Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo

There are so many cons popping up around southern California, and each one is trying to be the best, except Comikaze. Their price for a 3-​day page is ridiculously expensive ($ 60.00), with no offers around for a discount.
Their parking price each day is $ 20.00, which equals one full admission price for the weekend.
Their set up is never organized and their most recent even last November it was split up into two separate halls, NOT close to each other, so everyone had to walk far to see the other part of the con, and many didn’t even know there WAS another part.
Security and weapons check are no fun to deal with. They are mean and will threaten you to take your items away instead of you putting it back in your car. The security is not nice to their vendors and act too militant.
The LA Convention itself is horrid and trashy. It’s in desperate need for an uplift and traffic just to get there almost make you want to turn around.
Shockingly this con is considered as the most faved con in So. Cal next to SDCC.
Id’ much rather go to Long Beach Comic Con or Wonder Con.
Sadly WonderCon is at the LA Convention this year so we need to deal with all of that crap.

This year’s comikaze wasn’t as great as in the first few years when everything was together. This year was awkward running back and forth between booths and stalls and displays. The artists this year looked like a bunch of jokes with hardly any decent amount of talent. It was better the way it was I think

When I was in high school, I was super into manga and, to a lesser but still embarrassing extent, animé. As a result, I dragged my poor mother to Animé Expo at the Convention Center, where I gawked at Dragonball merchandise or whatever was de rigueur at the time (probably not Dragonball merchandise, to be honest, but my memory isn’t that great). I hadn’t been to another comparably nerdy event until Stan Lee’s Comikaze, and was curious to see how I’d enjoy a comic book convention as a grown adult.
I went because I was invited to speak on a panel, and Comikaze comped me two tickets. My husband didn’t want to go, so I took my brother Andrew C. My panel was at 2:30 on Halloween Saturday, and we got there at noon, leaving ourselves plenty of time to explore.
I didn’t realize this was such a big event. The Convention Center was packed with enthusiasts, many of them in full cosplay, or at least dressed up for Halloween. The people watching was super fun – everyone was so into the expo, and some of the costumes were pretty wonderful and elaborate. There were two wings of exhibitors, and we spent a good deal of time wandering aisles of merchandise. There was a lot of animé/​video game/​Game of Thrones/​etc. fan art, and about a million of those cute Pop figurines you see at nerd stores everywhere. A lot of it was kind of lost on me, but I kept thinking about how much I would’ve loved it in high school, and how much I would geek out about, say, a basset hound or fiction convention of this size now.
After about an hour of wandering, we realized we’d probably come too early and rested up in the jam-​packed concessions area, where we consulted a schedule. We came up with a couple goals for the afternoon – I wanted to meet Michelle Visage and Grumpy Cat. I failed at both objectives. Michelle didn’t show up for her scheduled signing, and Grumpy Cat was absolutely besieged. I did see her from a distance. She looked cute and grumpy. We did take pictures with a Gudetama and a group of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We also paid our respects at the Stan Lee mini-​museum/​shrine.
We finished the day with my panel, which was one of many, located in an upstairs room above and away from the heart of the convention. It was on «Dead Memes» in genre fiction – basically me and four other authors in different genres, talking about tropes. I was surprised by the good turnout, and hope the audience had fun. Special shout-​out to the audience member who spent five minutes of the Q & A describing the plot of his favorite graphic novel series in astonishing detail.
I guess I’m no longer the energetic young comic book nerd I used to be, but I still had a good time at Comikaze and think it’s probably mandatory for anyone looking to nerd it up in L.A. I don’t think I’ll brave Comic-​Con any time soon, so this was a nice taste of this cultural arena.

