BANG! POW! ZING!
Stan Lee’s Comikaze hit the Los Angeles Convention Center for three superb days. It began last Friday and ended Sunday, attracting three times as much people this year than last year, which had about 55, 000 attendees. Comikaze is quickly expanding annually, not only with fans, but with artists and vendors, as well.
It is Los Angeles’ first and only large-scale multimedia, pop-culture convention with a diverse fan base and agriculture. Comikaze brings together people of all ages, races, different places and different genres. It has everything from comics, to anime, to sci-fi, fantasy, horror, gaming, movies, music and a whole lot more that any fanboy or fangirl could possibly want or see.
There were artist and merchant booths that sold exclusive or limited-edition items like artwork, T-shirts, comic books, collectibles, toys, action figures, autographed movie posters, souvenirs and so on. There were also panels, autograph sessions and photo opportunities with famous actors and actresses, artists and cosplayers.
Some of the guests of honor for Sunday were Stan Lee, Elvira-Mistress of the Dark, Jewel Staite from Firefly and Stargate: Atlantis, Comic book Artist J. Scott Campbell, Yoshiki, prolific musician and drummer of X Japan and others.
In one of the spotlight panels, Lee and Yoshiki talked about the digital graphic novel based on Yoshiki called “Blood Red Dragon.” Lee elaborated on who drew and wrote “Blood Red Dragon,” and mentioned that Todd McFarlane (artist and writer) collaborated with him on this project. The two also answered a few audience questions and showed a short clip of what “Blood Red Dragon” will look like.
The “Teen Titans Go!” voice actors Hynden Walch (Starfire), Scott Menville (Robin), Khary Payton (Cyborg) and Tara Strong (Raven) talked about life as these bizarre and funny characters.
They answered fan questions, mentioned some memorable moments and shared which episodes from “Teen Titans,” the original series, and the “Teen Titans Go!” series were their favorites, or that gave them “the feels.”
Other cool guest members were a few of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers – Walter Jones (Zach; Black Ranger), David Yost (Billy; Blue Ranger) and Steve Cardenas (Rocky; Red Ranger). They had a meet-and-greet with fans, signed autographs and took pictures.
Exhibits, like the Hollywood Sci-Fi Museum, included Kip from “Knight Rider,” and the DeLorean from “Back to the Future.”
The Video Game History Museum allowed people to play arcade games or game consoles. Lee’s Mega Museum had action figures, figurines, movie props, character helmets, character armor and life-size figures.
Although there were a lot of women dressed as Harley Quinn and a lot of men dressed as Star Lord, there were a few unique cosplays like the Star Wars Cantina and Band, World War II Batman, Carmen Sandiego, Blake from RWBY and Steam-punk Link, who was playing guitar outside by the entrance, rocking out for rupees, currency from the video game “The Legend of Zelda.”
Lee’s Comikaze is a great convention for any type of fandom. Whether it’s comics, anime, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, gaming or whatever, it just unites people from all around and of all ages and it is quickly growing and getting bigger every year.
