For the first time in nearly twenty two months, C2E2 returned for a weekend of cosplay, gaming, panels, and much more. You would think that the ongoing pandemic would have made C2E2 2021 less fun, but that was not the case at all.
Big name celebrities such as John Cena, Hayden Christian, David Hayter, and Giancarlo Esposito were the draws of the show. Also to note, the All Elite Wrestling superstars had the biggest line of the entire weekend. When you have names such as Matt Hardy, Orange Cassidy, and CM Punk appearing in C2E2 under the AEW banner, there will be fans lining up to see them.
But like for any of the guests, it is the first time since the pandemic started that fans of all fandoms are seeing them in person. There were safety measures that were enforced the whole weekend at C2E2. These included proof of vaccinations, plexiglass at the photo ops area, and for masks to be worn at all times on the show floor and in the panel rooms.
Speaking about the show floor, the iconic C2E2 red carpet that covered the entire floor was nowhere to be seen. The same thing happened at New York Comic Con, but it was at this show where I noticed it more. I asked a representative of ReedPop why this decision was made and I was told it was because of the ongoing pandemic. I really felt for the cosplayers who had on heels or footwear that is not built for concrete.
C2E2 Show Floor Entrance. Photography by Julian Cannon
Another thing that was sad to see at this year’s C2E2 was the lack of vendors. Over at New York Comic Con 2021, there were less vendors, but they managed to fill up the empty space. Here at C2E2, it was not a good impression at a first look. I can also say that it was a good thing that I easily walked the entire show floor this time around.
With that out of the way, I enjoyed what was offered at this year’s C2E2. I hope when the show returns in 2022, C2E2 will be back to the scale that it once was before. Now it is time for the best of cosplay! All the photos were shot and edited by me!
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Chicago is always a great place to visit every year no matter if it is windy or not. The weather will go right out the way once you make your way to the Mccormick Convention Center for C2E2. C2E2 is the biggest comic and entertainment convention in Chicago and it will keep on getting bigger for the years to come. C2E2 this year was clearly celebrated during the three day show whether if it was a panel, or fan meetup, screening, cosplay, and gaming, you name it. I have seen it all over my three days over there and here is my recap of this year’s edition of C2E2.
Last year, it was revealed that the 2020 edition of C2E2 that it would take place on Feburary of 2020. This was the first time that this has happened for C2E2 and there was a large number of attendees that was concerned due to the weather or the fear of a snowstorm. Another concern is the recent news of the corona virus that has spreaded in the east. But none of those concerns stopped anyone from coming and the convention center was full of attendees from the first day, until the last day.
There are a few changes that I noticed this year as there was a large area that was named “The Yard” at the middle of the convention center. At this area, attendees could relax over at that area, play games, and the ocassional music in that area. The second big change is the gaming zone as it featured more of a variety of video games other than the retro and current consoles. There was a huge number of arcade cabinents and I have not seen that for C2E2 until this year.
In my opinion, these two major changes really benefitted for every person inside the convention center especially The Yard as there was no more need to stand around at the walls of the center to sit and rest for a few minutes.
Also at The Yard, I witnessed a Super Mario Bros. 3 speedrun and I have never seen a speedrun done in person before and I was amazed.
The cosplay I have seen this year was very great and the most I have seen this year was Star Wars related. This ranged from The Mandalorian, “The Child” (Baby Yoda), Rey, and Kylo Ren. There are other good ones I have seen too and it amazes me how much efford everyone puts into their costumes for this weekend especially since C2E2 is the home for the Crown Championship of Cosplay.
There were also a cosplay group that cosplayed every member of the Stark House of Game of Thrones and this was also pretty cool to see Richard Brake take a photo with them. Speaking of him, I interviewed Richard Brake for a few minutes at C2E2 to get some more insight of his memories of Game of Thrones.
I was only able to attend three panels during C2E2 weekend and I wanted to attend the Mark Ruffalo panel, but the entire room was capped before I woke up. But I attended the All Elite Wrestling, Jason David Frank Spotlight, and Stephen Amell/Emily Bett Rickards panels. For AEW, we learned more about what can we expect for the future of AEW and some never before heard stories about the pre-planning of AEW Double or Nothing, All Out, and even the action figures.
