ConComics 2012 in Argentina

ConComics Argentina is held every year in early September in the province of Cordoba. But it's literally worlds apart from the comic cons from the States.    

I've been to three comic-cons in New York, so I was expecting huge crowds, merchants, comic book authors, artists, and cosplay characters. Boy, was I wrong.     

While I was glad that it wasn't as crowded as the New York Comic Con, I was a little disappointed that they only had one comic book owner selling graphic novels, and a handful of collectors selling Star Wars, T-shirts and Anime items. Still I decided to make the best of the situation and browse. 

The most popular section was the gaming area, which allowed gamers to play and compete for prizes on the latest X-Box 360, Playstation 3, and PC games. 

What impressed me the most (besides He-Man's Sword of Power) was the amazing craftmanship from some of the vendors. Thor's Hammer, the box of Kryptonite, and The Sword of Power were all crafted here by some very creative artisans. 

Not all the creativity was limited to handheld props. There was a team of designers promoting a zombie PC game which they themselves are in the process of creating. The story takes place in the province of Cordoba where an outbreak brings the dead back to life. What's unique about this game is that the programmers have designed the locations within the game to match actual city streets, locales, and monuments in Cordoba. Cordoba Zombie is expected to be available for download soon. It's going to be free of charge, and I can't wait. (UPDATE: Unfortunately, the game was never produced and the website promoting it was taken down) 

The cosplay contest is basically a costume contest where people come dressed as their favorite fantasy character.  While there weren't a whole lot of cosplayers, the few that were there were pretty creative. 

I did reach out to the people that coordinated the convention and asked them about the lack of celebrities and merchants. They advised me that unfortunately, they have a limited budget. Also, the lack of participation from merchants and insufficient publicity from the local press was to blame. 

Despite the fact that it wasn't as huge as the New York Comic Con, we had an okay time and I'm curious to see if my suggestions improve the ConComics in Argentina for 2013.