When people think about comicon, often times they think of San Diego Comic-Con. SDCC tops the list of North America’s biggest comic cons joined by many different conventions. Many of our readers and staff have attended the likes of New York Comic Con, WonderCon, C2E2 and many others. Listed at number seven on the list is Phoenix Comicon.
Phoenix Comicon is based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Quite the hot spot during summer months, Phoenix Comicon does not fail to bring out exhibitors, stars, fans and cosplayers alike. Last year, the con reached an attendance level of 55,313 people. PCC demolished that record with an amazing attendance of 77,818 people. I was lucky enough to be one of those many people in attendance.
This years con had quite the line up that brought fans out in masses. Many fans came out to see the likes of Bruce Campbell, Nathan Fillion, Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Mark Sheppard, John Barrowman and a number of other big name celebrities. There were increidble comic writers and artists on hand including Chris Claremont (X-Men, Nightcrawler), Todd Nauck (Amazing Spider-Man, Nightcrawler) and Tucson native, Eric Esquivel (Loki Ragnarok & Roll). We were honored to have Charlaine Harris, Patrick Rothfuss, and Myke Cole on the authors list for this great event. There was something for everyone, from adults to children, to comic readers and cartoon lovers.
This was my third year attending the con and my first year attending the event as press representing The Nerd Element. There was so much that I enjoyed!
Topping the list of the good is the incredible cosplayers I had the pleasure of running into while there. The Arizona Avengers were out in full swing and Marvel glory! Their set up was incredible and the cosplays were yet again spot on! The Anna and Sven cosplay was wonderful! The cosplayer who created the Sven costume did a great job making it semi-easy to pose as Sven on all fours and hopefully managed to avoid any major back tension! This was the first time I experienced a full weekend at the con and let me tell you! Friday’s are wonderful! It’s so open and easy to get around. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to experience the floor with some breathing room! This year I attended a number of interesting events. I was in attendance at the Superhero HQ party Thursday night and the Browncoat Jamboree on Saturday evening. I briefly attended the Captain’s Cantina which was Firefly themed this year! PCC definitely knows how to put on some amazing after hour events!
Photo ops ran so much more smoothly this year with the instant printing. The lines moved fast, the photos were great quality and I felt they were worth every penny I spent (which was a pretty penny to say the least). There were quite a few memorable moments for attendees this year including those lucky few who got photobombed by Nathan Fillion during their photo ops with Bruce Campbell. (There’s an incredible set of photo ops between the two alone that were tweeted after the weekend ended!) All of the celebrities were incredibly sweet and really made you feel appreciated for having waited in line and spent money for that photo with them which is always a nice feeling.
Autograph signings were insane. Once you were in the exhibit hall, you noticed full corrals here and there for various actors, writers, etc. The only signings I personally experienced was Chris Claremont who signed at his table and Stan Lee. The lines were long to say the least but it was an exciting time meeting people who were just as excited about the person you were meeting as you were! I met quite a few awesome people just standing in lines!
A highlight for me was the Lego display set up in the exhibitors hall. They had a number of things ranging from The Lego Movie to Marvel to Star Wars to Disney. One of the greatest parts was from Friday through Sunday, the crew behind the set up displayed the epic battle from Star Wars and updated it each day! I thought it was a brilliant idea!
Overall, I thought Phoenix Comicon was nicely done this year. Although here and there organization of lines seemed frazzled which is what one would expect with a con this size, they did a great job making sure everyone got where they needed to be when they needed to be there. Staff were incredibly helpful and polite. I know it had to have been incredibly stressful for all of them and they did an amazing job. Extra applause for the man making all the announcements at the photo op booths. He was incredibly funny and managed to give directions and instruction while still keeping people in high spirits!
If you ever find yourself needing a late May convention to attend, I highly recommend Phoenix Comicon. PCC has officially announced it’s dates for 2015! The con will be taking over downtown Phoenix May 28th through the 31st!
