Comic Convention Report: 2017 Comic Con Honolulu

[MrAloha]

Dear Gang,

I'm sorry it took me awhile to do the 2017 Comic Con Honolulu Convention report.

Comic Con Honolulu was on the last weekend of July (7/28 to 7/30).

Honestly, I did have a good time BUT it was very small, and not crowded. Honestly, the convention can be done in a day.

I'm guessing compared to other conventions on the mainland, this convention was very, very small.

There were a number of TV and movies celebrities, voice actors, and comic book creators.

My focus on this report will be mostly on the comic book creators.

I'm not big anime fan. And I wasn't too excited about this year's celebrities. But I did want to meet one celebrity and one person surprised me.

1) Kevin Sorbo

I want to meet him and get his autograph. It wasn't for his Hercules role (that was fun series) but he did a Christian film I really liked. Kevin Sorbo was really cool to talk to. And he looked like he could bend in with the local population because he looks like a surfer dude. That's awesome.

2) C. Robert Cargill (Co-Screen writer for Dr. Strange and Sinsiter, former internet movie critic, and a wirter)

He was the one that surprised me.

He is a big comic book fan. Actually, he is a BIG Dr. Strange fan. At his panel, he mentioned one Dr. Strange story everybody should read. It was Triumph and Torment by Roger Stern (W) and Mik Mignola (A).

After his panel, I talked to him at his table. He is a real nice guy. He autographed my Dr. Strange “The Oath” trade and said that it was an inspiration for the movie.

His latest book Sea of Rust just came out. It’s a “post-apocalyptic robot western.” It sounds interesting. I think I might pick this up.

Comic Book creators

1) Andy Price: I got his autograph on a couple of copies of My Little Pony. And a pretty cool my Little Pony sketch on a blank Walking Dead #150 cover.

It was great talking to him and his wife about how this is the first time to the islands. I was talking to them for a five to ten minutes.

NOTE: Andy Price is a big Star Trek (his banner had his art of Kirk and Spock) and a big George Romero fan. He told me how he and his wife were at convention right across the street from the shopping mall where the original 1970's Dawn Of The Dead was filmed.

2) David Mack: Really nice guy to talk to. I got him to sign Jessica Jones #1 & #2. And I bought from him the latest Kabuki trade, and he signed that as well.

He's also a State Department Cultural Ambassador. At his panel, he talked about he was working with children in third world countries and in Russia. He was talking about how he was channeling these children's energies to be creative.

If you guys get a chance listen to this podcast: Scratch The Surface With E.J. Scott-Episode 82. E.J. interviews David. It a powerful interview where David opens up about his childhood and how he got into comics. It's incredible.

David said E.J. Scott's wife is actress Deborah Ann Woll, who plays Karen Page on Netflix's Daredevil.

3) Legendary Bob Layton: He was a cool guy. I geeked out bad on him telling him how he got me hooked on Iron Man since issue #152 (The first appearance of the blue Stealth Armor.)

The cool thing he said to me when we were taking a picture was, “Are you doing a gang sign?” While I was doing a shaka sign. That was awesome!

He had a panel talking about the future of comics. It was very good.

If you guys see these creators at other conventions, please stop by to their table and talk to them.

The Pros and Cons of Comic Con Honolulu were:

Pros: they used maybe a quarter of the convention floor The convention was held in one of the center’s main hall on the ground floor. It’s about 56,000 square feet. (The closest comparison google could give me was about the size of a foot ball field.) and some of the third floor conference rooms.

Most of the third floor conference rooms were used for PC video games and table top games. And they were full. Some of the other conference rooms were for panels

However, three out of the four panels I sat in had about ten people in the audience. And these Panels times were later in the day (some started at 4:00) and may have been a factor for the low turnout.

Con: on all three days, the main floor looked dead. Artist alley was not busy. Even the celebrity autograph section didn't look busy.

Con: Individual day ticket prices were too expensive. Friday-$40, Saturday-$55, and Sunday-$40. Some of my friends said the tickets was too expensive. And, to me, it was TOO expensive compared to other conventions on the mainland with a much better and larger pop culture line up.

That's why I bought the three day pass for $68 dollars ($65 for the three day pass and $3.00 service fee.)

Overall, I had fun. BUT if had to I attend the convention again, I would buy the three day pass because, overall, it's cheaper. Check out the program on line and plan accordingly. If someone wanted to, they can put in some beach time.

Honestly, I’m not going to attend next year's convention (8/3 to 8/5/2018) because 1) It is too close to the Amazing! Hawaii Comic Con (8/24 to 8/26/18) , and 2) I’m on a budget. That means I’ll be saving up for Amazing!

2018 Comic Con Honolulu will be from 8/3 to 8/5.

Actress: Ming-Na Wen (Agents Of Shield) is confirmed for next year's convention.

I will promote next year's con when more information becomes available. The reason is if someone is more into gaming, this maybe for you. OR if someone is vacationing on Oahu at that time and might want to check this out.

Thank you everyone for your patience. And thank you for taking the time to read this long winded report.

Aloha!