Small In Size, ACBC Still Impresses This Comics Cosplayer

Atlantic City Boardwalk con was a convention I really wanted to go to when it debuted last year. I heard the con was great, and honestly, after attending ACBC this past weekend I have to agree — ACBC is pretty amazing.

Ironically, despite mostly doing comic book character cosplays, I don’t do a lot of comic conventions, mainly sticking to NYCC, but Atlantic City Boardwalk Con is a pretty decent comic con. Especially for just its second year.

I walked into the convention at the Atlantic City Convention Center with the expectation of it being a small little comic con. However the con was much bigger than I thought it would be. The convention show floor was very spacious and felt like a mini NYCC.There were your staple dealers booths, along with several iconic vehicles on the showfloor such as the Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo, the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters, and a bunch of vehicles from the Batman TV show.

The main stage was the epicenter of the con as the cosplay contest and free swag giveaways were held as fans gathered around. The guest area as well was pretty amazing, as they all were in the same location. And without huge crowds you were able to move around the con easily without being held up.

To be honest, the staff for ACBC has to be one of the nicest con staff I have seen. The volunteers of this convention were beyond kind and helpful. They assisted people everywhere they went, including cosplayers, helping out as much as they could with smiles on their faces and very positive attitudes. Also what I felt was a very interesting addition to the con was the bouncing castle and laser tag areas. This gave kids something to do and be entertained which I felt was a very good addition as I never seen those kinds of activities added to a con before.

Overall I have to saw I was very impressed by ACBC, particularly considering it is just in its second year. I can see this con growing more and more as the word about it gets out. Not to mention it is in Atlantic City so there will always be things to do and places to go. The only thing I think that the con should think about next year is maybe extending the hours of operation on Friday, day one of the con. According to attendees I talked to, Friday was pretty dead and the main opening happened at 3 p.m., pretty late for a con to open. Overall it’s still a fairly new con so something like that is a minor thing.

With that said I really hope the con continues to prosper. ACBC is an amazing con with an amazing group running it. I actually am looking forward to seeing the convention grow and I really hope to be in attendance next year for the full experience. Now I am really curious to see how AnimeNEXT does at the same location next month. (Ed. Note: The photos are from ACBC 2016 by Adam Etheridge. Stay tuned for full galleries of the cosplayers that were at the show.)