As I’ve noted recently, there are a LOT of comics-themed events these days. Many of them are called comic cons but actually feature very few comics guests. And yet they want to have “comic” in the title to let people know they will have a good time.
Fan Expo Anaheim Special Edition was held this weekend, and it sounds like it was an interesting microcosm of a lot of the elements affecting events.
But before I get to that, I want to comment on my trip to Fan Expo Philadelphia a few weeks ago. In all honesty, I have never really been to a Fan Expo event, aside from spending a few hours at Boston nearly 10 years ago! That was at the height of Stan Lee’s Twilight years, and I didn’t find it a particularly awesome experience, hence not going again for years.
I was pleasantly surprised by Fan Expo Philadelphia, though. There was a more to it than I was expecting. Not that it was an awesome comics-centered event, but there was a lot for fans to do and see and buy. I think by now we know that most vendors at “comic-cons” sell tchotchkes and prints. Jewelry, pins, purses…stuff. Some of it very cute. I actually picked up a cute pair of earrings I plan to wear for Halloween, and there were a lot of dedicated makers with attractive, reasonably priced merch.
There were lots of signings and photo ops with celebrities and voice actors, but that’s what people like doing, so I’m at peace with that. The big stage panels were mostly celebrities goofing around and making jokes as they answered fan questions, but for people who enjoy those, I’m not going to rain on their parade.
Artist Alley was decent and laid out in a very accessible part of the show floor, and everyone seemed to be doing okay – and everyone was charging for autographs but that seems to be part of the eCONomy these days, so go with God. There were a few comics panels but I didn’t attend any mostly because of time.
My favorite part of the show was a “fan area” that included awesome Star Wars photo ops set up by the 501st Legion, the Mandalorian Guild, and so on. These were free and very detailed and I had fun taking photos with a friend in all of them. My friend, Beat Star Trek reporter Zoe R., had a great time, and enjoyed the panels and photo ops and signings, and even cosplayed.
And you know there were blind boxes, and Funkos and Labubus…all the stuff really. I heard some complaints about the VIP experience – some disorganization and a lack of assigned seating at panels – but they weren’t deal breakers.
I will always prefer a comics-centric show like Heroes or Baltimore, but this was a perfectly nice event that filled the 2026 definition of a comic con in people’s minds. Would I go again? Philly is super close and a fun town to visit so I wouldn’t rule it out. I would love to check out Fan Expo Toronto some day as it is reportedly one of the biggest shows in North America, but it’s not a burning desire, but never say never.
But back to Fan Expo Anaheim Special Edition, a new event on the calendar.
First off, the show was only announced in March and so only had a few months to plan and promote. Informa, Fan Expo’s parent company, already had half the Anaheim Convention Center booked for Vidcon, an influencer show, so taking the whole thing for a big mash-up made some sense. But the timing a few weeks before SDCC, and only a few months after WonderCon in the same spot was always going to be dicey.
To counter this, Fan Expo brought out a lot of its big guns, including the Hobbit Tour – all four hobbits on stage bantering, sometimes with added Gimli! – and a rare appearance by Mark Hamill. But even this was not enough, it seems.
You can’t really go by Reddit or Threads (‘Tantrums’ as I like to call it) as they love to complain. Reports on both were en fuego, but not in a good way. You can read some of the complaints below, but basically this was a great con to go to if you wanted celebrity autographs because there were no lines! But if you were a vendor, it kind of sucked – many tablers didn’t even show up on Sunday.
I spoke with a pal who is a regular artist alley road warrior, and their report was that it was a mixed bag. While folks were treated well, as is the norm at Fan Expos, sales were very low. One of the biggest complaints was that the main entrance to the facility – and its rows of tantalizing food trucks – was booked for Vidcon, so a long detour AND no kim chi bowls for Fan Expo fans. “Everyone hated that,” I’m told, and I can see why.
I don’t want to belabor the negatives, but the complaints were all similar.
A longer report from Threads:
Let’s talk about Fan Expo Anaheim.
Strictly from a fan perspective, it was a decent show. Because they were not a lot of attendees the lines were very manageable and I was able to get most of the things that I wanted to do in. The negative is that celebrities and vendors were packing up and leaving 1-2 hours before the show ended each day.
Looking through a vendor’s perspective, I feel like this is a terrible show. There were not a lot of attendees which relates to not a lot of sales.
