SupaNova Sydney 2013!

Hi everyone!

I went to the Sydney SupaNova Pop Culture Convention over the weekend of June 21-23, and wow, did I have a great time!

I went up mainly to meet Raymond E. Feist and get his autograph. This was the first time he had made a public appearance in Australia since the early 1990s, and I wasn't a fan back then (being born in 1991). Since being introduced to his book Magician in 2004, I have been a big fan and an avid reader of his books. I am currently working on gathering a full collection of his books as part of my personal library, the Martyn Chandler Library of Lost and Loved Books (MCLLLB).

Raymond E. Feist and myself.

There was plenty to see and even more to do at SupaNova, which was held in the Dome, Olympic Park.

Below are some captioned pictures of what was common to see from certain points around the Dome.

The Popcultcha stand and more booths.

Artists Alley, encompassing comic book writers, artists, tv show producers, fanart artists, small-time, self published authors, and many more.

The Nintendo area (Bottom left) with many people playing Pokémon (battling and trading), and other Nintendo games. Above the Nintendo area are more booths.

More of the Pocultcha stand/storage area (Centre left) and more stands around the area, including bookshops and DVD stores.

The view of the Dome encompassing about half of SupaNova Sydney 2013.

There were lots of 'SupaStars' there, ranging from voice actors of anime and cartoon TV shows/movies to real actors from movies like Harry Potter (Oliver and James Phelps - the Weasley twins), Star Trek movies/TV shows (Manu Intiraymi - Icheb 'Voyager', Anthony Montgomery - Ensign Mayweather 'Enterprise', Karl Urban - 'Bones' Star Trek/Into Darkness), the Hobbit (Adam Brown - Ori, Jed Brophy - Nori and Aidan Turner - Kili), Knights from Merlin (Bradley James - Arthur, Rupert Young - Sir Leon, Eoin Macken - Sir Gwaine, tom Hopper - Sir Percival) to UberStars like Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia in Star Wars Episodes 4-6), Zack Snyder (Director of Man of Steel, 300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch and many more), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane in Superman I-IV) and David Hasslehoff (Knight Rider, Baywatch), a lot of comic book artists/writers, as well as authors Raymond E Feist, Jana Oliver, Colin Taber, Kylie Chan, Traci Harding, Steve Worland and  Kate Forsyth.

I managed to meet Colin Taber, who has written three books, The Fall of Ossard, Ossard's Hope and The united States of Vinland: The Landing, all of which I have enjoyed thoroughly, after being told to read them by my elder sister. I recommend Colin as an author to anyone who like fantasy and alternate history.

There were also a lot of people Cos-Playing (Costume Roleplaying), dressing up as people/characters from movies, comic books, books, anime, manga, games, etc as can be seen by the following photos:

A picture of a Pokemon cosplayer dressed as the Pokemon Scizor.

A group of cosplayers dressed up as Batman characters (From left: a female Riddler, Nightwing, the Joker, a female TwoFace, Harley Quinn, Batgirl, Catwoman, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy and the Penguin).

A Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland movie.

In all, I had great fun in Sydney, even losing myself along the way between Olympic Park and Gosford and (deliberately) ending up in Haigh's Chocolate Shop near Town Hall Station.

Gotta go now folks! Keep posted.

Blogging off,

Martyn