When going to Planet Comic Con Kansas City, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Planet Comic Con KC is known as the “largest comic book and pop culture convention not just in the Kansas City area, but within this entire region of the Midwest” according to the information on the event’s website, planetcomicon.com.
As this was my first Comic Con experience of any kind, the number of people and booths was overwhelming. I was unsure where to start looking. I went in blind with no prior knowledge of the reality of a comic book convention other than what I had seen presented through the media. I had very few expectations to not get my hopes up. All I hoped for and held to be fact was that people got dressed in costumes as their favorite characters.
Lots of fandoms were represented, not just comic book related ones. A fandom is a group of fans of someone or something and are very prominent in today’s pop culture. Comic book conventions have morphed over the years from being strictly about comic book collecting and bringing comic books to get graded, to being about any fandom imaginable.
It was a last minute decision to go; we had less than a week to prepare everything. Should we dress up? What should we dress up as? Did we have enough gas money to actually get there? Ultimately we decided to go as two characters from the Superman universe – Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen – two powerless journalists from the Daily Planet. After arriving at the convention and seeing everyone’s costume and how much effort was put into them I wished I had more time to prepare. Although with such a short timeline of everything, I was proud we even attempted to come in our costumes that consisted of regular clothes from our closets. All these people had months, if not years, to prepare and make the perfect debut at the event. Even though lots of people dressed up, there were just as many, or maybe more, people that decided to say no to a costume. Then there were the people who decided to just wear a shirt in support of their favorite fandom. My advice to people in the future who are about to experience their first convention is that there really is no pressure when it comes to choosing your outfit.
Before going to the convention there was an opportunity to pre-purchase photo opportunities with big stars and celebrities like Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard. Although it looked like fun, I didn’t have enough time to find out more information or check prices until arriving. As I unfortunately assumed correctly, photo-ops were more expensive than expected. With the little time we had to actually plan and prepare for the trip, I was unable to get any photos with fandom stars I had originally wanted. Luckily for other attendees like myself, there were free panel discussions to attend of the celebrities. If the big names didn’t spark your interest, there were also authors and artists positioned at booths that attendees could meet and get autographs from.
For deciding so last minute to go and going in blind, I didn’t feel bored or lost the entire time. There were too many exciting things to experience to be bored. Multimedia panels with different people talking about topics like their careers in acting, storyboarding, or comic book illustration. Merchandise and knick knacks to buy. AFantastical characters to watch in ordinary situations.
Despite personally not being a really big fan of various things like the other attendees, I didn’t feel out of place at all.
There were numerous booths set up selling various things. Even if I wasn’t a part of the fandom it was directed towards, everything was still interesting to see the creations people brought to share with like-minded people.
Overall there was no pressure to be a part of any particular group, or worry about having a perfect costume. Planet Comic Con Kansas City, like I imagine other comic cons, is an enjoyable and exciting experience to attend, no matter age or interest.
