"When the economy’s down, the attendance level rises at Megacon", according to Jimmy Palmiotti of 'PainKiller Jane'.  This year’s MegaCon show seemed to be the biggest one yet!  At times the crowd got on your nerves, but with such a large attendance there were more than the usually “interesting” characters about. 

Friday and Saturday of the event were particularly busy, with Sunday being rather dead.  Anyone who has been to a convention before would expect the star signing area to be filled with lines, but surprisingly it was not.  Whether it was the autograph prices that the stars were charging, or the fact that the newer generation of convention goers had no idea who the celebrity guests were, or cared to know, is anyone's guess. 

I had the opportunity to meet James Hong (Blade Runner, Big Trouble in Little China), Kristanna Loken (Terminator 3, PainKiller Jane), 'Star Trek' stars: Levar Burton, Brent Spiner, Nichelle Nichols, John De Lancie, and Robert Piccardo, 'Star Wars' stars: Billy Dee Williams and Ray Park, along with Ellen Dubin (Lexx and Blood Ties), Richard Hatch (BattleStar Galactica) and Virginia Hey (Farscape and The Road Warrior).  Of these stars, the most expensive autograph was Billy Dee at $40 and the cheapest being Virginia and Ellen at $20.  Other celebrities charged between $25 and $30.  Given the prices, the stars were really nice.  So much so that I got a free autograph from Ray Park just by the near mention and praise of a direct-to-dvd movie he did a few years back.  I found all of the stars to be very nice, approachable and appreciative of the fans. 

Wanting to get into the business of comics, I spent time in the “Artist Alley”, which seemed busier than the star signing area at times, with most artists selling out of certain pieces. 

Panel wise I only attended three; "The Art of The Cover", "Genre Writing" and "From Print to Screen".  "The Art of the Cover" and "Genre Writing" were good, informative panels that helped in giving some insight on how covers and writing turn out.  They mentioned little things, like how in a cover there are no character’s backs turned toward you, but then there are exceptions to that rule, or how an artist can create a “lighting rod” to take attention away from items that he/she would like to put into the cover that the editor doesn’t care for.  The "From Print to Screen" panel featured stars Kristanna Loken and Jimmy Palmiotti of 'PainKiller Jane'.  Both gave insight, from the comic’s origins, to the TV series.  Kristanna Loken spoke on her role as an actress, stunt work and producing career.  She talked about everything, from working with Uwe Boll, to the eight different auditions she did for T3 and how she has several costumes that were planned for T3 but were never used. 

All-in-all a great convention, having spent $800 in cash I walked away happy, having met some great, friendly people.