The Arrow panel was a farewell to the series as both stars shared their favorite memories of the series and some stories of what they wanted in crossovers if it were to happen. On Jason David Frank’s spotlight panel, Jason Faunt made a surprise appearence and made an announcement that Power Rangers: Time Force will have a sequel and that will happen on the BOOM Studios’ Power Rangers comic book series sometime this year. These panels were fun to attend an I felt that it was worth going to.
And just for amusement, Here is Stephen Amell taking a sip of coffee!
C2E2 was very fun this year and I am happy that next year’s show will take place in late March which means the weather will be much better this time around.
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content. Contact me at julian@alternativemindz.com
Chicago is always a great place to visit every year no matter if it is windy or not. The weather will go right out the way once you make your way to the Mccormick Convention Center for C2E2. C2E2 is the biggest comic and entertainment convention in Chicago and it will keep on getting bigger for the years to come. In fact, this year is their 10th year anniversary and it was clearly celebrated during the three day show whether if it was a panel, or fan meetup, screening, cosplay, and gaming, you name it. I have seen it all over my three days over there and here is my recap of this year’s edition of C2E2.
First, I would like to thank ReedPop for approving myself and Fidelina Roman with a media badge as we alway love to cover your shows. This year, the show felt more bigger than last year’s there were much more space dedicated to gaming as well this year and I believe that happened due to the fan feedback from last year’s show. There were gaming tournaments that took place over there as well. At the booths where comic books were being sold, there were many people looking for vintage comics (especially the Marvel line based on the people that I have spoken to since Avengers: End Game is coming next month). Also to add, I heard that someone was stealing comics from different vendors over there and I did not know it was true until it was reported on the news that it actually did happen (https://patch.com/illinois/chicago/indiana-man-accused-stealing-rare-comic-books-c2e2). Friday and Sunday the crowd was decent in many areas. Saturday however, was the most crowded. I am used to this type of crowd now since I have covered different shows for the last seven years so it did not bother me. There was also a blood drive that took place during the convention too that took place right by the entrance. The big panels took place at the main panel hall at room S406 and it filled up each time with the big name panels but I will get to that in a few paragraphs. Overall, between navigating each area from the panel rooms to the show floor, it was easier this year than any other year.
There were many panels that took place during C2E2 and there was also my panel. For the first time ever, I host a panel and it was Wrestling Soup featuring Anthony Missionary Thomas, Jon Draper, and myself as we took the stage on Friday to give our predictions of WrestleMania. We also talked about Captain Marvel, Avengers End Game, and The Punisher. We even gave away prizes to members of the crowd and it was a very fun experience to see about 100 people showing up to see us. It felt very satisfying that it happened and I would do it again.
All Elite Wrestling members The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega also took the stage that morning to talk about AEW and many questions directed towards them that many fans wanted to know were addressed. They addressed the fact that there will be no contract tampering with current WWE Superstars, but they did say that they have a wishlist of who they wanted to be signed with AEW. They also said that All In 2 will take place this year in Chicago in the same arena it took place last year. They also talked about how Brandi Rhodes came up with the idea to tackle sensory issues that is often never taken care of on WWE programming and Kenny Omega answered a fan question about an AEW comic book and video game. There were more questions that were answered and they made it clear that CM Punk will not wrestle at AEW. Great panel from the three of them and you can check it out right here.
Another great panel featured the writers and artists of DC Comics that featured Cecil Castellucci, Marv Wolfman, Robert Venditti, and Tim Seely as this panel was titled “Super Heroes of DC”. This panel featured a discussion with the four about the DC Comic stories that impacted the industry from their time, to the current. The panel was interesting to get an insight of what they were thinking at the time and how those stories shaped for the present day in the comic book world.
One of the biggest panels at the show was the Clueless reunion panel that featured Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd, Breckin Meyer, and Donald Faison as they took the stage to tell funny stories of their time on the movie and what did they do on their break time away from filming the movie. Breckin Meyer was also very funny during this panel and I loved it. Paul Rudd was also flooded with Avengers: End Game questions since he will appear in the movie as Ant Man once again and I knew from the start that many Marvel related questions would go his way and he even told a heart warming story about Stan Lee. This panel is a must watch.
