Con-Man: Comikaze aka Stan Lee's Los Angeles Comic Con

Los Angeles' homegrown con Comikaze underwent a name change this year to Stan Lee's Los Angeles Comic Con. It was a bit confusing but also made sense and putting the man's branding in the title didn't hurt either. With an estimated 70,000 attendees last year, SLLACC(?) welcomed guests Lee, Rob Liefeld, Alan Tudyk and Mike Colter along with hundreds of vendors and artists over a rainy weekend. After being split up into two halls last year, Comikaze was back in the main hall with the Hot Topic stage anchoring one side where speakers and contests rolled out. Across the floor you had Funko, Loot Crate and Nerdist along with a noticeable presence from Legion M, a crowd funded entertainment outfit dedicated to creating genre friendly content where you could pitch your ideas.

Toys and comics aplenty, I picked up a few graphic novels featuring Captain America Duke from G.I. Joe along with some tee shirts but sadly saw no one hocking old issues of Cinefantastique. We ran into our usual con-rades at their booth selling action figures and talked how nice it was being back in one hall after having to walk back and forth last year. There was a full size Power Loader from Aliens with cast members signing at tables not far away. After the massive success of Deadpool it was no surprise that Rob Liefeld had a huge line while we spotted Casper Van Dien, Lee and Adam West at their respective tables. Nostalgia hit hard seeing some old G.I. Joe vehicles including the massive Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Flagg in a display case. Nerdist had some nifty converted pinball machines via coffee tables that ran several grand. Artist Alley was packed to the gills and we were too late to grab the metallic Funko of Colossus from Hot Topic or the funny Pokemon themed shirt from the merch booth.

Cosplay wise there was lots of Star Wars and a surprising amount of Ghostbusters. Neegan from Walking Dead was EVERYWHERE, including on children which is kinda weird if you think about it. There was one Jack Frost, multiple folks in onesie/kigurumi's and a badass duo in full Spawn and Violator outfits. Makes me want to watch the movie and see if the unrated version is any less clunky than what I saw in theaters in the 90's. All in a fun day downtown and great to have the show all in one area again. It seems like the family business is doing well with crossover nights at Dodger Stadium, movie theaters and dance clubs becoming more and more frequent so here's to next year's Stan Lee's Los Angeles Comic Con proper.