The 21st annual Planet Comicon will be held March 20-22 at Bartle Hall.
Kansas City’s Comicon is the largest comic book and pop culture convention in the Midwest region, according to Planet Comicon’s website. The event started in 1999 as a small, one-day convention in Overland Park and has expanded into a three-day event attracting tens of thousands of fans from around the country. Genres explored at the event range from fantasy and sci-fi to superhero, television and film.
This year’s featured guests include cosplayers, voice actors and celebrities — with some being “Stranger Things” stars Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb Laughlin.
Planet Comicon tickets range in price from $22 for youth and $76 for adults to $210 for the “fast pass” — allowing superfans early access to autographs and photo-ops.
Comicon also secures discounted rates at various hotels surrounding Bartle Hall and the Kansas City Convention Center, along with free parking to allow guests a convenient and reasonably priced stay, according to Planet Comicon’s website.
Comicon offers a variety of activities for all ages and interests, including special effects workshops, mental health seminars, magic shows, celebrity meet and greets, sewing demonstrations and even a speed dating course. Fans can meet their favorite celebrities and participate in a variety of contests such as drone racing and a cosplay competition.
Freshmen Delaney McDermed and Ayla Ozkan are headed to their first Comicon this year, cosplaying two characters — Shallan and Kaladin — from their favorite book series, “The Stormlight Archive” by Brandon Sanderson, which they first bonded over in eighth grade.
“I really, really love [Kaladin] and I feel like cosplaying is just sort of a way for me to show my love and appreciation for [him],” McDermed said.
In a community where cosplay isn’t necessarily the norm — often mocked on TikTok where the true art of creating costumes and developing characters is lost — Ozkan and McDermed are looking forward to being in an environment full of creativity and people with similar interests.
“You don’t have to hide or pretend,” Ozkan said. “You can just kinda be free and have fun…[without] anyone being like, ‘Oh she’s a little weird.’”
McDermed agrees that out of Comicon’s many appealing attractions, the welcoming community that is free of judgement is the most exciting part of the convention.
“Comicon is kind of the stereotypical nerd thing, I guess,” McDermed said. “But you like what you like…and who cares right? At Comicon, you can go and not be judged.”
In addition to this year’s popular cosplay appeal, Comicon will be incorporating new activities, including an expansion of the e-gaming and tabletop games area.
“Each year we try to add new aspects to the show or to highlight a new focus,” Comicon Press Coordinator, Bill Watters said.
This year’s newly-improved Planet Entertainment Zone (PEZ) is where costumers, makers and roboticists are showcased and provide demonstrations. This year’s special guest for the PEZ is Adam Savage, one of the original two “Mythbusters” on the Discovery Channel show. Savage is expected to bring an increased focus on the people who are inspired by film, books, comics and TV, according to Watters.
In the meantime, East students and Kansas City comic fans will excitedly await the biggest local pop culture event in the Midwest.
“It’s really cool to be in a place where a bunch of people are interested in the same things that you are,” McDermed said. “I love cosplaying and dressing up and it’s just like that to a whole new level.”