A FLORIDA SUPERCON REPORT

[MattBrady]

by Steve Fritz

The first con I ever attended was back in 1972. It was in Philadelphia, at an august old hotel in the Center City District.

Its sponsor was the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society. Yes, Phil Seuling was doing his Comic Arts Conventions in New York, but we had to take AMTRAK to go to one of those. Comic book shops were virtually unheard of. The big local shindig was the annual PSFS affair, which I would go to for the next decade. They were always packed.

One thing I remembered about the PSFS cons over the others was the diversity of genres represented. Yes, the big mags (like Analog and IF, authors and lots and lots of paperback books featuring authors like Fred Pohl, were available. So were comics, Star Trek and Doctor Who, the film THX 1138 by a young director named George Lucas, a new game called Dungeons & Dragons, the latest prog rock bands and a lot, lot more were easily available. Yes, the female gender were harder to come by, but they were there.

This year’s Florida Supercon brought thoughts of those halcyon days 36 years ago. In certain ways I felt I had gone through a ripple in time and saw that kind of diversity all over again.

For those not in the know, Florida Supercon is the creation of former film producer and distributor Mike Broder. He started it three years ago in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida with his first major guest being voice artist Billy West along with some retired golden agers like Dick Giordano and Roy Thomas. The idea was the Southeast corner of Florida is no where near big enough to support a pure comic book, anime, what-have-you con, so why not mix it up? The fan response was instantaneous and, for Broder, a bit of a jolt. Since his initial Supercon, he’s had to move it to a larger hotel each year.

This time the hotel was the Hyatt Bonaventure in Weston, FL. A true four-star hotel—its guests include the Bush family (yep, those Bushes…and the Bin Ladens)—the place is slightly too close to the Everglades for my personal comfort, but is also exceedingly large and remarkably clean. All activities could be held on one floor, with a separate building for those who decided it was cheaper to rent a room rather than drive back and forth from their homes.

To be honest, I found guests even more diverse than my first con way back when. Top honors went to the likes of Brian O’Halloran (Dante of the Clerks films); Natalia Tena, Seamus Murray, Hugh Mitchell, Danielle Tabor and David Decio from the Harry Potter films. The anime side was repped by voice artists Richard Epcar, his wife Ellyn Stern and a rep from FUNimation. For fans of domestic animation, there were voice artists Grey Delisle, Dana Snyder, Samantha Newark and Larry Kenney. J-Rock stars Tadahia Yoshida and local band Peelander-Z would perform at night. A small wing was devoted to gaming, video or otherwise. There was a large cosplay sector as well.

Yes, there were comic book writers and artists. Most notable were Frank Brunner, Dan Slott, Pat Broderick and Clayton Henry, among others. And let’s be honest, it wouldn’t be a con without a freak factor. For that, there were Chris Crocker and Mary Votava (aka Monkey Woman from Stan Lee’s Who Wants To Be a Superhero).

My only gripe is the hotel definitely knew it was in the middle of no where. If you wanted something as cheap as a hot dog, you had to fork out $4.00. At least they didn’t charge for the mustard. On the other hand, while final numbers haven’t been released, by all accounts it broke all previous con attendance records; safely into the several thousand by my guesstimate. Considering that for most of the decade and before the Supercon what passed for comic book cons would be lucky if they went into the hundreds, that’s saying something.

“I think they got two things going for them,” said Tony Otati, grand patriarch of Ft. Lauderdale’s Tate’s Comics. “The first is the price of gasoline. People are actually saving money by going here and spending $30 for the weekend instead of travelling. The other is it’s Memorial Day weekend, and the fans know they’ll have Monday to recuperate.”

As it was, Otati and a number of other dealers all reported they were doing incredibly good business that weekend. Yes, they had to remain ever-vigilant for shoplifting, but one jewelry dealer reported to me she only had one incident in the first two days, and the culprit was rapidly apprehended, too.

“Actually, everything’s been going really smooth,” said one of the con’s senior security guards, who preferred to go under the name of Silver. “The only gate crashers we had to deal with were actually some guests from a wedding being held at the same time. They figured out a back door through one of the hotel’s kitchens. In fact, one of the hotel’s security people came up to me and said he’d rather work seven or eight of our cons in a row than deal with the annual gathering of the Young Republicans.”

