Fandemonium from p 19 Arizona, including a few spin-offs they’d started. Solberg (in 2019): A few years after we started, you then had AniZona start up. [In 2008], we took a lot of our anime content and started up Saboten Con, but then split that off a couple of years later and sold it to [current Saboten Con owner] Greg Fennell. Con-Nichiwa down in Tucson, same situ- ation. And then there was kind of a flurry of other local conventions that have started up, in the last five or 10 years. Malve: So there’s other big players doing shows around the country who come here, because they saw the numbers Phoenix Comicon or Fan Fusion were doing. The Jay Brothers, who run a show in Hawaii and Vegas, tried for a while to put on a show here [Amazing Arizona Comic Con] to compete, and it only lasted a few years. Meanwhile, Phoenix Comicon continued its expansion. Matt Hinds: Comicon started making these huge leaps forward. In 2011, it was moved to the [Phoenix Convention Center’s] North and West buildings and the vendors took up half the space in the downstairs exhibitor hall. By 2014, there were vendors, authors, artists, and an entire downtown space. Daniel Davis: It was growing exponen- tially. Every year the con was bigger, and we were able to grow our audience. Our booths had been getting bigger or more elaborate. By the early Phoenix days, we jumped to a 10-foot-by-20-foot [booth]. Russ Kazmierczak, local comic book creator: My first year exhibiting was 2011. I remember feeling delightfully over- whelmed by everything. I sat next to a lovely woman named Susan selling hand- made jewelry, purses, and lanyards and we hit it off and have been booth neighbors every year since. So it was about creating longstanding relationships that I appre- ciate the most, along with the enthusiasm of the fans and the artists in artist alley, which is where I spend most of my time. For a lot of self-publishers and cartoonists, this is the event. This is what they’re looking forward to and working toward all year long. One of the major hallmarks of the event has been its cosplay, and the number of attendees coming in costume has steadily increased over the years. Malve: Fans get to cosplay and become heroes or whoever they want for the weekend, escape, and just have fun. Jen Hinds: Saturdays are when the biggest costumes come out because that’s when crowds are the biggest and you get the most appreciation for your hard work and have more eyes on you. Plus the cosplay masquerade is that night. Robert Warners, Legion of Sand blogger: I think the cosplay community in Arizona Kevin Dooley/CC BY 2.0/Flickr has gotten a lot bigger because of [Fan Fusion]. People show up, see amazing and elaborate costumes, and leave wanting to make their own, so it’s a perpetual cycle. Local costuming groups also started stepping up their game after the con moved to downtown Phoenix, building huge displays where attendees can pose for photos or interact with characters. Kellie Ambrosia, commanding officer of the Dune Sea Garrison: All the local Star Wars [cosplay groups] have built sets for years. Spawn makes an appearance in the exhibitor hall at Phoenix Comicon in 2011. We started off small in Mesa with a table and a backdrop. As our space has grown, we’ve built more sets. We’ve added things like the Mos Eisley Cantina, a Mandalorian jail, and Docking Bay 94. Jeff Jones, organizer of AZ TARDIS: Our founders built a TARDIS [mockup] for Burning Man and decided to set it up in the middle of Phoenix Comicon. So many people reacted to it, we started our own group in 2013. We built a Time >> p 22 20 MAY 26TH– JUNE 1ST, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
