I was debating if I would do another write up on this local convention, since I'd already done so back in 2016 (with very positive things to say), but so much happened in such a short amount of time this year, that I simply couldn't imagine avoiding it! Everything in this post happened on Saturday; I didn't get to go on Sunday.
To be honest, I wasn't even sure if I could go to New Jersey Comic Expo this year. Despite having some very fairly-priced tickets, I admit I have not been in the best place with money right now, and wasn't sure if I would be able to fit this in with current budget constraints. Thankfully, things worked out enough that I could still manage this, and I'm so thrilled they did.
I got to the convention center a little after 11 AM, with an iced coffee tightly gripped into my hand for dear life. There was virtually no line to get in, so I was able to go right up to the ticket booth, scan my paper, and head on in. I started by doing a quick survey of the place, just to see where most things were (dealer's booths, artist alley, cosplay corner, etc.). Some of the first people I see happened to be Sal and Dave, the two behind Garden State Comic Fest. I pretty much see them at every local convention (as they are of course busy promoting their own, especially with their upcoming show in Atlantic City next year), but they're always a pleasure to talk with too. While I don't see myself heading out to Atlantic City for their new con, I'll be happy to attend their next one at the William G. Mennen Sports Arena once again.
The next table I stopped by was Scott Hanna's. He's one of my favorite inkers in comics, and worked on J. Michael Straczynski's Amazing Spider-Man run (the run that got me back into comic books in general!), so needless to say, I owe him quite a bit of gratitude. He's signed other issues for me before, so I only brought my copy of Amazing Spider-Man #500 this time. We both talked for a bit and agreed that he got off of the book at just the right time, as all of the following story arcs (seriously RIGHT after his departure) had a severe drop in quality, all the way through to One More Day, which I still complain about to this day.
After talking with Scott, I noticed my cosplay friend (also named Justin) had his own table in the artist alley, where he was selling sculpts he made of various things like Pokémon and Rick and Morty. I first met him at C3, where he did an excellent Obi-Wan Kenobi (prequel movie version). I love seeing friends of mine try and succeed in doing the things they love, so I really wish him the best.
I walked around a bit more, and caught up with my friend Candice, her brother Kevin, and their friend Jordan, who I hung out with last year and was really happy to see once again. They're a great group. I always feel like I can be myself around them, without fear of being judged for all my nerdy/introverted quirks (not that there was anyone even remotely mean at this convention, that I'm aware of).
Candice and I happened to be looking forward to the same guests (particularly Gail Simone and Garth Ennis), so we both set out to find their booths. When we finally reached Gail Simone's table, we were convinced that we were seeing things: She had absolutely no line whatsoever! Seriously, after multiple years where I missed my chance to meet her at New York Comic Con, it was almost unbelievable. She was just as nice as I've always heard, and had a really great spirit in the way she talked about comics. We all agreed that smaller cons can be so much nicer when it comes to breathing room and getting more time to chat with fans. She was kind enough to sign my Batgirl #1 (New 52) and take a picture. I would actually end up seeing her multiple times throughout the con, just from walking around, getting lunch, etc.
Garth Ennis's table was right around the corner, so Candice and I went to line up for him (since he would be arriving in less than 10 minutes). Thankfully, the line moved pretty fast once he got there, and he signed my copy of Preacher Vol. 1. I wish I had copies of his Punisher MAX series as well, but Preacher was more than enough for me. Garth was another person I tried to meet at New York Comic Con, but never managed to get to. It was funny how well that continued to work.
After this, we started to make our way over to the cosplay area. Every year, I see more and more people I know in this area, but this may have been the most I can ever recall. The Jedi with Saber Guild alone were impressive... Most impressive. Two more friends of mine also named Justin (that makes a grand total of 4 if you include me!), and a James were there. They do all kinds of shows and performances throughout the country, and they're always a lot of fun. I recommend checking them out if you're ever looking for some great Jedi action, or if you want to become a Padawan yourself.
While I was talking with my Jedi friends, I happened to notice Ming Chen of Comic Book Men walking right past us, and called out to him. We had a quick talk about how he was doing, and how I completely missed all of them the one time I did go to their store (commonly referred to as The Stash). He also took a quick picture with me.
