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Closing Impressions of Comikaze – Plus Photogallery

Published Thu, 06 Nov 2014 19:00:00 -0600

By Michele Brittany, a West Coast Bleeding Cool Correspondent

Although held in September last year, this year Comikaze was held on Halloween weekend. I'm used to having Long Beach Comic Con be the last con hurrah of the year, so it was a bit strange to have the two cons basically switch places this year.

In its fourth year, Comikaze was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. If the amount of elbowroom felt while walking the aisles of the exhibition room can be used as a viable measurement of attendance, then Comikaze witnessed modest attendance on Friday, which picked up to a fever pitch by Saturday afternoon. Sunday started out slow, but again, by early afternoon, the floor had become rather crowded.

I spent about half of my time attending various panels that ranged from creating a YouTube channel, publicizing a project, watching Cracked.com perform an After Hours episode, to two panels on one of my favorite subjects, James Bond! I for one appreciated that there were so many "how to" panels to choose from, in addition to film screenings, cosplay, and writer/artist spotlights.

When I wasn't at a panel, I was walking the floor of the exhibition hall, checking out all of the vendors' booths, artist alley and small press. I did miss that there wasn't quite the same presence of steampunk as last year where I felt there were about a dozen steampunk vendors. Regardless, I did think there was a good cross-section toys, anime, comics, and collectibles represented and provided something of interest to just about any attendee.

I think Comikaze put on a good show, striking a nice balance between comics and media, which can be difficult. However, I hope that next year Comikaze will return to September and Long Beach Comic Con to November. For me, I think that the smaller, more family oriented show that Long Beach Comic Con offers sets the right tone for closing the con season.

All photographs courtesy of Michele Brittany.

Michele Brittany is an independent popular culture scholar and semi-professional photographer and editor of the forthcoming title James Bond and Popular Culture: Essays on the Influence of the Fictional Superspy (McFarland & Company). She regularly posts reviews and analysis on the spy/espionage genre on her blog, Spyfi & Superspies and can be followed at Twitter @mcbrittany2014.

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