C2E2 2024: Chicago Comic + Entertainment Expo

The C2E2 (Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo) is an annual convention held in Chicago, Illinois. It's a massive gathering that celebrates all things related to comic books, graphic novels, movies, television shows, video games, and pop culture in general.

At C2E2, attendees can expect to find a wide range of activities and attractions, including:

Comic Creators, Celebrity Guests, Panels and Q&A Sessions, Cosplay, Gaming (card, board, roleplay, video) and the ever-sprawling Exhibitor Hall.

Overall, C2E2 is a vibrant and exciting event that brings together fans of all ages to celebrate their love of comics and pop culture. 2024 was the first time I had attended the Expo in many years, mainly due to COVID and celebrity guests. Although many people go for the cosplay, I balance my interests between seeing what fans come up with for costumes and who the celebs are. I am not a big panels guy, but those are an after-thought to me after I purchase passes.

I did go into this blindly for 2024 as i purchased passes in 2023 as soon as they went on sale, not knowing who was going to attend. My bestie had made a mention how we had not attended in such a long time, so I thought it would be nice as a Christmas gift to get us passes.

Luckily for us, the celebrities panned out to make it worth our while:

• Christopher Lloyd, "Doc Brown" from Back to the Future
• Veronica Cartwright, "Lambert," Alien
• Tom Skerritt, "Dallas," Alien
• Rich Koz, "Son of Svengoolie" – a panel celebrating 45 years

Here is a copy of my Schedule. Items marked in pink were what was deemed mandatory; sadly due to craiziness, I was not able to see Christopher Lloyd, Hannibal cast nor the Final Championship for Cosplay as we never we'd never get into the Mainstage room.

Overall, it was a fun time, but a little tiring as we jad to get our day started early every day from Friday to Sunday to get to McCormick place as quickly as possible so as to not miss any panels or celeb Q+A we wanted to see. Some of the pros cons for the "con:

• PRO • Security for Friday and Saturday – there were such long lnes, a sea of people weanting to get into the expo. C2E2 utilized a ginormus hall across the exhibition hall for crowd control to gain access. It certainly was fun to see the cosplayers mixed in with the common folks.
• CON • Security in itself: they were mostly waving people in. They were not checking bags, but you did have to walk through a metal detector. About the only people they were checking were the cosplayers for their weapons mostly.
• CON • Main Programming Stage -- If you did not get in line 1.5 hours prior for Christopher Lloyd or another big-name, you were NOT going to see them. Period.
• CON • Food -- OMG -- i get it...it's a convention/expo -- but the prices onsite were astronomical. It was much better to bring food into the Expo (which they allowed). We did manage to "suffer" through and had an early lunch on Friday so we could get seating in the upper food court areas. But damn. Needless to say, we ended up eating dinner on the way how for the price we paid for a slice of Connie's Pizza and a soda.
  
• PRO • Cosplayers are the best fans to allow there pics to be taken. This year, my thing was Barbie ... I wnated to see how many fans were dressed up -- and I got all shapes and flavors of Barbies and Kens (see my pics). I just have to work up my courage to ask them for a pic more. But there were some that seemed "surprised" that I even wanted their pics for the collection...which as great -- becauase if I stop and ask you for a pic, that means you're doing something right (for me LOL!)
• PRO • Idahoan showed up the Expo with a complete booth; obviously they did not get the memo about what this Expo is about; it was evident when their male employees/freelancers werent wearing any tight spandex supersuits (all I'm saying is if you're going to show up, at least TRY to blend in). But anyways, they had a huge booth and were giving away free samples (to taste + take home) of their new product: Potato Shreds. Free always tastes better!
  
  
• This is neither a PRO nor a CON; its a quick video of the Exhibit Hall floor taken from above at two of the eateries to show just how many people come to this on a Saturday. You can open this up in Youtube to see it better.

C2E2 2024 PANELS I ATTENDED
I was lucky enough to attend the following panels while I was at C2E2:

• 4/26/24 (11:00am, Room S401D) A World with Superheroes, Utopia or Dystopia?
When we hearken back to the golden and silver ages of comics, we see stories which portray the world as a place where superheroes are revered as the saviors of humankind. As the stories grew more complex, some writers began exploring what it might be like if the real world saw the dawn of super powered beings who are morally weak and corrupt. Classic stories featuring characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, and Captain America gave us heroes with unflinching dedication to truth and justice while books like Watchmen, The Boys, Kick Ass, and others overlayed a gritty realism onto the shine of those classic hero stories. Which concept holds more water? Would a world with super beings be a paradise or an inferno? This panel of scholars and writers will unpack some of these ideas and offer complex analysis of the idea of whether we would be better off with or without super powered people.

• 4/26/24 (3:30pm Room S404): 45 Years of Alien with Tom Skerritt and Veronica Cartwright
Changing the face of science fiction and horror upon it's release, Alien has stood the test of time as one of the most important films in it's respective genres. Now, 45 years later, the cast look back on the franchise's history and discuss their time on the set of Alien


• 4/27/24 (4:45pm, S404) Celebration of 45 Years of Svengoolie!
In 1979, Rich Koz "Cleared the Airlanes" for the first time as Son of Svengoolie!" Now, 45 years later, Rich Koz/Svengoolie and host John Siuntres take a trip down the historical horror host highway of the last 45 years!

My "Hi Barbie" Badge I Earned
I am particularly proud to have earned the coveted "Hi Barbie" ribbon at C2E2. For those that do not know about ribbons, these are small horiztonal ribbons that are attached to your badge that you may earn by going to a fan panel, or bumping into people and getting a pic of them -- the latter is how I earned this ribbon.

We were waiting in line for Svengoolie, when someone walked by, clearly dressed as cosplay, I could not think for a second..then it hit me! WEIRD BARBIE!. I wanted to snap her pic to add to my collection. When I trailed her, she was with a crowd...when I looked at them, it was a group ALL dressed as different Barbies and 1 Ken! They were nice enough to pose...then Weird Barbie said, "Hold on...I have something for you..." and we were handed the Hi Barbie ribbon. We were most grateful and immediately added to our badges! LOL. Below is a pic of the ribbon + group that were handing these ribbons out.

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE IMAGES!