It was like I died, went to heaven, and then couldn’t decide which awesome dead person I wanted to meet first.
It’s not every day that a highly populated event makes you remember how much fictional entertainment impacted your life, but it was certainly so on July 17 when I attended Comicpalooza for the first time.
Going to this event was a long time coming. Covering Comicpalooza has practically become a tradition in recent years at The Signal. I often faced criticism for not going.
“Dude you would love it!” and “You wouldn’t be able to contain your excitement!” Etcetera etcetera.
This only worsened after a photo of myself in cosplay circulated in the newsroom. It is hard to forget what my former editor-in-chief said after I sent pictures of myself dressed as Kylo Ren while attending the premiere of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
“Troylon Griffin II, you are going to Comic Palooza in 2020,” my former editor said. “No excuses!”
Well, as one can imagine, I did not go. My excuse? The universal 2020 excuse: COVID-19.
So alas, with 2021 as a year of new in-person opportunities, and the chance to cover the event, I proclaimed I was at last going.
And the rest is history.
I am often told I have a lot of energy and sometimes have this child-like wonder about me. Well, I can imagine that kind of energy was being extremely channeled that day as I entered the room of Palooza.
Everywhere I turned, there was something that made me want to sprint over in wonder and amazement like a child in a candy store. From being able to see famous people signing autographs, to the phenomenal cosplay costumes, to the tables with fan art, action figures and other objects that I desperately wanted to go broke over, it was almost surreal.
But what I found to be so enriching was not the panels or even the actors who were there, but the amount of fan art and those in cosplay. Despite not speaking to many people and not exactly making new friends, I truly felt a strong sense of community surrounded by people with a love for the same series as me.
It is amazing how much fiction can serve as the muse for people’s lives and to see so many people able to express themselves and embrace their love of various characters and series just warmed my heart.
I also realized that real Spider-Man costumes are quite tight.
Being immersed in such an environment served almost like a motivational seminar that made me be reminded of all I love.
This was especially felt as I saw all the Dragon Ball content. From the cosplay, the panels, voice actors and the fan art, it was like witnessing millions give their energy to Goku, culminating in an epic spirit bomb of fan love and joy for the greatest anime of all time.
I had the luxury of ending Comicpalooza with a Q&A panel with the legendary Christopher Sabat and Sean Schemmel, the Funimation voice actors of Vegeta and Goku on Dragon Ball Z (also known as the greatest and/or most important anime of all time).
Of course, there were some downsides (also Dragon Ball related). It’s hard to forget how I waited in a long line of fans wishing to ask the two actors questions. Unfortunately, time ran out and I was left alone with my questions.
But hey, one can only be bitter about that for so long. After all, the day was a great one. During times like these, in which conflict is everywhere and so many are cynical or down about something, it felt truly magical to witness so many people come together over the series that have lit the fire and passion in their hearts and minds. Just as Star Wars and Star Trek offered a great sense of optimism during a time of rampant cynicism, and we are in an ever-growing age of superhero films, events like Comic Palooza and the many series it celebrates gives thousands the time to feel joy, happiness and optimism, one of the greatest rewards of fiction and great stories.
