Annual topic for reviews, rankings, observations, discussions about conventions this year. 2022 saw the return of many conventions, and a closer to return to normal of the conventions that had already come back in 2021.
I attended 9 total conventions this year which ties my record from 2016. But 7 were comic/fan cons which is a record for me, with 2 being anime cons. (I didn't attend any anime cons in 2021.) What was unusual is that the majority of mine were in the summer. Usually, most of them are in the spring (though last year, most were in the fall).
My rankings from this year:
9. SacAnime Winter – This took place in January 2022 and was my first anime convention since 2019. (They did a summer 2021 event which I didn’t go to.) But honestly, there wasn’t a lot to remember about it. They retired the viewing rooms, and didn’t have any musical acts. But, they did have two of the original voice actors from Bambi (Peter Behn, voice of Young Thumper and Donnie Dunagan, voice of Young Bambi), which was cool.
8. Emerald City Comic Con – A far cry from the disastrous 2021 lineup, this one actually had a lot of things going for it. It had a pretty decent guest lineup, some interesting exclusives, more Twisted Toonz, a surprise appearance by King Youngblood, and as always, a great Artist Alley. My favorite part of this year’s con was that it took place during a beautiful Seattle summer weekend. However, there were downsides. Funko’s absence (and the extremely spaced-out exhibit hall) was very noticeable, but not a dealbreaker. But what is a dealbreaker is not having a panels for
five featured guests (Tom Welling, Erica Durance, Billie Piper, Felicia Day, and Elvira) – just like last year, this can’t be blamed on covid, but unlike last year, this can’t be blamed on the actors nerves’ and/or physical condition either. Unfortunately, I suspect we're going to get a lot more of that from this con moving forward.
7. Denver Fan Expo – My first time going to this since Pop Culture Classroom handed it over to Fan Expo. Good guest lineup, good exhibitor lineup. They once again had an official convention beer from Breckinridge Brewery, a session hazy IPA called Doctor Hoptopus. They also sponsored a glass giveaway where you could walk into one of a number of locations downtown at specified times and get a free logo pint glass. We went to one and it wasn’t exactly busy, so they gave us an extra set of pint glasses. However, the organization was lacking. Maybe we just hit the exact wrong panels but two of the three main stage panels we tried to attend (Dominic Monaghan and Katee Sackhoff) were no-shows. DM’s panel got rescheduled to a later time that we couldn’t attend, and Katee just plain canceled but Fan Expo forgot to update the app. (To their credit, the staff was very apologetic and did their best to get us the correct info.) But we did thoroughly enjoy the one main panel we did see (Elijah Wood.) Another, and probably bigger pain point, was that this convention was too
unnecessarily crowded. The Colorado Convention Center is absolutely massive, but they only used like 1/3 of it. The area they did use was packed like sardines, and there were extremely long lines in the roped-off part.
6. WonderCon – This is one that returned in 2022, and it was for the most part well organized. We saw the return of studio panels, which was nice. However, one thing that really stuck out to me was the amount of filler and virtual panels. At an in-person convention, 1 virtual panel is too many, period. Also, it felt like many of the panels that did show up were filler… I don’t mean non-blockbusters, but a lot of programming this year was cringeworthy i.e. Titanic 666, and that weird Snapchat movie which I don’t feel like looking up the name of. The lack of a DC Animated premiere (and then trying to say the 30 second clips x4 from the animated shorts panel was continuing the tradition) was disappointing. But there were a few bright spots. The Bob’s Burgers movie panel (even though not in my interest) was an example of a top-notch professional panel that I’ve come to love CCI conventions for. Undone was also very good.
