Like Bruce Banner transforming into the Hulk, Emerald City Comicon is getting bigger! The Seattle celebration of comic books, science fiction and gaming takes over the entire Washington State Convention Center this year giving eager fans more celebrities, more panels and more everything!
Sci-Fi legends Sir Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation, X-Men) Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) Walter Koeing (Star Trek) Billy Dee Williams (Star Wars) and Christopher LLoyd (Back to the Future, Star Trek: The Search for Spock) will shine for adoring fans in panels, photograph and autograph sessions where they could how about a real life space traveler? Astronaut Clayton “Clay” Anderson will be appearing in the ECCC Kids! area.
Pop Culture Icons Adam West and Burt Ward (Television’s Batman and Robin) are sure to inspire huge lines. Television’s Dynamic Duo will appear at a screening of the Batman film at Seattle’s Cinerama on Thursday night before the con begins and the Mayor will declare Mayor Adam West Day in Seattle in honor of the Walla Walla, Washington native.
The Walking Dead is killing it on television! Stars of the zombie comic book turned smash series Danai Gurira (Michonne) and Michael Rooker (Merle Dixon) will face the hordes of fanatic fans. The Walking Dead artist Charlie Adlard will be appearing too. True Blood star Kristin Bauer, Dirk Benedict of Battlestar Galactica, Michael Shanks of Stargate and Misha Collins of Supernatural are among many other television actors shining for the fans.
Along with the stellar roster of celebrities folks can meet comic book legends who have made uncanny impacts on the heroes we see on the big screen. I’m most excited to meet Chris Claremont, writer of the X-Men series and creator of characters like Gambit, Emma Frost, Rogue, Sabretooth and Kitty Pryde. Claremont wrote my first comic book, Uncanny X-Men #116, and his work on the mutants is the comic book equivalent to the soundtrack of my life! The man gave us The Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past, inspiration for the upcoming X-Men sequel!
Denny O’Neil is another living legend famous for his runs on the Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Batman series with fellow guest Neal Adams. O’Neil was the Marvel editor of Frank Miller’s classic Daredevil run and returned to DC as editor of the Batman family of books to oversee modern classics like A Death in the Family and No Man’s Land. Creator Neal Adams was the artist with defining runs on Green Arrow/Green Lantern, Deadman, X-Men and Batman. O’Neil and Adams created Ra’s Al Ghul! There would not be a Dark Knight Trilogy without these two prolific creators!
The Assembling of Comic Book legends also includes Michael Golden (Micronauts, The ‘Nam, co-creator of X-Men’s Rogue) Mike Grell (Green Arrow, Jon Sable) Howard Chaykin (The Shadow, Blackhawk, American Flagg!) Kurt Busiek (JLA/Avengers, Astro City) Simon Bisley (Judge Dredd, Lobo) Mark Waid (Kingdom Come, Flash, Daredevil) Larry Hama (Wolverine, G.I. Joe, The ‘Nam, Conan) and Gerry Conway (co-creator of Punisher and Firestorm, writer of the story said to be inspiration for the possible Justice League movie!)
Emerald City Comicon will welcome some of the biggest writers and artists in comic books. You can have your comic books signed and maybe get a sketch of your favorite character by your favorite artist. You can talk one-on-one (but remember others waiting) with the creators about current and upcoming storylines at their tables or the various Q & A panels.
Emerald City Comicon will be ground central for a huge collection of comics for the collector. Dealers from around the region and the biggest publishers will fill the convention center. DC Comics just revealed three exclusive comic book covers for Batman, Justice League of America and Seattle-based hero Green Arrow. If you’re looking for that Silver Age classic or an exclusive created just for this event, bring cash, patience and your keen eye- you make walk away with a comic book treasure!
Let’s not forget the cosplay! This is better than Halloween as fans dress as their favorite comic book, video game, or sci-fi franchise heroes and villains. I love see whole familes get into costume because ECCC is for kids and the kids in oldest of old school geeks. There’s a huge costume contest Saturday night but cosplayers are in force all weekend. Speaking of The Force stop by and support Garrison Titan, who give you the opportunity to pose with your favorite Star Wars character for a donation to support children’s charities.
Sci-Fi Speed Dating is back to hopefully makes matches and spark some nerd love, The Hunger Games fanatics can see costumes from the hit movie, plus so many more opportunities to geek out! So make sure you bring cash, be patient, get there early to every panel you want to see, have a game plan, be ready to throw out the plan and just enjoy the moments of pure geek love, camaraderie and fun that is Emerald City Comicon!
For the complete guest list and schedule visit Emerald City Comicon.com. Be sure to come back to ComicsBlend for coverage and photos. You can also follow on Twitter @ComicsBlend and Facebook/ComicsBlend and the RSS Feed.
By Editor
If this is your firsts con check out my guide for Comicon Virgins.