This place is really interesting every single time I go once a year except last year. This expo keeps getting popular among cosplayers and plain old awesome nerds. My friends and my girlfriend get to go here this year; it was an experience since my girl and I are first time cosplayers. I cosplayed the Netflix Daredevil and my girl cosplayed Elektra. We got into a lot of pictures with a lot people. My girlfriend was so happy that someone recognizes her outfit and took a selfy with her. People that go here mostly are friendly people so that was fun.
Vendors grew double from last 2 years that we went. Celebrities like Alvira, Todd MacFarlane made an appearance for fans. And of course, the man Stan Lee! Food inside are expensive as usual, but food trucks from the patio are worth grabbing something to eat. My friends and I are dissapointed that there are no Heroclix games in sight, but overall we enjoyed our experience. Definitely going back and cosplay with my girl in here again.
PS: Vendors, please get some Heroclix for us next year

This is definitely not Wondercon, Animé Expo, or Comic Con. Holy Batman… there went another Joker… Beam me up and may the Force be with you, cause its Smurfy…
Yeah it is that basic. Chalk it up to nerdy geekiness to the nth degree. Its fun to go in costume because you can, but this even is definitely not a high end con. I would say it was better than LBCC but that isn’t saying much. Regardless a lot of us dorks have the ability to go and garner a bit of attention to make us think we are kewl for 5 minutes and that is great, for us.
However in reality this is a fast attempt to make a couple of bucks. The vendor area is pretty minimal when compared to the other aforementioned shows. The panels, OMG does anyone ever really wait in line to hear other dorks talk about their experiences while wearing or making costumes? Perhaps it does, I for one haven’t ever attended a panel, nor do I plan to go watch others discuss whatever for a panel.
Regardless its fun to get all geeky and wear something memorable in order to stand out from the other 17 spidermen, 14 batmans and 27 harley quinns. If you can. I am stoked to have found one thing that garners attn where none of my other outfits get much of a look, one does and always makes people take a step back and their eyes open in delight. You see I have a mashup of The Punisher and Star Wars, better known as #PunisherTrooper It’s a fun thing at least to me and having people see you and then open their eyes wide in delight is definitely worth the effort.
But yeah, if you can make it to an event like this, it is an experience that is well worth it. Likely you will be able to relive some memories from your childhood which will make things even better. So give it a whirl you may find out you are as nerdy/​geeky as I am.

Ok, this is going to be a long one, let’s go chronologically for those who may be new to attending a «ComicCon» type event.
You find out about the event. I saw a facebook post about it, which led me to the official website. The website (
) seemed to continually gain information as the event date drew nearer. Decent information was provided about the who’s and the what’s. There was a section that «helped» to «plan your day» out as well, but that was seriously lacking some critical details regarding the autograph sessions for the artists (see below).
Ticket purchase through registration. Pretty easy and well planned out. Online purchasing is definitely the way to go. Keep in mind, this is for the ticket/​badge to get into the event only, nothing else. Upon arriving to the LA Expo Center, there were greeters around every corner to direct the crowd on where to go. Kudos for this. Pre-​doors open, the crowd was gathered in a room along lanes that made the mass entrance manageable and safe, well done.
Ok, here’s where it starts to go downhill (for those that would plan as I did). My goal was to get some metal art signed by Stan Lee, Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, and Rob Liefeld. I got Stan Lee, and that was it. Walking onto the main floor, my friends and I made a bee-​line to the back where Stan Lee was going to be signing. To our surprise, you had to purchase an $ 80 ticket for each signature you wanted, then come back for the autograph session to start at 1300. So, we got our tickets, then looked back on the site to make sure we knew where the other artists would be. We found their locations, no other info provided, so we planned on coming back in time to get in line and get some autographs. When we headed back to where Jim Lee and Todd McFarlane were, there was already a pretty long line (expected). What we didn’t know was that you had to get a wristband that ID’d you as 1 of 250 allowed autographees… that sucks. Out of all of the floor employees we spoke with in the morning, none had mentioned that and it wasn’t posted online anywhere. That being said, we missed out on Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefeld, Marc Silvestri, etc (learning/​future planning point).
Lunch — Wow… just wow… This is a Stan Lee event people! The TINY food court inside is great and all, but if I was working this event and saw the number of people scrounging for a spot on the floor to eat lunch with the friends/​family, I’d be ashamed! Let’s not forget that seating wasn’t really provided for the food trucks outside either. It’s almost like this event had never been put on before… The logistics of event setup/​execution are key. Proper planning for a huge crowd ahead of time would have easily mitigated this issue. Huge negative score for this one…
Back in line for Stan Lee’s autograph. His session «started» at 1 pm. We got in the already long line around 1215… and waited… and waited… Here’s what happened during that wait:
The line was so long, it encroached into the normal walkways/​aisles of the customers shopping around in the booths.
TWICE while in line, 2 different employees came by to ask us what we were all doing and why we were there. They then mentioned that «This isn’t the line for Mr. Lees autograph, it’s in the museum.» Ok… so the museum was still open to the floor… so we were supposed to line up there? Keep in mind that when we bought the autograph ticket, it was recommended to us to get in line about 1 hour prior AND that it would be wrapping around the fence encompassing the Stan Lee museum. SO, that’s actually 3 employees, all with a different idea of what was supposed to be going on…
When the 2^nd employee came by to mention something to those standing in line, he actually had the foresight to ask everyone to «re-​snake» the line up against another wall so as to minimize us standing in the aisle. Bravo. Then he left… not good. People started cutting/​rushing to change positions simply to get 1 – 3 spots closer… it is not 1:15…
The line starts moving. Sweet. Then we find out it’s because the museum was finally closed and we were repositioning in there. We get lined up in the museum and proceed to wait some more… it’s now almost 2 pm. Stan Lee shows up, the crowd cheers, and the line starts moving forward… for about 20 minutes, then stops.
Here we are, stopped again. Meeting people in line is fun, but it is human nature to start getting irritated. We see staffers walking around, moving into and out of the museum, and NOT ONE of them updates the crowd on what is going on. I say again, this is a Stan Lee event! We paid $ 80 to receive zero customer service on something that we are now approaching 2 hours overdue on. A simple update would make things a lot better for the waiting crowd… seriously, it’s called being nice.
In the end, we finally got Stan’s autograph in a 5 second flurry past him. We paid $ 80 for this experience, really? Please strive to make this better! (Out of space for more)

