Marvelous Nerd Year’s Eve Day 2 Highlights #MNYE
By: Okon Essien
What is up everyone, Okon here!
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of spending a day at the Marvelous Nerd Year’s Eve Comic convention in Dallas, and I have to say I had a blast. It was a four day event mostly dedicated to Stan Lee, since his birthday was a day prior to the event beginning. I didn’t get to experience all four days sadly, but I saw a lot of cool stuff when I did go. Here are some of the highlights from my time there!
Cosplayers
The very first thing I saw when I entered the building was an immense amount of people in amazing costumes. I managed to get these wonderful people to allow me to snap a photo of them during the convention, and I wanted to share most of them with you (I must apologize if the quality isn’t that great, i took all of these pictures on my Galaxy S7 Edge):
Meeting and Speaking to Icons
While I was at #MNYE, I was lucky enough to speak to some of the actors that were present at the convention. Sean Gunn (Guardians of The Galaxy, Gilmore Girls) was polite enough to speak to me and Dorian briefly, and he allowed us to tell him what Geeks of Color stood for and what we represented in the community! Super cool and humble guy. What’s more, we each got a picture with him!
We got to meet @seangunn! Thanks for speaking with us. It was lit 🔥🙌🏾. #MNYE pic.twitter.com/G0gftPS2pj
— Geeks of Color (@GeeksOfColor) December 30, 2016
I saw a few more stars like Michael Rooker (Guardians of The Galaxy, The Walking Dead), but I didn’t get a chance to talk to him. He just looked in my direction and said, “What’s up.”
Of course, the BIGGEST highlight of my time there was when i got to take a picture and speak very briefly with Stan “The Man” Lee. I had less than a minute to speak to him, but i told him i represented Geeks Of Color and what we stood for, and he said “That’s terrific kiddo, i love seeing people stand up for something right.”
Best Moment ever.
The Roast of Stan Lee
Finally, the night ended off with The Roast of Stan Lee, which featured all of the talented individuals in the image above. Like all roasts, there were some good jokes, and some that went a little too far. All in all though, it was a great event. My favorite joke of the night though, was when Ming-Na Wen (Agent May on Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.) threw some of the best shade ever:
“I’m surprised i even got invited to this thing. What, Tilda Swinton wasn’t available?”
She’s real for that one.
Oh, and did i mention that i had the honor of siting at the same table as the original Chewbacca, Peter Mayhew?
Of course near the end of the event, Stan Lee gave a touching speech, in which he mentioned that us, the fans, were “the greatest people in the world.” They ended off the night by presenting him with a cake (that i wasn’t able to get a picture of due to the amount of people in front of it), and a mural for his 94th birthday:
All in all, it was a truly unforgettable experience and im grateful that i was lucky enough to attend it for even one day. Seeing Stan Lee, Ming-Na Wen, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, and everyone else felt unreal. I hope i’ll be able to attend something else like this soon.
Hope you guys enjoyed this article, and i’ll see you in the next one!
