SEATTLE—Emerald City Comic Con came to a close this past weekend, wrapping up its 23rd year of celebrating all things geek and pop culture.
The annual convention ran from Thursday, March 5, through Sunday, March 8, at both Seattle convention centers (the Arch Building and the newly constructed Summit building), featuring show floors, vendors, celebrity guests, panels, workshops, endless activities and even an after hours party.
Each day, while exhibitors showcased their wares, from comic books; to art; to a variety of merchandise, throughout the 248,450-square-feet Artist Alley, and 573,770-square-feet Show Floor, panels, demonstrations, classes, and more ran non-stop through the building’s new 62 meeting rooms.
Separate to the massive show floor, artist alley, and literary block activities included workshops, karaoke, a full-fledged arcade, miniature painting, a Star Wars Experience museum, non-stop board games, card games, and tabletop role playing games, drag queen BINGO, performances including live music, foam weapon fighting, dramatic productions, standup comedy, drawing and crafting classes, and much, much more.
On Saturday night late-nighters could even attend an after party hosted by 107.7 The End, and for the 21+ crowd, the upstairs Tavern offered the perfect hangout spot for beer, wine, food, live entertainment, and a space where people could meet, play games, or just hang out.
This year’s celebrity guestlist included Hayden Christensen (Star Wars), William Shatner (Star Trek), Chris Claremont (X-Men, Fantastic Four), Ian Somerhalder (Lost, the Vampire Diaries, Smallville), Karl Urban (the Boys, Lord of the Rings), Laz Alonso (the Boys), Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy, the Walking Dead), Kyle MacLaughlan (Twin Peaks, Dune, Sex in the City), Mikaela Hoover (Guardians of the Galaxy, Superman), Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy), Tom Skeritt (Alien, Top Gun), the cast of Yellowjackets, the cast of Critical Role, and the cast of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, to name a few.
Many of these celebrities held panels discussing production stories and upcoming projects and offered the opportunity for fans to get autographs and souvenir photographs throughout the weekend.
Cosplay Central Crown Championship winners included First Place winner Lydia Barnes as Sheogorath, Second Place winner Noodle Cosplay as Mydeimos, and Third Place winer Kit as Kaylos.
Emerald City Comic Con (ECCC) began its run in 2003 when Mukilteo comic book retailer, Jim Demonakos, organized a one-day event at Qwest Field Event Center. The event broke even at 3,000 attendees and has since grown to a multi-day spectacle, hosting around 100 thousand attendees a year. It relocated to the Washington State Convention Center, and neighboring hotels, shortly after being acquired by ReedPop in 2015. The first comic book convention, New York Comic Con, was held in New York City’s Workman’s Circle Building in 1964. In the 1970’s comic book conventions rose in popularity, springing up in almost every major American city (and one in London). Currently the largest comic book convention is held in San Diego, San Diego Comic-Con, bringing in over 140,000 attendees from all over the world annually.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
