To say that Emerald City Comic Con has become imbued with the might, marvel and majesty of an international showcase would be a slight —a muggle morsel of an understatement, a bit of mortal minutiae.
Where else can you find Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee of the LOTR trilogy) or Nathan Fillion (Green Lantern, Firefly), next to the Weasley Twins, James and Oliver Phelps, of Harry Potter renown, or R2-D2 and Chewbacca alongside Seahawks’ superstars Richard Sherman and Bobby Wagner?
A year ago, the sold-out Seattle event was acquired by ReedPop, the management group that has launched the Beijing Comic Convention, Vienna Comic Con, and TwitchCon 2015 among others, hosting over a million attendees worldwide.
The publishing prestige of the graphic medium soared higher when MacArthur Genius and National Book Award winner Ta-Nehisi Coates was inked by Marvel to author the next chapter in the legendary Black Panther series, (the first edition hit stores last Wednesday).
This year, the ECCC became the first leg of the 2016 Global Championships of Cosplay, staging the largest and most prestigious Cosplay competition on the West Coast and triggering a yearlong series of cosplay competitions that will span four continents.
Several announcements emanated from the show that foreshadow new adventures to come.
In a genre-bending crossover, Tarzan, King of the Jungle will be entering an alternate Planet of the Ape’s universe where he is raised as a brother of Apes’ star Caesar. The simian brothers are separated by slave traders and eventually reunited when civil war breaks out.
Cybernetic hero Steve Austin, will rechristen the Six Million Dollar Man franchise this summer as he fights to defend his country during the midst of the Iran hostage crisis in 1979.
Disney fans will travel back in time and off the grid when Mickey’s Craziest Adventures, an infamous lost comic from the 1960’s that Disney deemed too bizarre and offensive to publish, will be released this September.
An annual tradition at the show is the Monster & Dames Art Book, a full-color, 9” x 12” hardcover art book featuring contributions from the guests and artists of the 2016 Emerald City Comicon. At press time, the volume appeared to be sold out. Since its inception in 2009, the books and art auctions have raised over $95,000 for Seattle Children’s Hospital. [24×7]