For the vendors that traveled hundreds even thousands of miles and brought everything to set up a booth just to have only a handful of people stop by is crazy.
For celebrities, they were on their feet pretty much the entire day. Well, some of them did have lines, many did not. Many stood there the majority of the day and only had a handful of people walk up to them.
For those saying, this is a reflection on the economy, it is not.
For those saying, this is a reflection on the Anaheim convention center, it is not.
For those saying that this is a reflection on conventions in general, it is not.
This is because the show was announced and put together very quickly and last minute. The same company running the show was running Vidcon, which was happening at the exact same time sharing the same space.
Cosplay Mom had an interesting post with the layout for both FXASE and Vidcon and you can kind of see the problems, The Anaheim Convention Center is a HUGE facility and it is hard to fill up without a super event.
Anyway, you get the point. As a first time show in a new locale, just before SDCC, even Luke Skywalker was not quite enough to bring in a crowd. There was also the World Cup to contend with and really…..so many distractions. Yet people had fun, too!
Another Threads post actually points out that there are an insane number of fan shows in SoCal, in fact one a week, although each with a different focus.
The crowded LA+ County convention schedule:
6/20-6/21 DesignerCon Pasadena
6/19-6/21 Nostalgia Con Anaheim
6/25-6/27 Vid Con Anaheim
6/26-6/28 Fan Expo Anaheim
7/2-7/5 Anime Expo Los Angeles
7/10-7/12 Creep I.E..Aftermath Ontario
7/23-7/26 San Diego Comic Con
8/1-8/2 Collect-A-Con Los Angeles
8/7-8/9 Midsummer Scream Long Beach
8/14-8/16 D23 Expo Anaheim
8/14-8/16 KCon LA Los Angeles
8/22-8/23 Anime Impulse Anaheim
8/27-8/31 LAcon V/ Worldcon 2026 Anaheim
8/28-8/30 Power Morphicon Pasadena
9/5-9/6 Long Beach Comic Con
9/12-913 BlizzCon 2026 Anaheim
9/18-9/20 Anthro SoCal Ontario
10/9-10/11 Son of Monsterpalooza Burbank
10/23-10/24 The Hollywood Show Burbank
10/30-11/1 Los Angeles Comic Con
11/7-11/8 Anime Pasadena
I’ve always understood that SoCal is a hard place to throw a con because the facilities are all problematic in their own way – LA Convention Center is across the street from an abandoned building, Anaheim has Disneyland, etc – but I guess not!
One other factor here: Fan Expo had a show in San Francisco for years, but could never get it moved out of a very bad Thanksgiving date at the Moscone Center. That facility just does not want a fan event there, so they got their wish. I’m told that Anaheim Special Edition was a possible replacement event for that.
Will there be another Fan Expo Anaheim? Maybe? We’ll see. It definitely had more posts on Threads than VidCon, but I assume all the Vidcon discourse was on TikTok. With more time to promote the event it might be a banger, but it is a busy time and Anaheim already has WonderCon. Do we really need another show on the schedule? That is a larger and more existential question.
Before I take my leave, I want to point out another event that was recently held in SoCal, Nostalgia Con, which was held JUST THE PREVIOUS WEEK IN ANAHEIM. This is another family of shows that is nothing but your favorite voice actors and former co-stars signing autographs. I don’t watch a lot of TV, so I didn’t recognize many of the names of those attending, aside from Kurt Angle. Allowing for Reddit rage, a post entitled Nostalgia Con Sucks did catch my attention for one of the main gripes:
But there’s nothing to do besides that. Like that’s it?? I’ve been to the Anaheim ones and it’s happening again. But genuinely it’s 20% vendors and 80% talent and the attendance is always so small for what it should be.
And that’s because this con has no activities. We’re in a state with the economy where people now go to conventions so just hangout and take photos. There’s no arcade, maid cafe of any kind, TCG tournaments, competitions, cosplay events, photo events etc. idk how they’re getting by because cons aren’t just go see celebrities and leave it’s see one or two and hang out.
Nothing to do besides yap with nerdlebrities! And some people find that dissatisfying. As I’ve noted before, the autograph show has its place – and Nostalgia Con had defenders in the comments – but many con attendees want the hoopla and the Mandalorians and the comics creators signing and the tchotchkes. Those are what people think of when they see the word “Con” in the world of 2026, but making it all happen takes a lot of work.
