A little known fact: We’re not just geeks here at Tor.com. We are a geek warrior race that require no sleep, and we eat Cons for breakfast. After the insanity of New York Comic Con last weekend, many people—most people, really—would have crawled into bed clutching their autographed Scott Pilgrims and their stuffed Cthulhu’s and shiny new corsets and said, “Enough.” Time to power down. Time to stop running on caffeine fumes and our unhealthy obsession with all things Watchmen-related. But no.
These people are not true warriors.
Thursday afternoon, still reeling from the sleeplessness and manga-flavored hyperweirdness of NYCC, we packed some bags full of snacks and comics and headed up to Boston, to celebrate the venerable tradition known as Boskone and push the limits of nerd endurance to the breaking point. Riding up in a silver, minivan-shaped chariot of awesomeness with this year’s Special Guest (and Tor.com Art Director extraordinaire) Irene Gallo, we swept up to Boston like a wrathful dragon through the gathering dark, stopping only for delicious mochas, and possibly a muffin.
Just imagine “Immigrant Song” blasting on repeat for five hours. On no sleep.
Since we got here, Boskone has been kind of amazing. After the massive sensory overload of NYCC, it’s been really nice to sit back and enjoy the easy camaraderie of a smaller, more localized event. We New York-based TorDotCommies got to meet up with Guest of Honor Jo Walton, one of our favorite contributors and resident muse. Bonus? There’s also a guy walking around in a kilt with a long furry tail attached, and more filk than you can shake a stick at. This year’s panel titles include: “Has Filk Become a Victim of Its Own Success?” and “Filk for Kids!” (In the Dragonslair. All of which just sounds dirty…Oh, you know it does. Just admit it.)
On Friday night, at the fabulous Jane Yolen’s birthday celebration, party favors included mounds and mounds of vintage paperbacks and magazines, free for the taking. At one point, while we sorted jubilantly through the goody piles, a jazz trio struck up an amazingly catchy cover of “The Imperial March,” and suddenly, as if the power of The Force compelled them, one couple began slowdancing. To “The Imperial March”!!! And I swear it’s not the free booze talking when I tell you that it was one of the best things ever.
There are far too many panels to be able to see everything worth seeing, but the “Graphic Novels” discussion (moderated by author Alisa Kwitney Sheckley and featuring Rene Walling, one of the organizers of Worldcon 2009) was especially informative and entertaining. For example, I now know that I need to immediately go and read The Tomb of Dracula and Peyo’s original Smurf comics (just as soon as I finish Scott Pilgrim). All in all, Boskone has been a wonderful time so far, and I’ve even managed not to step in any filk: so far, so good. But there will be updates. Updates, and no sleep. Apologies in advance!