Probably the biggest difference between this modern-day con and the ones of my youth though was the music. Back in my salad days, concerts primarily were made up of the occasional filk fest or, if you actually did like music, finding someone who had snuck in a stereo system and start blasting the likes of Bowie, Roxy, the Dolls and Hawkwind at top volume.

The Supercon had actual bands, and by that I don’t mean GWAR. The dance floor was dominated by a young lady named DJ Heavygrinder. Bishi Boy Yoshida had the girls, the other bands had their followings as well. There are now rumors abounding that other rock bands are looking at cons of this nature as a way to promote themselves and sell their product. Let’s not say I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised if this becomes a music marketing strategy of the future. Major “new” rock station 93 Rock (owned by Cox) had one of the largest booths at the con, and was actually broadcasting and interviewing fans out of there.

Then again, this latest twist in cons also brings up the one true sour note. It seems Potter fans started forming their own rock bands. They even produced a movie, called Wizard Rock, about the subgenre. Honestly, it sounds like the worst elements of emo and filk singing had an abortion. The mewling hordes of Potter fans didn’t seem to mind. My ears did. Maybe I’m getting old.

Actually, there was one more interesting element to the con that makes it a different affair from when I was the same age as the majority of attendees. Yes, every single person there would say they went because they were a fan, but the Supercon was also a place for them to simply socialize. Fanaticism for the latest twist in an episode of Naruto, Death Note, who or what was a Skrull or would Avatar’s Katara would wind up with Aang or Zuko was not to the fore. A pack of young studs cruising around like ANBU squads were targeting cosplay girls with a different type of ambush in mind. Two young ladies, one dressed like Supergirl (in all black uniform) while the other in a Wasp uniform were catching their share of bad boys as well.

But I got the impression they weren’t exactly going off to their secret lairs to read comics. Neither were the fans who were less nattily attired. To them, this was a big chance to socialize. Yes, there were common interests, but carping about what happened to Peter and Mary Jane wasn’t going to help you on the dance floor…and after 9:00 p.m. the dance floor had more than its share of gilded youth.

Yet when all was said and done, the overall memory of this con is it benefited from its diversity. It included Dan Slott giving lessons on how to write for the pros, Richard Epcar playing outtakes from the various anime shows he directed, Potter stars looking somewhat bewildered but enjoying all the fan attention, Grey Delisle running from behind her table to pose for anyone who wanted a photograph. There was also Brian O’Halloran plugging his next movie, Brutal Massacre and Dana Snyder showing off his Rock Star prowess with proper guitar wank moves. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I strolled into the gaming wing and found about a half-dozen or so nose deep in Dungeons & Dragons, the same way I found them in certain corners of the cons I went to in the early 70s.

So maybe everything old is new again. I’m not necessarily finding that a bad thing.

[GLX]

Wait...Chris Crocker was there? Oi.

[sfritz]

Originally Posted by GLX

Wait...Chris Crocker was there? Oi.

Yep...selling topless photos of herself and drawing a small, steady crowd at her signing table.

It reminded me of some anime girl who used to do the Big Apple cons back in NYC. I forget her name, which I find a small blessing. -s

[Hazard]

Weston, FL? Might as well rename this con to BFE Con.

There are plenty of hotels in Fort Lauderdale, which is 5 minutes from the airport and easy to get to on I-95. Not to mention the War Memorial Auditorium and other smaller venues. Here's hoping for The Convention Center one day!

[sfritz]

Originally Posted by Hazard

Weston, FL? Might as well rename this con to BFE Con.

There are plenty of hotels in Fort Lauderdale, which is 5 minutes from the airport and easy to get to on I-95. Not to mention the War Memorial Auditorium and other smaller venues. Here's hoping for The Convention Center one day!

BFE?

KNowing Mike Broder personally, I will say in his defense he shopped like a maniac. The previous hotel was a Marriott in Pompano that was ideally located (walking distance from the Tri-Rail, right on Andrews Ave), but it was a disaster structurally.

I remember when I helped do some cons in NYC. Finding a good hotel that won't rip you off, is sound internally and nicely located isn't as easy as it sounds.

-s