Earlier last week, Mike posted his thoughts on the Long Beach Comic Expo that recently took place and now it’s my turn. After moving the date a few months earlier than last year’s incarnation, the Comic Expo has become the unofficial kick off to the Southern California con season. A solid move if you ask me. California is a state that always has an abundance of events to choose from every weekend and cons are no different. As we get deeper into the year there are so many cons going on that if you have limited time or resources you’re forced to pick and choose. So moving to a less hectic time of the year only ensures less conflict and more people having a good time.
I’ve only recently started attending the Long Beach Comic Expo and Comic Con but from what I have seen so far its apparent that the crew involved keep trying to do themselves and this year’s interpretation of the Expo is a testament to their ongoing mission. They’ve upgraded to the biggest exhibit floor at the convention center and the extra space was greatly appreciated. Despite some problems with trying to find where all the action was going on the move was a total success.
This year Mike and I decided to play it a bit more laid back by not having such a hectic schedule throughout the weekend. We hit a few panels that piqued our interest, did a little shopping, and mingled with lots of friends excited about going to their first con of the year. Many of whom were attending LBCE for the first time but were impressed enough on their first go to want to come to future shows. One of the biggest highlights of my weekend was definitely meeting Envy, one of my favorite cosplayers as of late, and chatting with her both days. It was her first time out in California so she was just stoked to be there. Not that I blame her because California is awesome.
Envy humoring my annoying self two days in a row.
What has now become a tradition at the Long Beach shows is that I have to get at least one sketch done by my good friend Paige, of Paige One Comics and Busty Girl Comics. All those “busty girl problems” comics you see on the internet? That’s her. Below you can see one of the two sketches she did for me, an awesome rendition of Spider-Gwen on a blank variant I picked up from the Comic Book Hideout‘s booth. We even made a fun game out of this where in we rolled a D20 to determine how much I would pay for the sketch. Never in the history of D20 rolling has anyone been so excited to roll a 3 but this was probably the only case in which a low number is a good thing.
“OOH! Spider-Gwen!”
The after party, put on by Club Cosplay, was a welcome addition as well. Having a centralized place where everyone enjoying the con can meet once it’s over for day to have some drinks and dance is a bonus. Although if possible a better drink selection would be appreciated, there was no hard liquor! What if we need a post con shot? Next time I suppose! Thankfully those in attendance brought positive booty shaking vibes and I was able to overlook the lack of whiskey. Plus it’s always nice to have more Club Cosplay events going on.
Overall I say the LBCE team delivered the goods and have set the foundation for them to be a massive con down the line with plenty of offerings for everyone in the nerdosphere. If you missed out this time they’ll be back with a bigger event September 12th and 13th so don’t sleep on it twice in one year!