I also spoke with Lua Stardust really quick. I've seen her at a billion other local cons at this point, so I always make it a priority to say hi and show some support. Trying to turn cosplay from a hobby into a full-time job is no easy task, and I really respect her for how far she's come with it.
On the way to find Tom DeFalco's table, I ran into my friend Lily, and her friend Scarlet, who were both cosplaying Disney princesses (Lily was Rapunzel and Scarlet was Elsa). I didn't get to talk with Lily for very long, but the minute or so I did ended up being my favorite moment of the entire convention! A little girl (had to be 2 or 3 years old) walked right up to Scarlet (Elsa) with such a look of awe, and gave her a big hug. As we geeks continue to get older, it's easy for us to forget that we all started out as tiny kids with big dreams and imaginations too. It was those bits of inspiration as children that would later help shape us into who we are today. That little girl just got a huge dose of that inspiration, and seeing it happen in front of me was everything. This is what it's all about.
After getting up to Tom DeFalco's table, he happened to hear Kevin and I talking about Amazing Spider-Man #252, as well as Secret Wars #8. Turns out, I had a misconception about the black costume, that Tom was happy to correct me on! While Secret Wars #8 was chronologically showcasing the first time Peter acquired the black costume, its first actual appearance in comics was in Amazing Spider-Man #252, which predated Secret Wars #8 by about 7 months. I've had both issues for years and honestly never knew this, much to my own embarrassment! Tom also proceeded to tell us a funny story about how he was working to co-write the black costume into this issue, while getting told from above that fans would hate it and it would never work out. They even went as far as to say he'd be to blame if sales plummeted as a result. Needless to say, the rest is now history, and I personally thanked him on behalf of all Spidey fans for sticking to his guns, and for helping (alongside many others) to give us one of the greatest Spidey costumes of all time! Encounters like this are simply priceless to me. There's nothing like hearing stories straight from the creator's own mouths!
The rest of the event mostly consisted of walking around in circles and interacting with all kinds of great people and cosplayers. Off the top of my head, I remember speaking briefly with Cliff Galbraith (of East Coast Comic Con), an amazing Obi-Wan cosplayer (who absolutely made Kevin's entire weekend), Robert Bruce, and even an old friend of mine from high school, Kristen Accardi. I also couldn't help but smile every time someone complimented my Cuphead/Pulp Fiction mash-up shirt, which was at least 6 people that I can recall off the top of my head. Honestly, even when I'm not one of the guests at an event like this, all the friendly and helpful people there make me feel like I am one. It's one of the few types of places where I know I can truly be myself and actually be respected for it.
So thank you to all those who attended and helped brighten my day with each passing moment. My only hope is that I was able to brighten other people's day out there as well. It's been fun, and I'll gladly see you all again next year. Take care, and thanks for reading!
When Namco Bandai announced it would be remastering all of .hack//G.U., I was beyond ecstatic. Not known for having the most stellar gameplay out there, the .hack series always had a huge place in my heart, with its unique (for its time) setting and fascinating story premise. The first four entries in the series focused on the original version of "The World," the online game in which the .hack series takes place. Its sequel, G.U., took place in the second, with an all-new story and gameplay enhancements to go with it. After foolishly selling all seven copies of the PS2 games years ago, I finally had another chance to revisit The World once again. Was it worth it? Can a series that came out in the early 2000's (with notably outdated technology) still hold relevance as we approach the end of 2017? I believe the answer is yes. Not including the fact that G.U. takes place in 2017 itself, there is so much more ground to cover.
While hosting numerous differences, both stories focused on characters who got involved in playing The World, only to face a strange circumstance that would bring a close friend of theirs to get attacked in-game, and put the actual player into a coma back in the real world. This set the stage for a new type of storytelling back in 2002/2003 that has continued to impress. On top of playing the game and leveling up your characters, players would view an actual desktop interface, complete with forums and news sites, to gain further clues and insight into the mystery behind The World. I'm continually shocked by how well it holds up.
