Hey Hive!
If you missed the last post, I finally finished writing about our first trip to Seoul back in Nov 2022! It was a long series since it was a pretty long trip of about 10 days and we did a whole lot of stuff! But it was really fun and full of new experiences, especially it being our first time seeing the beautiful fall foliage!
We really enjoyed the trip a lot and couldn't have asked for a better honeymoon! But after 9 months worth of weekly posts I finally finished covering it and I think it's time for a break before we set off on our next adventure once again.
Anyway, this is from way back on 11 Dec 2022, a few weeks after we came back from our trip to Seoul actually. We got invited to one of Sean's high school friends' wedding, and it was on the same day as Singapore ComicCon, so we figured we might as check it out since we were in the area.
The wedding was quite lovely. Sean knows the bride and groom a lot better than I do since they've been friends for a while now. But I've met them both briefly and they're a really nice couple so I felt like I should attend to show my support.
They had a pretty typical wedding banquet at this place called SKAI Suites in Swissôtel The Stamford. I'd never been there but it was really high up and we got to enjoy a nice view although it did feel a little like we were in a stuffy greenhouse up there.
We had a nice seven-course meal while enjoying the wedding proceedings and the videos they prepared. I previously wrote about the food in one of my foodie posts which you can check out here.
Anyway, after we enjoyed a very filling wedding lunch we had some time to kill and went to check out Singapore Comicon! We've been MCU fans for a while and know about the big Comicons like in New York and San Diego but I didn't know we had our own Comicon right here in SG too!
I know the US Comicons are super huge but I was surprised to see that Singapore's one was pretty decent in size. Probably not comparable to the US ones but for a small country with limited space they still managed quite a variety. Here's the floor plan:
The first area we came into was the Artist Alley which I guess is where local artists would showcase their work and merchandise.
The first thing we saw was this table with real life sized Storm Troopers. I'm not sure if they were selling anything or if they were just cosplayers taking a break. But their costumes were really well done!
There were a bunch of tables, booths and lots of displays showcasing works from different artists.
I'm not sure if they were local or international artists but I did recognise some names so I think there was a mix.
There might've even been some famous artists there like this guy named James C. Mulligan who worked on Disney movies. I didn't know who he was at the time but he's got quite the profile and I liked that he was just drawing and colouring at the convention too. You can tell he really loves his work.
We stumbled upon a Genshin Impact booth and there were minigames to play for some simple prizes. At the time I was still into the game so I figured why not give it a try.
I can't really remember what the games were like but I think the first one was to spin the wheel and say a character who had that element/vision, which was easy if you're familiar with the game.
The next one was a little tougher; guessing which characters had these 3 constellations shown. I think I might've blanked a little on one of them but the staff gave me some hints since she knew I had it on the tip of my tongue.
The last one was just a simple match cards memory game which was easy since I love this kind of games.
After all that I think I got some stickers of different elements. It seemed like quite a lot of work just for some simple stickers but it was pretty fun nonetheless.
After that we went walking around looking at all the booths. It was only then that I realised I didn't know enough about this world since I'm only familiar with the MCU characters and movies.
We did see lots of cool artists though, and I think many of them were local artists who went on to work on great things! It's nice to know that art isn't a deadbeat career like many Asian parents make it out to be.
Also I think I saw Spiderman, I can't be too sure though. 😅
There was a lot of really cool art that I knew I couldn't even begin to emulate. Then again, every artist has their own style so I know I shouldn't compare but I guess it's just me showing appreciation since I know I couldn't draw like that in a million years.
I couldn't tell if there were any famous artists there but most of the booths had them showing character art. I guess since it's most recognisable.
There was a long line of one of the tables though so we figured there really was a famous artist there named Martin Simmonds. We didn't recognise the name so I'm not sure what he worked on.
There were some other international names but I felt bad since the convention was probably a lot quieter than what they'd normally see in the US or something.
It was also the first Comicon here after covid so that's probably why the crowd was less but most of them were just chilling either drawing or chatting. I wished I knew at least one of them since it seemed like the best time to meet them without so many people around.
