Purchase Comic Con: Nerdvana Takes Over the Stood

By Shaya Silberstein

On May 3, the Creating Artists Producing Epic Stories (CAPES) club collaborated with over 10 clubs to create Purchase's Comic Con, Nerdvana. It started at noon and ended at 8 p.m., with multiple events hosted in different rooms of The Stood.  

The President of CAPES, Jason Berry, a junior visual arts major and television and theory practice minor, talked about how Nerdvana came together, “This is technically not first Nerdvana, because we very very last minute last year wanted to do this, but of course with encampment and Stood closing early, it couldn't be done.”

Berry said it would have been done on a small scale, with only four clubs. They started planning since the spring semester started in January, and they have 11 different clubs and organizers. 

CAPES was hosting Artist Alley on the main stage, “You know it doesn’t feel real seeing all these artists out there and seeing all these amazing cosplays and selling such amazing prints," said Berry. "I love that I'm giving them a chance to show off their work. This is such a cool event for everyone to get together to support each other.” Berry's goal was for the artists to get recognition for their work.

One of the artists selling their work was Jack Dieso, a new media freshman who was selling his prints. “It only took a couple hours per piece,” He feels his best work was a Superman piece, “Because that's right when the trailer came out and the hype was fresh in my mind and I was just really excited.”

Dieso talked about what made him want to be an artist, “I picked up a comic one day and I was like, oh my god, I want this, and I found artists like Jack Kirby, Bruce Timm, and Darwin Cook. Like the guys who made it so weird, yet it is so simple.”

Superman and Krypto print by Jack Dieso. (Photo by Shaya Silberstein)

In the main room, CAPES was also putting out print copies of Anthology books, while also putting out free comic books for students with the help of the Purchase Activities Board, to take home for Free Comic Book Day. 

Other artists who were putting out their work were Finn Masarik, a visual arts senior, who said that her main work was a comic that she worked on and is one of its third chapters, which she started working on in the summer. Masarik talks about her journey, “I mean I’ve always been drawing, and I've always been interested in being creative.” 

Eri Espina, a junior in new media, was another artist selling their art and showing off their work. “So what I’m selling right now is prints, all printed on photo paper by me. These collages were done by me, most of them are digital collages," she said. "One of them is an analogue and another was a debuting trader.” It took Espina five minutes per print to make, while it took 20 minutes to make for each design. Espina said that she didn't get into digital media until her late teens, as she wanted to be an animator. They didn't get into collage making until college, when they attended a workshop.  

While artists were selling their work, in the main room, clubs like Trading Card Club, Board Game Club and the Den were playing games all day with students like Uno. While in the Whitsons' room in the Stood, the Game Club was set up for the whole day, as they played Mario Kart and also hosted a Smash Bros tournament. While also playing some Worldbuilding in the open area with students. 

Students playing Super Smash Bros. in the Whitson’s space. (Photo by Cage Evinger)

Beau Thorne, a screenwriting professor, came to the main stage at 1:30 p.m. to talk about his start from being a fan of Wolverine and Punisher as a kid to writing the adaptation of Max Payne, while also talking about how the movie industry works when writing comic book adaptations. 

Gem 67 and the Literature Society hosted a cosplay contest on the main stage, which was won by Kat Valentine, cosplaying as Narancia from JoJo Bizarre Adventure. 

All the cosplayers from the contest on stage, from right to left: Kat Valentine as Narancia from JoJo Bizarre Adventure, a Dining Hall worker, Kirry Kufer as San-Ji of One Piece, Kai, Sookie the Cat, and Max Lewis as Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim. (Photo by Cage Evinger)

While the Purchase Student Thespian Society hosted the last event on the main stage, as they performed a song from "Into The Woods." They also held Karaoke in the Cinema Room for the first two hours of Nerdvana.

Performers of "Into The Woods" performing a number on stage. (Photo by Cage Evinger)

The Movie Club hosted a screening of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" and Star Wars Trivia. Meanwhile, Purchase Television hosted a Mud wrestling contest outside on the grass, which took over an hour in the soaking rain, with over six sparring matches held.

Students competing in mud wrestling in the soaking rain. (Photo by Cage Evinger)

To help relax, the Neurodiversity Club and Lit Society held a craft and chill in the Dino Room, where you can make your bracelets and necklaces. 

Members of the Lit Society and the Neurodiversity club in the de-escalation room, from right to left: Carly Brenan, Izzy Silverman, Mariel Omigui, Izzy Taylor, Sammy Terpening. (Photo by Cage Evinger)