It's very easy to screw up a setting like this. All it takes is a bunch of robotic forum posts or poorly written news stories to take a gamer right out of the experience. I'm happy to say that was never the case with this series. For example: Multiple forum posts were started by someone who went by the username ωRICE. The character in front of the word rice means "O-h-m," but another forum poster stated that it looked like a butt to them, and began to call the user "Butt RICE," causing multiple "LOL's" from the other users, even though it had no relevance to the post or the story's plot. Little moments like these really helped keep the illusion going.
I was even more impressed by the relevance of the news articles you would read throughout each title (especially in G.U.). For a game made in 2006, they were pretty darn accurate with their predictions of what 2017 would look like (technologically speaking). One story talked about people farming and trading in-game items for real world currency, which is very much a thing people do in gaming today, not even including micro-transactions.
On top of all this, the main story is also worth revisiting. The .hack games have a knack for giving you an enticing mystery (with surprisingly high stakes), following it up with a relatively satisfying conclusion, and leaving you with many other questions after you leave. I think this is the perfect setup. One of the things that made the original .hack story so engaging was the way it kept you continually guessing. Game series' such as Silent Hill have always relied on this type of model to keep each entry fresh and new, and it's worked quite well for them. I'll never forget the way my jaw dropped the first time I took .hack//Infection for a spin, and how surprisingly grotesque the earliest parts of the game were, despite not having any actual violence in them. Lackluster gameplay or not, I knew I was in this for the long haul.
The story would not have the "oomph" it really needed without a great cast of characters. While each game certainly had a few duds to go with it, the great characters far out-weighed them. Alongside your regular interactions and experiences with these character in The World, you also had the option to talk with them through your email. These conversations would lead to the reveal of much more personal information about each player (things like favorite foods, hobbies, goals, what inspires them, etc.) and once again, add to the illusion that I mentioned above. Again, it was not a perfect setup, but I was absolutely blown away by how well-structured the whole thing was.
I have to also mention that the concept of hacking in this game was quite interesting, and really did make me feel like I was doing something "wrong" as the game moved along further. It's a special kind of dread that I can't properly put into words; you just have to see it in action for yourself.
You may have noticed that review scores for the .hack games have never been very high. I have no problem talking about why that is, here (as they do have some valid points among them):
- For starters, (and as I have already alluded to above), the gameplay is clearly not that interesting. The original series had you limited to one main attack button, and a menu to select special attacks/items from. That. Was. It. The G.U. series thankfully improved on this formula greatly, with multiple types of attacks to choose from, as well as options like holding down the attack button to unleash a more powerful strike.
- The worlds/dungeons you explore in these games can become very repetitive very quickly (especially in the original series). While each zone feels like a random generation, there is simply not much to do in them, other than carry out the same objectives again and again. It doesn't help that they all look like the same three designs going back and forth either.
- Each entry in the series simply felt like an expansion to the last, with no major changes in the gameplay mechanics. (Though this is more typical of some downloadable content today, we need to remember that these were being sold as full-priced games with each additional installment.) This would cause the review scores of each entry to be lower than the last. G.U.'s scores were especially low due to this, as people were already burnt out from the multi-volume setup, and lack of enhancements with each entry.
I don't blame the reviewers for having issues with the games. In fact, if you look at the typical criteria to which game review scores are made up, the low numbers should make plenty of sense. On paper, it sounds like a lousy experience. I'm explaining all of this because I truly believe that the series is worth checking out, even despite these (obviously) glaring issues.
When a story pulls you in to the point where you feel you NEED to see how it all plays out? I believe this series has accomplished that. When you want to stick with something because you feel the people involved in it have become your own best friends, realistic personality traits and all? I believe this series has accomplished that as well.
I used to attribute my love for this series to the way it related with my own personal life, back around the same time (getting into more online games, internet forums, etc.). By the time G.U. came out, I realized it was more than just that, however. These games can have the same effect on you as a really great book, and leave you feeling that infamous "What am I going to do with myself now!?" attitude that you love to hate.
I hope my words have proven insightful for those who were on the fence about giving it a try. If you do have previous experience with the .hack games, or trying them out for the first time, I'd love to hear your thoughts as well! Thanks for reading, as always!
