Planet Comicon Kansas City was held once again this year at Bartle Hall/Kansas City Convention Center in downtown KC from Apr 22-24.
Planet Comicon is Kansas City and Missouri’s biggest pop culture convention with tens of thousands of people in attendance. The convention includes numerous vendors, comic book creators, and celebrity guests from a wide range of pop culture.
After a year of cancellation and a year of scheduling conflicts, I was able to return to Planet Comicon for the first time since 2019.
THE FLOOR EXPERIENCE
Planet Comicon was my first comic convention, so it holds a special place in my heart. I attended the convention on Saturday and Sunday, with Saturday being the busiest. Once ascended the elevators into the main convention area, I was surprised by two things; the number of people in attendance and the number of people in cosplay.
You could tell people were ready to come back and celebrate their fandoms with their fellow nerds once again. I was not able to attend last year’s event so I can’t compare the numbers, but this year was probably the heaviest attendance I’ve seen.
COSPLAYERS GALORE
For the cosplays, I was surprised there wasn’t that one character that everyone was going as. Besides the typical abundance of Spider-Mans and Harley Quinns, there was a variety of cosplays across the different fandoms, with some I couldn’t even place. It was as real breath of fresh air to see people wanting to cosplay their favorite character, rather than cash in on the current trend.
I was blown away by some of the cosplays this year. Not just because they looked good, but you could tell a lot of effort went into all of them. I also loved seeing some of the niche characters that get overlooked. I personally geeked out at the Militia Pilot cosplay from Titanfall 2 (one of my favorite games ever) and Jin Sakia from Ghost of Tsushima.
BRING YOUR $$
A variety of vendors covered the convention floor selling anything from art pieces to fun little collectibles. These vendors help push the theme that there is something for everyone at this convention.
Typically my biggest highlights from conventions is meeting the different celebrities, and this year was no different. I was able to meet Jason David Frank (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) and Brandon Routh (Superman Returns, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow).
AUTOGRAPHS AND PHOTOS
I was a massive fan of Power Rangers growing up, so meeting Frank was a nostalgic dream come true. The hour and half wait in line to meet him was well worth it. He took time to talk to everyone who showed up and made sure everyone in line got to meet him. I also attended his panel where he talked about his life, career, and what he had been up to over the past couple of years. His major project during the pandemic is a film coming out next year called The Legend of the White Dragon. A trailer was actually shown during the panel as well.
Routh was also fantastic to meet. While his biggest claim to fame is being Superman, I absolutely loved him as Daniel Shaw in Chuck. He also took his time with every fan who came to see him. I noticed one of the pictures he had available to sign was from his scene in Zack and Miri Make a Porno. I asked him how many of those he signed and he said surprisingly three.
IT’S A TOTAL BLAST
I had such a blast at Planet Comicon this year that the blistered feet and hurt wallet made it all worthwhile. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year.
Make sure to check out our preview story of the event here and check out more of the event from Planet’s Facebook page.
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