STAFF — YOU NEED TO PROVIDE BETTER MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE AUTOGRAPH SESSIONS AND HEADLINER GUESTS.
This was my first (and maybe last) comic-​con. I went on Saturday with my 7 yo son and some friends intending to meet Stan Lee (not really), get some autographs from some of the headliner artists on some of our stashed-​away comic books (nope…see below), check out some pop culture art and props (Stan Lee museum was cool), and people watch (meh).
The organization of the line prior to doors opening was orderly and efficient. Unfortunately, this was not a sign of things to come.
I purchased two Stan Lee autograph tickets (overpriced at $ 80/​ticket), had to stand in line for over 2 hours (with no updates from the show staff), and barely got a chance to interact with the man when my time finally came. {My experience was much like Mench B.‘s review below.} At $ 80, it’s not only about the autograph, but also about the experience. Just a few seconds to exchange a few words rather than being expedited through like cattle would have been wonderful. It’s apparent that Stan Lee is being handled by the show staff when I said «Thank you, Mr. Lee» and he looked up at me with apologetic eyes and said «You’re welcome.» Perhaps, at $ 80/​ticket, you could run a tighter ship and assign people time slots on a first come/​first served basis (e.g. first person in line to buy a ticket gets to pick when they’d like to meet Stan Lee and get his autograph for a guaranteed 1 minute period). This would avoid the chaos of the multi-​hour line and give people a chance to de-​conflict with other events they’re interested in (e.g. panels, other autograph sessions, vendors, etc.). It might also allow you to build in some breaks for this 92 yo legend instead of herding him off early from every event throughout the day. Oh, and without a 2+ hr line, I might have been able to get my son to meet the legend too (I’d been telling him about meeting the creator of Spider-​Man for weeks).
Also, please make it very clear that the bigger name comic artists (e.g. Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, and Rob Liefeld) are on a schedule and will only sign for a limited number of fans (rather than being available at their booths all day). We found out later on Saturday morning that a limited number of bracelets were handed out when the doors opened and the line would form later in the day (opportunity lost). None of these details were provided on the website in the days and weeks prior, but these headliners were offered up as bait to lure people into attending («Saturday only» advertising). I switched from the less-​busy Sunday to Saturday for just this reason, but was disappointed by not meeting any of these artists.
The icing on the cake was at about the 2 hour point in the Stan Lee line when he returned (after leaving once about 45 minutes prior). Todd McFarlane showed up with him this time. A few of us started getting our hopes up that the staff brought him in to «sweeten the pot» and allow those who have been waiting for so long a chance to get an unexpected bonus ‘encounter’ and autograph. Instead, he signed for a lucky few and then the event staff herded him over to a private (curtained off) signing area that was about 30 ft prior to Stan Lee. So, what’s the takeway… the event staff is more interested in filling their pockets than keeping the biggest fans of the man whose name is on the entire event satisfied and interested in coming back.
At least that was my takeaway… oh, and a couple decent autographs and a 7 yo that was happy to get some overpriced ice cream.

