May 9, 2019

My First Comic Con Experience

Hi, I'm Amy and I'm a Comic Con newbie. We were invited to attend the annual Long Beach Comic Con this past weekend in Long Beach, CA and I didn't know what to expect. I've never really done cosplay, unless making your own Halloween costume counts, but I do work with an avid cosplayer/Comic Con-attendee (You can see her coverage of LBCC in her article LONG BEACH COMIC CON 2019 COSPLAY RECAP) so I have heard things about Comic Con through the grape vine... or just on the internet since I don't totally live under a rock. Here's a recap of my first comic con experience. I decided to attend my first con in regular street clothes as if I literally had no idea what to expect, which to be honest really wasn't far off. Initially I was a bit overwhelmed by the crowd, but it was nothing that I'm not accustomed to, I attend plenty of music festivals, amusements parks, and lets face it, living in Los Angeles is kind of like living within a crowd all the time. Once I adjusted to the crowd and how the event was set up, it was time to check out costumes and booths. From my personal experience, it seems that cons have a few consistent elements:

Pannels: Professionals associated with the con industry will get up and talk in conference rooms about a specific topic.
Cosplayers: People that enjoy dressing up and/or crafting costumes to look like a character from a comic book/movie/tv show/video game/etc.
Merch Booths: Vendors that come to sell you sweet swag from your favorite comic book/movie/tv show/video game/etc. This includes toys, games, comic books, clothing, art, etc.

I did not end up viewing any panels, so I'm still not quite sure what goes on in those banquet halls, but I enjoyed checking out everything else LBCC had to offer. There were quite a few vendors selling old comic books, which is exactly what I would have expected. My First Comic Con experience

There were also toys. This vendor below sold Funko Pops..... WALLS AND WALLS OF POPS.

And my personal favorite, pop-culture related backpacks and purses. I think I would have bought them all if I could.

Although the merch is fun and there is a lot to look at, the costumes that the cosplayers wear are even more impressive, and really are the star of this "show". I saw some really great detailed costumes such as: My First Comic Con experience

This Tim Burton inspired Willy Wonka and Beetlejuice couple.

My First Comic Con experience This fabulous Poison Ivy

My First Comic Con experience This super spooky Pennywise

My First Comic Con experience This playful Harley QuinnThis super sleek Spider-man. Spider-man was very popular this year, I saw a few different variations of our favorite web-slinger all over the con.

My First Comic Con experience

These snarky Deadpools

My First Comic Con experience

And then my personal favorites....

My First Comic Con experience

A really creative Carl Fredericksen

My First Comic Con experience

and Stan Lee with Spider-Man. The wig and mustache can be found here.

All-in-all I had a really great time, there was a lot to look at and I loved seeing how creative people got with their costumes. This is a great event for adults and children of all ages.

My First Comic Con experience