Motor City Comic Con has been a landmark event since before
Great Lakes Base even existed.
Some of my earliest and fondest memories of trooping have involved a
roadtrip up to Michigan for the annual comic book convention and assembly of
Rebel Legion and 501st members. The convention has grown significantly over the years and
Great Lakes Base has had to grow along with it.
Because of travelling for Star Wars Celebration, for budget
reasons Snips and I elected to attend this year’s Motor City in a single day-trip
on Saturday; like in the old days.
Early on a Saturday morning, we loaded up the car and plotted our
“navicomputer” for the Novi (just outside of Detroit) system. Driving with a GPS for Motor City Comic
Con is somewhat ironic, because after so many years of making this pilgrimage
up to the Suburban Collection Showcase (home of MCCC) would be something we
could do on memory alone? We probably could… but as a Luke Skywalker fan, “I
like to keep it on Manual Control for a while.”
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| photo by: Anna Rossman |
Once we found parking and get inside the convention hall,
the thing that struck me the most is how jam-packed the show floor is with
vendors, artist and celebrity guests. Motor City has always been known for booking a wide
selection of guests from your favorite TV shows, movies and even
wrestling. This year, Jeremy
Bulloch -- Rebel Legion Honorary Member and “Boba Fett” from the Empire Strikes
Back and Return of the Jedi – was in attendance. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Bulloch and his wife at
several events over the years; but it’s fun to watch the NEW members get to
meet him for the first time. There
was even a significant number Ohio Mercs from Rancor Clan who drove up just to
see the original Mandalorian bounty hunter.
In addition to meeting some of your favorite sci-fi/comic
book stars, another great thing about Motor City Con is the Star Wars fan group
area – which Great Lakes Base shares with Great Lakes Garrison, R2-Builders and
Suumpir’ade Clan. Motor City Comic
Con has always been one of the largest assembly of Star Wars costumers from
Michigan and Ohio – but also nearby Garrisons and Bases from other states. The group picture on Saturday has
become something of an event in it’s own right. They almost need to include it on the event program schedule. Anytime you bring close to 50+ Star
Wars costumers together in one place, it tends to draw a large crowd of people
with cameras.
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| photo by: Kristie Johnson |
Even after all these
years, the Star Wars groups remain a BIG HIT with fans attending Motor City
Comic Con!
In between photo shots and running to get in line for your
favorite guest autograph or panel, the other great thing about Motor City Comic
Con is that it is a chance to meet fellow GLB and GLG members that you normally
only interact with on the boards or facebook. As I talked with some of our newest GLB members, it occurred
to me that many of the people I remember from past MCCC conventions have long
since retired from Star Wars costuming.
I don’t mention this as a “sad” thing (quite the opposite) because it
means these NEW generation of Rebel Legion members are just beginning to build
their own “Motor City Comic Con” memories! And that is something I look forward to driving up next year
to hear about.
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