The Success of Twin Cities Con and Minnesota’s Convention History

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Minnesota has a huge geek community. As a writer for Twin Cities Geek, I have been fortunate to write about various conventions throughout the state. At the beginning of November, I attended Twin Cities Con at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Twin Cities Con is similar to C2E2 or Planet Comic Con except that I don’t have to travel far to attend. It’s been notoriously difficult for Minnesota to host a bigger convention and there are many reasons for that. If you’re interested in “the tea”, trust me, I have it.

The first bigger convention that I remember was Wizard World which apparently was rebranded to Fan Expo. Wizard World was held in the 2010s at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Wizard World struggled with attendance and part of that was due to the event coinciding with another local convention. This angered fans (including myself) because I would rather go to a local convention that’s run by volunteers who care for the community than an event that cares about profit. Wizard World died out after a few events.

After Wizard World was Fan Fest and/or Fan Fusion. This is a convention hosted in Phoenix, but the company wanted to host a convention in Minnesota. Fan Fest / Fan Fusion hosted two conventions, one in 2017 (branded as Fan Fest) and one in 2018 (branded as Fan Fusion). Both conventions did not do very well. There are many reasons for this. First of all, the conventions were held at the Saint Paul River Centre. For those who have never been to Minnesota, Saint Paul is a “sleepy city”. Don’t get me wrong, Saint Paul is a beautiful city, but there aren’t a whole lot of events going on whereas Minneapolis is a lot more busy. The second issue with Fan Fest / Fan Fusion was the cosplay policy. The cosplay policy was one of the strictest cosplay policies that I have ever seen. The way the cosplay policy was written was targeted towards women and went into detail about how women’s bodies needed to be covered up. Many thought that it was sexist because it focused so heavily on women specifically. Additionally, many props were banned. For example, I couldn’t bring the bright orange plastic toy guns that I use in my Lara Croft cosplay because they resemble guns even though they are very clearly a toy. To Fan Fusion’s credit, there was an incident at their Phoenix event where someone did bring a gun into the building to try and kill an actor. It’s completely valid to feel protective over your event and want to keep people safe, however, it wasn’t communicated that way in their cosplay policy. If it was, I don’t think it would have been an issue. Finally, if that wasn’t enough, the event was scheduled for August. No one in Minnesota will want to attend an indoor event in August. Our Summers are so pretty and everyone is outside, soaking up the sun or going to a cabin up north. It showed that the company putting on Fan Fest / Fan Fusion didn’t know anything about Minnesota.

After Fan Fest / Fan Fusion, Galaxy Con took a chance to plan a convention in Minnesota. However, they ended up getting the short end of the stick because of the Covid pandemic. There were battles with the city of Minneapolis and I don’t think they made their money back after they had to cancel their event. I could be wrong about that, but I know the reason Galaxy Con didn’t come back was due to the pandemic.

This brings us to Twin Cities Con. Twin Cities Con and the organizers were smart. They took feedback from the local community and figured out which local conventions were being held on what dates. This way, they could plan Twin Cities Con on a weekend without any other competing event happening. Twin Cities Con is held in November which is perfect! The weather is colder and more people are trying to find indoor events to get out of the cold. It’s before the holidays, but not too close to the holidays. I consider Twin Cities Con the con to end the year since there are no other conventions that I attend after it. Additionally, this gave Twin Cities Con time to market their event at local conventions earlier in the year.

I’m so glad that Twin Cities Con has found success in Minnesota. It’s nice to have a bigger convention here because traveling to cons out of state can be taxing. Twin Cities Con was a blast this year and I can’t wait for next year.

Scarlet Witch – The Last Door

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Image is a comic book cover. It says "Scarlet Witch The Last Door" It shows a woman casting a spell and looking straight ahead.

Scarlet Witch is quickly becoming one of my favorite Marvel characters to read about. I loved Elizabeth Olson’s take on the character despite Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness erasing Wanda’s growth in WandaVision. I picked up issue one of Steve Orlando’s Scarlet Witch comic run and I enjoyed reading it. Unfortunately, I fell behind, so I wasn’t able to keep reading the series. I found the first volume while comic shopping and decided to read the full arc. Scarlet Witch – The Last Door is a fun, low-stakes comic series.

In Scarlet Witch – The Last Door, Wanda opens a witchy shop with Darcy. This is the same Darcy from Thor and WandaVision. As a side note, I appreciate that these two are friends. I feel like that was a missed opportunity in WandaVision especially since Darcy was brought back. Anyway, Wanda has a door towards the back of her shop and if someone walks through the door, it means that they feel they have nowhere to go. Each issue focuses on Wanda going off on an adventure to help someone in need.