5. SiliCon – After making a surprisingly competent return in 2021, this year they surprised me again with another enjoyable year of a convention that I formerly wrote off. I was a bit hesitant when I heard last year that they were turning it into a maker convention, but I liked what I saw this year. The demonstrations in the exhibit hall were interesting, and I enjoyed the fireside chats on various topics. Of course, the entertainment and science panels did not disappoint either. The Expanse studio panel was the show’s highlight, Christopher Lloyd was good as always, and the Michael Shanks/Ben Browder panel was a hidden gem. The exhibit hall was not huge, but once again, the SF Giants booth alone would have made the convention worth it. They offered a free bag of former Giants event night giveaways with any purchase of tickets. We bought a cheap pair of tickets to the upcoming Star Wars night (which included free orange C-3PO pops) and they gave us a bag with 2 Star Wars Giants bobbleheads, a Giants Hello Kitty lunchbox, and a Harry Potter bat.
4. San Francisco Fan Expo – Just when we thought SF would never get a legitimate comic convention again (that doesn’t include San Francisco Comic Con, though they at least get credit for trying), Fan Expo comes in with a very strong showing on their first year. Their exhibit hall was very strong, with plenty of artists and local vendors. I found Gloomy Bears (for the first time this year!) and a Jollibee/Hetty Spaghetti Pop 2-pack. The guest line up also packed a big punch, with main room highlights being the Smallville leads, Giancarlo Esposito, Ming-Na Wen, and Gates McFadden/Brent Spiner. The Crossbone Skully panel and animated short premiere with Tommy Henriksen was also a highlight. I don’t have any major complains about this convention. Also, it doesn’t hurt that my partner won the trivia contest which got us a pair of VIP passes for next year.
3. Crunchyroll Expo – Anime conventions have been slower to return than Comic/Fan conventions, but this one came back with a bang. It probably helped that this one was backed by Sony, but in any case CRX was back and as big and professional as I remember it. This year’s highlight was their Music Fest, where they brought in prominent J-Rock/J-Pop bands such as Atarashii Gakko, SiM, and the Burnout Syndromes. They also had multiple panels with the President, staff, and voice actors of BONES studio from Japan. Two major complaints: the animated premiere room was way too small, and they still required vaccine checks in August. Still, the programming was so high quality that it’s up to #3 on my list, despite the complaints.
2. Rose City Comic Con – This convention was essentially back to normal this year, and it was such a breath of fresh air. It reminded me of what my beloved Emerald City Comiccon used to be before ReedPop ruined it. It still had as good of an Artist Alley as any convention (including ECCC), but it also retained the quirky, independent programming that I used to love ECCC for, and it had panels for every celebrity guest that it advertised. This year it also succeeded in doing something that ECCC has tried at least 3x and failed, and that’s getting LeVar Burton to show up. Other main panel highlights were Sylvester McCoy, Elijah Wood/Sean Astin, Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast, and Twisted Toonz. But it didn’t stop there. It was also rich in worthwhile smaller panels, including Brian Michael Bendis spotlight, Grendel 40th Anniversary, and a David Bowie comic by Mike and Laura Allred, and Celaine the Voice which was a very interesting concert/performance. Additionally, they had a couple of accessible evening events that were enjoyable and encouraged interaction with the city. There was a Drink and Draw sponsored by Dark Horse (with many of the artists) at a nearby bar. The next night there was a block party at a comic/record shop a couple bus stops away, where they had a music performance and couple more panels by independent artists. At the block party, they also gave away RCCC swag and coupons for nearby businesses (some of which I was able to use afterwards.) As far as conventions that aren’t SDCC goes, this one is as good as it gets.
1. San Diego Comic-Con – There really isn’t much explanation needed. SDCC was back and takes my #1 spot. Yes, there were some things that were rough around the edges (lack of carpeting, no water dispensers, a bit more scattered programming) but on the other hand, it was a lot more relaxed than most years which was a plus. In this regard it was reminiscent of 2018. The bottom line is, there was way more than enough to occupy all 4 days and love every minute of it. The Funko Hall H panel which I walked right into at the end of Sunday was a very pleasant surprise. All around, I found it easier to get more of the items I wanted and into more of the panels I wanted to than most years. The Ozzy signing getting overbooked despite having to get a wristband was annoying, but that wasn’t really CCI’s fault. The only real complaint I had was the vaccine check and gross wristband that you had to wear for 5 days (or go through the trouble of getting a new one.)
