Long Beach Comic Con 2014 Review & Photos

Well another Long Beach Comic Con has come and gone. This past Sept. 27th and 28th, 2014 was the most recent iteration of the successful comic convention event which continually draws top-tier comic talent and focuses mainly on comic book and artist/writer related material.

The crowd was evident with the lines on Saturday waiting to get into the event, with pre-registered attendants getting in an hour earlier than same-day ticket purchasers.

Creator talents included the perennial Mike Mignola (Hellboy), Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti (Harley Quinn, Power Girl), along with additional special guests such James O’Barr (The Crow), Dan Brereton (The Nocturnals), and Laura & Mike Allred (Madman, Silver Surfer, X-Force).

The artist alley was smack dab in the middle like a true comic convention should be, with multiple rows of noted professional talent such as Dustin Nguyen (Batman), Joshua Hale Fialkov (The Bunker) along with a mix of amateur and up and coming creators such as Babs Tarr, artist on the upcoming Batgirl series.

The CW Series “The Flash” also had a trailer from the show appearing where attendees could test their speed. Along the back of the hall was a laser tag area, Lego playing area for the kids as well as a Chevy dealer sign-up booth.

A large area covered the convention comprised of actual comic book dealers such as Pulp Fiction, Jay Company Comics, Comics Wise, Phat Collectibles, along with a myriad of toy sellers and independent booths.

The Sunday event was slight in traffic compared to Saturday in the a.m., but parking under the convention was already full by the opening time and foot traffic was steady throughout the day on both days.

Lines for creators was small or non-existent compared to larger conventions such as the recent San Diego Comic con or the close-by Wonder Con in Anaheim. The only booths that had significant long wait times included the Allreds and Amanda Conner/Jimmy Palmiotti booths which had stretches of fans waiting for their signatures. Word to the wise to LBCC staff, please separate out your top talent guests so they are not back-to-back to each other since the lines begin to merge and other booths/guest artists get drowned out by the fans of the other creators.

Overall the event was enjoyable and very stress-free compared to San Diego Comic Con and even the ever-growing popularity of Wonder Con-Anaheim. Heres hoping for the LBCC staff in bringing in more top-tier comic talent that does not routinely attend Southern California conventions to appear at this nice local and friendly convention.

Comic Book Event: WonderCon-Anaheim 2014

WonderCon 2014 has passed, now referred to as WonderCon-Anaheim as WonderCon-San Francisco should be back in effect one day according to the WonderCon program book. So it looks like the success and packed 2013/2014 season has led to Orange County now getting their very own San Diego Comic Con-lite convention as an annual event instead of just a hold-over until Comic Con Intl. was able to secure a location in San Francisco again.

Compared to the 2013 WonderCon in the same Anaheim Convention Center location, this year it was able to secure halls A & B as well as the arena for larger events which was nice but also meant that this year they had a lot more attendees and traffic compared to last year.

Last year had some artist and creators that appeared from multiple national locations but were noticeably absent this year with a good portion of artists and creators being more LA/OC/San Diego locals that usually show up for the smaller regional events. Marvel Entertainment also was absent with nary a booth set-up this year compared to last year leading DC Comics and IDW, Aspen as having the larger booths for comic publishers.

Navigating the aisles was a lot harder this year with a good amount of people on Saturday and Sunday and clogging up the aisles especially in Hall B where the comic book booths were at.

Many artists in artists alley were busy and jammed if you were a B or A-lister!

See you next year WonderCon.

WonderCon-Anaheim 2014 Photos

WonderCon-Anaheim registration hall
Writer, Scott Snyder (Batman, Swamp Thing)
Writer, Len Wein (Wolverine, Swamp Thing, Batman)
Artist, Russ Heath (The Haunted Tank, Out Army at War)
Writer, Richard Starkings (Elephant Men)
Artist, Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows, Avengers, Savage Wolverine)
Witchblade cos-player
Dr. Who cos-players
Artist, Marc Silvestri (Witchblade, Hulk, X-Men)
Witchblade creator, Marc Silvestri, with Witchblade cos-player

Enjoy!

Las Vegas Comic Expo 2013: Convention Report

Here’s my “photo” report from this September’s inaugural Las Vegas Comic Expo held at the Rivera Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

1. The Floor
The convention was held in the distinctly older Riviera casino and the show floor and parking area show it’s age. Thankfully the set-up and floor space were done to allow maximum space between booths and tables so there was no back-up that lasted significantly.

