Holden: Emerald City Comic Con’s guest lineup ‘biggest one I’ve seen’

Don’t be alarmed if you see space bounty hunters, elves, superheroes, and more walking the streets of downtown Seattle this weekend. Emerald City Comic Con (ECCC) has returned.

I have been attending the show since its return from the COVID-19 pandemic and this year’s guest lineup has to be the biggest one I’ve seen.

“We are incredibly excited about our guest lineup this year,” ECCC Event Manager Chris D’Lando said. “As you mentioned, it is completely stacked and we really do think we have a little bit of something for everybody.”

List of celebrity guests will be huge

He said this year’s guest list was so big, they needed all the space they could use.

“So we’re obviously really, really excited about Chris Evans coming to the show,” D’Lando said. “He’ll be here on Friday and Saturday. But we’ve got Jody Whittaker from ‘Doctor Who,’ Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci, the cast of ‘Critical Role,’ ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender,’ ‘Twilight’ (and) guests from ‘Supernatural.'”

While the pop culture of today will be on full display this weekend, the lasting legacy of franchises like “The Lord of the Rings,” “Back to the Future” and “SpongeBob SquarePants” will also be celebrated.

“We like to say that pop culture is culture now,” D’Lando said. “That those fandoms are the things that are driving just general culture nowadays. So being able to touch every facet of fandom is something that’s really important to us and when we build our lineups for the show, we really do try to make sure that everyone is represented.”

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And there’s no better way to celebrate your fandom than with friends and family.

“The amount of families that we see attending is great,” D’Lando said. “We do a lot of programming for families, specifically and especially for those with younger kids, so that they have something to do, but it’s something that a parent can share with a child. And I think that’s a really, really exciting thing to watch.”

Of course, fun is the primary focus of the show. But it’s also a chance for artists and creators to learn about the industry and show off their portfolios to some influential people.

D’Lando said ECCC has about 500 tables in its “Artist Alley” this year. Visitors can experience local creators from the Pacific Northwest to “some of the biggest names in comics” who write for Marvel and DC.

“They’re all going to be here this weekend, all at their tables, signing comics, selling original art, meeting fans, and and just talking about comic books,” D’Lando said. “We’re excited to be able to offer portfolio reviews this year, so we have some editors coming out from DC Comics who are actually gonna be doing some appointment portfolio reviews with local creators and hopefully that’s what they’ll need to take that next big step in their careers.”

There’s autograph and photo-ops, panels and plenty of games to play. I, myself, can’t wait to learn more about one of my favorite shows of all time, “Adventure Time.”

Something for everyone at Emerald City Comic Con

“I’m particularly excited about our professional programming,” D’Lando added.

ECCC is offering a suite of programming for educators and librarians on Thursday they can get professional development credit for.

The convention will also have “Dungeons and Dragons” games.

“I’m really excited about our new show feature we’re calling ‘The Tavern,’ which is themed after a D&D tavern,” D’Lando said.

ECCC will also offer drinks for those 21 and over, along with activities all weekend long.

“The thing I’m probably most excited about is our ‘After Dark‘ programming,” D’Lando said. “So we’ve got a really great run of late night programming.”

ECCC will have two separate late night parties — one on Friday and one on Saturday. D’Lando said one will be ECCC’s “A Night Under the Stars” prom on Saturday. Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants will be performing in his 12-piece party band “Tom Kenny and the Hi-Seas.”

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If this is your first convention, planning ahead and knowing what you want to see is key to having a successful day at the convention. D’Lando has a few big tips for first-time attendees.

“My No. 1 recommendations are comfortable shoes, a bottle of water and an external phone charger,” he said. “And that’s the best thing that you can do to to be prepared for the show.”

ECCC runs from Thursday through Sunday and I know you’re wondering if tickets are still available.

Tickets are still available for Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. You can buy tickets on ECCC’s website.

“We want you to come and have a nice full day of excitement here at Emerald City Comic Con,” D’Lando said.

Paul Holden produces the Seattle weekend events calendar for KIRO Newsradio.