Blue Milk Special

The return of Guri. See her first appearance here in case you missed it. Useful context.

This Saturday, June 22, we will be at the Baysox Stadium in Bowie, MD, enjoying the local Star Wars Night. We will be supporting the The 501st and Rebel Legions and witnessing Jedi Saber Combat performances between each inning! If you live in the Maryland / DC area, you might be interested in attending. A great opportunity to experience a mixture of Star Wars and baseball for the whole family.

I mentioned on Facebook that Blue Milk Special will be at Annapolis Comic Con next Saturday June 29. Though it’s our first show in Annapolis, we love any excuse to visit the beautiful city that is known as the Sailing Capital of the World, and home to some excellent Ghost Walks. If you’re not into sailing, or ghost stories, then perhaps comics or Star Wars can bring you out to meet us. We will have the usual goodies on offer: our glossy full color Bounty Hunters promo cards (FREE), Vader’s muggy, prints, sketches, secrets… This is a one day, Saturday only show from 10am-6pm. Admission is $10, Kids get in FREE. You can join the Facebook Event with info here.

AWESOME CON DC KICKSTARTER

We have a few conventions lined up this year, with the possibility of more depending on our schedule. I talked to Ben Penrod, head of Awesome Cons and a huge comic book aficionado. Ben is responsible for starting Annapolis Comic Con with his friend Steve Anderson, from Third Eye Comics, one of the largest comic stores on the East Coast.

BMS: What is your earliest Star Wars memory?

BEN: My mom bought the VHS tapes for the entire trilogy when I was a kid, so we’d watch them all the time. I loved Return of the Jedi the most because Jabba’s Palace was such a fantastical location and I loved the swordfights and the Ewok Treehouse Village. When I was 5 or 6 years old, if I could have lived anywhere it would have been a treehouse village, so actually seeing one on TV was just the greatest.

Along with his addiction to comics, Ben seems to have discovered another for conventions, putting together Southern Maryland Comic Con last year in Waldorf, Maryland. Not yet finished, Ben and Steve decided to host the first major comic convention in the nation’s capital in years, Awesome Con DC. Whether the con returns in 2014 depends on the success of Ben’s Kickstarter, in what we believe is a first for a comic convention utilizing crowd-sourced funding.

BMS: There seems to be a mystery surrounding the reason there has been no comic convention in Washington, DC for years. Judging by this year’s turn out, I’m guessing it’s not for lack of attendees.

BEN: I really don’t know. The Washington Convention Center is among the most easily-accessible locations of any comic-con I’ve ever been to. It’s literally on top of a Metro station. Anybody who exits that station is deposited at the door of the Convention Center. Yes, parking is a hassle, but not any more than parking anywhere else in DC. There was definitely a great demand for something like this in the District.

BMS: There are some great shows nearby like Virginia Comic Con, Annapolis Comic Con and Baltimore Comic Con. Each city has its own flavor and attractions for out-of-towners, but few have as big a draw as the nation’s capital. Seems like something you can build off.

BEN: Absolutely. The District is the crown jewel of the entire mid-Atlantic region. The metro area is vibrant, and there’s a ton of diversity in the area, which really lends itself to a comic-con. The “average person” at a comic-con could be anybody, man, woman, old, young, any race, student, teacher, lawyer, immigrant, these are all the types of people I have met, in abundance, at comic-cons. It really excludes nobody, so having an event like this in the District, which also excludes nobody, is perfect.

BMS: I once organized a garage sale and it was a nightmare. How challenging was it to organize the first Awesome Con last April?

BEN: This is something I immediately realized that I had a knack for, when we ran the first Annapolis Comic-Con in 2011. And I didn’t realize that I had been doing it for years and years. I would obsess over the smallest detail on planning vacations, birthday parties, etc. Obsessing over details comes naturally to me so I feel like I’ve found my calling. That said, it was a ridiculous amount of work. The entire month of April I slept for maybe 6 minutes.

BMS: Sleep is underrated. When you get to my age, Ben, you’ll understand. Okay, so what were some of the coolest events at the show?

BEN: The costume contest was ridiculous, there were so many fantastic costumes. Super Art Fight was great (they’ll be back in 2014!), we had a concert and stand-up comedy. All of the panels and events were well-attended and got rave reviews, so we’ll have more of the same next year and we’re coming up with even more cool ideas, since we’ll have a lot more space.

BMS: I already know that the buzz among comic artists and writers was great. Everyone we have talked to in the industry has given it a rave review. Aside from making the show bigger, do you have plans to try anything new at next year’s event?

BEN: Yeah, absolutely. Depending on how the Kickstarter goes, we should have a pretty healthy budget for trying some crazy stuff. I love traditional comic-cons, the exhibitor floor, the artists’ alley, Q&As with special guests. But I also love all the cool stuff that goes on around an anime con, how they aren’t very centrally located and seem to exist in 100 different places at once. I’d love to merge the two styles and see if we can just give everybody the time of their lives.

BMS: A big announcement was that George Perez would be at Awesome Con DC 2014. What can a Star Wars fan expect to find at the show?

BEN: We haven’t really planned that far ahead on anything as specific as Star Wars, but we are trying to find guests from as many of the major geek properties as possible. If you’ve got any ideas, let me know! We’ll probably start the serious brainstorming on programming in November. Maybe 2014 will be the year when I can get Jan Duursema and John Ostrander on a panel together.

BMS: You know what would make Awesome Con even more awesome? Carrie Fisher.

BEN: I’d be all for that. We just have to find the money to make it happen!

Thanks to Ben for taking a moment during the middle of his Kickstarter campaign to talk to us. The first Awesome Con DC show, held in April of 2013, was a success and everyone we spoke to wanted to know why Blue Milk Special wasn’t there. We have decided to back the Awesome Con DC Kickstarter pledging for an Artist table at the event and appearing for the first time in Washington, DC. Even if you’re not local, this might be the ideal time to plan a small vacation in the nation’s capital to soak up the sights, monuments and museums and celebrate your patriotism. You have just 16 days to support the project to guarantee the con happens. What do you say?

Awesome Con DC Kickstarter Campaign
Awesome Con DC Website
Awesome Con DC Facebook Page