The 9 Panel Grid team kick off their year of conventions with the “Long Beach Comic Expo” at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California. The weather outside might be terrible but the excitement and energy in the building will be awesome. This show (along with the Long Beach Comic Con in the fall) is one of our favorite shows as they seem to do a great job growing year to year. This year their guest list is headlined than by Aquaman himself Jason Mamoa (Saturday Only) as well as a legend in the comic book industry George Perez. The entire guest list and panel schedule can be found on their website.

   The Long Beach Comic Expo does an amazing job at showing off southern California’s cosplay community. Hundreds of fans come out dressed as their favorite characters from comics, video games, anime, etc.! They also feature a very diverse artist alley where you can find great artist like Norm Rapmund, Todd Nauck and David Baron. One of their latest additions is their “Space Expo” area where you can explore the science behind space travel as well as learn how to build your own R2-D2.

   Overall this is a fantastic show, stay tuned to Jace and my twitter accounts (link below) throughout the day for updates! Also keep up with LRMOnline.com next week as we cover the show in our podcast as well as have great articles with a wrap up and a cosplay gallery. If you see us around be sure to say hello and talk some comics, we’d be more than happy to chat!