COMICON ENJOYER EXPERIENCE THE AVERAGE

To start with, this experience was anything BUT average. However, before I get into how everything went horribly wrong and yet wonderfully right on the day of the Festival del Fumetto, let me explain the event I reference in this article.

For starters, Comicon is a general term for an event related (but not limited) to: comics, books, video games, TV shows, anime, art, movies, etc. The event is held inside a pavilion where there are stalls lined with either handmade or imported products. These products are often tailored for specific groups. There can be figurine stalls, book stalls, poster stalls, etc. Alongside the consumer section, there is always a dedicated area for gamers, with computers, arcade machines, and even a virtual reality section for the bigger events. Lastly, there is a food court section where food vans serve their goodies all day long.

Why attend Comicon? After all, it is expensive, crowded, and doesn’t last very long. Well, here are the main reasons:

• See the cosplayers that attend and take pictures of (or with) your favourite characters.

• Cosplay yourself! Show the world a costume you’re proud of!

• Buy merchandise! In Comicon you can find things that would only be available in niche stores.

• Watch events! Usually there’s a panel with famous creators, a show open to participation. There’s even a wrestling section! The possibilities are endless.

• And lastly, have fun! Comicon is a great way to spend a day with friends and meet new ones, and despite me saying it’s expensive, that’s only if you travel far and buy a lot of tickets (tickets usually cost around 10-20 euros).

Comicon is a large event with attendees ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands! The Festival del Fumetto had around 30,000 attendees. It’s important when going to such large scale events to know proper etiquette. For example: [1] bring a bag you can close;

[2] bring water; [3] ask permission before interacting with cosplayers; [4] take breaks; [5] remember: COSPLAYERS ARE PEOPLE TOO! Don’t touch costumes WITHOUT CONSENT; [6] bring cash and set a budget.

Now, onto my personal saga of the Festival del Fumetto, more commonly known as Novegro comics: I went over to my friend’s house, we’ll call him Fox. Fox let me sleep over at his place as we had to take a train at 9:00am. We hung out, slept, and once woken up, we had to wait for a friend to arrive. We’ll call him Void. He was coming from outside Turin so we could take the train together. He arrived, and we left but almost missed our train due to getting lost. Great start, right? Anyways, after getting on the train, we looked for a four seater as we were all carrying large bags and my fur suit had to be carried by all three of us (one large bag, the tail, and then the head). We managed to find an empty car, but only after we sat down did we realise why. The door seal was broken, letting in cold air and noise for the hour long trip.

After the uncomfortable train ride, we arrived in Milan. Void had supposedly planned everything to go smoothly (spoiler alert: it didn’t). We had two choices: either take the M4 metro line to a station near the convention grounds and walk 10 minutes, or take the M2 and wait for a free shuttle. We didn’t mind walking and figured the M4 was faster. As we arrived at the junction for the “M4”, we realised that not only was it not completed, but the station was under construction and the direction we were meant to head in was not even built. After this predicament, we returned to Milan central station, took the M2 and waited for the shuttle. In this process, I lost a part of my costume. It was not going very well.

After arriving at the convention, we signed in and got ready to change into our cosplays. This is when the WORST part of the trip happened. I felt pain and assumed I just needed to go to the bathroom. Turns out, I had gotten my period JUST AS WE ARRIVED. I was prepared, luckily, and was able to change and relax, but the ordeal was stressful (to put it mildly). I came out of the bathroom and regrouped, whereupon my other friends Ale and Frosty joined us. I started to change into my fur suit and may or may not have scared my friends with how loudly I was expressing my anger at my own body in that moment.

Once in our new identities, we dove deeper into the convention. We split up, me with Ale and Frosty, and Void with Fox to store our stuff in the provided lockers. I had heard there was a section of “furries” and due being one myself, I wanted to meet more! I had only recently met other furries at my last convention (only a handful). Meanwhile there were supposedly a hundred or so attending Novegro! My friends helped me reach the area, where I talked with friends I had met in previous conventions, and made new ones! There was a videographer filming the convention, which I would end up being part of, and there was a ton of people dancing to music. After hanging out in the furry area, we left to go to the central plaza to eat and came across a group of tactical cosplayers. I asked for photos and for the rest of the convention we hung out with them! We took photos, videos, and had fun interacting with each other through the characters we were cosplaying.

Despite a rough start to the day, Novegro comics was my favourite convention in the history of conventions, and I’ve been attending since 2019. I made tons of new friends and bonded with my closest buddies. I still look back on the pictures of the event and talk to the cosplayers I interacted with on a daily basis. In fact, me and my friends, Fox, Void, Ale, Frosty and some others will all be attending Torino comics in April, all three days, all day long! If you plan on attending, come say hi!