My press coverage over there was great and it begins with Into The Badlands. I was also supposed to attend the screening of the newest episode, but I had time constraints. So a key takeaway here is that the creators already had an arc for the 16 episode season that would end with a conclusion that would, by their words, “reboot” the series and “take it in a different direction”. They go on to say, however, that they saw the writing on the wall about cancellation as they were writing the back half of the season and realized that they’re most likely working towards a conclusion instead of a continuation. They assured people that all major questions and plot/character arcs will be resolved, but left some doors open, which I assume is for the possibility to continue the story should they get picked up by another platform. If you want to watch the response yourself it is at the 10:48 time-stamp. Daniel Wu is very passionate of the series so I could not blame him of his frustration since I am also a fan of the show.
The cast and the executive producer of NBC’s The Blacklist were also in attendance at C2E2 as they spoken to the press at the roundtable interviews.I can also say that I stumped Jon during the interviews three times but he was great to speak to. I see how popular the show has gotten over the years and they appreciate the fan feedback from across the world. The talkers of the press roundtables are Jon Bokenkamp, Harry Lennix, Amir Arison, Hisham Tawfiq, and Clark Middleton.
I also interviewed legendary wrestling manager Jim Cornette as we talked about Mid South, World Class Championship Wrestling, his trouble getting to the arena at Keystone Comic Con compared to C2E2, and much more in this quick, fun, and entertaining quick interview.
The cosplay at C2E2 was great and this year’s big influence is Captain Marvel since the movie was released a few weeks before the show. I have seen really good ones raging from different genres and fandoms of Mortal Kombat, Overwatch, Star Wars, DC, Marvel, Super Mario, and much more. I even made a best of cosplay video for you to see along with some the photos below.
C2E2 was great this year as usual and I would cover it again next year! I do know that it will be in February next year so it will be a challenge. I would recommend the show for anyone in the Chicago area. Now here are my final pictures as I fanboy with CM Punk, Kenny Omega, Eric Bischoff, and Amir Arison.
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2018 was a great year for the comic convention and entertainment industry as a whole and I am happy that I got to witness many of the events. Raging from the big movies such as Avengers: Infinity War and A Quiet Place to the great seasons of our favorite television shows, and the headlines that made the majority of the audience react on social media and on a platform such as YouTube, we are in an age of information that can be shared and watched by millions. In that same time, the comic convention scene has become bigger in a larger scale and it has drawn many attendees of different fandoms all packed into one giant building. I have covered many of them over the years and last year was the most I have covered in one year as part of the media. Here are five that I will write about on my experience in the convention scene.
C2E2
The biggest show in Chicago every year and they do not disappoint at all. C2E2 (Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo) takes place at the McCormick Center in Chicago and you will have to take a bus to go to the center. When I went there in 2017, It was very warm the day that I went there. In 2018, the weather was a little cold and I would recommend to wear a jacket when you go there because the convention center itself is near a body of ocean. The show is great and there are two floors of the show and they are very large and it is filled up by different vendors and artists and gaming areas. Of all the conventions I have went to, this one is floor friendly the most as you would not feel lost or cramped in areas at all. The panels I have attended that week featured Guardians of the Galaxy, Tom Kenny of Spongebob Squarepants, and Khary Payton of The Walking Dead. I have also interviewed the cast of Daphne and Velma as well and we all had a blast talking. Call me weird, but as a guy from New York, I prefer Chicago style pizza and I love it!
Wizard World Philadelphia
Up next, is Philadelphia and Wizard World’s biggest show is in Philadelphia and the best part of the location is that it is right across the street from the Reading Terminal Market. You would not have to scatter around the convention center to figure out what food that you want to get since the market has a huge amount of options that you can choose. Wizard World itself is usually a great show with a great amount of celebrities that you can meet. I wanted to meet Natalie Dormer of Game of Thrones, but I did not have the time at all since I was covering the show. I did got the chance to interview Erica Schroeder in which we talked about her role in Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon and The panels I have attended featured Ezra Miller and Ray Fisher of Justice League, Sebastain Stan, and the voices of Overwatch. The cosplay over there was actually great too with some mind blowing ones that caught my attention that I still do remember to this day.