I liked this series! I liked Wanda and Darcy’s banter. Each issue was easy to read and I ended up finishing this volume rather quickly. I liked Wanda’s look. She has this scarlet red and burgundy body suit. It’s not overtly sexualized and it’s functional when Wanda needs to fight or cast her way out of trouble. I loved the art style along with the different cover art that was featured throughout.

Scarlet Witch – The Last Door is a low-stakes series. In previous Scarlet Witch comic book stories, there would be a consequence for Wanda if she used her powers. I believe in one comic book story, any time that Wanda used her powers, it would age her. This element does add depth to Wanda’s character and I think forces Wanda to be more careful when using her abilities. With that being said, I liked how this wasn’t featured in this story. Why can’t Wanda use her abilities for whatever she wants? Does there always need to be a drawback every time? In comics, I don’t think every comic needs a world-ending type of story. Wanda has been through so much as a character that it’s nice to have her just live her life normally.

I’d recommend Scarlet Witch – The Last Door to any new comic book fans who want to learn more about Scarlet Witch as a character. I think this felt like a cozy series and it was really easy to read. I rated Scarlet Witch – The Last Door four stars on Goodreads.

Kraven the Hunter (2024)

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A few months ago, Sony released their trailer for Kraven the Hunter, a movie that will be released sometime in 2024. I didn’t give it much thought until I started playing Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Kraven is one of the big villains in the game. Since playing the game, I returned to watch the trailer for Kraven. The comments on the trailer are negative, although I thought the trailer seemed enticing.

The first moments in the trailer feature Kraven (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) running through the streets of London. In a casual voice-over is Russell Crowe who plays Kraven’s dad. As an action film fan, sign me up. I love seeing a fast-paced, car chase scene. There are several scenes from Kraven’s childhood and how he’s attacked by a lion which leads to him getting superhuman abilities. That seems pretty standard for a superhero or in this case, a supervillain, story. Halfway through the trailer, Kraven attacks a group of militarized men. I think Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a perfect cast in this role. There were rumors that he would be the next James Bond, and I would be on board with that.

It’s clear from watching the trailer, that this will be a graphic film. There’s a scene towards the end where Kraven uses a bear trap to kill someone. As he attacks the military convoy, he stabs a few men and it shows the blood sprouting from their neck. I kind of like seeing grittier superhero films. I was a fan of Deadpool when it came out and how they stayed true to the character. I think Kraven the Hunter will be similar in that way.

I don’t know much about Kraven the Hunter, but the trailer shows potential. I think this will be entertaining and a nice change in pace to some of the superhero content we have been seeing lately. While some of the commentary has been negative, I’m keeping an open mind.

How I Cosplayed Kylo Ren

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As Halloween approached, I was running out of time to put together a costume. As I was scrolling through Pinterest, I found a Kylo Ren cosplayer. I liked the way that her cosplay turned out and how she made the character her own. I pinned it to my cosplay board and used that as inspiration to put together my own take on the character. I’m proud of myself as I really liked how the costume came together and I wanted to share how it all came to be.

Image is a selfie of a woman. She has a painted red scar on her face. She's wearing red lips as she looks at the camera.

Once I decided to put together a Kylo cosplay, I went to Amazon. While I don’t love the idea of supporting Amazon, it’s so convenient to order everything in one spot. I bought a black body suit, a black faux leather belt, a black drapey skirt, a red light sword (due to copyright), and a Kylo Ren mask. The black body suit was okay. It looked the way that I wanted it to, but the fit was a little odd. It’s not something that I would wear outside of wearing it as Kylo. The faux leather belt was top notch and I could see it lasting for a long time. The black drapey skirt added to the look though the slits on the skirt are really high. There isn’t a way that I can wear the skirt on its own without leggings on underneath. The “light sword” that I bought was a happy surprise. I figured it would be cheaply made, but it was actually decent. The Kylo Ren mask wasn’t a hard helmet like I had originally thought. Instead, it was a floppy mask. It wasn’t the end of the world, it just wasn’t what I was anticipating.

One thing that’s important with Kylo is the scar on his face. I was mulling this around for a long time. I’m not a makeup expert, so I rely on makeup tutorials to help me out. I ended up putting my own spin on how I wanted the scar to be. In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Kylo’s scar is there, but it’s faded. I wanted the scar to look fresh like Kylo just got hit with the lightsaber before putting on the Halloween costume.

