by R.C. Samo
Editor-in-Chief
Stan Lee’s Comikaze has taken Los Angeles by surprise. What began as a passion for all things nerd culture orientated, Regina Caprinelli and her brothers went from a 34,000 square foot storage room in 2011 to being the premiere comic convention of Southern California in one year’s time.
“LA has never really had a successful convention but this has great potential to rival San Diego,” said comic book artist, Michael Aushenker of Cartoon Flophouse.
This year, Comikaze was housed in the significantly larger, 300,000 square foot South Hall, the same South Hall, used to house the LA Auto Show.
Events included screenings of the Elvira Horror Hunt film festival winner, “Found,” the Dating Game with former Mrs. Brady and “Queen of the Geeks,” Adrianne Curry along with, “The Never Ending Story,” and tattoo artist, Noah Hathaway. There was also the premiere of Daniel Tosh’s animated series, “Brickleberry.”
Huntington Beach Fangirl and sign interpreter, 26-year-old Vanessa Flournoy chimed in on her expectations. “I like meeting other writers and artists. I’d like to get my own comic book published some day. I have to leave money at home or else I’d spend it all here,” said Flournoy, who was dressed as Harley Quinn.
The most appealing aspect of Comikaze, with all the film screenings, cosplay competitions, quidditch tournaments and high profile celebrities is that Artist Alley was the heart of LA’s premiere comic book convention.
First time convention attendee, Emily Dorsett, a 29-year-old college student from Orange, CA said, “I have had the hardest ‘Silver Fox’ crush on Adam West. This is my first big con and dressing up, I wish church was like this.”
San Diego will need to keep a close eye on Comikaze, especially having forged a new partnership with Advanstar, Hollywood won’t have to travel the 120 miles with a convention of this magnitude in their backyard.
For more information on next year’s Stan Lee’s Comikaze, visit www.comikazeexpo.com