C2E2 2019

Travels

April 8, 2019 By Joshua Ching

I’m not going to lie, I am starting off 2019 pretty slowly. I knew right away that there wouldn’t be much in terms of conventions to go to but I really thought there would be more art shows or something that would pique my interests but nothing came up.

I did have plenty of backup things to write about to pad my site when things get slow, like that write up I did on the movie Blade but that was such a difficult thing for me to come up just because there was so much I wanted to say and I had so much trouble trying to articulate myself even though I do have a BA in English. Part of the reason for this is because I’ve been out of practice considering I haven’t had to write anything that seemed analytical since I was in college and that was almost a decade ago. Hopefully down the line my muse will return to me and I’ll be able to crank out some awesome stories and commentary later.

Anyway, here I am with my first big convention of 2019: The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo AKA C2E2. Originally, I never really put much thought into going to this convention but Chicago has been one of those places that has been on my parents’ bucket list of places to visit. When I found out C2E2 was a thing I figured “What the hell, they can scratch this off their bucket list and I can get something out of it for the blog” so I started making the arrangements to go to Chicago.

I should really thank my parents for getting me to get out of my comfort zone and getting me to go with them to Chicago so I could go to this con. Other than that trip to New York for New York Comic Con a few years back pretty much all of the conventions and other events I’ve gone to have all been not just in California but all local to me. I’ve said this a few times before, but if I really want to build my site into something awesome that stands out from other then I really need to get out of my bubble and see what else is out there for me.

This trip was a really good experience. It gave me some practice in planning trips and it added C2E2 onto my list of cons that I should consider adding to my rotations. Unfortunately, like New York Comic Con I don’t think I’ll be able to make C2E2 an annual thing just because of the costs. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to pick up a sponsor or something that will help cover the costs or maybe I’ll be able to make enough money where I can just straight up pay for it out of pocket, but until that happens I won’t be able to make this an annual thing. I am hoping that I’ll be able to make at least 1 big out of state con trip a year to alternating cons. So even though I probably won’t be able to go back to C2E2 next year I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll at least be able to go the year after.

Since C2E2 is owned by Reed Exhibitions, the company that also puts on New York Comic Con I wasn’t expecting that much from it even though 2019 did mark C2E2’s 10th anniversary. I don’t mean to be disrespectful to C2E2, Reed Exhibitions, or any of their other conventions. C2E2 was well-done, it’s just that I wish they were able to get more big-name vendors to come out and bring with them some really con-exclusive merchandise. I also wish they were able to attract more celebrities to build their programming around.

In the weeks leading up to C2E2 I had my eyes glued to social media for any announcements that might interest me and they were announcing a pretty decent special guest list. They had a lot of voice actors and wrestlers as well as Clark Gregg and Ming Na Wen from Agents of SHIELD. I think the big celebrity events they had going for them was a Freaks and Geeks reunion featuring Martin Starr and John Francis Daley, although I don’t know if you would consider that a reunion since they only got 2 supporting actors. They did have a Clueless reunion featuring Alicia Silverstone, Breckin Meyer, Donald Faison, and Paul Rudd. There’s no Stacy Dash but this still had most of the main ingredients for a good Clueless reunion.

One thing that C2E2 has for them is that they probably have the biggest artist alley section I’ve ever seen. Also not only was it packed with smaller named and up and coming artists but they also had a lot of big name artists. Walking through artist alley I saw David Mack of Kabuki and Daredevil fame, Kenneth Rocafort who I know from his work at Topcow and DC, and Chris Claremont who I know best from X-Men. These were just the artists who I recognized. I took another look at the guest list on the C2E2 website and there were so many other comicbook artists who I wish I was able to run into while I was there.

Despite their shortcomings I still had a good time at C2E2 and like I said earlier I’m really hoping that I’ll be able to add it to my regular con rotation and come back some day.

Looking back at C2E2 and I think it has so much potential to grow. C2E2’s venue, McCormick place is one of the biggest places I’ve seen to hold a convention and C2E2 is using just a small part of it. If they could somehow figure out how to utilize that space then they could have the potential to be so much more awesome.