[Image is a picture of me holding a red light saber as Kylo. I'm dressed in all black. R2D2 is right next to me]

To do this, I used: red lipliner, black eyeliner, brown eye shadow, and vaseline. The red lip liner helped lay out the foundation of the scar. I ran the scar from my eyebrow, all the way down to my neck. The black eyeliner added a charred look. The brown eye shadow was how I tried to blend everything together, so it would appear more blended with my natural skin tone. Finally, the vaseline was something I used to help give off that shiny coating. I did get a lot of compliments on it, but whether that means the makeup was good or not, is to be determined.

As I look back on the photos, I’m thrilled with how everything turned out. I think it was an accurate Kylo Ren depiction, yet I was able to put my spin on the character. I think that’s what makes costuming and cosplay so fun for me. There’s a baseline of what the character looks like, but everyone can interpret that in their own way. I’m looking forward to cosplaying as Kylo Ren in the future as this is one of my favorite cosplays that I have done.

BizarreBrunette’s Books and Comics Rating Guide

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I write a lot of book and comic reviews on BizarreBrunette. I like sharing what I like to read and as a big comics fan, I like finding out about new series. After many years of writing reviews, I have found what works for me. I wanted to share a little bit about how I review and rate all the content that I read.

As far as my scale, I follow a 1-5 with 1 being “I did not like it” and 5 being “This is amazing and it’s the best thing I have read”. This aligns with Goodreads as they use a five-star scale in reviews. I considered changing this to be a 1-10 rating, but that feels like there are too many options. 1-5 is a good base and it feels more concise.

Starting with books, any book that I rate five stars is a book that I finish and I feel a sense of euphoria. This is a book where I want to immediately call my friends and my family and tell them to read this book, so I can talk about it with them. This is a book I will want to re-read in the next few years and I will buy future books from the author.

If I rate a book four stars, it means that I liked the book, but maybe there was one thing that I didn’t like. Something is holding me back from the full five-star rating. It could be the writing, the characters, the setting or if it took me a bit to finish the book, that could also result in a lower rating. If I rate something three stars, it’s usually a few significant things that I didn’t like about the book. It could be that it didn’t feel memorable or it didn’t stand out to me. If I rate something three stars, I do start to contemplate whether I need to continue the series or own the book if I end up buying it.

If I rate a book two stars, it’s usually a book that I had trouble reading. I may have put it down several times before finally forcing myself to read it. It could be a book where I didn’t look forward to finishing it. If I rate a book one star, it’s usually something that I found boring or I DNFed it (DNF meaning “Did Not Finish”).

For comics, there isn’t much of a difference except the fact that comics obviously have art. For me to rate a comic five stars, I have to love the art. If the art style isn’t for me, that does make a huge difference in how I rate a comic. Additionally, any comic that has a convoluted story or a story where I have to constantly go back a few pages, so I don’t get lost will lead to a lower rating. I like comics where I can read them, follow along with the story, and become entranced with the art on each page.

Another important element in comics and rating comics is how badly do I want to read the next issue. If I read a comic and I could care less about reading the next few issues, that will lead to a lower rating. I can tell when I like a comic because I tend to visit my local comic book store more often, so I don’t miss an issue. I may even check out Midtown Comics’s website to order the back issues that I missed. I do try to give a comic series five issues before deciding to continue the series. I think it does take a bit to develop a story in comics and I like to be fair in my assessment.

It’s not like any of this is unique as I think a lot of book or comic reviewers do something similar. I hope this provides context the next time you read a review of mine!

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – First Thoughts

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Image is a video game cover for Marvel's Spider-Man 2. It features Peter throwing a web, but it's black. Miles is next to him and his web is normal.

I’m not one to buy a video game the weekend it releases. However, I made an exception for Marvel Spider-Man 2 by Insomniac Games. I played Marvel’s Spider-Man back in 2018 shortly after my trip to New York City. Part of the fun was playing the game and slinging around New York City. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has been on my radar and I feel like I waited so long for this game to come out. I have been playing this game non-stop and I wanted to share some first thoughts that I had about the game.

I won’t be sharing direct spoilers, but I will talk about events in the game. If this is something you want to avoid, I wouldn’t read the rest of this post.

The first thing that I noticed was how cinematic this game is. Watching the cutscenes, it feels like I’m watching a movie. I forget at times that I’m supposed to be playing the game.

