logo_lbce_largeThe spring end of the comic convention season is in full swing while we wrap the wonderful 2-day convention that was Long Beach Comic Expo 2015. This year the show was brought to new levels while still enjoying its second year of being a 2-day spring expo, something rather new to the Long Beach Comic Expo stable of change. That, compiled with its rather impressive Cosplay love in their Cosplay Alley and large cash prizes for the Cosplay Contest are showing this quickly growing spring expo in sunny Southern California is a comic convention well worth attending even if its not part of that hardcore slam of Summer and Fall comic cons. Check out the teaser for this year’s show below:

 

This year Long Beach Comic Expo has moved a short distance away from the traditional location it and its sister convention in the fall, Long Beach Comic Con, has held since its inception. This might have been slightly confusing to a number of regular attendees who we were amongst in the short hike from the normal entrance to the Long Beach Convention Center’s Hall B to the new location next door at the Hall C. But the move for LBCE’s 5th anniversary made for a much more enjoyable exhibit hall over in Hall C that seemed to give the show more room to breathe and a slightly more exciting visual presence. With the conventions regularly large Artist Alley and the addition of the Cosplay Alley, many celebrities were available for direct one on one interaction and signings you just don’t get at most larger comic conventions without at least a long wait or fight for VIP tickets,

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With major comic creators such as the Dodsons, Marc Guggenheim, Ethan Van Sciver, and countless others in attendance there were many sketches to be comissioned, comics to get signed, and memorable interactions to be had by comic fans of all types. But if cosplay was more of your thing, the impressive Cosplay Alley would certainly have captivated your attention with many big names in the cosplay community such as Ivy Doomkitty and Bernie Bregman sharing tips, selling prints, and posing for amazing photos. The overall guest list for this years Comic Expo seems to have upgraded in a huge way, being now on par with the show’s Fall convention guest list and in no way lacking what fans might want while attending such a well rounded pop culture convention. The guests of course expanded beyond just comics and cosplay, with members of the animation and film industry being present, including actors of classic shows like Battlestar Galactica to more modern releases like the creators behind Marvel’s Agent Carter and DC’s Arrow hosting panels to discuss their processes.

Programming was another huge improvement at this year’s Expo, as the 2-day convention now expanded to a full programming schedule on both days that included topics from Cosplay and Comics to Film and How-To classes for breaking in and doing jobs in pop culture industries. There was even an impressive mini-film festival on site via Geekfest, showing off the award-winning feature film Post Human Project, amongst many other recent releases. But the programming didn’t close with the exhibit hall each day, tacking on a late night Cosplay Contest on Saturday Night that featured over $3000 in cash prizes! There was even a club style after party on site at the convention center Saturday night, put on by Club Cosplay, keeping the event going late into Saturday and making an early morning on Sunday all the more sleep deprived. But one really can’t complain when they’re enjoying a convention 80% of the day rather than just the few hours an exhibit hall is open.

This year’s Long Beach Comic Expo also saw the first ever Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity given out. The only comics award of its kind, the inaugural Dwayne McDuffie Award was given to Nilah Magruder for her webcomic, “M.F.K.”, which creators believed properly continued the brilliant spirit of Dwayne McDuffie’s love for diversity and sequential art.

Overall it has been an impressive year of growth for the 2-day Long Beach Comic Expo, expanding much more impressively into a full and comparable show rather than the 1-day reminder that Long Beach Comic Con was coming half a year away like it once was. At this point, Long Beach Comic Expo feels like its own separate entity that could compete with its Fall convention, with such a wide range of guests and programming that fill your weekend in many wonderful ways. This is the type of show you want the entire weekend pass for now, so you can take your time enjoying every bit of it. We look forward to see how the show’s Fall convention expands to compete and what LBCE 2016 will look like in comparison.