What a blast this weekend was! After screwing myself out of attending December’s show, I was eager to get back to Monroeville to attend Steel City Con. There were a ton of great guests this time around and I definitely made the most of it.
I left fairly early on Saturday morning to make it in time to catch Paige O’Hara, who’s most notably known for voicing Belle in Beauty and the Beast. It was a fun panel, and I was surprised at how many devoted fans there were. I guess I underestimated the power of Disney. Following Paige was Alexander Ludwig. I’ve seen him in several movies, and I’ve been eager to check out his latest show Heels, but he got a wonderful array of questions. He definitely has a passion for his craft and is thankful for all the opportunities he’s had over his, admittedly young, caree. Next in the list of panels was Jon Bernthal, who I was most excited to see. His was a brief one, so I didn’t get the chance to ask a question, but I was glad that there was variety to the questions being thrown his way. Immediately following him was Christina Ricci, who I thought was going to get bombarded with Yellowjackets questions, but instead fans were pretty obsessed with The Addams Family.
After all the panels for the day I made my rounds slowly through Artist Alley to see what all there was to offer before heading to a couple of autograph sessions. I first got to meet the very petite and kind, Christina Ricci. She even signed my drawing! Luckily, that line was nice and quick. I’d been hearing horror stories since Friday. Next up I decided to brave Jon Bernthal’s line during Matthew Lewis’ panel (sorry Potter people), and only ended up standing in line for an hour. Totally worth it. This man is so nice and once he found out I had drawn him, was super complementary. All those meet and greets go so quick, but I appreciated the time he spent talking with me. I was also excited I got to tell him that Small Engine Repair was my favorite film of 2021 – he was very honored by that. After that meeting, I headed out, but excited to come back on Sunday.
The next day I showed up pretty early and snagged a good seat for the only two panels of the day (that weren’t costume contests). First up was A Nightmare on Elm Street, which still blows my mind with how many people are obsessed with that franchise. What makes that panel even more enjoyable was how much the actors love it, too. And they love talking about it! Heather Langenkamp didn’t even hesitate in saying that she’d participate in another installment of the franchise if it ever came around. After their panel was one with the great Christopher Lloyd. Given that the man is in his eighties, it went alright, but the best part was when he and everyone in the conference room sang happy birthday to a man right in front of me, courtesy of his wife. Very cool present! His Q&A time slot was supposed to be Hayden Panettiere’s, so it wasn’t quite as exciting for me. Hopefully she can attend one of the other cons later this year!
After the panels, I made my way to front half of the convention center to check out what all of the vendors had to offer. And there were a ton of vendors! What I saw the most of hands down were comic books, Funko Pops, action figures (Star Wars being the most prominent), and fictional weapons. There was also the rogue food vendor here and there. On a whim that morning, I decided to get an autograph session with Alexander Ludwig, so I bought a very cool fellow pen artist’s print of him and headed over! Luck was with me and the line for him had died down, so I was able to spend a few extra minutes talking about projects with him. Very kind and down to earth. Overall, my first time doing two days at the con were very satisfying!
As much fun as it all was, I was one of a very small handful of souls still sporting a mask, which is kind of disappointing, but to each his own at this point I guess. Another complaint is how crowded this event center gets! I know they want as many people as possible to enjoy the event, but it makes the building entirely too hot and hard to maneuver around. I imagine it’s overwhelming being a vendor or a celebrity guest. All in all though, it was a blast, and I know I’ll be at future events held by Steel City Con.