LA Comic Con (formerly Comikaze) brings the star power with its sixth year at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The three-day event was held from October 27-29 and was the largest one so far with a record attendance of 91,000 attendees.
Dwayne Johnson rocked the main stage with Stan Lee himself to promote his upcoming film Jumanji and The Price Is Right host, Drew Carey, was awarded the LA Comic Con Legendary Comedian Award. Special guest appearances also included the Black Eyed Peas, Flavor Flav, Chloe Bennet (Agents of SHIELD), Rob Liefield, and Pee-Wee Herman. Con exclusives included Pop Funkos of icons such as Stan Lee and Kevin Smith, artwork portraying the Adam West Batman, and TMNT variants by Humberto Ramos. New exhibitors this year included Disney, 5-hour Energy, the Black Eyed Peas, Verizon, and The Price is Right (Yes, they brought the wheel). Con events this year included Nerd Fest, the Cosplay National Championship, the Makeup National Championship, the Prop Making National Championship, and GeekFest LA. To promote the cosplaying scene, cameras and lights were set up inside the lobby for cosplayers to show off their hard work and pose for the camera.
The price of the con was, for the most part, the same price as last year. However, the con is not the same as it was last year. The con improved their organization for crowd control, both inside and outside the con. So, no more bum rushing the doors when they open and better traffic control out on the streets. Signs were posted outside the doors for attendees with cosplay weapons, without cosplay weapons, and other categories. Personally, I believe the floor plan layout was one of the best one I’ve seen at the LA Convention Center. It was much easier to walk around and locate booths compared to past cons. The con even included special setups in the lobby for cosplayers to show off their outfits and be featured on the website.
Unfortunately, LA Comic Con 2017 isn’t without its faults. Parking at and around the con is still unreasonably overpriced, especially on Saturday and Sunday. Food inside the convention center is subpar with most attendees choosing to eat at the food trucks outside. Unfortunately, you will have to deal with the long lines to get back into the con if you do. On Yelp, many reviews claimed the ticketing process for autographs left them confused, others claimed to have dealt with rude staff, and some never received their Stan Lee autograph despite paying the $120. While I wouldn’t make a big deal of an autograph for other cons, this autograph is from Stan Lee of Marvel and Stan Lee’s Comic Con. That alone should imply how important it is to get the autographing done right and efficiently. Especially when Stan Lee is doing a huge service to sign autographs for three days at 94 years old. Make it easier for the fans so it can be easier for Stan and vice versa, plain and simple.
Overall, LA Comic Con is an ever-growing con with a huge potential. The con is slowly bringing in bigger names from the industry and giving more bang for the attendees’ buck. While there are still some faults, it’s a good sign to see they are taking notes from previous years and improving.
Excelsior!
TLDR
- LA Comic Con 2017
Summary
Overall, LA Comic Con is an ever-growing con with a huge potential. The con is slowly bringing in bigger names in the industry and bringing more bang for the attendees’ buck. While there are still some faults, it’s a good sign to see they are taking notes from previous years and improving.