nerds. geeks. cosplayers. la convention center. $ 30 for sunday. a lot of cool costumes. a lot of cool guests…
you get the idea.
may the force be with you… great scott…

I was under the impression that we were going to a fashion expo… O_​o
— — —
First time at one of these Comic-​con thingy… Was totally stoked to see all the friendliness and excitement of the fans here!
Came with a friend who had special access to see the legendary Stan Lee and his museum. Very cool to view if you get a chance.
Purchase tickets online ahead of time.
Parking in designated deck.
Food trucks & cafeteria on-​site.
Some events cost extra to view.
Vendors and artists; special discussion panels; celebrities sightings; photo-​ops and interviews… All buzzed with Red Bull energy-​like enthusiasm and fervor that can only be appreciated by true fans…
I enjoyed all the spectacles O_​o
SD Comic-​Con (Fashion Expo) here I come!

Although there were a few hiccups with timing and such it’s nothing I can’t overlook! I had the best time and I got everything on my to do list done. I went all three days and it was so much fun, I took my sons on Sat for the Trick or Treating and they loved it and took tons of photos with fellow cosplayers! I got to meet my hero Stan Lee and he was incredibly charming and super sweet with my son. The Halloween party they threw after on Saturday was a blast so that definitely merits a 5 star rating from me!!! Excelsior :)

I was there from the beginning… I went to the first three when it was still just twenty bucks to get in. A small convention, that just seems to be growing from year to year. Unfortunately this year the price to get in on Saturday was 45 $
I don’t blame a business for trying to cash in on it’s success but that was a steep hike just so I can have the privilege to walk into the convention hall and spend more money. It’s kind of like going to the mall and paying a cover price to get in so i can go shopping.
The convention itself is fun because of the fan participation… Kids\ young adults walking around in costumes and stuff.
For me the worst thing about these type of events is when things become popular as this event has, it becomes ridiculously over crowded. Which is why I’m only giving two stars well that and the price hike.

2015 was my 2^nd year coming to Comikaze and as awesome as last year was I felt a little let down by the event this year. The panels were pretty «meh» with the big names, the most notable being an All-​That reunion whereas last year they had members of both True Blood and Game Of Thrones. The layout was terrible, they sold it as «we’re so huge split into two halls» but really it was just a giant chaotic mess of not knowing where to go, and what line lead to where, whereas last year I actually applauded them for having the lines and exhibit floor itself being so well laid out. This year the vendors were in a separate hall from the Hot Topic main stage and celeb signings so you had to trek from one to the other which meant you also couldn’t randomly check in on what events were happening on stage which is part of the fun.
I will say as far as transportation it’s nice because multiple metro trains stop right down the street so you don’t have to waste time and money trying to park downtown. While it is always fun to come here and shop the vendors and cosplay not sure I will be spending my money on this next year.

