Fandemonium from p 15 Matt Solberg, founder and director of Phoenix Fan Fusion (in 2019): I grew up reading comic books and I used to attend conventions, both as an attendee, and when I was 16 or 17, as a vendor. [Now-defunct entertainment company] Great Eastern Conventions put on one-day flea market comic book conventions in the Midwest. I had all these extra comics [and] I was dabbling in speculation, too. I’d buy five copies of a new book that’d come out, and hope it’d go up in price. We’d load up my mom’s station wagon with my stuff. I had one 6-foot table and a handful of long boxes I’d put out. If I walked away with a few hundred dollars, as a 15-year-old, that [seemed like] more money than in the entire world. Jay Fotos, comic book artist and creator: Matt’s always had a big love of comics, so it’s cool he found a way to turn it into his life’s work. Solberg (in 2019): I moved here in the fall of 2001. My background is in political campaigns, and I’d just finished working on a race in Minnesota. I was just looking for some- thing different to do that wasn’t politically related. And I decided maybe getting back into comic books was the thing. I wasn’t sure what [comics were] popular. I didn’t know what people were buying or selling. I didn’t know if there were even conventions. Howard Astell, Arizona fandom historian: [Through the ’70s and ’80s] fandom in Arizona was basically the gaming side and the science fiction side. Then there was the Star Trek side, which was separate, but overlapping, with the science fiction side. Then gradually as you hit the ’90s, it all started to diversify and you got these specialized events coming in, like conven- tions [focusing on a specific niche fandom]. Solberg (in 2019): When I started, there was LepreCon, CopperCon, [and] HexaCon as far as the three main conven- tions [in Arizona]. A couple focusing on some sort of science fiction and one focusing on gaming. Fotos: I think Matt saw a void at the time for a comics convention in Phoenix. Solberg (in 2019): That was my light 16 Square Egg Entertainment bulb moment. I thought, “That’d be the thing to do: Organize a convention. Get some ticket sales, some exhibitor sales, and make it this big party.” I called hotels, civic centers, and convention centers. I found the Best Western Grace Inn in Ahwatukee on the I-10 and Elliot [Road], which is now a Four Points by Sheraton. They’d rent me a ballroom space on a Sunday for $1,000. Once I solidified that, I was like, “Well, I’ll need the support of the comic book stores.” Fotos: You got to start somewhere. So you get local creators and few vendors and MAY 26TH– JUNE 1ST, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
