Walking through aisles of cosplayers, exhibitors, artists and celebrities is never a dull weekend. Wizard World Austin 2016 had some great moments and we enjoyed meeting talented artists, video game developers, and of course, some celebrities. Take a look at some highlights from the weekend!
MiniBotz the Game
I was fortunate enough to stumble by the booth for MiniBotz the Game, an arcade game where you can choose from four different characters to fight off cute Gummy Bears. Yes, you heard correctly, not evil Gummy Bears, but colorful bright bears. I talked to the developers and asked, “Why Gummy Bears for a foe,” they simply responded with, “Why not Gummy Bears?” Fair enough. Check out the game here.
Artists Alley
Andrew Heath
My favorite part from comic cons are meeting the artists and seeing their very unique work, whether it be a reimagining of the Marvel characters you love or a flashback to the “vintage” toys we grew up with. By “we” I mean 90s kids who know what the original gameboy looks like as pictured in Andrew Heath’s designs. To see more of his work, check out his website here.
Kiri Leonard
Walking through Artist Alley can get a bit repetitive in seeing a lot of the same comic book characters, but there are some hidden gems like Kiri’s work. I am a big fan of snail mail AKA sending postcards, so her postcards that are literally “snails” on mail really stood out to me and I just had to get her Halloween theme pack. To order some of your own, check out her website here.
The Panels
Even better than just seeing art, we also get to hear some great conversations about the world of television, film and the ever changing mediums. There was a great panel about “Synergy and Psychology: TV, Film, Books, and Video Games Collide.” It was a very interesting panel and really made me leave thinking about how all these different types of mediums are not only a great way to bring about art, but also need to each be taken seriously.
We have Dr. Anthony Bean & Eric Kieron Davis talking about transmedia fluidity. @WizardWorld #WizardWorldAustin #atx pic.twitter.com/YRakhBfmzZ
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) September 25, 2016
Also, Eric Kieron had a great point, that TV series, video games, etc. tend to run out of ideas and then make the journey to space. Very good point!
"Let's go to space." @WizardWorld #WizardWorld #wizardworldaustin #atx #comiccon #austin pic.twitter.com/nW7VQt1Q7i
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) September 25, 2016
And lastly, we attended Xandar from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” AKA actor Nicholas Brendon’s Q&A. After not only going through his podcasts that featured a never ending list of crime and missing persons, he also gave us a rendition of “I’ll never Tell.” This song was featured on the musical episode of Buffy. Check out Nicholas’ singing chops with a very excited fan!
About Catherine
You’ll find me posting the cool things you see on Shuffle with a taco always in hand. Is there any other way to work?! Being highly caffeinated is normal and sometimes I hang out with my husband, sometimes, if he bring tacos. Follow me on Instagram @thingscatloves and Twitter@things_catloves and Snapchat @keedycat21.
Stay tuned for more exciting coverage of your favorite comic cons on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat @ShuffleOnline.
Catherine grew up watching action flicks at a very young age which led to her love of film. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelors in Radio-TV-Film in 2012. Always the adventurer, Catherine traveled and lived in Sydney, Australia for a year where she took a selfie with Brad Pitt. She runs Shuffle with passion, lots of caffeine and tacos. When she’s not editing or writing you can find her crafting and planning her next adventure.