I did have fun, but there was an incident that made the experience kind of sour for me.
Just to get the bad experience out of the way, my Stan Lee meet and greet session was pretty much a bummer. I bought tickets at the Stan Lee’s Kids Universe booth to get an autograph from Stan Lee. If you bought one of the Kids Universe books at about $ 40-​$ 60, you would get an autograph from Stan Lee. I figured I’d buy this autograph ticket instead of the $ 80 autograph ticket from the Stan Lee Museum booth. I stood around the booth for around 3mins just admiring the legend and trying to get a photo of him (which I did). As guests stopped by this booth, I noticed he would sign something else other than the books and he would talk to the guests and take a quick photo. The minute I saw this I was convinced and bought the $ 40 book and stood in line to meet him. After about 10 minutes of waiting in line, the group I was in (about 10 others) was next to meet him. We noticed A LOT more people dropped by the booth and tried to take photos of him. Our line was no longer moving. The security company that was guarding him was not letting us move. After about 5mins we heard someone shout, «On the count of 3 everyone yell out ‘Excelsior’». At that point I knew Stan Lee was leaving since he always says that once he leaves the building. Seconds later, Stan Lee was gone and we were just left there standing like idiots with no autograph. I got there around 12:20pm and Stan Lee left at 12:53pm for his autograph session somewhere else. Our group immediately complained to the booth saying we never got our meet and greet or the autograph. At first they said they would give us a refund, but we said no we wanted our meet and greet. They later suggested they would take the books from us and get them signed by Stan Lee and would return them at the end of the convention, which was so stupid. We paid for a meet and greet session and autograph. We wanted the same experience as everyone else. Eventually, someone guided us to the other meet and greet and told us to wait at this autograph session. So after waiting in line and going through the miscommunication, we were back in another line after they told us we’d be given priority at this line. Stan Lee’s assistants were around him and completely did not care at all and did not want to hear about our situation. «They have to wait in line like everyone else». Eventually my bf grabbed someone from the other booth so they could clarify the situation to Stan Lee’s people. They told us to come to the front and they grabbed the books from our hands, made Stan Lee sign the books, and were told to leave. After we complained and said this was not what we wanted, we wanted to actually meet him, all they said was «We did the most we could, that’s just out of our hands». The other guy that grabbed the books from our hands said, «You guys need to leave, you’re blocking the area. You have your book and you got what you paid for.» Asshole.
If I put this situation aside, Comikaze was a good convention. It’s about a 5 minute walk between both halls. The food trucks were right in between the halls which was convenient. The Comikaze Expo guide books were only available at the west hall. The West Hall had some awesome booths and was a great place to meet the big celebrities. The only reason I really stopped by the South Hall was to meet the director and artists for Bob’s Burgers and to check out the Hot Topic stage. The autograph panels were also at the South Hall, but they never really caught my attention. I love going to conventions on Sundays so I could get all of the last minute deals. As of 3pm, a lot of the comic book stands had cool deals like 3 comics for $ 1. At the We Love Fine booth, if you made any purchase they would give you a HUGE tote bag. I had a good time, but the Stan Lee situation was handled poorly. Yes, I did see him and was able to hang out around his booth for a bit, but I was never able to personally meet him. Once again, bummer.

I am so glad this place is not as mainstream as San Diego Comic-​con. People like me that want to enjoy the nerd-​fest without the bum rush of schedule, high profile celebrities, and madness that is SD Comic-​con.
This expo is of course still filled with devout cosplayers and nerds, and it is truly a great time. I was able to find the shops I always go to and the see celebrities of the shows I always watch.
I got to see Stan Lee on stage for the second time of my life. He is truly an amazing man to go to this every year. I hope he lives forever. What I do notice is that every one is nice to each other and the community has always cared to be respectful of others.
As you can see from my pictures, I saw various cosplayers. They were great. I would go to this every year! Thanks Stan!

Every year it gets bigger and bigger. This year it has spread between 2 halls and don’t forget to check out the Stan Lee museum there

Yaaay had so much fun! We missed out on seeing Stan Lee :(but we are returning next year, I want that picture!

Sweet Heavenly All-​Father, I’ve died and gone to Nerd Central!
Stan Lee, Comic Book, Video Game, and Animé fans, listen up, because this event is for you. It’s certainly no Comic Con or Animé Expo, by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s the next best thing if you weren’t able to make it out to either of the last two, or if you simply couldn’t get enough nerdiness the first time.
There is no end to the awesomeness that you will find here. From autograph signings by some of your favorite Sci-​Fi/​Fantasy stars, to panels you can attend to learn about all sorts of geeky stuff, to two exhibition halls where you can buy everything to do with fandom under the Sun. Much like Animé Expo, they have vendors from all over the world selling unique things from jewelry to cosplay outfits, unique art to stuffed animals, and everything in between; they even have an entire section dedicated to talented artists called ‘Artist Alley’ where you will find some of the most gorgeous, eye-​catching art out there.
The downside: Unless you’ve been saving all year, or have a very well-​to-​do family, or have a super well-​paying job, everything here will make you break the bank– from the food to the parking. Believe it or not, the closest parking lot next to the food trucks this year was $ 50. No joke. The cheapest lot near the convention center was $ 20. And once inside, prices will only rise as you’re assaulted by things you will most definitely want. Not trying to deter you from attending this fabulous event; just trying to prepare you.
Have fun, fellow otakus!

