By Thousands of superheroes, video game protagonists and “Star Wars” characters gathered at the Long Beach Convention Center this past weekend for the 2nd annual Long Beach Comic Con.
Despite not being as big as the San Diego or New York Comic Con, Long Beach garnered artists and fans from all over the country.
“[New York Comic Con] is bigger, but Long Beach is growing,” said David Wong, an independent artist. “Even San Diego artists come here. It’s already gaining a good reputation.”
The exhibit hall was filled with booths from several big comic book publishers like Image Comics and IDW; entertainment companies like Lionsgate; and plenty of artist tables in the Artist Alley.
To add to the entertainment, there was a wrestling ring in the farthest corner of the bustling exhibit hall. Matches were held throughout the days of the convention, and featured wrestlers from the Mach One Wrestling foundation of the National Wrestling Association.
Friday, Oct. 29
A pre-release screening of the upcoming documentary film, “Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics,” narrated by Ryan Reynolds, was shown.
The documentary celebrated the 75th anniversary of DC Comics and featured interviews, archival footage and astonishing covers from DC’s history. It spanned through the four stages of comic books: The Golden, Silver, Bronze and Modern Ages.
This documentary will be be distributed by Warner Home Video on Nov 9.
Other panels held on Friday included Image Comics (“The Walking Dead”), Comic Writing 101, Writer’s Workshop from Aspen Comics, and signings with Jeph Loeb and Mike Mignola.
Saturday, Oct. 30
The day started off with the premiere screening of “Superman/Shazam! The Return of Black Adam.” This 24-minute short revealed the very first tale of Billy Batson as he becomes Captain Marvel. With the help of Superman, they combat the tough obstacle of Black Adam, a “super man” with magic, together. The public release of this animated short is Nov. 9.
Later in the afternoon, Marvel Television had a panel featuring Loeb, Marvel’s Head of Television. During the panel, Loeb talked about the new series on Disney XD, “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.”
Loeb showed the audience never-before-seen footage and imagery from the show, as well as an entire full-length episode.
Loeb also revealed Marvel’s new project, Marvel Anime. The showcase featured the highly anticipated, full-length pilot episode of the “Iron Man” anime, set to debut next summer on G4. In addition, an exclusive 30-second clip of the “Wolverine” anime was shown, which Loeb said had just arrived at the studio on Friday.
Other highlights of Saturday’s panels included Spotlight On: “Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels, A Quarter Century of Robotech, “Saw” signing with Costas Madylor, “Scott Lobdell Has an Announcement to Make!” and M1W Presents: Wrath of the Con II!! Wrestling Ring.
Sunday, Oct. 31
Halloween was upon the Long Beach Comic Con, as attendees from the previous two days were zombified and in the Halloween spirit.
Children who were 10 or under were allowed free entrance to the convention as long as they were in costume. Trick-or-treating was held at various booths on the exhibit floor.
The Image Comics booth gave out prizes to the best zombie costume in celebration of the holiday.
Panels were scarce on this last day, but included: “The Vigilante Project”, several panels for aspiring comic book artists and writers, Comics and Manga Production Panel, and “Comics and Comics.”
The Long Beach Comic Con ended with fans eager for next year’s convention, which will be held Oct. 28 to 30, in 2011. More information can be found at longbeachcomiccon.com.
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