All Ages of Geek C2E2 2023

C2E2 2023 – The Comic & Entertainment Expo You Can’t Miss!

by: Gen/Esis

There aren’t many opportunities in your day-to-day life where you can gush about your favorite anime or comic-related hobbies without the other person being lost in what you’re trying to say. While these “nerdy” topics have become quite mainstream in the last few years, you don’t always encounter like-minded people out in the wild—but the opposite is true at a convention, and C2E2 is no exception.

C2E2, or the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, just recently had its 13th convention and brought with it the many comic and anime fans itching to show off their cosplays, buy merch, attend panels, and simply interact with other fans. Once again, this year was packed with fans, and with the guest appearances of huge celebrities such as Zachary Levi, Chris Evans, and Tenoch Huerta, the excitement was practically radiating from every corner.

The show floor was jam-packed with vendors, talented artists, and interactive experiences everyone could enjoy. From areas lined with PCs, consoles, and even the Kinect for people to enjoy to things like Larping and a Maid Café.

There was never a dull moment at C2E2. At every turn, there was something new.

In Artist Alley, we had droves of talented artists selling their phenomenal work inspired by all types of media from comic books and anime to movies and even some original work. If there was ever a place you could easily support artists, Artist Alley is the way to go. Plenty of people walked around with their beautifully drawn works in hand, and with their unique art styles, it was easy to see why people were willing to dish out a decent amount of money for some of the works. Trust me, if I had any less restraint than I do, my money would be sunk straight into these stands…

And that takes me to Writers Block, a personal favorite of mine. As a fellow writer, I can’t help but root for the people standing there marketing their books for the world to see. While there was a heavy presence of Fantasy books, there were plenty of other genres mixed in for everyone’s tastes. If my pockets weren’t quite shallow nowadays, I’d definitely pick up more books than I did. But it is nice to see that there is a place where self-publish and smaller authors can show off their work, especially since many authors get to have talks with potential fans face to face. It’s a totally different experience having the person who wrote the book there in front of you. Honestly, I kind of want to try selling some stuff there someday…

Cosplay Central is pretty self-explanatory but quite important to a convention. The first thing that stands out as you enter any convention—actually, even before that, just walking near a convention is more than enough—is the many Iron Mans maybe more than a few Narutos and, the one that especially makes me happy, a Kirito or two (Which I did see). Cosplaying can be an expensive but impressive hobby that leaves many with their jaws on the floor. But when it comes to cosplaying in Chicago, you feel a certain level of respect for people who either are wearing too much or too little. Outside of the convention is really cold and inside is really hot, so either way cosplaying would be difficult. And yet these passionate people push on—I know I wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Anyway, inside the convention, there is an area, Cosplay Central, where many fellow cosplayers get to take pictures with set-up props. From simple things like some scenery to a massive alien, which is pretty eye-catching. There was even a place there that helped to fix cosplays if need be. The place has everything, really. Almost makes me want to cosplay…almost…

While I’d gone to conventions before, I’d never had the chance to attend a panel, most of my time is spent buying things and eating food from wherever I could get it, but this time around, I got the chance, and it was some of the best moments I’ve had at a convention in a while.

While I won’t go into full detail here, I’ll have detailed articles about the panels I attended at a later time, the entire thing was fun from start to finish. Even before the panels started, the pre-panel games that were played on stage were fun to watch, and as an introvert, terrifying to think of myself ever going up there. Trust me, you won’t catch me dead dancing on stage like some of those brave souls did.

And then there was Jackson, the shining star of the Chris Evan’s and Tenoch Huerta panels—but I’ll get to them in the respective articles.

All in all, C2E2 was a blast, and with so much to do, there wasn’t enough time—and I didn’t have the energy—to experience it all, but there’s something there for everyone and then some. There aren’t many opportunities to hang out with fellow fans, and having these types of conventions is a perfect way of finding other like-minded people.

If you have any hesitation about going, believe me, you will have a blast—go with some friends and experience the greatness that C2E2 has to offer.

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