Super fun comic expo! I may be a little biased because it’s my first one, but I had a lot of fun! Lots of cool collectibles and booths to look around in. Also really cool that Stan Lee was there to sign autographs. I was a bit surprised how expensive it was to have an item signed, but I guess $ 80 or so is the going rate these days after talking to some other people in line. The lines movie okay even though they seem really long.

This con is my favorite. The people are super nice and we love the cosplayers. Everyone is so creative with their costumes. My wife is just starting to cosplay but she is absorbing all the knowledge by seasoned veteran cosplayers. This was our 3^rd year going. San Diego comic con is way too busy and saturated. I like this event more because it is not crazy busy and I am able to walk around without bumping into people. We are going again next year and it always is fun to go to.

This is our 3^rd year in a row attending Comikaze and we had a great time. I felt that the floor was organized and planned out well. I can’t say anything about the panels because I didn’t go to any this year (too busy getting free stuff: D).
Comikaze is a great starter convention. I’d suggest Comikaze over bigger cons like Comicon in SD to first time con attendees. Comicon, while amazing and fun, was also very overwhelming as a 1^st con. I wish I had gone to something smaller, like Comikaze, to get my feet wet.
Over the past 3 years many things have changed — some for the better & some for the not so good.
This year, the first thing I noticed was the upgraded security. Before, the security was not so professional and gave that feeling of being staffed by people who hated being there and took it out on event goers. This year, the security staff was courteous and didn’t treat people like something gross they stepped on.
Another change was found in the ticket prices. In the 2 years prior to this year, Sunday tickets were cheaper than purchasing the Friday or Saturday tickets. This year all days were the same price. This isn’t the best since the better events are scheduled on Friday and Saturday and some vendors run out of the cool swag by Sunday, but I guess they had to pay more for the upgraded security, so I understand.
One thing I really liked that I don’t believe they had in 2012 (though I could be really wrong) was the Intellivision area where they had a lot of old school video games that could be played with… for free! My 12 y/​o son could not be pulled away from a very pixelated wrestling game because he was having such a great time. This area really drove home the point that if a game is good, no matter how old or dated the graphics are, it is still good and can be enjoyed by anyone no matter what their age.
Here’s some tips to have a better time:
If you’re interested in going, consider going on a Sunday. The atmosphere is more relaxed and you don’t have to beat your way through a throng of people. This year and last, we went on a Sunday and didn’t have to wait in a line to get into the center. There were honestly only 2 or 3 times we waited in lines and they moved very quickly. The only drawback, like I stated earlier, is that the cooler events and panels (ex: the costume contest) are scheduled on Friday and Saturday.
Been eyeballing that con shirt? If you’re going on a Sunday and you know they still have a large quantity of the shirt you want in stock, try purchasing it just before the end of the convention. Prices usually drop at that time — especially for the shirts that have the year printed on it.
For the first timers: Bring a camera, re-​usable water bottle, a large & sturdy reusable shopping bag, and a snack. To people who go to conventions regularly, these items are a no-​brainer. However, this year we brought someone who had never been to a convention before and I reminded them that they needed a fully charged phone as they will be taking pics. They didn’t really believe me until they were at the convention hall. The snack and water bottle are to avoid having to wait in line for almost an hour to get some food or a drink. The shopping bag is to hold the stuff you’ll get — and believe me, there is stuff to be had. Sure, you can pick up a large con bag (part of the fun), but some just don’t find them comfortable and/​or practical.
For the regulars: Bring a first time con goer. Find someone open to new experiences and bring them along. Going to multiple cons may leave you a bit jaded. You can re-​live the first time you went to a con by how they react to the experience (hopefully positively).
Lastly, remember that this is a convention. You aren’t the only person who has these interests — that’s why these conventions exist. Quit crying about the lines. Lines are to be expected. If they bother you so much, go on a day where there’s fewer people or stay at home (making the crowd/​lines smaller!). I hate lines and crowds — like Really hate them, but I also understand that being in a line or a crowd of people is part of the experience of going to an event like this. Make 1 or 2 hour friends while you’re in line. Heck, they may be a cool person. You guys have similar interests, why else would you both be in the same line for 2 hours?