Great Philadelphia Comic Con Gallery, Saturday

We’re well into the spring months, and as things are finally beginning to heat up in regards to the weather here in the Northeast, the local convention scene is heating up as well. On a weekend where I had a couple of different choices of comic-related conventions to cover for the site, I chose to return to The Great Philadelphia Comic Con in Oaks, Penn., for my second time.

The Great Philadelphia Comic Con was held once again at The Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, this year for another three-day convention. Like many other similar conventions, GPCC draws by far the most fans on Saturday. While I wasn’t able to attend on Friday, multiple people I spoke to indicated that attendance was very light that day. Saturday was bustling with activity with a much larger crowd, although there was always breathing room in the sizable venue. Sunday’s attendance fell somewhere in between the previous two days. I should also note that although GPCC was housed in a fairly large portion of the building, it does not encompass the entire venue. This means that if the convention continues to grow, they would likely have the option to utilize a larger part of the building, rather than moving the convention to a different city.

Celebrity appearances are one of the big draws at GPCC, with a large number of television and movie stars, voice actors, wrestlers, and various others celebrities in attendance for fans to meet and get photos with. Some of the celebrities also hosted Q&A type panels throughout the convention, which was a great way for fans to have the chance to interact with some of their favorite stars, without having to spend any extra money. Some of the big names in attendance included Val Kilmer, Ryan Hurst, Theo Rossi, Kel Mitchell, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, and Ric Flair.

GPCC also featured a large number of artists and vendors selling a wide variety of merchandise. The layout of the venue is basically one large floor space for everything, which has some positive and negative aspects. On the plus side, this makes venue fast and easy to navigate, and fans will likely never find themselves lost. The one downside is that panel “rooms” are just areas split off with a curtain, meaning that ambient noise from the con floor, as well as speakers from other panels, can be a distraction to fans and panel hosts.

The event also had a space dedicated to cosplay guests, which included Titan Cosplay, Scorpking Costuming, Mech Cosplay, Cherry Cos, and the Philadelphia Ghostbusters. Not every convention features such an area, and this type of support for the cosplay community is always appreciated.

One minor annoyance I had with the event this year was how late the dates for the convention was announced. This led to scheduling conflicts and general planning issues for some of us. However, this will not be a problem with next year’s event, as the dates for next year’s show have already been announced. Organizers invite fans to once again “Get UR Geek on!” April 12-14, 2019.

Cosplayers in this gallery include BladeBrown Cosplay, Kevin D Cosplay, BoriñQuinn Cosplay, Girl Who Waited, Philadelphia Avengers, Cupcake Kisses Cosplay and Creations, CuriousCat Cosplay, Venomous Love Cosplay, Diamond in the Rough Cosplay, SmoakinFox Cosplay, Cosplay With Attitude, Starlight Goddess Cosplay, babsbutcher, brokecosplay, megandavella, suttonfamilycosplay, julietsong, classified_cosplay, d.va.peaches, casterly_fox, and many more.

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