Who’s with me when I say Phoenix Comicon 2017 was by far the most eventful? Everyone? Okay good. While yes, lots of not-so-fun stuff happened, the con overall was a ton of fun for everyone.
It’s great to see the con grow and flourish over time and attract many non-geeks and nerds into the hustle and bustle of the geekiest event of the year. In addition to audience growth we’re beginning to see so many more larger named celebrities come onto the con’s guest list and attract a wider range of geeks making cosplaying a fun people-watching event.
Let’s recap each day and take a look at some of the highlight events that happened during PCC 2017.
Thursday – A Day For History
This year was probably the most exciting opening day in PCC history (other than the first year of the con). A geek angel helped the Phoenix Police Department take down a would-be assassin and protect con-goers within a matter of minutes. This was both a great thing to see and scary as well as disappointing for other con attendees. You can read more about this here.
Thursday was open to many traditional events and panels that have occurred in the past and exciting new lounges like the Retro Gaming Lounge and Modern Gaming Lounges located in the West building. This was a welcome change up to the event as many con-goers are avid gamers and cosplay many retro characters.
The great thing about Thursday too, are the options available for kids. Build epic lego creations all day, craft masks and capes, or sit-in and relax to a children’s story. These “take a break” options for families are what help keep PCC family oriented.
Of course, Thursday was full of shopping for collector in us all and some spot-on costumes.
Friday – A Hot Mess of Chaos Cooled Off By The Charm of Star Wars Neighborhood
Due to events on Thursday many badge holders were stuck outside in the heat for up to three hours in the hottest part of the morning. After making our way into the con (with our media badges) we’re pleased to say that we did everything we could to fight for the rights of our fellow con-goers and spoke with as may head-crew members, staffers, security personnel and police officers as possible to help the insiders understand the perils of waiting in a line that has no beginning.
Friday lunch-time was inspired by the mustache pretzels, which filled our bellies the remainder of the weekend, and gave our crew the strength to journey on and explore story-time with moon mermaid and check out the exciting events upstairs in the Star Wars Neighborhood. If you’ve had the chance to wander upstairs you know you’re in for a Jawa-filled treat! Complete this year with silly stormtroopers and authentic Carrie Fisher-like Leia’s, The Hall of Heroes completes any con-goer’s SciFi fantasies with photo ops and space-related interactions.
So many amazing panels happened: From Dr. Who, to Star Wars for beginners, and even cosplay competitions (that weren’t cancelled) brought together conversations from across the valley and focused on improving the geeky-lives of attendees for just a short weekend.
Saturday – The Heat Will Not Get Us Down
We’re incredibly grateful for the cooler con weather this year. In year’s past it’s been over 110 degrees outside making heat exhaustion the main event. This past Saturday was full of short cool-gusts of wind, beer garden dance offs with Aliens, and of course, more amazing cosplay. My sister and I ditched the kids for the day and dressed as Daenerys Targaryen and Princess Leia (General). If you came this day you would have seen the likes of David S Pumpkins and a Matt The Radar Technician that looked exactly like his former likeness.
Two of the biggest actors to have attended Phoenix Comicon in the past few years were Dick Van Dyke and Alan Tudyk. Both held panels on Saturday, Van Dyke for his life’s work, and Tudyk for his current masterpiece Con Man. Other great highlights came from some of the incredible panels held throughout the day, including “The Science of Game of Thrones” and Zombie Laser Tag.
Big time author Terry Brooks also graced the halls of Phoenix Comicon and impressed dozens of book-lovers with a panel for the ages. If you had a chance to hit up the Planetarium’s upstairs in the Hall of Heroes you were given first-hand knowledge on the galaxies and stars surrounding the characters and planets of some of the coolest fantasy and scifi nerdisms on the world.
Sunday – The Final Run For Treasures
For me, Sunday is a day to catch last minute guest panels, Like the fully packed Alan Tudyk’s panel #2 or Karen Gillian’s panel, and pick up last minute items I’ve had my eye on all weekend. With crowds being half the size of Friday and Saturday’s, Sunday tends to be a low-key day for us all.
Visiting Smoketree Workshops (a local laser-wood carver) and sitting in on a few panels is a great way to wind down from a geekish fantasy of a weekend.
What did you do over Phoenix Comicon Weekend 2017? Share your favorite events with us.
