YIP!: Akron Comicon

I recently attended the first Akron Comicon and had quite a nice time.  The event was well put together and made for a nice day out.  Apparently, the organizers are already planning next year's event, which is good news.  It's always been a puzzle why the Cleveland area has never had an annual major comics convention like many large cities have, even other nearby ones (for example, Pittsburgh and Columbus), so, since Cleveland can't seem to get it together, maybe Akron can "inflate" (sorry, I couldn't resist a blimp pun) theirs into the big con the area could use.  The event had many dealers, cosplayers wandering around (I got my picture taken with a Bane and a Ghostbuster), nice presentations (Gerry Conway gave an interesting Q&A and noted that though he created The Punisher, so far, he has gotten all of $300 from it, and Tom Batiuk had a nice slideshow documenting the history of Funky Winkerbean), and plenty of guests showcasing their comics and doing sketches.  I also got to hang out with some pals and find some cool stuff (no, don't worry, I'm not relapsing and building another large comics collection--these are just for reading).  Held at the University's Student Union, the facilities were nice (though, as a taxpayer paying partially for it, I don't know that college students need to study in such a Taj Mahal).  All in all, the con appeared to be quite a success.  I hope the bounce from it (sorry, I couldn't resist a rubber pun either) makes the next one even better.