Shifting into the story, I am enjoying Kraven being introduced as one of the main villains in the game. I like how they designed Kraven with the fur vest and the shark tooth necklace that he’s wearing. Kraven is seriously jacked which I think helps to make him menacing. While Peter and Miles have their powers, Kraven carries his strength which is something that I don’t think the Spider-Men are prepared for. I’m looking forward to the final confrontation between them.

In between the story missions, there is so much to explore in NYC. The map is larger than the first game. I’m only a fifth of the way through the game because I keep getting distracted by all the side content. There are side missions and collectibles throughout each area of the city. I like completing the side quests in between the main story because it helps level up Peter and Miles. Once they level up, they can unlock skills to aid them in the story. I’m sure some gamers will complete the story first, but I like being able to alternate between the story and the collectibles.

One thing that I think is interesting is how there isn’t a New Game Plus mode in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. For those who didn’t play the first game, New Game Plus was unlocked after completing the game for the first time. In this game mode, players can take their leveled-up Spider-Man with all the gadgets, however, the villains and enemies are also tougher. This game doesn’t have New Game Plus as an option and I’m curious if Insomniac is going to respond to that critique and add it in later.

I’m absolutely loving Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and I try to play every chance I get as I don’t want to get spoiled to the main story on accident. I can safely say that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was worth the five-year wait.

Cat Gamer Volume #1 – Review

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Image is a manga cover. There's a close up of a black and white tuxedo kitty. Written vertically next to the cat it says "Cat Gamer" Between cat and gamer is a four arrows in which you would find on a keyboard computer. In the M of gamer, there's a white kitty staring.

I mentioned this before, but I find it easier to read manga than to watch anime. I found it difficult to balance watching anime on top of all the other shows that I watched. I don’t watch shows very quickly as I tend to watch a few episodes here and there whenever I feel like it. That’s why reading manga is so much easier because I can read a few of the volumes and commit to watching the anime at a later date. One of the series I just finished reading was Cat Gamer Volume #1 by Wataru Nadatani. Cat Gamer was adorable.

Cat Gamer follows Riko, a twenty-nine-year-old working professional. She works at an office job by day and at night, she plays video games with her friends. One of her coworkers brings in a stray kitten that they found lurking near her work. Riko spontaneously decides to adopt the kitten. Riko brings the kitten home and has absolutely no clue how to take care of it. Each chapter focuses on Riko and her kitten which she names Musubi.

As a gamer and a cat lover, there’s no way that I wouldn’t love this manga. Some manga series can be gritty and dark, so this is a nice change in pace. I love Riko as she is the same age that I am and still plays video games as often as she can. Some of the dialogue that Riko has with the other characters feels awkward, but that could be the way that Riko is written. Musubi is a tuxedo cat and like most cats, gets into trouble and climbs into any cardboard box that’s around. At the end of each chapter, there are a few panels of Musubi adventuring around Riko’s home. It’s a cute way to end the chapter.

Cat Gamer was adorable and I can’t wait to buy the other volumes. I rated Cat Gamer five stars on Goodreads.

Halloween Workout – Cycling as Darth Vader

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Happy Halloween! I’m going as Kylo Ren for Halloween this year. I think my husband wanted to do a couple costumes, however, I was set on Kylo. I was browsing through Pinterest and was inspired to put this costume together. Besides dressing up as Kylo, I also dressed up as Darth Vader and went to a Halloween-themed workout class at the gym that I go to. As someone who loves both Halloween and exercise, it was a fun thing to do.

Image is a photo of me and another woman. I'm wearing a Darth Vader costume without the helmet. There's a black cape and I'm in all black. It looks like I have a control panel on my chest. There are knee braces and I'm in workout shoes. The woman next to me is wearing black mouse ears, a black workout tank top and bright orange leggings

When me and my husband bought our house last year, I signed up for a group fitness gym. I have been a member at a lot of different gyms and this one is unique. It feels like a small community. In bigger commercial gyms, people show up to work out and leave. Instead, I feel like I have gotten to know some of the members who attend the same classes that I do. Attending group fitness classes is something that I look forward to each week. I gravitate towards boxing and cycling if I want to do cardio or I do a strength class or circuits if I want something that’s weight lifting based. I end up doing about 4-5 classes a week depending on how sore I am.

My gym puts on events every now and then including this Halloween-themed class. There were four different cycle classes. Each class was 30 minutes long with different instructors per class. I ended up signing up for all four classes. The time went by fast! I couldn’t believe I cycled for two hours straight. When I got off the bike, my quads were a little wobbly. I ended up winning a prize for being on the bike for the longest in costume.

