What are your plans for Halloween weekend? If you are in the LA area, why don’t you come down to the third annual Long Beach Comic Con, held at the Long Beach Convention Center? Started only back in 2009, this convention is shaping up to be a fun event as we draw the 2011 convention season to a close with numerous guests and exhibitors, not to mention the ever growing number of extremely talented entries featuring their costumes at the Masquerade Ball.
This will be my first time attending this event but I am very much looking forward to the experience. I have heard nothing but great things about this con and its show runners whenever I talk about convention experiences with others from the comic industry, and now I can finally experience it for my self. This year’s featured guest list consists of Jimmy Palmiotti, Tim Bradstreet and Felicia Day as well as MANY other fan favorites. I am very excited to see Scott Lobdell will be in attendance since I grew up reading his X-Men comics and I am looking forward to potentially saying hi and maybe talking to him for a minute about his current run on DC Comics’ controversial Red Hood and The Outlaws. Artist Alley also has a great list of names from the comics world such as Phillip Tan, Scott Williams, Amanda Connor, Joey Esposito, and Dustin Nguyen as well as the next big artist that we have not discovered yet!
One of my favorite aspects of traveling to conventions all over the United States is the amount of elaborate and unique costumes that I see fans walk around in. With the Masquerade also taking place on what can be seen as this year’s big night for Halloween celebration, I expect to see great things from the entrants as well as what I predict will be an amazing time at the surrounding bars afterward. The deadline for entrants has been extended to 10/15, so if you are interested please see the link below for more information.
On the shopping side of things, one item that I have been keeping my eye on is the debut of Darwyn Cooke’s Parker: The Martini Edition from IDW Publishing at their booth. This book is an oversized collection containing the previously released The Hunter, The Outfit, and The Man With the Getaway Face as well as an all new original story that can be exclusively found in this edition. Aside from IDW there will be dozens of other exhibitors on the show floor, each providing a little something for fans of all tastes. I hope to see bargains on graphic novels and comics so that I can have my favorite creators in attendance sign them and CGC can grade them.
All in all this looks like a fun two-day show that features a little something for everyone. For more on LBCC such as registration and ticket purchases, please be sure to visit longbeachcomiccon.com, friend them on Facebook at facebook.com/LongBeachComicCon, and watch their Twitter feed @longbeach_CC for up to the minute additions and information as it becomes available.