It’s not every day that you get to see or even meet a celebrity. Make that dozens of celebrities.
The city of Providence held its annual Rhode Island Comic Con at the RI Convention Center and Amica Mutual Pavilion during the first weekend of November, and it was a hit! I found myself lost in too many crowds. This is the second Comic Con I have been to, the first one being in a much smaller venue in Springfield, MA. Trying to navigate through everybody was a challenge, I had to be moving constantly and planning how to dodge people every few seconds. The action made it more exciting in my opinion.
The guest list was shockingly loaded with major names, from famous film and television actors to WWE wrestlers with a massive legacy. For Breaking Bad fans, some of its actors were present and open to meet and greets. Giancarlo Esposito who plays Gus Fring and Dean Norris who plays Hank Schrader were both there, yet they were also hard to find. Given their fame, there was most likely a sea of people trying to get an autograph.
I was lucky enough to meet and get a photo with Rob Wiethoff, most famous for his role as John Marston in the Red Dead Redemption video game franchise. He turned out to be incredibly humble. Alongside him were Roger Clarke and Benjamin Byron Davis, who play Arthur Morgan and Dutch Van Der Linde in Red Dead Redemption 2. Both were ecstatic to meet us all.
I wasn’t lucky enough to find her, but it was also Jojo Siwa’s first comic con. Whether you’re a fan or not, this was a good opportunity to see her in person.
If you’re a horror fan, you may know the name Matthew Lillard. His best work is in the first Scream movie as Stu Macher. He also played the villain William Afton in the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie released last year. His role as Shaggy in the live-action Scooby-Doo films. As a fan of all of these, I would have loved to meet him, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. Then again, there’s always next time!
For my Back to the Future fans, Michael J. Fox and the rest of the film’s cast had their own hall that you had to pay extra money to get into, but with so many beloved actors in one place, it was meant to be a special meet-and-greet.
Besides the guests, fans could peruse through miles of artwork and trinkets exclusive to this event. Everything had a price, but you certainly got your money’s worth. You could even look at model cars, meet tattoo artists, and the list goes on.
A huge staple for every Con including this one was cosplaying. Hundreds of people were dressed as their favorite characters. I was eager to see the levels of creativity cosplayers had. It really makes you wonder how people can see out of the costumes they make because they become barely recognizable!
Artwork was spread across a variety of booths with giant posters of fictional characters and locations. One eye-catcher is the holographic posters that change depending on the angle you view the poster. Old DVDs that are now rare were on display for people to purchase and collect as well. I looked through some, but there were almost too many to pick from!
Rhode Island Comic Con will surely return at the same time next year, so be prepared if you missed out this time! There’s no doubt it will be just as exciting!