I don’t write about exercise here and part of that is intentional. My health and fitness goals are something that I have chosen to keep private. With that being said, I’m so happy that I found this gym.

The Marvels (2023)

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I have felt disconnected from the Marvel cinematic universe. I saw Ant-Man earlier this year and it was fun. I didn’t see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. #3 because I figured it would be sad and didn’t want to cry in the theater. I haven’t watched Secret Invasion yet, but the reviews are not the greatest. I also was spoiled about a certain character’s death in one of the first few episodes and I’m a little salty about it. With all that said, the Marvel movie I’m looking forward to is The Marvels. The Marvels isn’t a Captain Marvel sequel, but more of a team-up between the various versions of Captain Marvel. I know some aren’t really Brie Larson fans, but I’m personally looking forward to this movie.

I watched Ms. Marvel last year and it was so good! I am excited to see Iman Vellani back as Ms. Marvel. Ms. Marvel is one of my favorite characters in comics. She’s nerdy, passionate, and genuinely a good person. She is the quintessential superhero. There’s a moment at the end of the trailer where Ms. Marvel looks at Goose as Goose breaks out the tentacles and eats a few of the enemies. She screams in absolute terror. That’s the most real reaction you can have to seeing a cat eat people.

This leads to another thing that I’m looking forward to. Seeing Goose! Who doesn’t want to see a loveable, alien tentacle kitty? There’s also a clip from the trailer of more kitties floating around and I think Goose could use a friend.

What’s interesting about The Marvels is that this movie does the most with acknowledging the TV series on Disney+. There’s obviously Ms. Marvel, but also Monica Rambeau (played by Teyonah Parris) who was highlighted in WandaVision. With Carol’s friendship with Monica’s mom, Maria, I could see some touching conversations between the two of them. While Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness springboards off of WandaVision, The Marvels could provide an essential link between the Disney+ shows.

I was reading the comments of The Marvels trailer and they were surprisingly not as toxic as I thought they would be. I think people should let everyone enjoy what they want to enjoy. I get that this movie might not be what other fans are looking for, but don’t yuck on someone’s yum.

I’m excited to see The Marvels and even if the reviews aren’t great, I’m sure that I will have fun watching it.

Sex Cult and Holiday Romance – Barnes and Noble Book Haul

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One of my friends came to visit me a few weeks ago and we decided to wander around Mall of America. I tend to avoid Mall of America for the most part due to the traffic and the amount of people, but it was kind of nice to walk around. Every time I go to Mall of America, I like to stop in the Barnes and Noble as it’s been in the same location for decades at least? Of course, I ended up buying books. It’s rare for me to walk into a bookstore and not buy anything. I wanted to share what I bought.

Image shows a stack of three books. The bottom book is The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead. The middle book is Wreck The Halls by Tessa Bailey and the top book is Chainsaw Man Vol #2.

The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead

Shay Evans and her friend Laurel were recruited by a man into a cult while they were in college. Shay and Laurel barely managed to escape and Shay has since built a new life for herself. Shay learns from a podcast that Lauren has died. Shay feels extremely on edge as she’s not entirely sure that Laurel’s death was a coincidence. Shay decides to go back to the town to get some answers and if Laurel was murdered, Shay will do nothing to get justice.

I have read some reviews and I heard this book is really dark. I think it helps to look up content warnings for a book ahead of time as I like to be prepared before reading a book. I was thinking I would read The Last Housewife either in December or January when it gets darker outside.

Wreck The Halls by Tessa Bailey

Melody Gallard is the daughter of a famous musician. She tends to avoid any publicity and keeps to herself. There are talks about her mother’s band reuniting, so Melody decides to get involved. Beat Dawkins is the lead singer’s son. Beat and Melody knew each other when they were young, but stopped being friends after the band disbanded. Now that Melody and Beat will spend a lot of time together, they may see sparks begin to fly again.

I don’t read Holiday romances too often, but I thought this would be cute to read in December to get into the holiday spirit.

Chainsaw Man Vol #2 Tatsuki Fujimoto

Chainsaw Man follows Denji who has a demon named Pochita living inside of him. Chainsaw Man follows Denji’s adventures in demon hunting.

While I do think Denji’s obsession with boobs feels a little too on the nose for a manga, I loved Pochita. Pochita is the cutest thing and one of the main reasons why I’m continuing on in the series.

For the remaining months of the year, I want to have more of a TBR type of plan for November and December. I’m also writing out a few 2024 reading goals as well since 2023 was a little bit of a wash when it comes to hitting my reading goals.