When we got to McCormick Place C2E2 had just open and they were still in the process of letting people into the main hall. The hall they had people in was freaking huge. I really regret not taking better pictures of people moving in to show the scale of how big the halls of McCormick Place are. Like I said if they ever figured out how to fill these halls they would like a bajillion times more epic.

As soon as I walked into the main hall the first booth that caught my eye was the Tamashii Nations booth. I’m surprised they had it so close to the main entrance since other conventions I’ve been to usually have them buried somewhere in the middle.

Tamashii Nations had this Godzilla statue setup in front of their booth to promote the upcoming Godzilla: King of the Monsters film.

Here’s an array of Dragonball Z figures from SHFiguarts that they had in 1 of their display cases.

Here’s a couple Gundam Universe figures they also had on display. Considering how big the Gundam universe is I’m a bit disappointed that they only had 3 models on display especially considering how big the Gundam universe is. After looking on the Tamashii Nations’ website though, there’s supposed to be 6 models coming out for this line and the other 3 are said to be in “Product Planning” so maybe they just don’t have any prototypes to put on display yet.

Here’s are some figures from Tamashii Nations Movie Realization line. In case you haven’t noticed from this picture or any of the other pictures I have on my site the whole Movie Realization line revolves around them taking Star Wars and Marvel characters and remimagining them as Japanese warriors.

I have most of the figures from this line. I was with my dad when I first saw this display. He asked me what I was missing from my collection and I told him I pretty much had everything here except for the Onmitsu Stormtrooper which I don’t have because I’m not really into, and the Kanreichi Ashigaru Snowtrooper and C3PO which I don’t have because they’re brand new. I ended up buying the Snowtrooper later on in the day. I was tempted to buy the C3PO but it was too expensive for my tastes. I’m hoping if I wait it out he’ll eventually drop in price but honestly he looks a bit lame so I might not end up buying him.

These are figures which I’m slowly been collecting and I’m hoping someday I’ll be able to post pictures and writeups for them. I just need to find the time to do them.

Here are some figures representing a variety of fighting games from Storm Collectibles.

I thought this Muhammed Ali figure looked cool. It looks just like him.

This Ken from Street Fighter I thought was whatever. The only reason I took a picture is because I was intrigued by his name “Violent Ken.”

Here’s Kazuya Mishima from Tekken. I’m pretty sure this was the first time I saw a character from Tekken as an action figure.

This Rain is also the first time I saw a Mortal Kombat character in figure form. Although considering that he and Smoke both say “Event Exclusive” on them does explain why I’ve never seen them before.

Here are a couple Transformers figures. After walking around inside the booth I learned that these guys are basically built from Gundam-esque model kits and they don’t actually transform which I feel makes them half as fun.

I thought this wall featuring the Movie Realization line looked cool. Since the C3PO figure is brand new you can tell that this is a brand new wall design.

I think this is the first time I’ve been to a convention that had a beer vendor on site.

One thing that really caught my high was this Dimension 20: Fantasy High miniature game. I was a bit surprised when I looked this game up and found out it was based on a webseries from CollegeHumor.

With Batman celebrating his 80th anniversary it was only appropriate that DC Comics had some Batman-themed stuff in their booth like this giant art panel.

This Batman statue is based on the Batman: White Knight limited series by Sean Murphy. I haven’t read this series but from I understand it takes in an alternate world where Batman is the villain and the Joker is the hero. As a further twist in this universe the Joker is sane and is fighting Batman as a politician rather than a vigilante. This is probably one of the more interesting takes on Batman I’ve ever heard of.

Even though these are made by DC Essentials this Joker and Robin figure really remind me of the old Batman Action figures that Kenner made when I was a kid.

Here are some vinyl figures designed by Joe Ledbetter. After seeing these I just realized that Ledbetter has a very distinctive style to his work because this stuff looks very similar to some stuff my cousin has decorating her living room.

