Rhode Island Comic Con 2019: The Walking Dead, Cosplay, and More!
Last weekend I attended a very large-scale and fun convention, which was none other than the 8th annual Rhode Island Comic Con, held November 1st-3rd. Popular celebrities included William Shatner, Gaten Matarazzo, and Beverly D’Angelo. As it did last year, the convention took place throughout three connected buildings in Providence: Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Rhode Island Convention Center, and the Omni Hotel. I would definitely say that organization within this convention was vastly improved since last year’s event. All celebrities were spread out among the arena floor in the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, the main exhibit hall on the third floor of the convention center, and the ballrooms on the fifth floor of the convention center.
Browsing the convention, I was fortunate enough to come across and introduce myself to Ben DeCastro. He showed fans what the convention was like throughout the weekend on the Facebook page. Ben can be found on Twitter @BenDeCastro_401.
Cosplay
Popular cosplay at the event included Disney, The Walking Dead, and Star Wars. When I first started going to conventions, I didn’t pay much attention to cosplay. However, by now, I’ve grown to appreciate costumes as a way for attendees to represent their fandom in style. I especially love seeing people dressed up as characters from my favorite video games and animated movies, which is why I was very happy to see characters from Frozen, and Star Wars: Battlefront II. Here are some of my favorites from last weekend.
Celebrities
Throughout Rhode Island Comic Con, I was also fortunate enough to take photos with some of my favorite celebrities within the lineup. Below is a picture of me and Alanna Masterson, best known for playing Tara in The Walking Dead.
In addition to Alanna, I met David Mazouz, who played the young Bruce Wayne in Gotham. I told him and his mom about how I just started watching Gotham, but that I remember him from Touch, a series he was in with Kiefer Sutherland!
Later on, took part in the photo ops for Steven Yeun and Emily Kinney (Glenn and Beth from The Walking Dead). I mentioned to Emily outside of the photo op (at her table) that I like her new single, “The Turtle and the Monkey.” She told me that she made it more strip down than her other music on purpose, and that she actually recorded most of it in her house!
Later on, I met Joonas Suotamo, the actor currently portraying Chewbacca in the new Star Wars movies. I chatted with him about the upcoming conclusion to The Skywalker Saga, The Rise of Skywalker.
Rhode Island Comic Con is fandom at its finest, and it deserves to be highly recommended to anyone who has the chance to attend.
Shaun Hood currently attending Northern Essex Community College. He has experience writing for his high school’s online newspaper, The Pentucket Profile (pentucketnews.com). Outside of school, he enjoys going to conventions and exploring other ways to get involved in the shows he watches. Favorite franchises include Star Wars, The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, This Is Us, and Once Upon a Time.