This was our first year covering Comic Con Revolution in Ontario. This convention was a bit of a mystery to us as we hadn’t heard much about it last year. It is rare for us to go to an event and not knowing what to expect. The guest list looked strong and the panel listings looked to be what one would expect from a comic convention, but that didn’t give us a clear picture of the event. Our whole team showed up to run panels and meet guests with generally positive results. This is by no means a perfect convention, but it does have some charm.
The location has a few good points despite being a little out of the way from the usual locations for most Southern California conventions. There is plenty of parking and it isn’t nearly as expensive as most convention center lots in the region. The building has more than enough space for the attendees, with a good sized dealer hall and several panel rooms. In addition to that, there is a fenced off area in the back that works well for photoshoots. The major drawback of the location is the lack of food locations and that you can’t bring in outside food. If you want to have lunch then you are stuck with con center food, which can be a mixed bag.
There was an abundance of programming at the convention. There was always a panel running in one of the rooms and the hosts ranged from podcasters to guests to professionals like me. While there were several topics that overlapped such as numerous Star Wars panels, comic book movie panels, and Power Rangers panels it never felt like any panel was competing. That is unless two panels with the same subject came up at the same time, which was a common occurrence. Despite that confusion, there was always an audience ready to learn more about their favorite genre. All panels we attended were well run, but it was a common complaint amongst panelists that they were facing technical issues. While running a panel without a visual presentation is easy to do, some types of panels work best with visual aids to better explain a subject.
This convention has a very relaxed atmosphere, which works well with the small size. All attendees were friendly and it didn’t feel like anyone was trying to bring others down. The guests seemed to really like being there and lines to meet the guests were never too long. The event seemed to attract families as many people were there with their children. None of the kids caused trouble or had a fit, instead the kids were happy to meet cosplayers and explore the dealer hall. It really felt like a classic small convention with good guests and friendly people. If there were more events like this, I would always arrive with a much more positive outlook.
Comic Con Revolution was a nice surprise. It isn’t too often that you can find a small event like this and that’s a shame because small upbeat events are what keep many people coming back to conventions. While they may have to take some steps to improve the programming schedule and they need a better tech staff. This was still a good event and it was a nice environment to run panels with a ready audience and good sized panel rooms. The only reason to not attend this event is if you are too far way as it might not be worth a long drive in May traffic. However, if there is a guest you’d like to meet then this is a nice small place to do so. Overall, I recommend this event and hope that the next convention will be just as fun and relaxing as this one. Until next time, remember to give my love to all my old friends in the true EU.
THE LIST
- Eastbound and Down
- Long Live the Empire
- Four panels!!
- Sore Throat
- I met the man
- Power through the pain!
- What’s that smell?
- Podcast?
- RE: 8: Never heard of it
- Note to self: No one will get that joke
- Next Cosplay: Prince Dex
- Long way to go and short time to get there
- Food! FOOD!
- Never stop improving
- Always updating at the wrong time
- I’ll fix it
- I will eat you!
- Silver Test 01… mixed results
- So… what’s next?