Here’s a Mera statue. I almost thought this was based on the Amber Heard DCEU movies Aquaman and Batman vs. Superman but her hair is too different than what Heard has.

One of the things that really caught my eye was this It-inspired poster. From what I found out from googling this is 1 of several horror-themed variant covers that Yasmine Putri did for the #DCeased limited series.

Flash doing his very typical and very expected running pose. I wish they would come up with a different pose for Flash but given what his powers are I guess there are only so many ways you can make a character look like they’re in the middle of running.

A rollerskating Big Barda from the DC Bombshells line.

Batgirl and Harley Quinn action figures by DC Essentials. I really like how Batgirl’s look is a throwback to the Yvonne Craig Batgirl from the ’60s Batman show.

Due to the fact I don’t really keep up that much with DC Comics I unfortunately can’t tell you what this is from. Although I can tell you that except for the big-headed alien woman in the background I can identity everyone here and they are The Batman Who Laughs, Bane, Lex Luthor, and Cheetah.

I was a little disappointed that PCS Collectibles wasn’t C2E2 showing off their stuff but there was this company, Diamond Select Toys that had a lot of good stuff in their cases. As you can see by my pictures Diamond Select Toys had a lot of stuff with them so I only stopped to take pics of some of the more eye-grabbing pieces.

Wasp statue based on the Ant-Man and the Wasp movie starring Evangeline Lilly and Paul Rudd.

Here’s an Iceman statue. After seeing this I just realized that Iceman rarely gets spotlighted by having his own toy or statue. It’s a bit surprising cause he is a founding member of the X-Men.

I really like these Sonic the Hedgehog pieces. Unfortunately, I have no place in my house to put them in.

Some John Wick pieces. I really like the one on the left how they included the muzzle flash on his gun.

Here’s a PVC statue of the Joker inspired by the Batman: Killing Joke graphic novel by Alan Moore and Brian Bollard.

Kate Kane Bat-Woman statue.

Ukie-o Heroes were there with their videogame and cartoon-inspired Japanese wood prints. I didn’t realize how much these guys get around.

This company Songbird Ocarinas were there. I’ve seen vendors at other conventions selling ocarinas but this is the first time I found 1 who was doing things right by having somebody play an ocarina for them–I mean it almost made me want to buy 1.

The streaming service VRV was a huge sponsor for C2E2 this year. Aside from being the pass sponsor they also had this setup in the center of the convention where people could check out some of their upcoming programming.

Here’s a glimpse of C2E2’s artist alley. Actually, it’s only part of half of the artist alley. 26 rows of artists split into two groups. It was freaking massive.

Here’s a glimpse of the exhibit floor that I saw when I was coming back from the bathroom. I’m not sure if it’s because McCormick Place is so much bigger than the Javitz Center or maybe they didn’t sell as many tickets but C2E2 is not as packed as NYCC.

Here’s the Marvel booth. Compared to the DC booth it wasn’t as congested since they didn’t have much. All they really had was a stage to do stuff on, a wide open spectator space and a few things on display off to the side. When I first took this picture they were having something going on which is why it was so busy.

After my first visit to the Marvel booth I decided to go for a walk. When I came back this costume contest was going on which I found out was totally unaffiliated with Marvel. While I was watching the contest go down I overheard somebody talking to one of the Marvel staffers if they were letting random people use their stage. The Marvel staffer answered “Pretty much. If we’re not using it anybody is free to get up there and use it for whatever.”

The stuff Marvel had on display consisted of costumes and props of their various Netflix series. I was a bit surprised they had all this on display considering how they just about killed everything they had on Netflix.

Here’s Luke Cage’s hoodie complete with bulletholes.

Misty Knight’s from Luke Cage’s bionic arm, Matt Murdock from Daredevil’s glasses and walking cane, and Danny Rand’s mask from Iron Fist.

Elektra’s costume and sais from season 2 of Daredevil.

Matt Murdock’s costume from season 3 of Daredevil.

I was a bit surprised C2E2 had this but I did think it was innovative. They had tattoo artists on site doing tattoos. To save time and costs they were only doing preselected designs.