Keystone Comic Con Launches, And We Have Our First Cosplay Gallery!
Keystone Comic Con held its inaugural event on September 14-16 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, located in the Market East section of Philadelphia. Keystone Comic Con was created and organized by ReedPOP, the same group that runs New York Comic Con, C2E2, and the PAX shows, among others.
As is the case with other ReedPOP conventions, celebrity appearances were a big draw for Keystone Comic Con. Among those in attendance included John Barrowman, Joe Manganiello, Angela Kinsey, Leslie David Baker, and Amy Acker.
The Keystone LIVE! Stage located on the show floor featured musical performances and other entertainment throughout the duration of the convention, including performances by The Gregory Brothers, MC Chris, Mega Ran, and The Roddenberries.
A large portion of the vast show floor was dedicated to dealers, who offered a variety of wares to convention attendees. The show floor was also home to an artist’s alley section, where fans could peruse a variety of comics, graphic novels, and other original artwork for sale.
Keystone Comic Con also featured an area called “Cosplay Central,” where fans could meet cosplay guests including Dezcreepcore, Jaycee Cosplay, Kayley Marie Cosplay, and Sharon Rose Cosplay. This area also featured a handful of colorful backdrops, which I utilized extensively for my cosplay photos throughout the convention.
The convention also featured live pro wrestling matches throughout each day of the convention, courtesy of Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore. This was definitely a unique experience that you won’t find at many other comic conventions.
The Keystone Championships of Cosplay took place on Saturday evening of the convention, which featured a truly impressive lineup of some of the most talented cosplayers around. Congratulations go out to Cowbutt Crunchies Cosplay for taking first place in the fierce competition!
It is inevitable that Keystone Comic Con will draw comparisons to Wizard World Comic Con, which holds a similar convention in the same Philadelphia venue each year. Attendance at Keystone Comic Con was definitely light in comparison to Wizard World’s show. This was probably to be expected considering this was Keystone’s first ever show. The lighter attendance was considered a positive thing to many attendees I spoke to, as it made traversing the show floor a much more relaxing experience.
I should also mention that Keystone Comic Con was held on a weekend where two other local area conventions were being held. I don’t believe this caused a particularly significant impact to attendance at Keystone, but hopefully next year this will be avoided regardless.
Speaking of next year, the event organizers have already announced next year’s dates. Keystone Comic Con will return to the Pennsylvania Convention Center on August 23-25, 2019.
Cosplayers in this first of two galleries include Larissa Paige Cosplay, Sharon Rose Cosplay, Dezcreepcore, LadyJ_Cosplay, CuriousCat Cosplay, Kevin D Cosplay, Jaycee Cosplay, Starlight Goddess Cosplay, SmoakinFox Cosplay, PepperMonster, Disturbed Cosplay, Cosplay With Attitude, Galactic Edge Cosplay, Cowbutt Crunchies Cosplay, Lucky Grim Creative, mirabellatookcosplay, wickedkumiho, brokecosplay, and many more.
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