C2E2 - Geek Heaven

April Barkley
WCB Event Writer

John Barrowman at C2E2

Hey geeks of Chicago! C2E2 weekend is over but Windy City Banner has some great coverage to report. So, if you weren’t there, look no further and read all about it!

It was like Christmas morning as the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo dazzled geeks of the Chicagoland area. I attended every day. The show ran April 13 to April 15 at McCormick Place. If you wanted to buy comics, get tattoos, meet your favorite actors and stars, or just geek out with your friends, C2E2 was the place to be!

Friday offered talent and costume competitions, comedy sketches, and programs about comics and writing for television. In between all the events, Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine had a Q&A session or autographing by Nicholas Brendon, Val Kilmer, J Michael Straczynski or the Dragon Lore Authors.

Saturday was a blast with the one and only John Barrowman Q&A session, Nikita video presentation and Q&A session, a demonstration from Frank Cho on drawing, Q&A sessions with Anthony Daniels from Star Wars, Chad Michael Murray, The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun, Val Kilmer, and Josh Gates. There was also a comedy show with Stephen Rannazzisi. Saturday offered autographing from John Barrowman, Anthony Daniels, Chad Michael Murray, Svengoolie, Charlaine Harris, and Chloe Neill.

The final C2E2 day had Q&A sessions with artist Neal Adams, the legendary John Cusack, and author Anne Rice. Sunday offered many options for the kiddies so the whole family could geek out together including fun games of Quidditch. Need some more autographs? Even more celebs showed up at the autographing booths.

C2E2 certainly kept the public busy with their three-day programming. There was even more offered like a fun game of Human vs. Zombies! The show floor featured numerous exhibitors and artists in the artist alley. You could check out your favorite graphic or comic artist or visit some exciting guests at their booth. There was a Doctor Who store, Tower of T-shirts, Chicago Comics, Chicago Costume Company, Killer Toys, The Leather Lair, Marvel Entertainment, Phil’s Toys, Top Swords and many more!

Even though it was next to impossible to walk around because of how crowded it was, nobody seemed to care! There were plenty of booths to look at and C2E2 provided a great weekend of people watching. Lots of people were dressed up as their favorite fictional sci-fi and fantasy characters and some of the costumes were very impressive. From stormtroopers, to The Hunger Games characters, to dressing as an actual Tardis; whipping out the camera was necessary.

Hopefully next year will be just as exciting. There certainly were a lot of fans with permanent smiles on and squealing for excitement, including WCB writers, as they discovered all the entertainment at C2E2 2012.