When Ben, Dr. Cellus and I got up at 5:00am Friday morning driving to Phoenix for a comic convention sounded like a terrible idea.  Then again, at 5:00am everything sounds like a bad idea.  But we’ve all been to Phoenix before — it’s hot.  Very, very hot.  And sitting in a car for five hours never sounds fun, much less so when you have to deal with high 90s heat most of the way.  We did not have fun on the drive out so Phoenix Comicon had a lot to do for us to say it was worth it…

Phoenix Comicon is beyond just “worth it.”  It is the perfect comic convention and one I intend to attend for many years to come.

Friday, once we checked in to the hotel, the guys and I made our way over to the Phoenix Convention Center and you know what we found?  Cosplay.  A ton of it.  Here, check out some of the wears (apologies in advance — all we brought was an iPhone for photos/videos):

The diverse selection of cosplay at Phoenix Comicon was amazing — everything from manga, to film, to mainstream comics.  And most impressively, all of the cosplay seemed to be well thought out and impressively executed.  I tip my hat to everyone who dressed up.  You looked great.  Coincidentally, I am also convinced that Phoenix has some of the most beautiful women in the world and these women seem to love them some cosplay.  And we love them for it.

The floor at Phoenix Comicon was as impressive as the attendees.  Phoenix’s Convention Center seems to have been designed for a comicon.  With two large halls (one dedicated to booths and the other to food/tables), a large hall for special screenings and more popular speakers, several smaller rooms for most of the panels, and all of this in a nice compact area, the Convention Center is ideal and allows minimal effort to explore.

One of the most surprising things for me was the quality of the booths at the show.  I’ve been to a few comic conentions and there are always a few booths where I think, “why are you here?”  I know that sounds mean, and maybe it is, but generally speaking there is a split between the talented and not-so-talented folks, which often runs at about 80/20.  At Phoenix Comicon every single booth on the floor had a reason to be there.  Sure, some were more impressive than others, but at no time did I see someone and think they were wasting their money.  Phoenix has some talented folks and I took notice.

Some of the floor highlights for me are the following (click the pictures to go to the sites):

While the floor was great and ripe with potential conversation for fans of any genre — it isn’t enough to fill an entire day, much less the three that the convention lasts.  Enter the panels.

Comic Convention panels are typically 50/50 — half of them will be awesome and the other half will be anything but.  Unfortunately for Phoenix Comicon, not even their panels escaped this unnatural truth.  Three of us went to many panels and (I’m not kidding) we each liked half of the ones we went to.  I’m not going to discuss the lackluster panels because some of the people on those panels were very nice, despite their inability to speak publicly.  What I will mention are the highlight panels — those that seemed to know what they were doing, what the panel was about, and should most definitely be invited back next year.

The Importance of Social Networking was a panel led by Ryan Cody, Matt Bennett, Scott Godlweski, Jonnie Allan and Ben “SkullJammer” Glendenning.  Each of these guys knew their shit and seemed to want to help other aspiring creators succeed.  The biggest selling point for me: nobody tried to sell me their comics during the panel.  I thank them for that.  It’s very easy for some panelists to spend the entire hour talking about themselves, no matter what the program promises the topic will be.  These guys were friendly, professional and after the panel I checked out their stuff — they’re all talented cats as well.  Look ‘em up.

Comic Book Contract Law was an incredibly informative session led by attorney at law, Andrew B. Turk.  While the idea of legalese may scare away or seem just plain boring to many, it’s a sadly necessary fundamental in business and Mr. Turk was fantastic.  As a comic book fan he seemed to understand the business, the wants and needs of creators, and how to protect everybody involved.  It was about protecting just the publisher or just the talent — it was about making sure that everybody can work together in the most creatively free, legally open environment possible.  If you are thinking about signing anything, know what you should look for.

Christian Beranek ran a panel titled “Hollywood and the Graphic Novel.”  I wasn’t sure about this panel since I firmly believe that any book written as a graphic novel in an effort to become a film is a steamy pile of shit, but Mr. Beranek earned my trust with a line early in the hour, “Let the comic be the comic and the movie be the movie.  You have to have a good comic first.”  Thank you, sir.  Mr. Beranek has expansive knowledge of both industries and you can find out why if you just search tah internets for him.  While your perusing, look up his fantastic books Super Frat and Japanese School Girls in Love.

The Hyatt sponsored the the event, offering not only rooms at a discount, but programming as well!  Star Trek’s Wil Wheaton stayed up with us geeks until 2:00am playing Rock Band, there was an Anime Rave and a Geek Prom!  The only thing I missed was the Zombie Walk (which I wasn’t particularly bummed about missing since I am a pansy that jumps at the site of a cockroach) and the Zombie Fashion Show!  Have you ever seen nerds rock out to Nirvana, Disturbed and System of a Down?  How about an Anime Rave?  No?  Then please, enjoy:

Everybody knows San Diego’s behemoth Comic Convention that stopped being about comics some years ago — it’s still fun as hell, but worthless for industry professionals.  San Francisco’s WonderCon and Alternative Press Expo are probably the top of the West Coast food chain when it comes to getting into the business for anyone in the Southwest.  Or at least they were.  In my opinion, Phoenix Comicon is here to give each of those a run for their money.  Phoenix Comicon is loud, proud, well-organized, informative, rich and above all: fun.

If you can go next year, do it.  The only thing that holds it back from being prefect is the heat which is to be expected anywhere in Arizona in May.  But then again, more heat typically leads to less clothing and skimpier cosplay outfits — if you’re into that sort of thing.  Which, of course, I’m not.  Because I’m married.  So… yeah.

I’d like to close with a shoutout to the entire Star Wars representatives in the corner of the con — you were some of the best I’ve ever seen.  From bounty hunters to droid-builders, Phoenix Comicon had some serious Star Wars representation — just check out Chris Kockler of the AstroMech.net and his amazing R2.

Keep up the good work, y’all.

James