Amazing Arizona Comic Con Coverage

Thanks to Louie M. who covers comic conventions for www.comicsheatingup.net.
Amazing Arizona Comic Con is in its sixth year. I have written about the Amazing shows before, and how it is uniquely a true comic book convention. The gist of the story now is seeing the year over year improvement. The show is better run than ever, and attendees can ensure a great time if they attend an Amazing show. Here are the highlights:
You know you are at a real comics convention when the big lines are for artists and creators and not actors/actresses. Chris Claremont and Kevin Eastman had non-stop lines all weekend long. Rob Liefeld, Charles Soule, and Steve McNiven were on the floor sporadically and had big rushes when they were. George Perez was diligently making sketches all weekend. This is why I get a kick out of cons, most people in my everyday life would have no idea who these names are. I come here and people are dressed as their creations and waiting 1-2 hours to meet them.



Charles Soule was the highlight guest for me. I love his writing on the big two books and especially Letter 44. Not to mention how friendly and personable he is. I picked up his Daredevil and Anakin/Obi-Wan books for him to sign. Both great books but I am jumping onboard to his Star Wars title. He will do justice to Anakin’s backstory and I love reading these expanded SW universe stories. Especially with the possibilities that some of these stories or characters could end up on screen being that Disney considers these to be canon.

The exhibit floor had plenty to see and splurge on. The hot property was Deadpool considering it was opening weekend and Rob Liefeld was in attendance. Vendors had Deadpool comics prominently displayed and selling. Also, found many key Suicide Squad issues on display.

Amazing offered some of its own exclusive variants and always happy to see the Skybound booth.


Of course, never forget the Power of Pops!

I am loving this new trend of metallic prints. They would make a great addition to any mancave. More artists are making them available in addition to paper prints. I want to take them all home but at an average of $50, it’s a little steep for me. Nevertheless, they look fantastic.

Always looking for hidden gems, I ran to George Wassil who created OH, HELL via a successful Kickstarter. His pitch was great and moved me to take a closer look at this mysterious story about a boarding school in hell. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality art and writing. I was happy to bring the first issue home. Best of all, it was picked up by a publisher and is in Previews World. Keep an eye out for OH, HELL in late March and ask your LCS. Print run will be SUPER low.

As always, the cosplay is on point. I would go as far as to say this con had the highest ratio of cosplayers to non-cosplayers I have seen. Awesome to see so many attendees participating. Amazing does a great job promoting cosplay with cosplay focused panels and several cosplay parades. Cosplayer Kid Wolf really struck my eye as she looked as though Chad Hardin’s Harley Quinn literally jumped off the page. Check out those pics!
I commend Amazing for keeping it about the comics every year. They do a great job of organizing and managing crowds, executing to near perfection. If there is one minor thing I would add is to give volunteers an “ABC XYZ line ends here” sign. To help with navigating to the right line amongst all the comic book fans. Amazing Cons are shows I really look forward to, don’t miss it if they are coming near you. Amazing is headed to Hawaii, Las Vegas, and Houston this year: http://amazingarizonacomiccon.com/