Welcome to the second entry in our “We Went to …” series where each entry will highlight a new, exciting geek experience Professors Jason and Ashley have! Catch up on the previous entries including:
Los Angeles Comic Con has had a couple different names over the years. When we first started attending it was called Comikaze before a rebrand to the new name it now carries. Fun fact: Los Angeles Comic Con was the first ever comic book convention Professor Ashley attended! Like many big geek events it had been almost four years since we had attended in any way, shape, or form. Los Angeles Comic Con is our home convention. It’s one only of the only comic book conventions we don’t have to travel to or plan to stay overnight. We’ve been attending in one way or another from fans to hosts to panelists to tabling for a long time. The familiarity means a lot to us. This year we were finally able to attend once more! Fortunately, we were invited by Jonathan London of the Geekscape Network to be a part of his How to Start a Podcast live panel.
If Jonathan’s name seems familiar to you and you’re not a Geekscape listeners it’s probably because he’s been a guest on Geek History Lesson previously! Check out Jonathan on our Best Stan Lee Characters episode:
AND on our Deadpool episode:
We joined the talent behind the Geekscape Podcast, Nerd World Order, Two Dollar Late Fee, and the Bladtcast to impart some of our hard won wisdom about the world of podcasting. It was also a great opportunity to share the love we have making Geek History Lesson with an entirely new group of people who we hope will join us in the Mind University for future episodes!
We’ve been on quite a few panels (in person and remotely), about podcasting and even hosted a few ourselves. Podcasting is among our favourite topics to speak on. We were very passionate about bringing Geek History Lesson to life. We’re firm believers in more cool people making more cool stuff is good for everyone.
If you weren’t able to attend Los Angeles Comic Con live and hear us speak on How to Start a Podcast we actually already have a Blog post on this very subject complete with equipment lists and links to resources: Read It Here!
Despite being invited to join the panel ourselves as experts we learned for our peers’ valuable insights. One of the best ways to keep improving is to always be learning. That’s why we created The Mind University!
Ashley did a bit of work for Popverse while we were at Los Angeles Comic Con, which you’ll be able to see across multiple platforms in the website including this Instagram reel on how to be on a panel!
Immediately after our panel and throughout the day we were able to connect with some incredibly Southern Californian Geek History Lesson listeners! Shout out, in particular, to the awesome man cosplaying as Morpheus (a.k.a. Dream of the Endless!), who Jason was able to chat with. Getting to meet Mind University Students face-to-face is always WITHOUT A DOUBT the greatest moment of any comic book convention for us. When we get to spot listeners from 20 paces because they’re weaning a GHL Enamel Pin even better!
Since we’re writing about cosplay … here’s a gallery of just some of the incredible cosplay we saw at Los Angeles Comic Con this year:
By the by, if you’re thinking of making next year the first year you attend a comic book convention (or perhaps the first time you return to a comic book convention!), we have a Comic Con Packing Guide which was provides all the essentials we bring and think you should too!
Since Los Angeles Comic Con is our home convention one of our favourite things to do is spent a lot of time hanging out in Artists Alley and connecting with some of the creatives we know and love the best. We had a chance to check in with the White Ash creative team headed up by Charlie Stickney (you may remember him from our recent Death of Superman episode), with Conor Hughes (who drew Ashley’s cover B for Aurora and the Eagle #1), where we also got to meet artist Liana Kangas for the first time! This was such a perfect example of an online friendship blossoming into such a wonderful in-person interaction. One of the greatest things we’ve gotten to do over the years is make amazing professional geek connections with folx all over the world through Geek History Lesson and through our own creative work.
Much like many of the larger conventions we’ve attended this year there was definitely a “weird vibe” even amongst all the happiness to be had. Covid cases are spiking as we write this here in the States, and specifically in Los Angeles County, and at Los Angeles Comic Con there was a definite divide between those who were wearing mask and those who were maskless.
A final, unique feature we want to shout out about Los Angeles Comic Con is the location of the Main Stage - it’s right on the show floor! There are a couple other conventions which operate similarly - MCM comes to mind with all of the stages being integrated into the main Show Floor and Artists Alley. One of the fun parts of attending any LACC is passing by the Main Stage (if you aren’t among the crowd watching the panels!), and catching sight of Simu Liu or Sean Astin and Elijah Wood up there doing their thing!
Our return to Los Angeles Comic Con this year was easy, straightforward, and surprisingly personal in ways we didn’t expect. It was a wonderful end to both 2023 as a year and the 2023 convention season. We’re looking forward to returning to our home show next year and showing out in a bigger, better, badder way than ever before!
header image courtesy of Los Angeles Comic Con