A little less than three weeks from now, the new Monroeville Convention Center will host an event somewhat out of season – the Pittsburgh
Comicon. Traditionally held in April, this year’s three-day bash was postponed due to the closing of the old Expo Mart, which was brought down to make way for the new building. Pittsburgh comic fans instantly rejoiced at the news, rather having a delayed gathering than none of at all. As an added bonus, Stan Lee, forebearer to the greatest superheroes of all time, will be making a special appearence in the ‘burgh! We average between 8,000 and 10,000 depending of the year. We look forward to a bump in attendance this year due to Stan Lee and a great group of Pittsburgh first-timers (Ramona Fradon, Sean McKeever, Mike McKone, Gary Friedrich, etc) plus a star-studded group of returning friends, (Adam Hughes, Greg Horn, Terry Moore, Khoi Pham, Jamal Igle and more) In your opinion, what most brings back comic fans each year, or rather, what is it you hope appeals to or satisfies each attendee We hope every year that we provide a diverse mix of guests, retailers and events that everyone can find something of interest to them. Plus so many of the fans have become like family over the years that I would hope that they look at it as “Their Show”. Are there any kind of new events or panels attendees can look forward to this year Besides some of our most popular events, (Charity Auction, Costume Contest, CBLDF Quick Sketch, Casino Night, Trivia Contest, etc.), we have some exciting new panels this year. A Sketch Card Panel: Sketch cards are such a growing arm of the industry and we have a panel of talented artists, (Don Pedicini, Allison Sohn, Tod Allen Smith and Sean Pence) who specialize in sketch card art discussing the craft. We have Deadworld writer Gary Reed talking about the comic series as well as the upcoming film based on the indy classic, with special guest movie producer, Jeffrey Erb. and I’ll just be announcing this on Monday, Brian Pulido is coming to the show and previewing and discussing his upcoming Horror Movie release, The Graves starring Tony Todd (24, Candyman), Bill Mosely (The Devil’s Rejects) and Lamb of God frontman, D Randall Blythe. Lastly what I’m very excited about is Sunday’s Kidz Day Promotion. Our full Sunday Kidz Day summary includes: • Free admission to Kids 12 and under • Kids Events including Duck Drawing with Patrick Block, A Kids Martial Arts panel with the Last Dragon’s Taimak and Star Wars Kidz Crafts courtesy of S.W.A.P. • Plus giveaways from Gary Reed, Sean Forney, Heather Kreiter, Mark Mariano, Tony Meillo, Andrew Harmon, Josh Warner and Kelli Stevens Kane. We’re hoping Kidz Day will both increase Sunday attendance and hopefully bring some new comic fans into the fold!! Anything you want to ask or mention to Pittsburgh Comic Fans planning on attending the convention this year The only thing to mention is with us moving to the new venue this year, there is likely to be some growing pains. Things we learned how to handle in the old location are all new again. So if it takes longer to get admitted to the show, or if we can’t do things exactly like we used to please be patient it will be a learning experience for all of us. Your first day in the new convention hall will also be our first day in the new convention hall as well. For a full list of guests and events visit The Pittsburgh Comicon
September 11th, 12th, 13th 2009