It’s that time of year again – Supanova is back!! For those of you reading this who may not know exactly what a Supanova is, let me tell you. I live in Australia, and rather than having the conventional Comic-Con, we have an event that travels around the country throughout the year called Supanova. Every April, this con makes it way to the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, and for the first time – Dark Knight News had me there to do coverage and spend the weekend geeking out. Of course, I viewed this entirely as work and research (that one is just for my editors reading this) but still managed to have an insane time!
My coverage will be split into various articles, with this one being the general overview of the event. If you continue scrolling down too, you will see some of the outstanding cosplayers I encountered over the weekend, and please – if you see yourself in any of these photos or someone you know, get in touch so we can give full credit! So without further ado, let’s get on with the show!
Saturday April 22nd
While the event kicked off on Friday night, I unfortunately couldn’t make it until the Saturday morning. I arrived early and picked up my media items – camera fully charged and SD card empty. Even arriving an hour prior to doors opening, the line was immense. Once 10am rolled around however, the showroom floor filled up and the event kicked off! Immediately upon entering, you are greeted with rows upon rows of stalls packed to the brim with comics, collectibles, and various other geek-related items. One of the massive appeals of Supanova is the marketplace style of it; here you find a lot of stalls that may be based in Sydney or Melbourne, giving you a chance to pick up items you otherwise may not be able to get otherwise. For instance, my comic book collection has been growing steadily for a good two years now, but I lacked the proper storage due to the fact that no stores in Brisbane sell comic boxes. Thankfully, I encountered a stall in the form of Incognito Comics, a lovely pair of people who had brought their wares all the way from Melbourne. They were able to help me fulfill my storage needs and were downright lovely, so I implore any Australian readers to check them out!
Most of my first day at the con was spent getting the lay of the land: having never been to the Gold Coast Convention Centre before, it was new and different and made the whole experience even more exciting! When I wasn’t getting completely caught up in the cosplays and stalls, I was sitting in on panels. Around lunch time, I went to listen to Nolan North speak for an hour, which was genuinely one of the highlights of my life. He spoke a little on Young Justice, a lot on Uncharted, and talked dirty to me in an incredibly impressive Mickey Mouse voice. Suffice it to say, I had a good time. Later in the afternoon, I went to a DC Heroes and Villains panel with Manu Bennett (Slade Wilson, Arrow), Cory Michael Smith (Edward Nigma, Gotham) and Mehcad Brooks (Jimmy Olson, Supergirl). Unfortunately due to filming obligations, Mehcad couldn’t be there, turning the panel into a DC TV Villain panel. I won’t go into too much detail here, but the pair of actors shared some truly amazing stories about their roles and careers in general. You can check out the overview of both of these panels in separate articles, which will be linked in here once they have been posted. But until then: spoilers.
So after one successful day, I ventured home and sifted through my photos, ready to take on day two!
Sunday April 23rd
Day two! Upon arriving, I met up with fellow DKN writer Philip and we headed into the con together – Dark Knight News takes Australia! Now that I knew my way around the Convention Centre, I made an immediate beeline for Artist’s Alley – the place where (you guessed it) the artists and writers of the comic book world congregate, as well as the art and books of local creators. Having spoken with him briefly the day before, I approached Tom Taylor (Injustice, All-New Wolverine, Justice League-Power Rangers) and managed to steal some of his time for a quick chat about his work, which you can find the full transcript, again, on a separate post once that is up! It was truly an amazing experience, and I even got a sweet signed book out of the deal! I chatted with artist David Finch (Batman, Wonder Woman) and his wife Meredith (Wonder Woman, Rose), but due to their busy schedules I wasn’t able to secure any solid interview time. Just being in the presence of these amazing creators was indescribable. Also present was legendary Croatian artist Esad Ribic (Thor: God of Thunder, Secret Wars), and I have to admit, I spent almost an hour of my weekend just sitting and watching him draw. Truly inspiring.
I went to the second Nolan North panel shortly after my trip down Artist’s Alley and was brought to tears again by his realness and hilarity. Following this (and a well-earned lunch break), Philip and I spent a lot of time walking the Convention Centre checking out the cosplays, and you can see those photos down below! There were some truly amazing pieces of art there, with one girl telling me that her Pink Power Ranger outfit cost her more than $800USD to make, but boy, did it look authentic! The afternoon arrived, and so did one final panel. This time, we got to see David Finch, Esad Ribic and David Yardin (Jean Grey, Extraordinary X-Men) participate in a sketch-off. The rules were simple: the three had half hour to sketch a character as chosen by the audience. The character was an interesting one and the sketch-off was phenomenal to watch, but if you want to know more about that, you can check out my full coverage – yet again – when it is posted! I know – there is a lot to cover!
After this sketch-off concluded, day two was officially over. I packed up my camera and boarded the train home, knowing that I would remember this weekend for the rest of my life.
Closing Remarks
Having been to only a few cons in my life, I had never (before this weekend) actually spent the entire day walking around. I was there from 10am til 6pm both days, and that’s an awful long time to be walking in Converse and lugging a camera around my neck. But none of that phased me. One thing that I became so invested in was the community of it all – no one was cruel or judgemental – no one yelled or caused a scene – everyone was present and kind and wonderful to one another, and there are very few environments like this. From the lovely supa-star guests devoting their time so openly to chat with fans, to the fans dedicating hours of their lives to make amazing cosplays, to the stalls selling their goods – the entire experience was truly moving and made me proud to be a geek. For those of you who live in Australia, however, this event is heading down to Melbourne from April 28-30, so make sure you jump on that! Following this, it moves to Sydney and Perth in mid-late June, before coming to Brisbane and then Adelaide in November! You can find all of the details here, including locations and guest lists when they are announced! Make sure you stay tuned to Dark Knight News as all of these articles go up, and I have no doubt I will be returning to the Brisbane Supanova in November to bring you all even more coverage of this amazing event!
Cosplays
Now – the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the cosplay photo gallery! While most all of these are DC related costumes, there are some scattered ones from various other places. This wasn’t intentional on my part – DC cosplayers were out in full force this year, and it’s truly wonderful to see! So, without further ado, sink your teeth into these brilliant images! One of my personal favorites is the photo of Zatanna being photo-bombed by a gender-swapped Mary Jane. Truly a sight to behold!
