My Awkward Adventure at Comikaze Expo, Day Two

(Quick, read my write-up of Day One before going any further!)

When the first day of Comikaze Expo kicked off, I was just a guy in the entourage of important people, covering their hijinks for a website. By the end of day two, I became the handler of one of the important people, and an active participant in helping things run smoothly.

Wait, what?

Maybe I should start at the beginning of the second day.

11 AM – 12 PM: The doors opened on this rainy Sunday (Rain? In L.A.?!) an hour later than the first day, but I’m sure that suited everyone just fine. It gave those who braved the elements time to fight through traffic – because rain might as well be a sign of the apocalypse to drivers in southern California – and find parking for the day’s activities. I started off with a walk among the vendors before finding my way to Dina and some members of the League of S.T.E.A.M., but I’ll tell you more about them a little later. Jessica, Eric, and their entourage arrived, and we started our morning routine of checking in at the LXL booth and roaming the floor to check out the wares and say hi to the stunning Chase Masterson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Leeta). As we started to plan our day, the first hiccup became glaringly obvious: Jessica was scheduled to speak on a panel about Awkward Embraces at noon, then moderate a Q&A with Tim Russ (Star Trek: Voyager’s Tuvok) at 1 PM. It was at this point that I stepped up and said, “I’m going to go find what room you’ll be in.” I’m fast and attentive, not to mention short enough to weave through the crowd with ease. I can find the room and be back to her in a flash. Upon my return, Jessica handed off her cell phone to me and asked me to find one of her fellow panelists as the panel was about to start. Congrats, R. B., you just got promoted!

12 PM – 1 PM: Awkward Embraces is a comedy web series about a group of friends and their dating misadventures. The panel featured the show’s stars Jessica Mills, Lyndsey Doolen, Candis Phlegm, Stephen Taylor, producer Patty Jean Robinson and director Adam Finmann, moderated by Stephanie Thorpe. While I spent the first part of the panel trying to find our missing panelist, I got back in time for them to cover technical aspects of the show, like balancing a shooting schedule with a cast and crew who all have full time jobs (and a desire to see the Lost series finale), as well as how much of the show is based on the actresses’ personal experience (all of Season One) and how much is pulled from anecdotal accounts (most of Season Two). Naturally, the conversation kept veering into geek country, but we were able to find out that Season Three is in the works and will feature what it’s like for a geek girl to try to make a relationship with a non-geek work. It was a great chance to meet the cast and some of the show’s fans, but lingering was a no-no. In true handler fashion, I escorted our star to her next panel…

1 PM – 2 PM: TIM RUSS Q&A was supposed to be about the Voyager star answering questions about his experiences on the show and maybe the other projects he’s worked on, but the actor never showed. On Jessica’s behalf, I made two trips out to the celebrity signing area where he was located the day before to find him, but he was MIA. This, apparently, wasn’t the first time the Trek actors had missed their appointment over the weekend. From what I’d heard, Saturday’s Star Trek Q&A was supposed to feature Robert Picardo, Marina Sirtis, Robert Beltran, Garrett Wang, Jennifer Lien and more, but ended up being mostly a discussion with Garrett. It’s unfortunate that the panels didn’t go off as planned, there was a good-sized crowd that had gathered to hear their favorite Star Trek actors speak. Apologies were made, though it was no fault of Jessica’s, and we continued on to get some food and find other amusements in the convention hall.

2 PM – 3 PM: Meet the League of S.T.E.A.M. featured the steampunk community’s premiere ghosthunters talking about what they do and who they are. The panel included Nick Bauman (Mr. Crackitus Potts), Andrew Fogel (Baron Von Fogel), James Lavrakas (Jay Are), Robin Blackburn (Lady Ameliorette Potts), Russell Isler (Zedediah and Thaddius), Conrad Wright Jr. (Sir Conrad Wright III), Duane Matthews (Jasper Mooney) and Glenn Freund (Coyote). For those unaware, the League of S.T.E.A.M. is a transmedia performance group that does their own web series (Ghostbusters by way of steampunk), podcast, live performances and more. Their style brought them notice from Panic! At The Disco, who asked them to be an integral part of their music video “The Ballad of Mona Lisa” and even styled their tour with a steampunk motif with the League’s inspiration. They make their own costumes and equipment, the latter of which is all fully functioning for practical effects in their shows. Their presentation was nothing short of visually impressive, and their group dynamic was fun and engaging. If you like steampunk and haven’t seen their work, what are you waiting for?!

3 PM – 4 PM: While Jessica was off enjoying one of the Cracked.com panels, Eric and I roamed the convention floor, exploring the different booths and admiring the cosplay that had come out for the costume contest. While I’ve dabbled into putting together my own “closet cosplay” outfits such as Indiana Jones, Rupert Giles and Tony Stark, I’m always impressed with the costumes that the dedicated cosplayers put together. Even the steampunk community added to the atmosphere with their eye-catching style and accessories. An entire section of the back of the hall was chock full of superheroes and supervillains, anime and video game characters. It was a pretty impressive, colorful display, and kudos go out to all of the excellent cosplayers who came to the convention. I admire all the time and energy you all put into what you do!

