Hello everyone, welcome back to the Nightcrawler Experience!
I have a report and a devotional for you guys today, relating to my experiences at the Megacon comic convention I went to a week ago.
Like with most of the comic book conventions I've been to in the past, I had a lot of fun there. I went there with my friends Jon and Andrew, and other than Jon being annoyed at how long he waited to get Stan Lee's autograph, they both had a good time, too. Earlier that morning, Jon and I started what I think will likely become a new tradition for our get- togethers: A morning Bible study. Considering that we first met and became friends through a Christian club on our college campus, it seems right that we should "Get back to our roots," so to speak, and spend at least some of our time together learning more about God.
A couple notable media guests at Megacon that I met and got the autographs of were Allison Mack (Who played the intrepid Chloe Sullivan on the TV show 'Smallville') and Rob Paulsen (Voice actor extraordinaire, playing such roles as Yakko Warner on 'Animaniacs,' Pinky on 'Pinky and the Brain,' and Carl on 'Jimmy Neutron'; I got him to do a little of his Yakko voice when I met him). It was seriously crowded, especially as the day wore on, and due to my size, I would often have to act as a kind of "Human bulldozer," clearing a path through the crowds for my friends to get through.
I got the autographs of plenty of comic book writers and artists, as well. One of them, artist/ writer David Finch, took an insanely long time, because so many of the people in line ahead of me wanted him to do sketches for them (Which has long been a pet peeve of mine at conventions, due to how much it can slow down the lines), and he was particularly painstaking about each one he did. Fortunately, the guy ahead of me in line was kind enough to hold my place in line while I went off and did some other things. I was able to get a free Captain America pin, which is now proudly attached to my travel backpack, and a couple other small souvenirs, though I didn't buy a whole lot of things there. When I go to comic conventions, I'm usually more concerned with getting the things I already own signed by the writers and artists who worked on them than I am about getting new things for my collection.
However, there were some disappointments associated with Megacon as well. One of the guests I had really been looking forward to meeting, cult movie actor Ron Perlman (Known for playing, among other roles, the titular superhero in the 'Hellboy' films, the villainous Slade in the animated TV show 'Teen Titans,' and the brutish Stabbington Brothers in Disney's 'Tangled'), abruptly cancelled his appearance at Megacon due to a scheduling conflict less than 10 days before the convention started. Then, as if that weren't enough, a comic guest that I had SERIOUSLY been excited about meeting, Mark Waid (Comic book writer who created 'Irredeemable' and 'Incorruptible,' the latter of which I'm a big fan of), cancelled his appearance at literally the last minute, less that 24 hours before the convention started! According to a convention employee, the previous day, Megacon staff were frantically looking for Waid for quite a while before hearing from one of their contacts that he had cancelled. I had a lot of things I wanted to have him sign, so to say I was disappointed would be an understatement.
From this, though, I was reminded of an important truth about God and mankind: While men can disappoint us and let us down the way Perlman and Waid did by cancelling on such short notice, God is always faithful, and will never let us down. This is why we as Christians are to put our faith and trust in the Lord, rather than trusting simply in our own devices or those of other people. People, even good people who are well- intentioned, are fallible and can occasionally do things that aren't right. It's why in 1 Samuel 8:4- 22, God used Samuel to try and warn the Israelites not to appoint a king over themselves, because He knew that their giving that much unchecked power over them to a fellow fallible human simply because they wanted to be like other nations was a bad idea. Instead, we should keep our trust in God, as He will always be with us and seek our good. Psalm 33:4 says that "For the word of the Lord is right and true: He is faithful in all He does." God is always there for us out of His incredible love for us.
And so, that's my experience at Megacon 2014. While it wasn't all that it could have been, I still had a great time, as did my friends, and Andrew has already talked about the possibility of us doing it again next year!
That's all for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. I should have another entry up soon! See you then, and God bless!
