It's a Bird. It's a Plane. It's Phoenix Comicon!!

Thursday, May 28, 2015

It's a Bird. It's a Plane. It's Phoenix Comicon!!

Coverage by Eva Louis
It doesn’t matter the age or the background of the person, as you descend upon the goliath location known as the Phoenix Convention Center, what you see is the arms and legs of another beast that is in town for the weekend, also known as Phoenix Comicon.

Originally founded in 2002, Phoenix Comicon has come a long way. It’s program schedule goes for days, four (4) days to be exact, and is fully loaded with Anime, Books – Authors, Comic Books and Superheroes , Costuming, Educational, Film & Web, Gaming, ‘Horror, Paranormal and Monsters’, Music & Parties, Outdoor Events, Science Fiction, Steam Punk, Web Comics, and finally ‘Youth, Art Contest & Activities’.

Being an early bird was a total bonus at registration and the lines while they looked potentially overwhelming, the crowd waited patiently with quiet excitement as they counted down to the official door opening, and there was literally no chaos or panic. Lines were self-managed and everyone was just excited to make their entry. Phoenix Comicon was smart and has registration inside (with expected temperatures in the high 90s – low 100s – it’s the only way to go). The biggest bonus at registration this year was the merchandising and the sale of t-shirts this year. They hadn’t done that in the past officially, so this was the first and the lines surely represent that they will be bringing back t-shirts for years to follow. Also, another bonus was the tote bag loaded with a gifted book (Illuminae, pictured below) as part of the purchase.

Phoenix Comicon demonstrates their experience in producing a great event based on the numbers of volunteers, street vendors in wait, security, and great signage as you enter the building. They direct everyone to go to registration first before entering the activities areas so you can pick up your program and badge and other branding material.

What us geeks love is that there is a map and programming that gives you 20 different ways (at least) to find all the things you love.

Some of the guest highlights of those who will be in attendance and presenting are as follows:

Kevin Phipps, Friday at 1:30 pm, DIRECTING WORKSHOP WITH KEVIN R. PHIPPS (FILM SCHOOL)
Charisma Carpenter, Friday at 4:30 pm, known for role Cordelia Chase on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”
Jason Momoa, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, known for role as the iconic character “Conan”
Andrea Coffman, Saturday 10: 30 am, AMERICAN HORROR STORY: FREAK SHOW
Hal C F Astell, Saturday at 9:00 pm, APOCALYPSE LATER STEAMPUNK FILM FESTIVAL
Alyson Hannigan, Saturday and Sunday only, most recently from “How I Met Your Mother”
Christopher Lloyd, Sunday at 10:30 am, known for his role as Doc Emmett Brown in the “Back to the Future” trilogy,