Comikaze Expo 2012 Review
Just as the post-con blues were settling in, Stan Lee’s Comikaze (September 15-16, 2012) came along to fill the void. On its second year at the LA Convention Center, Comikaze is a convention that focuses on comics, gaming, anime, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and pop-culture.
Inside, the convention took over about half of South Hall with booths for artists to showcase their art and craftsmanship. At one end of the exhibit hall, there were tables set up for Magic: The Gathering tournaments and an area for real life Quiddich matches. On the opposite side, there was a zombie obstacle course where attendees could pay to run through the course of bouncy house style obstacles and evade zombies or, if you prefer to do the chasing, you could even pay to be a zombie and get made up by professional makeup artists. The middle area was full of booths for artists, celebrity appearances/autograph signings, and merchants selling everything from t-shirts to handcrafted Steampunk gear.
The main stage was at the center of the exhibit hall on the far back wall. This was where most of the major presentations and announcements were made including press conferences, martial arts stunt demonstrations and panels including the one and only Stan Lee. This location made for a convenient spot to host panels with far too many people for the smaller panel rooms. It was also nice because it was easy to draw in the attendees who were perusing the exhibit hall. The stage had loud speakers and a large screen so those in the back of the crowd could still enjoy the show. Just outside the exhibit hall, upstairs and down the hallway, were additional panel rooms.
For being such a young convention, there were a surprising number of quality panels. Some attendees were there to sample the variety while others came for one or two specific panels. There were the standard comic book focused panels, helpful “breaking into the industry” panels, Steampunk and Cosplay panels, quite a few women focused panels, many horror related panels and a couple 90s flashback panels. One convention attendee, Kenny Hardy, said the main reason he attended Comikaze was for the Salute Your Shorts Reunion, hosted by 90s Pop Culture enthusiast, Andre Meadows. Hardy also mentioned he was excited for the Axe Cop panel. Axe Cop is a comic book written by a five year old boy (2010) and drawn by his older brother, who is in his thirties. Hardy wanted to meet the creators because he thinks “it is a fun, comedic series”. Andre Meadows was more than happy to host 90s related panels and said that, “Two years in a row Comikaze made my 90s dreams come true…I got to meet the cast of All That, Salute Your Shorts and Wild and Crazy Kids”. Meadows also said how he appreciated that Comikaze included 90s kids shows and treated them as just as important as the comic book and other genre panels.
Personally, I was particularly excited for the horror related panels. One panel titled, Kiss Them or Kill Them? : Romance & Relationship Mayhem in Paranormal Fiction, looked at the current monster fads (vampires and more recently, zombies) and predicted ghosts will be the next big thing. The panel turned into an open dialogue with the audience, which was wonderful! It was also mentioned how the monster has to be male because publishers simply don’t believe that a female monster would sell well. With current remakes like Beauty and the Beast (TV), one might wonder why they don’t put a new twist on the concept and have the female be the beast. What do you think?
On Sunday, the exploration of horror continued with a couple of panels presented by Fangoria. Shows like Walking Dead and Dexter are successfully bringing the horror genre to the masses and getting people, who previously had not even considered the genre, more interested. In the The State of Horror panel, the panelists admitted that they cannot completely hate films like Twilight, if only because, as Rebekah McKendry of Fangoria explained it, “Twilight is a gateway drug.” It seems that there is an endless supply of horror films out there for new enthusiasts and old fans alike. Now horror may not be for everyone, but as panel moderator Jonathan London of Geekscape argued, “Horror has the fantastic ability to comment on the human experience.” Horror films are still a text from which we can analyze society around us. Aside from the deeper ponderings of what horror films really mean, there was also a fun question asked, “What was the first movie box cover that hooked you or freaked you out?” This took everyone in the room directly down memory lane as we all thought about that first creepy/gross/weird/intriguing box cover that made us connect with horror films.
Shortly after the State of Horror panel, the ladies took control with their own panel about Women in Horror. Each woman talked about what got them into the horror genre and their own experiences as a woman in the horror film industry. Sandy King Carpenter said, “Our genres tell a bigger tale.” She went onto say that, “…with freedom of speech, comes a responsibility.” The panelist encouraged addressing the extreme in horror but with a purpose. Even though women are often the victims in horror films, Carpenter encouraged the idea of making women “…an equal partner” and not just a victim every time. All the panelists were welcoming and inviting toward open discussion. After both panels, it was relatively easy to go up and talk to the panelists, and if you waited, you could even catch them in the hallway for a more in depth discussion.
Throughout the convention, there were quite a few films being screened. A couple of which were bigger titles such as Rumble in the Jungle, a Jungle Book reboot, and Puppet Master X , the next exciting installment of the Puppet Master series. The rest of the film lineup boasted some solid independent filmmaking. One such film, Strange Frame, is an animated musical lesbian love story that presents a world beyond race with strong female characters and a terrific soundtrack. Shelley Doty, one of the co-writers of the film, said they did not have to pitch the film because they just, “made the movie we wanted”. The filmmakers behind Strange Frame took the creative process into their own hands. They even turned down an offer from MTV because they did not want to lose control of the project into which they had invested so much of themselves. It seems they made the right decision because this unique film took many creative chances and made the most of the freedom to do so.
Comikaze is becoming a convention for the independent filmmaker/artist/writer/comic. Independent films found a supportive platform and were able to preview or screen their films (Sushi Girl, The Liberator, and Katara to name a few) for the masses. There was even a film festival hosted by Elvira and Peaches Christ. Creativity and pushing the norm were at the core of most of the films being screened. The convention as a whole had a more independent focus and was not bombarded by corporate main stream. This focus fostered an environment that encouraged networking and talking with panelists/actors/artists that would not normally happen at other larger conventions. Hopefully Comikaze will continue to grow and become the staple convention for Los Angeles.
That being said, this convention did have a few areas that could be improved for next year. The main issue at Comikaze this year was getting your badge at check-in. This was most unfortunate because it is the very first experience attendees have at a convention. There was no information on the Comikaze website about picking up your badge on Day 1 and there was no early pickup for preregistered attendees which further compounded the traffic jam. By mid-morning, when you walked into the convention center, it was just a giant mob of people because there were no clear line markers and it was difficult to find out which line you should be standing in or even which line you were standing in. The “line” was just a giant crowd snaking through the middle of the main lobby. It was rather frustrating after attending larger conventions that have a well-organized line system and get you through check-in much faster.
Further contributing to this problem, Comikaze appeared to be rather understaffed and lacked an appropriate number of people needed to run a convention of this size. Though Comikaze was a smaller event last year, it does not excuse being unprepared for the increase in attendance this year. Many attendees were forced to wait outside in the 100 degree LA heat for hours and, as one might expect, some people went home instead. At one point, Comikaze posted a photo on Facebook and said something to the extent of, ‘look what you are missing’, which brought a flood of angry comments as attendees who were still stuck outside vented their frustration at the slow progress. To Comikaze’s credit, they did apologize online and they honored all Saturday tickets on Sunday for those who could not get in. Hopefully, there will be more volunteers and staff next year to make everything run more smoothly.
(Images In This Article Are Used With Permission and Belong To Kari Lane and Rafael Rodriguez)
