Our local con is all grown up!

The Arizona Ghostbusters were on hand to protect con-goers from spooks and spectres.
On Saturday, I ventured deep into the heart of downtown Mesa to check out this year’s Phoenix Comicon. I must admit that I was happy with the results. Every year that I’ve gone it has been larger and more professionally run. I remember the first year I attended, when it was held in the ballroom of a Best Western hotel in Phoenix. I could almost spit from one side of the entire convention to the other. Needless to say, it’s come a loooong way.

They’ve brought quite a few famous and a few infamous (Rob Liefeld I’m looking at you!) industry professional to town. Even if they didn’t have my man Matt Wagner this year, like they did last year, it’s an impressive slate nonetheless. They even coaxed Todd McFarlane out of his undisclosed location and back to his comic book roots. That alone is worth a solid round of applause. Now if they could get him to actually DO a comic book again (Skip to the 5 minute mark, that’s where it gets good), it would be a truly heroic feat….

The con isn’t done growing yet either. Next year, they’re moving out of the Mesa Convention Center to larger digs in the Phoenix Convention Center. While it will be a shame not have the con within walking distance of work, it will be nice to see a larger and more spread out event floor. It’s much harder to enjoy a con when you can barely move from place to place, due to crowds and congestion. It’s not that bad yet, but if they hadn’t changed venues, I’m sure it would have been pretty tight next year.

So if you’re looking for something different to do on Sunday, head on down and enjoy the con’s final day in Mesa.