Ticketing pick-up took longer than expected and the lack of volunteers and staff did prolong wait and show information. The overall experience though was successful in that you can readily figure out the location and spots of the booths and artists you were looking for since the space isn’t enormous and the wait times to meet creators didn’t stretch hours like SDCC. The longest wait both Saturday and Sunday was for Jason Scott Campbell who continually had a long line but was significantly faster moving than at other conventions I’ve seen him at (see the line photos below for JSC).

2. Creators- Part 1

(listed clock-wise)

Chrissie Zullo
JG Jones x2
Mark Brooks
Stephane Roux
Len Wein
Eric Basaldua
Adam Hughes

2. Creators- Part 2

(listed clock-wise)

Carlos Pagulayan
Stephen Segovia
Philip Tan
Jay Anacleto
Simon Bisley working on a Venom sketch
Tim Bradstreet

Long Beach Comic & Horror Convention 2012: Convention Report

Here is the report for the 4th Annual Long Beach Comic & Horror Convention held in Long Beach, California 2013.

A fun convention with the ability to interact with the creators in a more personal, less-heavy traffic convention compared to San Diego Comic Con. Attendance seemed a little lower this year than last year with the possibility of the Con being held after Halloween this year and also not being part ofa “Zombie Walk” that Long Beach held last year to try and break a record.

A few non-returning creators such as David Finch, Bob Layton, etc. also meant a few less artists to drive fans on attending both Saturday and Sunday. My eye spotted less buyers as well unless a booth had 50% off trades or the one 50 cent back issue booth which stayed packed.

Purchasing your tickets in advance allowed you to get a free copy of Creator Owned Heroes by Jimmy Palmiotti and Steve Niles with a special Long Beach Con cover by Amanda Conner as well as a 30 minute early admittance to the convention on Saturday.

Photo Report Review! Images are called out clock-wise.

A. The convention and cosplayers.

The line to get in the comic convention which is at the bottom floor at the Long Beach Convention Center with panels on the main floor. There was an indoor garden expo happening that same weekend.

Thundercat’s Cheetarah and Pumyra

Lady Punishers x2

Walking Dead-type Zombie

She-Ra

Baroness and Ms. Marvel

Stilt-Waking Spider-Lady with Dr. Who and Angel Baseball Fan

B. The Artists & Creators

JonBoy Meyers (G.I. Joe, Hulk)
Tim Vigil (Faust)
Bernard Chang (Deadpool, Wonder Woman)
Trent Kaniuga (Creed, Ghost Rider, Twilight Monk)
Amanda Conner (Silk Spectre, Power Girl)
Tommy Yune (Speed Racer, Robotech) being interviewed
Jon Bogdanove (Superman, Power Pack)

Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo 2013: Convention Report

Here’s my quick recap and “photo” report from this past weekend’s “Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo” for 2013.

A lot bigger than last year’s “parking garage” set-up at the LA Convention Center from 2012. More A-list comic creators such as McFarlane, JS Campbell, McKone, Tony Moore, etc. from 2012 which continued this year with Marc Silvestri, J. Scott Campbell, Chris Burnham, Joe Jusko and others as well as the usual mid-tier celebs hawking expensive autographs.

Captions will be listed in semi left-to-right reading order.

1. The lines and entry to the event.

Parking was a lot easier if you got in via the back of the center. Long lines for pre-purchasers, heard almost that it stretched half-way around the convention center outside in one of the hottest days of the Summer in LA.

The security lines got long, but still, the con-goers were cool and didn’t cause any issues with the waiting.

Images of the main stage during the masquerade contest.

2. The comic creators and artists!

1. Jason Scott Campbell. Selling prints and sketch books. Commented on my Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe reprints with his cover that it was the first time he’s seen it out.

2. Amy Mebberson doing some cute Disney art commissions.

3. Marc Silvestri doing an interview. Super-long wait since everyone and their dogs wanted a photo with him. So many statues signed.

4. Joe Benitez getting his Lady Mechanika books ready.

5. An artist doing a really super-fast robot sketches, Megatron.

6. Transformer artist Livio Ramiodelli.