Second year at Galaxycon! I regret not looking into this relatively local con sooner than last year, but better late than never, I guess.
The size of this con, while smaller than NYCC, is still tenfold compared to Steel City Con, and for something in Ohio, that’s really quite a shock. I had the pleasure of bringing one of my friends with me this year, and to her very first con, no less! Thankfully, I think she prepared herself for crowds, but some of them seemed much more intense than last year. I heard people saying it was worse because Hayden Christensen was there this year, but certainly there had to have been a guest as big last year? Either way, I didn’t really feel the impact during any panels, but the showroom floor was a wild mess!
Thankfully, the showroom floor isn’t really why I ever attend cons. I don’t need more things in my life, so I’m really there for the celebrities. And Galaxycon delivers! After getting though the obscene registration line in almost no time at all, my friend and I headed to the main exhibition hall to catch most of the Twilight panel featuring Kellan Lutz and Peter Facinelli. It was nice hearing them reminisce about that time sweetly and with only fond memories. Of course, the process was hard and almost unlike anything any of them had experienced before, but it was cool to learn that they really leaned on each other. After that, we stuck around for Thomas Lennon’s panel. Most known for Reno 911!, he came clad in his Lieutenant Jim Dangle costume, hot pants and all. He requested “confrontational questions only” from the audience, though he was a hoot. Lennon is my favorite type of panel guest because he’s both silly and sincere.
Paling maybe to only the Hannibal panel earlier this year, I’ve never been in a room as crowded as the one for Hazbin Hotel. Having just finished the show earlier in the week, I had no clue this show had such a huge fan base. I did see plenty of cosplay honoring the show while waiting in the registration line, but it was standing room only for this panel! I think it helped that almost the entire voice cast was in attendance. Boy, did they have fun with it! Since the show is quite mature, I wasn’t surprised by some of the antics onstage, but it’s clear that the show has positively impacted a lot of fans’ lives. With there being so many cast members on stage (nine!), it was hard to get any real rhythm down for any answers, and some barely spoke, but they seemed to be having a real blast up there. I know there’s several more seasons of the show in the works, so I’m sure I’ll be seeing them pop up at more cons in the future.
After that, we decided to muscle through the showroom floor. As usual, there were vendors for almost anything you could think of. Plenty of objects were tempting in their cuteness or coolness, but I resisted for the most part. My friend walked away with a pretty sweet medieval-looking chalice for a white elephant gift, but otherwise we stayed strong. We also strolled through the gaming section where we watched some real wrestlers epically fail at playing a video game version of what they do for a living. It was a riot! Finally, I made my way over to the celebrity area, which is the whole reason I ever attend these cons. I admired the Halloweentown cast from afar, as well as Ghost‘s Utkarsh Ambudkar. Sadly, I couldn’t even get a glimpse at Hayden Christensen, but the people I was there for had blessedly short lines this late in the afternoon.
First up was Ted Lasso‘s Phil Dunster. I chose to see him first because I was the most nervous to. He’s just so dang handsome. And let me tell you what, that is equally the case in person. Damn him. But, he was so sweet and really impressed with the drawing I had him sign. He told me he liked that photo because one of his friends had taken it. Overall, a great interaction. Equally as sweet and warm was Chris Parnell! I’m sure many folks were there to talk to him about Rick and Morty or Archer, but I strolled up in a custom Team Rod shirt with my Hot Rod DVD from 2007 ready to be signed. He said he was happy to have seen so many people so far over the weekend showing him love for his small part in the film. He even told me he got to hang out with Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme on set for a bit. Unsurprisingly, a cool guy. Couldn’t have asked for better interactions!
We ended the day later than I normally would, but they were in favor of two more great panels. The first was with the endlessly talented and super humble Ernie Hudson. The latter was with part of the cast of Our Flag Means Death. What another delightful treat that panel was! They were all funny, as I expected, but the amount of love they threw at the crowd was endearing. I have no clue if that show has a future after its cancelation on Max, but I have a feeling they’ll get plenty of love at many cons in the future if they so choose to attend. Another successful year at Galaxycon!