Greetings Geeks and Geekettes! It has been a week since Phoenix Comicon concluded and I really do feel it took me that long to process the event and recover. Having spoken to several people who attended Phoenix Comicon this year, the vibe definitely felt different. The layout was different, several attendee favorites were not present, the exhibitor hall was far more vast and there were more people attending. That being said, from the attendee perspective Phoenix Comicon was an absolute blast!
While I was sad that some of my favorite Con faces were missing (ahem, Benjamin Glendenning), I had a few surprises! My first surprise was that Amy Mebberson and James Silvani were in attendance this year! I adore Amy Mebberson’s art and pretty much fan girl squealed when I saw her booth. Amy Mebberson did a Pinup version of Quorra from TRON: Legacy for me at D23 in 2011. It was my first commission piece ever! There were several other new artists this year and I was fortunate to be able to get a few of them in my Harry Potter sketchbook.
Cosplay this year was fun like always! There was less Steampunk and Doctor Who than in past years. Strangely, Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail was quite popular this year. Not so surprisingly, Harley Quinn seemed to be everywhere! Mister and I tried our hand this year at Hipster Ariel and Prince Eric, while being subtle we were recognized and a vendor did take our photo saying we were the only cosplay photo she took this show.
Obviously with Geek Eats being my primary focus these days with DAPs Magic, food was a huge factor for me. The Phoenix Convention Center definitely upped their game this year. Rather than serving only the typical burgers, sandwiches and pizza; the food offerings this year included Mac and Cheese and Indian Fry Bread. They also had themed names which added to the fun. Another fun food related thing at Con was the panel about feast scenes in literature. It was great hearing authors discuss their thoughts on the importance of feasts in novels and how they use these scenes to tell their stories.
Overall, while there were a lot of changes made to Phoenix Comicon, the event was great to attend and the organizers did a great job! This was the 5th year I’ve covered Phoenix Comicon for DAPs Magic and I’m already looking forward to next year!
Have a Magical Day!
DC
