An atmosphere crackling with exhilaration pairs well with the gray sky overhead on Saturday, June 4^th in Philadelphia. Camera flashes streak across the ground capturing euphoric cosplayers ready to enter the giant building, but who are more than happy to take a moment and strike a pose. Colorful characters dashing for the door are accompanied by a thunderous excitement mimicking a great storm, as the Pennsylvania Convention Center fills with a multitude of heroes and villains. A visit from the Gods of Thunder and Mischief add fuel to already fired up spirits, excited to share their passions in this welcoming like-minded environment. This is my first impression of Wizard World and we aren’t even inside yet!

The energy is incredible and I fear my heart may explode while I watch my friend freeze for the cameraman in front of the convention door. She looks amazing in her Lady Loki cosplay. Wearing my take on Death from Sandman, I try to calm my heart as I wait for her to finish entrancing the cameras. Finally, the open door takes us to a fantasy world inhabited by strange and familiar faces. Decked out bodies ranging from Deadpool to Powerpuff Girls make last minute adjustments in the foyer, Captain America passes by with Pikachu, and pirates strut with Harley Quinn on the ground floor. Camaraderie is thick in the air as people compliment each other on outfits painstakingly put together for the con. The Joker’s permanent smile is reflected on every made-up face as we make our way up the packed escalator to the second floor. Following the crowd’s excited chatter through what feels like the longest hallway I’ve walked, we arrive at the large space that houses the ticket lines and entry.

 

Music blares through massive speakers set on either side of the entrance to Wizard World. With wristbands on and weapons checked, we work our way through the crush of costumed bodies to the beautiful sight that is the vendor area. My cohort and I decide to book it to the back of the convention center to get our spot in line for the first highlight of our day, an 11:20am photo op with Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth. As we rush past Artist Alley, the only hint of disaster in the air is the tight schedule we have; the photo op, a 12:00 autograph with Tom, 1:00 Thor and Loki panel, and finally a 2:30 autograph with Chris. Hard to care about time when the Mad Hatter is having an animated conversation with Ezio from Assassin’s Creed and Jason Vorhees is looming on the horizon while you wait in line to meet Thor and Loki.

The line stretches forever until, out of nowhere, we are in the curtained area staring at two people who embody the physical presence of their characters. Both men are tall and well built, but Tom has a mischievous twinkle in his eye and a playfulness about him that would make Loki proud. Chris is a bit more reserved. He interacts when prompted and is not rude by any means, it just seems that maybe the amount of fans is a bit much. A firm “Next!” knocks me out of my star-struck stare. Lady Loki rushes to Tom’s right side leaving his left (and Chris) open for me. Looking up at both of them has a giddiness spreading from the pit of my stomach, out to my fingers, and breaking through to a glorious smile on my face. “Next!” marks the end of the photo and we thank the actors as we exit. A small moment leaves two women ecstatically giggling like school girls in its aftermath.

It’s almost noon and they still have a huge line to go through. We really don’t want to miss anything so we hurry over to the autograph area where the volunteer assures us that Tom will be appearing after the photo ops are complete. We snag a place in line directly behind famous cosplayers Loki Hates You and ThorTV. (Side note: I am a new fan of Loki Hates You and recommend every one check him out on Facebook and Twitter.)  Still coming down from schoolgirl status, we proceed to chat the famous cosplayer’s ears off. He assures us we are good company and tells us about his move from Rhode Island to California. Loki may hate me, but he sure is good company. Our conversation is disturbed by news that the signing has been postponed to 5:30pm due to the abundance of fans and the overly tight scheduling.

The size of the center coupled with the amount we still haven’t seen gives us a lot to compress into three hours. Lady Loki is stopped for photos with other Lokis, Poison Ivy, people in regular clothes, and many more. We head to Artist Alley first, where I stop to talk to artist Robert Quill, whose work resembles J. Scott Campbell (a personal favorite of mine).In the alley we catch Leelou Dallas hanging near members of the Fire Nation. Pyramid Head reaches out for me as the day passes by in a blur. Magneto stops to show me his powers and even lets this non-mutant take a picture. Cosplayers young and old dash about in a frenzy that has my head whipping around like an excited kid in a candy store. Our only enemy is the time that ticks by lacking empathy for how much we still want to do in one day.

4:00 hits and we still haven’t made it to the vendor area.  A quick stop at Kevin Hock’s Fantasy Killer booth so I can grab issue #2 and we are off towards the front! Chris Evans and Michael J. Fox are doing their autographs at the back of the center, creating space for us to make haste towards the bounty of weapons and t-shirts laid out for our perusal. Lady Loki picks up a hand-made wooden scepter and a giant Mjolnir. I am stoked to see that Period Panties has a booth and is ran by the designer/creator Anthony (whose last name I didn’t catch). My friend poses for more photos, eating up the last of the time we have. Another mad dash is made back to the autograph area where I grab a quick shot of Billy Boyd from the side speaking to fans.

A wall of discontent stops our progress outside of the Chris Hemsworth signing. Upset voices can be heard mumbling “They should have planned for this” and “I better still get my autograph”. The volunteers aren’t letting any more people into the crowded roped off area. Fear hits like a lightning bolt in the pit of my stomach. We had been assured before leaving for Artist Alley that we would have our place in line for both Tom and Chris’ signing. Overwhelmed tears in the volunteer’s eyes has me sympathetically explaining our situation. After two people exit, we reclaim our spot behind ThorTV and Loki Hates You. I truly feel bad for the volunteers, but the sense of relief from a “crisis” averted has us happy to be resting in line.

Unhappy echoes serenade us until they are silenced by cheers, “There he is!” “Thor is on his way!” Volunteers escort Christ Hemsworth to his seat on the dais, his tight lipped smile unchanged from the photo op. He treats every fan with kindness as the line starts moving. The photo I have lacks a sticky note (handed out by staff for ease of spelling) it must have fallen off. My turn is up, Chris looks down pausing to ask in his wonderful Australian accent “And who is this to?” I’d like to say my response came out in a normal tone, but schoolgirl Sherry was back and I babbled out a response that had him misspelling my Cousin Sarah’s name. His patience garnered respect and he even laughed at my joke about his awesome presence being to blame. Tom’s signing is set to take place directly after Chris finishes his line. The scene plays out the same (long wait, discontent, etc.) except a volunteer announces that Mr. Hiddleston will be staying late to guarantee every autograph is signed. He enters through the back with a cheeky smile and greeting for fans. Being near the front enabled us to observe his dedication to his work. Nobody is rushed through his line and each fan gets a moment of personal attention. I leave star struck and giddy over the encounter. Neither actor exhibited the inconvenience they must have felt over the constant confusion. With only ten minutes left in the con, my friend and I exit, happy to have met our heroes.

For me, a con isn’t about celebrities; it’s about the environment and people I can share the day with. Getting to meet Tom and Chris was awesome, they were so very kind. Cosplayers famous and unknown brought fantasy to life in the best ways possible. My favorite part was spending the day with my friend. I will say that confusion and misinformation made us miss a panel we were really looking forward to. Sadly we spent most of the day rushing to stand in lines instead of walking around enjoying all the con had to offer. I really don’t want to focus on the negative so I will leave it at this; I hope Wizard World learned from their scheduling mistake. A lot of people were upset and the poor volunteers had no idea what was going on. I had to keep hounding stressed out staff for information due to constantly being misinformed. That aside, I had a great Saturday and only one regret: my camera phone had limited space on it.