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Alamo City Comic Con Halloween Edition 2017


Story by: David A. De La Rosa
Photographs by: Joseph Martinez

This past weekend I went to the Alamo City Comic Con Halloween Edition event (October 27th – 29th) at the Alamo Dome. The obvious proximity to the holiday had people attend this event dressed up as some of their favorite monsters and ghouls (i.e. Freddy Kruger, Pennywise, or garden variety zombie). Convention goers were exposed to the usual fare at such an event collectibles vendors, artists, and special celebrity guests (available for signing autographs and photo ops).
I like attending these shows for a couple of reasons; one is to see the creativity people have when it comes to making their own costumes. The second reason I like going to these events is I have an opportunity to meet some of my favorite television or film stars that are scheduled to appear at the event. This year there were actors in Q&A panels from cult classic films/television such as Nightmare Before Christmas, Nightmare On Elm Street, The Warriors, The Exorcist, The Monster Squad, and American Horror Story.
This event was held at the Alamo Dome, in the area where the field would be, there was a great amount of room for vendors which took up 2/3rds of the available space while the rest was setup as the celebrity section Alamo City Comic Con Halloween Edition 2017
. The rear corner adjoining the celebrity section was a stage and seating area for the panels. The panel area utilized one of the Alamo Dome’s jumbo-trons, so from most vantage points where ever a convention attendee was on the floor they could see and listen to each panel.
Overall I would say that this event was great family entertainment, at a reasonable price a three day pass could be bought for $50 at your local HEB supermarket. I did not see anyone walking away from this convention displeased, this event was very child friendly. I did see a few issues regarding this comic con.
First of all I think a lot of people thought that this event would have been bigger being held at the Alamo Dome as a venue. The issue here was the way that this event was marketed, because it was competing against another similar event (Rockula Horror Expo). Convention goers believed that this con was going to be on the same scale as the regular Alamo City Comic Con. To me I would have marketed this show as being a snack before dinner (i.e. the annual Alamo City Comic Con).
Another issue that may seem trivial was the restrictions regarding the kind of bags (backpacks, mesh bags, and clear bags were not allowed) convention attendees could bring. I know that these restrictions were put in place by the officials overseeing the Alamo Dome facility, and not the comic cons organizers. I think that this might have hurt the convention vendor’s bottom line; when I go to an event like this I need to take a backpack to hold all my heavy purchases. I know a lot of people posted on the comic cons Facebook page their displeasure about these baggage restrictions.
I also thought that there needed to be more comic con personnel (volunteers) present to help direct people in and outside the facility. The people that were there that did most of those duties were Alamo Dome employees. I think that the line to enter the dome could have ran more smoothly if there was some comic con personnel directing people to get into the proper line.
My final thoughts on this event are in regards to the Alamo Dome as being a great venue for any kind of convention. There were plenty of restrooms with hardly any lines, throughout the facility, as well as two major concession areas. As I’ve said before overall this was a great family event and it was held at a family friendly venue.