Florida Supercon Proves To Be A Success

This summer, more than 51,000 people participated in the 2015 edition of Florida Supercon which took place from June 25-28. Florida Supercon, a convention regarding geek culture similar to the more famous Comic-Con, is where fans of all sorts, —from TV to movies to comic books to anime — come together to hang out, buy fandom related merchandise from vendors and artists alike. Fans even got the chance to meet with the stars of some of their favorite TV shows and movies.

It seemed that every big celebrity was there; from Sci-Fi icons like Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) and Walter Koenig (Chekov) of Star Trek, Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) of Star Wars, to voice actors like Tom Kenny (Spongebob Squarepants) and Charlie Adler (Starscream) of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Acclaimed director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats) stopped by June 28 for a comedic lecture where about 2,500 fans showed up. .

One of the items being shown on the con floor was the Thumb Glove Pro, a simple, yet revolutionary idea created by Bobby Durling. Durling is a hardcore gamer that has his thumb on the pulse of a problem he and his gamer friends seem to have. Many gamers spend hours playing and that it causes strain in their hands. By wearing special thumb covered gloves gamers use the magnet on the end of the gloves and the ones on the joystick to play easier without giving too much effort, allowing gamers to play longer without the eventual pain.

One of the big acts to come to Supercon was that of the sketch comedy group Pineapple Shaped Lamps. Coming straight out of Wilmington, North Carolina, are Seth and Laura Teeples and fellow members Chris Lewis and Jen Trepper who attended Supercon for the fourth year. The comedy group does Shadowcast which consists of them playing a movie on a big screen and acting it out on stage all the while throwing in a few gags.

The Teeples were also busy selling a particularly amazing creation; bouquets of fake flowers made from pieces of comic books. The money from the bouquets go towards their funds for adopting a child. After Supercon Seth and Laura mentioned they were nearing the end of completing their profile and will be finishing it when they return home.

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Cosplay was a large part of the convention. Many Cosplays throughout the years have become so elaborate that many conventions have costume contests. Supercon had one on Saturday where 3,500 cosplayers attended making it the largest in the state of Florida.

Former MDC student, Fernando Placencia, was cosplaying as the character Monkey D. Luffy from the anime show One Piece. Placencia chose Luffy because he felt he was an awesome character due to his power to stretch long distance with his body and his loyalty to his friends. He enjoyed it very much, especially the large game room which had a variety of games both old and new. It was his second Supercon.

Geek Film Festival was one of the additions to this years con in which fan made films on various franchises were shown as well as original material. One of  the said original material was from MDC alumni and Hall of Famer Kevin Sharpley. In his epic, multimedia franchise, The Beach Chronicles, a Miami Beach detective played by Jesse Johnson (son of Don Johnson of Miami Vice) gets involved in a case that becomes so big, it becomes a war for human existence.

Sharpley held a panel which involved showing an animated version of one of the chapters of his story. His project is so huge it transcends not just as an animated adaptation by GianFranco Bianchi, but also as a comic book and a podcast version that is now online. During the panel Sharpley showed footage of the planned live action version which is in the works.

The whole project was produced by friend and long time production designer Andy Scheffer and  stars such as Daryl Hannah, William Shatner, Michael Chiklis, and Tommy Flanagan amongst its various forms. Two of its stars, Arlene Tur (Crash, Eat Pray Love) and Miami native Ray Hernandez (Bad Boys 2, Burn Notice, Prison Break) who star in every incarnation of the story made an appearance at the panel.

Hernandez got involved when Sharpley asked for a motorcycle for the live action version. Its a bit confusing with the entire quantity of different versions but overall the story has intriguing visuals and impressive sound design by Justin Trieger.

Comic Cons have become a big part of the Miami scene, bringing other conventions such as Animate! Miami which will be held at the Miami Airport Convention Center from October 23-25.