Maybe it had something to do with the full moon, maybe it had to do with Halloween, but this convention weekend could only be termed “interesting,” especially at the Alamo City Comic Con.
Alamo City Comic Con is in their sixth year and well-known for bringing in guests that no one else has. This year’s guests included Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rick Moranis, and Jeff Goldblum. This lineup thrilled fans, but also made for an extremely crowded and disorganized event.
There were comments about escalators being restricted for VIP only access, overcrowding, disorganized floor arrangement, and untrained staff. There were also numerous complaints about certain panels being suddenly restricted to VIP access only, or for VIP bonuses being not available or “sold out” when it was part of the ticket packages. The complaints for Alamo are numerous:
- Some security gates let bags through, other security gates did not.
- One of the food vendors (not sure on all the details) supposedly would not serve anyone with masks or facepaint.
- People told events or panels were full only to find out that they could go in through a different door.
- Autograph lines were frequently cut off and/or moved, leaving people lost as to how they could get the autographs they paid for.
- People told that pre-purchased printed tickets were redeemable at the celebrity tables, then when they got up there told they had to go back and trade it for a physical ticket/card. To top it off, they apparently ran out of cards, leading to even more confusion at the celebrity table signings.
- Elevators for “non-VIP” use were limited, unmarked, and most staff could not tell patrons where they were.
I’ve save the biggest Alamo problem for last. The costume contest:
MC CyaNide sounds like an okay choice for an MC, however this was the problem:
I’m not saying the cosplayer was trying to blackface, but the poor choice of costume and makeup definitely came across that way. This is not professional and does not truly represent cosplay.
Alamo City addressed it in a brief statement:
Each year we showcase and feature local artists and cosplayers as they are at the heart at the culture of comic con. This year we were asked by Nana Cosplay if they could host the cosplay contest in accordance with The Costumers Guild. Being that they were an experienced family cosplay group wanting to improve upon our contest, we had no reason to doubt their role. We were taken aback by the cosplay chosen as we do not nor have not needed to pre screen host attire in the past. We understand how this can be seen as hurtful & offensive. We have always embraced diversity & feel this was done in poor judgement.
No one has been able to contact CyaNide for confirmation but one theory is that he was portraying the character Powerline from A Goofy Movie
Yes, it is a dark-skinned (furred?) anthromorphic dog, but this cosplayer took it a little too far. The character can be portrayed in a much better manner as easily found with a quick Google search:
Hopefully Alamo addresses the issues and keeps a better eye on whom they hire next year to represent them.