San Diego Comic Con
I have not been to SDCC since 2012 and when I went there to cover it in 2018, It has changed and I was amazed with the huge presence over there. This was not like other conventions where only parts of the city were comic con themed, The ENTIRE area of San Diego was comic con themed from the minute you walk out of the airport and onward. I even seen it on taxi cabs, buildings, The Trolleys and theaters, and even the line of the Conan tapings that week. It was massive to see how big it has become since I was last there and there are also offsite events related to comic con for the press and attendees for everyone to enjoy such as the Jack Ryan escape room experience, Amazon TV’s museum, The Walking Dead’s showcase, South Park escape room, and much more. This is all outside of the convention center and they are at different parts of San Diego even though a few of the events are across the street of the convention center. Speaking of the convention center, you cannot even go to the sidewalk of the convention center unless you have a badge and that is a great move to prevent scalpers from trying to rip people off. The building itself is very huge and when I was there on preview night when there were a small amount of people there, It took me a whole fifteen minutes to walk from one side of the building to another. Imagine being there when there is a huge amount of attendees. The show itself was great and the media interviews I have been part of was The Walking Dead, Fear The Walking Dead, Crazy Ex Girlfriend, Better Call Saul, and much more. I did however seen the dreaded Hall H line and I was stunned to see how many people were on the line that camped out for a few days. Hall H is where the bigger panels take place for television and movies and even surviving the line is a task. I have never went inside Hall H and I do not think I can put my body through it. All in all, SDCC I highly recommend for you to go once in your life.
Keystone Comic Con
The newest one of the convention scene is Keystone Comic Con and it is also in Philadelphia as well. Every convention has something unique and this one is the first comic con to have a wrestling ring with wrestling matches from Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore. I was not surprised to see that there was a large crowd each day of the matches that took place there and it actually turned out very well. There were wrestling legends there such as Tommy Dreamer, Bully Ray, Jim Cornette, and Jerry Lawler with a few new faces such as Lance Anaoi. Speaking of wrestling, Me and my girlfriend got the chance to not only meet WWE Superstar Nikki Bella, but we spoken to her for nearly ten minutes about different topics. There was also a large gaming area in one of the rooms and there were set up by different eras of gaming consoles. There was also a costume contest that I enjoyed and different vendors of comics as well. I hope in 2019 I can cover it again!
New York Comic Con
I have covered NYCC every year since 2012 and each year I love it more than the previous year. New York is a flooded city where it does not sleep but what did sleep this year, was the MTA as the 7 Train was not running the entire time during NYCC weekend and that frustrated me a lot. Other than that, I bought a large amount of comics at this show this year other than interviewing celebrities.But the day before NYCC began, I was invited to attend the red carpet event of DC’s Titans along with a screening of the first two episodes. Also, E! Network had a truck outside where they were giving away free donuts to attendees after they place their vote on the upcoming awards show at the time. I have went to that truck at least five times per day during that week. Celebrities I have interviewed ranged from shows such as Batman:The Animated Series, The Gifted, Legacies, Lore, and The Man in The High Castle. I also did my 200th episode of my podcast there with guests Jason Solomon of The Solomonster Sound’s Off, Jon Draper of Wrestling Soup, and Ray Flook of BleedingCool.com. I also ran into Brandon Davis of Comicbook.com and Kirsten of Insider many times during the week as we talked about various news about the show. If you are in New York, NYCC is the place to be during the fall.
My first show that I will cover will be C2E2 2019 so I will report from there
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Last weekend was the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo or otherwise known as C2E2 and all of the attendees went to the show to check out cosplayers, buy rare comics, attend panels and to get their exclusive merchandise at the ReedPop area. It is a show for all ages whether if you love comics or entertainment and there were also celebrities there in attendance such as Dave Bautista, Sean Gunn, Charlie Cox, CM Punk, Dominic Purcell, Khary Payton much more where anyone could have had a chance to buy photo ops or autographs.
The panels i have attended were great. Bautista and Sean Gunn talked about Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers:Infinity War and the fans asked questions about those movies along with Bautista’s time in WWE.
I also went to the Khary Payton spotlight panel as he talked about The Walking Dead, Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go.
Tom Kenny, the voice actor of Spongebob Squarepants also had a panel as they celebrated 20 years of the show and he talked about that along with his best moments of doing the show and his favorite episodes and characters. It is crazy to think that the show is still going strong to this day.
The cosplayers that were at C2E2 were amazing and these were the best i have seen below.
I also had the chance to interview key people for the show Supermansion and the upcoming film Daphne & Velma and those are now up on these links below the photos.
The upcoming film Daphne and Velma will be released soon and it is a story on how these two characters from the Scooby-Doo universe met for the first time. I had the chance to interview Sarah Gilman (Velma) along with Suzi Yoonessi (Director), Jennifer Tisdale (Producer), and the writers of the film Kyle Mack and Caitlin Meares as we talked about the movie along with their favorite Scooby-Doo moments and much more.
