This was my first such event since moving to Florida. The Tampa Bay Comic Convention (not to be confused with the Comic Con) took place at the Convention Center on the weekend of August 23-25. We went Sunday and we found a packed house, with likely over 20,000 visitors that day, and no parking available at the venue or the closest 2 parking garages.
One of the main features of a comic convention are, of course the cosplayers, and I have to appreciate the time, dedication and, of course, money some fans invest in these costumes. As a Star Wars fan boy, I’m mostly reacting to those costumes. I even decided that everything looks better with a light saber so I convinced a few cosplayers to pick up one. Here a Jedi Gandalf, Jedi Harley Quinn, even a Jedi Snow White.
But the main attraction and draw of a comic con are the celebrity special guests, that range from the world of movies, TV shows, comic creators or anime. Some of the biggest names at the Tampa convention included Hayden Christensen and Billy Dee Williams from Star Wars, Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis from Lord of the Rings, Tom Welling from Smallville and many others. Pictured below are Chandler Riggs and Ross Marquand (Carl and Aaron on The Walking Dead), Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar on Star Trek TNG) and Kellen Goff (from Five Nights at Freddie’s).
Other convention features included a huge vendor floor, where you could find everything from rare collectibles, toys, video games, posters to jewelry, cosplay accessories, and movie artifact replicas. There were also special guest panels, workshops, demonstrations, and everything else you’d expect at such an event. It was scary big!
I had the pleasure to talk to Capri, a local Tampa cosplayer and pole performer that goes by Miss Champagne Sun. She told me: “This was only my second TBCC but first time as an exhibitor! To be able to share what my group and I does with people all over was so much fun. My favorite part of any con is meeting new people and getting to see all of the awesome cosplays people come up with! Any chance I can get to dress up and share all things nerdy, geeky and fun I am THERE! Also huge shout out to the TBCC crew who kept the whole thing running smoothly.”
Capri was there exhibiting with the burlesque troupe Ybor City Sirens, which she described as “a band of sexy misfits who like to put on a heck of a show – little bit of strange and a whole lot of sexy; all body types, races, orientations; it’s been a truly welcoming and loving experience to be able to share my art with these women and with the community”. The Sirens run themed shows at The Potion Portal bar in St Pete, where they have 2 spooky shows planned for this Halloween season, Camp YCS on 9/13 followed by Creature Feature 10/26 (tickets available on their page).
Back to more amazing cosplayers, besides Star Wars the biggest theme were special hero movies (both Marvel and DC) and anime (on this subject I don’t know much so I mostly had no clue who the characters were, but they were still very elaborate). Here are a few more of the fun people of Tampa Comic Convention, and can’t wait for next year!
Florida Vacation Reviews 