We Recap The First Ever East L.A. Comic-Con!

It was 11:06am and already 92 degrees out as a horde of people wrapped around the corner of Cesar Chavez Ave. on a Saturday morning. To most passerbys, one would assume the line was for some sort of event a neighboring church was having, but in fact the crowd of both young and old were in line to enter the first ever East LA Comic Con.

An idea in works for well over a year from Peter J. Mellini, the owner of Nostalgic Books and Comics in San Gabriel Valley, this event was meant to showcase the talent and culture of the community of East Los Angeles. With well known cons like SDCC and WonderCon, and smaller cons popping up every day it seems, what makes East LA Comic-Con any different? Boasting a large Latino demographic in East LA, this freshman convention aimed to spotlight the vendors and talent, as well as bring out the attendees that make up a fair portion of this community. Represented were your expected comic book vendors, local artists, a few rare sellers of collectibles and something that is not common at most comic conventions, a modest Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling) presence.

There were three rooms attendees could enter to visit vendors; two small narrow rooms and one larger more spacious square room. For someone in a wheelchair like myself, it was difficult to navigate especially because some areas had steps which made my browsing limited. I often found myself very sardine-like (but to be honest we all feel this way at every con, right?!) or head on with a stroller trying to make my way through the aisles. While most of the staff and attendees were polite, I don’t think much thought and preparation was put into accessibility and crowd control. The event capped after I was let in and people had to wait until others exited before more could be allowed entrance. I’m not sure was the capacity for El Gallo Plaza where the event was held is, but I heard well over 3,000 people showed up for the free event throughout the day.

The artwork and merchandise itself as stated before was not typical of what you would see at most comic conventions. Very heavily Latino influenced, one could find anything from a print of Darth Vader in a Zoot Suit to Frida Kahlo drawn as a Chola caricature. Holding a presence at the convention was Lil’ Libros, a company who sells bilingual children’s books with tales of infamous Latino icons like Zapata, Frida Kahlo and La Llorona. A big hit though were cosplayers Monkey Monsters Cosplay, aka Han Cholo, Princess Loca and Artudito. The family is infamous for their Star Wars cosplay with a Cholo twist. As for general cosplaying, I didn’t see many when I was there, but I did spot a Wreck-It-Ralph, Pikachu, Deadpool and a Ghostbuster. Though definitely a unique experience, I also would have liked to seen more variety. All in all it took me less than 45 mins to go through the whole convention, and I took my time!

I give East LA Comic Con an “A” for effort, the intent was there but it lacked tangibility. Again the addition of more vendors and panels would have strengthened this — I know a lot of vendors and artists were turned away because of space, which is understandable, but the amount present felt a little underwhelming. Panels were announced to have taken place during the day but were cancelled last minute, which would have been a nice and interesting atmosphere. A bigger space and accessibility next year is a necessity and an actual vendor list and booth/table numbers would have been helpful instead of just randomly stumbling across vendors.

For first time convention goers I do think this was a great small community based event to attend, especially for those who know nothing about this world; and making it free is guaranteed to draw in more curious minds which is a smart play on Mr. Mellini’s part. But for experienced con goers like myself I felt the event was a bit lackluster and can only hope they learn from this year and make next year better by moving it to a bigger space and including more diversity. And if we’re lucky, maybe Geekscape’s own El Chucho will make an appearance at next year’s con!