together under one vaulted roof for the weekend. We all do what we can with the tools and circumstances at hand.
2. It’s impossible for any human or organization to capture every costume on hand. Although we captured all of this year’s winners to one degree or another, we didn’t catch every costumed entity on the premises.
3. Sincere apologies to anyone we’ll miss due to being absent on Friday and Sunday.
4. Corrections and comments are always welcome, especially when I beg for them with certain shots. You, the Viewers at Home, will have opportunities to step up and name some anime and/or fantasy characters we old fogies didn’t recognize. I like learning new things, especially when I’m trying to write about characters and series that are beyond my particular geek foci.
5. Enjoy!
Part One: winners of the first annual Indy PopCon 2014 Costume Contest. Three hundred submissions were winnowed down to 77 finalists, from which were chosen three amateur winners, three professional winners, and one overall Best of Show winner who’ll have the opportunity to represent as the Face of Indy PopCon 2015.
Just to show you I wasn’t kidding above: here’s my favorite of the winners — second place, amateur division. Her Japanese name landed on my ears as “Kohaku Kirin”. If you recognize the character and/or source anime, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Feel free to plug your site while you’re here, even.
— UPDATED 6/1/2013: we have identity! The correct name is Kohakuren from the game Kamidori Alchemy Meister. Check the Comments section below for explanation from the cosplayer herself, along with a link to her official page!
Countdown to Indy PopCon 2014: Working on My To-Do List
It’s convention time again! And for the second time this century, someone besides GenCon has decided Indianapolis is a worthy host. This weekend the inaugural Indy PopCon will paint our fair downtown red with a healthy mix of comics, gaming, actors, LARPing, and various other manifestations of pop and geek culture in general. My wife and I will be attending Saturday only, partly as a budgetary measure (by which I mean, the longer I’m there, the less money we’ll have for vacation in July, or for utilities) and partly because we’re still feeling a bit burnt after last March’s the inaugural Indiana Comic Con went, um, not according to plan.
Thankfully I’ve seen numerous signs that the Indy PopCon showrunners were taking copious notes from that experience and have stepped up their game accordingly. They’ve reserved three times the space at the Indiana Convention Center; invited more media guests; kept up an active, lively presence in that “social media” racket that’s all the rage these days; added a “Cosplay is not consent” sidebar to their program; actually made an official program in the first place; and have an actual big-name comics publisher in the house! Three cheers for IDW Publishing for believing that Indianapolis doesn’t suck. They can expect to be rewarded with some of my dollars.
Midlife Crisis Crossover! 