Story by Aaron Lightfoot, Comic Columnist
Photos by Andrew Mather, Photographer
Sunday concluded the 19th annual Kansas City Planet Comicon, and although there had been some minor weather issues, you wouldn’t have been able to tell given the number of attendees. The con was packed full of exciting media guests, comic creators and vendors and lines of eager fans waiting for their chance to explore all the event had to offer.
Media guests for the event included the likes of Jason Momoa, Khal Drogo from “Game of Thrones” and Aquaman; Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom in the “Harry Potter” film franchise; Alan Tudyk, who played Wash in “Firefly” as well as various voice acting roles in movies like “I-Robot” and “Wreck-It Ralph;” and Danny Trejo, who played the titular role in “Machete.” Other guests included several voice actors like Kevin Conroy, whose voice gave life to Batman in “Batman: The Animated Series” and various other games and movies involving Batman; the majority of the cast of “RWBY,” a popular anime created by the Rooster Teeth Achievement Hunter YouTube channel; Lucky Yates, who not only voice acts for the “Archer” character Krieger, but is also the model for the character Ray in the show; and even Charles Martinet, voice actor for Mario and Luigi. The listing of media guests continued to shock when Planet Comicon announced that the “Godfather of Shock Rock,” Alice Cooper, would also be in attendance.
Not to have media guests outdone, Planet Comicon also sought out some of the best creator guests who could be procured. The likes of Jason Aaron, a writer for Marvel; Jai Nitz, creator of El Diablo and writer for “Dream Thief;” Ant Lucia, creator of DC’s Bombshells; and Dennis Hopeless, writer for Marvel, were all in attendance, as usual for a cons in Kansas City, however what really impressed were the other big name creators who attended. The team behind the extremely popular “Dark Nights: Metal” series, Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion were all in attendance. Writer for DC’s “Bombshells” series, Marguerite Bennett was also there alongside Brian Azzarello, who worked on “Dark Knight III.” University of Central Missouri alums Dan Scott, who works for Wizards of the Coast making art for Magic: The Gathering, and our favorite Artisan Rogue Mario Mora were also at the show.
The list for both media and creator guests goes on and on, which gave attendees much to do and see throughout the three days of PCC. There also needs to be a mention on the organization of the event itself – the process of buying tickets to the event in a different building greatly reduced stress in the entryway while the layout of the floor was spread out enough that even with thousands of attendees, there was always some empty space so as to never really feel too crowded.
Overall the event was easily one of the best cons I’ve ever been to and anyone would’ve found something to draw them in. Planet Comicon always seems to raise the bar for guests, and this year is no exception. This year’s show already has many looking forward to what is to come next year, when Planet Comicon celebrates its 20th anniversary in late March, and I know that I’m looking forward to it.
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