June | 2017 | Wandering NerdGirl

This weekend was sort of insane, in a very nerdy way. Which, I guess, is the best way, if you think about it.

Friday, I finally bought tickets for Six Flags this season and decided to make a quick trip up to ride Justice League, twice. And Sunday I saw Wonder Woman for a third time. But Saturday was probably the biggest part of the weekend: The Superman Celebration.

I’ve made my grumbles about long car rides (you can read about that more here). Honestly, after 1.5 hours, I’m completely done being in the car. So the 3ish hour journey to Metropolis, IL this weekend did NOT sound like a great time for me. But, the drive itself wasn’t terribly difficult, and 3ish hours isn’t SO bad, I guess.

I’ve been meaning to head to Metropolis for a while, now. While the big blue boy scout isn’t my favorite, I do love comic book history and nerdy travel destinations (obviously). I knew I couldn’t pass up a Super Museum in Metropolis. What better excuse to go, though, than during the Superman Celebration.

From the site: The Superman Celebration is an annual four-day festival sponsored by The Metropolis Chamber of Commerce and the City of Metropolis – The Official Home of Superman.

What started as a 1 day “Homecoming” for the local residents has now evolved into a 4-day celebration that attracts Superman Fans and families from around the world. 47 States and 6 different countries were represented at the 2016 Celebration. 2017 marks the 45th year that Metropolis, IL has been designated as the adopted “Home of Superman.”

The Celebration this year will be dedicated to the memory of Noel Neill, who portrayed Lois Lane in the Adventures of Superman television series. Neill, was a repeat guest to the Superman Celebration for many years and was even given the title “First Lady of Metropolis” when a statue of her portraying Lois Lane was revealed in her honor. Neill passed away in July of 2016.

Pretty awesome, right?

It was like a festival / con hybrid of awesome that I was not fully prepared for! Comics, guests, collectibles, food, cosplay, etc.

Guests included: Dean Cain, James Marsters, Margot Kidder, and Sarah Douglas. Plus Artist Alley guests like Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, John Ostrander, and Todd Aaron Smith.

But, of course, there was the big thing I’d wanted to come see: The Super Museum.

I plan to just touch on this, today. I was rushed for time while I was there, and forgot my camera for better pictures. So I plan to go back sometime soon with better planning.

As I said, I’m going back with my camera and more time, so I’ll do a proper post on it, then. BUT! This place was incredible! For a Superman fan, comic nerd, collector, history buff or even someone just casually interested. It’s just $5 to enter, and totally worth it.

My haul:

Keep in mind, I also stopped at Villainous Grounds on my way to Metropolis, and bought that Catwoman in the Walgreens in Metropolis haha.

Some Harley issues I decided to take along for Amanda and Jimmy to sign.

WAAAAAAY more exciting, was this print from Todd Aaron Smith, who worked on Batman the Animated Series. He was an animator for my Harley! This is definitely an amazing addition to my Harley collection.

Over all, the Superman Celebration was actually super fun. (Giggle) I plan to go next year with more money and a better game plan, because it was far better than I had anticipated it would be!

Did you attend the Superman Celebration? What did you think? Grab anything cool, or check out the museum? Let me know in the comments!

-Angel

This is the year Wonder Woman gets the respect she’s deserved. A solo movie, and now her own DAY?! YES!

While I thought Wonder Woman day was cool all on it’s own, I was more excited for two little girls:

Wonder Woman Day

Before the movie.

They’re out of school, and I took Friday off from work, so we caught an early showing of Wonder Woman on Friday (after I had my first, child-free viewing on Thursday haha) – and they LOVED it. Obviously, they come from a family of nerds, and their grandma is a HUGE Wonder Woman fan, so they were already familiar with Wondy. But they came out of that movie gushing about how amazing she was, and how they wanted to be just like her. So, it was well timed that the next day, they’d be heading to Wonder Woman Day events with their grandmother and I.

We picked Barnes and Noble over a shop because 1.) it was closer and 2.) we knew there were activities for the girls at Barnes and Noble, which we weren’t so sure about for shops. Either way, we grabbed our special Wonder Woman day freebies, did some coloring, and grabbed a few Wonder Woman things to bring home. My mom made a pretty decent haul:

I bought this pretty little lady for my desk at work:

Now, some spoiler free chat about the movie:

Last week was an AWFUL week for me, personally. By Thursday, I was sort of dreading the movie, just because I anticipated it would be ruined for me by the unending bad things going on. But I was completely taken into the film and given the escape I desperately needed, and came out feeling somewhat better despite the fact that everything was still a mess in my real world.

The movie left me with a reminder of my own strength, and a feeling of empowerment despite how helpless I’d felt before. Maybe it was the escaping, itself. Or maybe it was watching Gal Gadot kick major ass, or knowing how significant all of this was.

There were several times I caught myself smiling. Not because of something funny or sweet specifically happening, necessarily. But just the general enjoyment of what I was watching. It wasn’t just me loving it, though – it’s my mom’s new favorite movie, and my 6 and 7 year old nieces couldn’t look away. The 6 year old sat perfectly still, the entire time, her eyes wide.

When we left the theater, she told me she hopes to be as brave and kind and strong as Wonder Woman, some day. I wanted to cry. This is the role model my nieces, as well as other girls like them, have needed. Someone that they look to their morals and strength before mentioning their beauty. Someone that even I can look up to, though I’m closing in on 27.

To put it simply: Wonder Woman was… wonderful.

~Angel