Long Beach Comic Expo 2012 took place on May 12, 2012 at the Long Beach Convention Center in downtown Long Beach. Though the show took place for one day, there were plenty of things to check out. The event had a few good names in comic books at the event. The event was also pushing promotions for Aspen Comics. The one day event was almost double the numbers from last year's Long Beach Comic Expo 2011.
Long Beach Comic Expo 2012 Image Gallery
The team attended Long Beach Comic Expo's one day show. This was Jared's first time and my second time. Judging by the crowds at the dealer's hall and in the artist alley, the numbers seemed to double from last year's placid expo. While the popularity of Long Beach Comic Expo is increasing, it also means it was very crowded in the dealer's hall and in the artist alley. Artist alley had a few things to look at. Jared even chit chatted with someone who does cover art for various titles.
The dealer's hall was a heaven for single issue comic collectors. While Aspen had promising titles such as Lady Mechanika, Executive Assistant Iris, and Idolized, finding that one TPB was very few and far between. Once particular booth hosted by Just Cos did have a nice collection of Vertigo, Marvel, and DC titles, but it was the only booth that had any selection of TPB's. There were a few toy and collectable booths, but nothing earth shattering. My biggest complaint was the crowd and foot traffic. Hopefully, Long Beach Comic Expo will have a bigger venue for the dealer's hall.
Voice Acting With Crispin Freeman by Victoria
Much like last year, Crispin Freeman hosted his usual voice acting workshop. He went over the difference between technical acting and emotional acting. He also talked about Garzey's Wing and pinpointed what makes a bad dub and a good dub. It is always wise to make sense out of a convoluted situation such as bad dubs. He also promoted his voice over workshops. Also like last year, he asked for audience participation and coached a lucky fan to dub a scene from Hellsing.
Writers Panel by Jared
One of the panels I was most looking forward to attending was the writer's panel that featured Charlotte Fullerton McDuffie, Craig Miller, Robert Skir, and Brooks Wachtel. These writers have worked on several major cartoons including Ben10, Beast Wars, Batman: TAS, Gargoyles, The Real Ghostbusters, and many more. The panel covered topics from dealing with other parts of the creative team, how you get into the industry, and the process of animation production. It was a very informative panel and the writers were even kind enough to stay after the panel and discuss the art and process of writing for animation.
For lunch, we went to Pizza Xtreme. We were dissapointed to find out that the Great Potato and Steak Factory was long gone. Pizza Xtreme had typical pizzas enough for a group of two or three. The only downside is that there is a 20 to 30 minute wait.
Where Do Ideas Come From by Jared
Barbara Randall Kesel (Hawk and Dove Annual 2, Ghost Whisperer: The Muse, Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl and Batgirl) hosted one of the more interesting panels entitled Where do Ideas come from. The primary idea behind the panel was dealing with coming up with ideas or developing a story. However, one of the more interesting questions was on using race in a comic and avoiding upsetting people. It led to an interesting discussion that resulted with an answer of there is no way to please all peole. This was one of the more interesting panels as the topic could go any direction.
Pendant Audio by Victoria
While Pendant Audio was at Long Beach Comic Expo, this was their first time doing a live read at the event. I admired how they changed it up from last year. Unfortunately, there was a low turnout for the live show. The live show had actors and directors from Pendant Audio do a radio melodrama that took place at Long Beach Comic Expo. See video below:
Live Q&A
Live Reading
Pendant Audio also had a brief Q & A before and after the panel to talk about their audio dramas. Over 14 million people has listened to their loving adaptation of super hero and pop culture radio dramas on iTunes.
Cosplay 101 by Victoria
While House of Scarlet is quite versed in the art and craft of costuming, we decided to go ahead and support our colleague, Miko. Miko contributed a lot to the Bay Area cosplay scene. She has organized WIC TOP (We're in Cosplay, Take Our Picture) gatherings. Miko went over cosplay basics - selecting fabric, taking measurements, and selecting projects. She also talked about finding wigs and searching for odds and ends via Google search. Even for a veteran cosplayer like myself, I thought it was a nice refresher. Miko had a positive attitude and she was very approachable after the the panel.
Long Beach Comic Expo had plenty little odds and ends that made it different from other comic book events. The 501st had a shooting range where you can aim and shoot at stormtroopers. Our favorite part of the expo was the car show hosted by Star Cars. Even non-attending folks were posing with the Delorean from Back to the Future and the A Team van. The highlight of the autio show was a replica of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles van. These cars really impressed us and we hope Long Beach Comic Expo continues this tradition.
Long Beach Comic Expo was a very fun one day event. Even though things wind down at 4PM, there is still much to do in downtown Long Beach. After the event, we all decided to catch The Avengers across the street and have dinner at Boston's. Overall, it was very relaxed and the low price of $15 admission is worth it to mingle with fellow nerds and meet people in the industry. We hope this one day event can attract more industry guests and continue on. Support your local comic book con!
You can listen to our podcast discussion and commentary on the day long event on Zero Hour.
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