By Steve Winter and Kenny Fried, special 海角社区app correspondents
WASHINGTON 鈥� It鈥檚 common knowledge that dogs and cats don鈥檛 typically live together; vampires and mummies rarely coexist; Star Trek and Star Wars inhabit parallel universes and 鈥� as every comic book aficionado will quickly tell you well 鈥� Marvel simply doesn鈥檛 mix with DC.
And yet, there they were, side by side, Superman, Spiderman, Batman and the Fantastic Four 鈥� seemingly impervious to the oxymoronic nature of that relationship.
But wait 鈥� there鈥檚 more.聽 Dr. Whos, by the dozen; more Daenerys Targaryens than one can count; Elsa, in all her 鈥淔rozen鈥� glory, plus Wookiees, wizards, Mockingjays and ninjas, all in one place, all at one time, and all under one roof.
The venue was the Walter E. Washington Convention Center where , the region鈥檚 proprietary version of the pop culture phenomenon spawned by the now-legendary Comic-Con, roared to life. More than 200 artists, 300 vendor booths and 50-plus celebrities from sci-fi, fantasy, action and adventure movies, TV shows and video games created what can best be described as the ultimate place to be for anybody in the national capital area who embraces the term 鈥済eek.鈥� And unlike decades gone-by when one might cringe at the use of such a politically affronting term, the crowd at Awesome Con actually embraces it.
鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled to be here to interact with geeks very much like myself,鈥� said Ema Griffin, aka, Supergirl, who says she attends several such shows each year. 鈥淲hile I love the booths, the products for sale and the chance to meet the stars of the shows I love, what I really like the most is the opportunity for 鈥榗os-play.鈥欌��
Without question, 鈥渃os-play鈥� (short for costume-play) 鈥� and those who revel in its practice 鈥� are the real true stars of Awesome Con.
Asha Gray, a D.C. relationship counselor by day was Belle from 鈥淏eauty and the Beast鈥� for the weekend; Tim Black, Jamie Harrison and Tracey Harrison produced a fascinating hybrid of 鈥淢ad Max鈥� meets 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥� while a fellow known only as 鈥淢ino, the Black Mage鈥� was an erstwhile Jedi Knight (although he appeared perhaps to be more a Padawan in training).
Watch a video with sights and sounds from Awesome Con:
Without question, the crowd 鈥� fueled by several hundred cos-play characters 鈥� is what makes the show so much fun.
鈥淲ashington, D.C. is kind of a hub of geekiness,鈥� said show manager Ben Penrod, a native of Annapolis. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen this influx of young people moving into D.C., which is just perfect for Awesome Con. These young people are passionate about the things they like and those things just so happen to be in line with what we do at Awesome Con 鈥� it鈥檚 pop culture, TV, movies, super heroes, zombies 鈥� so having these people who are into that stuff, moving to D.C. in hordes, is really good for us.鈥�
Adding to the excitement, Penrod said, is additional programming above and beyond the action on the show floor.
鈥淎wsome-Con also includes panels, workshops and discussion groups, plus we throw in some really big special events like a conversation with Kevin Smith, the writer/director of 鈥楥lerks,鈥� 鈥楳allrats,鈥� 鈥楥hasing Amy,鈥� and 鈥楤ill Nye the Science Guy,鈥� coming in to talk about science and education. These are extra events on top of everything else we鈥檙e doing out here.鈥�
And finally, there are the celebrities. While perhaps not the cream of the crop 鈥淎-list鈥� personalities, Awesome Con has brought to town some of truly major players and characters in TV and movies including Adam West and Burt Ward (of 鈥淏atman鈥� fame), Peter Capaldi and John Barrowman (鈥淒r. Who鈥�), Karl Urban (Dr. McCoy in the rebooted 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� films), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom from 鈥淗arry Potter鈥�) and Robin Lord Taylor (Penguin in 鈥淕otham鈥�), among others.
Perhaps there鈥檚 something truly to be learned from such unity. After all, if these stars from different genres can peacefully coexist, it stands to reason that so too can superheroes learn to 鈥渃ross the aisle.鈥�
After all, this is Awesome Con, in Washington.
IF YOU GO…
- Where: Walter E. Washington Convention Center
- When: June 3-5; Fri. 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Sun. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- Buy tickets on
Steve Winter and Kenny Fried are 海角社区app contributors who work for , a Sage Communications Company.