4 PM – 5:30 PM: Geek Girls Creating Their Own Films & Shows was the single most impressive panel I attended at the convention. To start, these ladies – Kristen Nedopak (Fight Class, Think Hero TV), Leah Cevoli (Robot Chicken, On the Road with Leah), Stephanie Thorpe (ElfQuest fan trailer), Crix Lee (GirlGamer) and Helenna Santos Levy (American Reunion) – came with printed flyers that summarized the panel’s focus and listed the bio and social network info for each of them, and set them on each chair before the panel started. The tone was set, these women knew what they were doing, and they spent the entire panel, moderated by  anime voice actor Spike Spencer, talking about their various projects and how they got where they are now: Perseverance, comfort in your own skin, and mad networking skills. I think this panel was the most active one I’d been in all weekend, too, despite the fact that it was toward the end of the final day. Also, Jessica was invited up by the ladies to sit with the panel and share her experiences as well, which the crowd ate up. The panel went over the hour mark, but since no one else was using the area, the ladies continued on until they had exhausted the audience questions and broke for a photo op and more one-on-one interaction.

From there, it was just one last lingering look at the booths on the way out before heading to dinner and recovering from the madcap fun of the last panel and the convention as a whole.

So, the first year of Comikaze Expo has wrapped. I have to say, having been to comic conventions both big and small over the years, this was an amazing first effort. I’m hugely impressed with the crowd that came out for the weekend, especially on a cold, rainy Sunday. One question begs to be asked, however: How can they make next year bigger and better than their initial outing?

First, I know we live in a digital age where all sorts of information can be pulled up on smartphones, but printed programs go a long way toward giving attendees an easy to reference floor plan, panel schedule and exhibition listing, as well as providing sponsors with valuable advertising space. Comikaze flyers featured some incredible art, one of which could surely have been used for a nice collectible cover. I know I hang on to all of my old SDCC collector’s books, and I have at least a couple of Wizard World programs. Paper programs go a long way toward helping visitors find the people they really want to see! Barring that, maybe some signage placed around the hall directing people to easily find areas of interest.

Second, complaints about the noise intruding on the panels were rampant at the convention. There was only one real convention room set aside for Comikaze, the rest were 8 foot tall curtains arranged into “rooms” on the exhibition floor itself. A couple more actual rooms away from the boisterous gaming area and the overhead announcements would certainly make the panelists and their audience very happy. If extra convention rooms aren’t possible, taller curtains (at least twice as tall, if not all the way up to the ceiling) and carpeting along the main isles are perfect for dampening some of the hall’s ambient noise.

As long as we’re on the subject of layout, all of the autograph tables should be grouped in the same section to help people find celebrities. Same for artist tables, these should all be collected in one area to make them easier for the casual con-goer to find, as well as major publishers, independent comics, web comics, etc. Evenly spaced and organized sections help visitors find more of what they like when they don’t have a map handy. All of the gaming tables were in one area, the rest of the tables and booths should do the same in following years. And on a side note, aisles where there are rows of pillars should be twice as wide as regular aisles to compensate, much like what SDCC does.

The diversity of vendors and programming was exceptional, and I hope that following years keep with this trend. Families that come to conventions aren’t always interested in a non-stop parade of comics, and I heard some amazing praise for the strong steampunk presence at Comikaze, as well as the horror crowd that came out for Elvira’s last hurrah. My only complaint with the programming was the number of panels that I really wanted to see all being scheduled in the same hour! It’s a good problem to have, knowing that you have such quality panels at your convention, but it’s also one that could be avoided by some creative shuffling of panel genres. Also, I’m not sure where the hiccup was in making sure the Trek people showed up to their panels, but maybe a handler or three for the celebrity talent would be a good investment, if only to keep the fans happy.

Overall, I’m pretty pleased with Comikaze’s first year. It was at least as crowded as any of the Wizard World L.A. cons I’ve attended, which I’d count as a win for any first time convention. Sure, there were some bumps in the road over the weekend, but that’s to be expected of any initial outing. I have complete faith that Regina and co. will take their experiences from this past weekend to build a bigger and better convention experience next year!

Were you at Comikaze Expo? Sound off in the comments below! Want to share your experiences and weigh in on my notes for improvement? Head to our forum and make your voice heard!

Pictures by R. B. LeMoyne, Patty Robinson and Andi Guidry.

Tags: Adam Finmann, American Reunion, anime, Awkward Embraces, Baron Von Fogel, Candis Phlegm, Chase Masterson, Comic Books, Comics, Comikaze Expo, Convention, Coyote, Crix Lee, Dina Kampmeyer, ElfQuest, Elvira, Eric Campbell, Fight Class, Garrett Wang, GirlGamer, Helenna Santos Levy, horror, Jasper Mooney, Jay Are, Jennifer Lien, Jessica Mills, Kristen Nedopak, Lady Ameliorette Potts, League of Extraordinary Ladies, League of S.T.E.A.M., Leah Cevoli, Los Angeles, Lyndsey Doolen, Marina Sirtis, Mr. Crackitus Potts, On the Road with Leah, Panic! At The Disco, Patty Robinson, R. B. LeMoyne, Robert Beltran, Robert Picardo, Robot Chicken, San Diego Comic Con, Sir Conrad Wright III, Spike Spencer, Star Trek, Steampunk, Stephanie Thorpe, Stephen Taylor, Thaddius, The Ballad of Mona Lisa, Think Hero TV, Tim Russ, Wizard World, Zedediah

About the Author

Written by R. B. LeMoyne

R. B. LeMoyne has way more comics than boxes to store them in, and more action figures than shelf space to display them, and he keeps buying more of both. He spends his free time blogging about his life as a writer at rblemoyne.blogspot.com or gaming with friends.

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