Over the weekend the Long Beach Comic Con held there Expo that is a more intimate show than the full show that they put on in the fall. This is one of the best expo’s that they have held since the first one five years ago. This year was the first time the expo was a two-day show adding Sunday to the mix and it seemed to work out very well. I was only able to go on Sunday and was quite surprised by the turnout because I knew a number of artist and dealers that said that Saturday was quite busy. The crowds were big but you could still walk the floor without too much trouble. This was the first time that the expo had moved upstairs to the bigger ballroom and that was a big plus. There was a nice mix of retailers and artist that had comics, toys, books, and artwork for sale. There was also some really great Cosplay and was very impressed because it was the second day of the show and I figured that most of the Cosplayers would have been there on Saturday. The other thing that I noticed on Sunday was there were a lot of families with kids and a lot were dressed up too. The last full Long Beach Comic Con was a little disappointing but hopefully with this strong showing of the Expo this year they will have a great show this fall.
I took some pictures inside the show with the artist and the show floor. I was also able to get some great cosplay photos too. Make sure that you visit the artist link so you can see some of their other work.
Brian Buccellato is currently Co-Writing Detective Comics over at DC now and has his own book Foster. Not only is he a writer but does some of the best watercolor sketches you can buy. And he is a super nice guy.
Abraham Lopez is the artist of the Hunted Arkham art that burned up the internet last year. He does some really great artwork and I just had to pick up the Stitch and Batman print from him at the show.
Paige Halsey Warren who I had just seen a story about her over at Bleeding Cool (LINK)and was very happy to find her work. She has don three volumes of her web comics Busty Girl Comics that I picked up. I am always looking for great female comic creators and she is doing a new story AHTspace that sound really good. She also does great artwork that she had on display to buy at the show.
Tone Rodriguez is one of the best guys to get a sketch from. He can draw pretty much anything and does a heck of job on it. He is doing stories for The Simpsons comics. He a great guy and really loves comics.
The Hero Initiative is one of the best places you can spend your money when they are at a show. They help comic creators who are having health or other financial issues to help them get back on their feet. Some of the biggest names in the industry are huge supporters of them. Buy some of their books, art, prints or if you just donate a couple of bucks it really goes to a good cause. If you see Ryan working at the booth stop by and say I sent you there to give him money.
Sam Carter was a new artist that was at the show and he really had some great art at his booth. He also runs the Popzilla Gallery that puts on some great art shows. Head over to the site and check it out.
Len Wein has created some of the most famous comic book characters of all time. Just see the ones that are on the banner below. Nuff Said!
Gerry Conway is another one of great comics legendary writers. He is probably known as the man who kill Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man #121. He is also a big supporter of the Hero Initiative.
Tony Fleece is one of the artist on the hit IDW My Little Ponies comic. He also does prints of great old style paperback novel covers with comic characters.
Dustin Nguyen is the guy responsible for Batman Lil’ Gotham, and that is a very good thing. He has been doing a lot of work over at DC comics with Batman, Superman among others. He also has great prints that he does for shows and he had s new Batman/Daredevil that I got from him at the show.
Mike Kunkle alway is a great pleasure to see at a convention. He is doing new HeroBear and the Kids stories for Boom! Comics. If you need your own stuffed HeroBear toy of your own he always has some on hand to go to a good home. You can always find him because there are always tons of kids waiting to see him. They also love getting their own HeroBear.
Norm Rapmund is showing off his great artwork over at DC Comics monthly Flash book. He is also a strong supporter of the Hero Initiative. He does great sketches of pretty much any character that you can think of.
Debbie Hogan does the best custom jewelry and pocket watches around. She always has a wide variety of items to choose from and she can also do custom pieces for you. Head over to her Facebook page and see the great work that she does.
Todd Nauck is a great artist who is doing the new Nightcrawler series over at Marvel. He has also done Spider-Man and Young Justice and many other books. He and his wife are the nicest people you could ever meet. Todd is also a big fan of comics and loves to get photos with cosplayers.
There was a lot of stuff to look at the show. It was quite busy while I was there. There were lots of comics old and new and lots of toys to choose from.
There were some really great Cosplayers at the show on Sunday and quite a few kids dressed up that was really great to see. The pictures of the Beast Boy who was there on Saturday were taken by friends that were there. He is super adorable and had to include him. I was impressed that a lot of Cosplayers did different things like Esmeralda from Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tank Girl, The Mad Hatter, The Duff Beer Group, and Chuckie from Rugrats.
There have been at all of the Long Beach Comic Con show recreations of famous movie and television cars on display out in front of the convention center. This weekend was probably one of the neatest ones I had ever seen. A group has brought the Pizza Planet Deliver Truck from Toy Story to real life and it was amazing. You can find out the details of the project over at their site HERE
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