It was still cool to see so many different artist booths though. This was only my second time attending a convention so I was still new to the scene.
We did see lots of cool cosplays of famous characters from DC and MCU.
There were so many interesting-looking comics as well! I haven't read comics in a long time and tbh now I'm intimidated to start since there's way too much to catch up on so I just admire them from afar.
I was surprised to see so much Genshin Impact merchandise though since it's not even comic-related.
But we did see some Spy x Family stuff too so I guess anime counts as well.
I think this wing of the Artist Alley was specially for local artists to showcase their merchandise.
There was quite a crowd here looking at all the little trinkets and art prints for sale. I wanted to get more photos but it was difficult with so many people.
It was really cool to see every artist's unique style though! I felt like I was getting inspiration looking at all these.
Here's more Genshin Impact and related merchandise and stickers. These one had a really nice look to them.
I'm only a digital artist for my community on Twitch but it was cool to see how some artists actually use their skills to make prints like these. I guess that's a path I could've taken as well.
I know conventions have been around for a long time now but it was still such an experience seeing it in real life. I like how art can make people come together; everyone just sharing in their same passion for comic books or anime.
Some booths were a lot bigger than others, I guess it depends on how big the artist is.
We saw so many Genshin cosplayers too. I was too shy to ask for a picture but their outfits looked really good.
Of course, there was a bigger Genshin Impact booth as well. I guess that just goes to show the popularity of the game and how rich they are to have a booth at Comicon despite not being a comic.
There was more free stuff to get here so I tried my best to get as much as I could. They also had some devices setup where you could play the game as well.
They even had a LEGO Paimon statue which did not look creepy at all.
We also saw some really well-made models
These Joker ones looked so realistic it was crazy!
While walking around we found a crowd gathered around the main stage for a cosplay contest. Each contestant went up on stage to showcase their costume and perform something related to the character which was cool. Obviously, there were a lot of Genshin related ones.
There was a huge area for this guy named Tony Wong who is a famous Hong Kong manhua artist. I'm not really familiar with his works though.
After that we came to the more business side of the convention I suppose? There were bigger shops showcasing their products here.
This one had an interesting style with half the character as a skeleton for some reason.
I saw these retro-style Singapore travel posters at Poster Hub's booth which looked really cool. I actually had an idea to make prints in a similar style but from Harry Potter or Avatar the Last Airbender.
There was another huge section for Magic the Gathering and maybe other tabletop games as well which I wasn't expecting.
I'm not sure if they have this at the other Comicons as well but it was cool to see the models and stuff that people made. I wonder how long they spent playing here though since I heard these games can go on for days.
There were some other games there as well, not just MTG but I hadn't heard of most of them since I'm not a tabletop gamer.
They're really cool to see though, especially since many people think board games are not as popular as video games. It's probably true but there's still quite a lot of people who enjoy it and I think it's more interactive which is nice.
There were so many things to see even at this small Comicon I can't even imagine what the bigger ones are like. They did have some extra space lying around for random stuff like claw machines.
There was also a mini MLBB tournament going on which was surprising.
Of course like any convention there was also a food zone with lots of stalls selling overpriced snacks.
There were some meme stickers on the empty walls we came across and I lowkey wanted to just snatch them off the wall since they looked funny.
Overall though it was a really cool experience checking out Singapore Comicon! It was our first time seeing it in person and although we're not familiar with the comic artists it was still really awesome to see all this art getting so much recognition.
Here's all my Genshin Impact haul which I thought looked pretty good. I wound up with quite a few postcards which I think are exclusive since you can't get them anywhere and I ended up doing a giveaway for them on my Twitch channel, complete with a personal message to the winner.
I'm glad we got to see what a Comicon is like since we'd probably never be able to attend any other Comicon. Hopefully we'll get to go again in the future!
Thanks so much for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
Check out my previous post in this series!
TacoCat’s Travels #258 (Seoul): Feeling Festive in Lotte before Flying Off 🎄