Wizard World Comic Con Richmond 2016 Recap & Cosplay Gallery
This year at Wizard World Comic Con 2016, there were comic books, cosplayers and live magic shows, celebrities both new and old as well as a heaping serving of weird a la mode.
KABOOM! From September 9th-11th, the Greater Richmond Convention Center was alive with a celebration of pop culture, music, art, science fiction, comics and hordes of gloriously diverse cosplayers.
Ray Park showcases his Lightsaber skills.
The sometimes seemingly unending cues of adoring fans spilled into the neighboring lanes of the attending celebs. Popular staple celebrity guest Jason David Frank is, as always, a definite fan favorite with his army of deputy rangers who join in on his energetic and interactive crowd riling antics. This year however, JDF was not without competition in the interactive and crowd-pleasing arena as newcomer to Wizard World Richmond and ‘Star Wars’ alum Ray Park (“Darth Maul”) went out of his way to interact with his fans. At one point the Scottish stunt actor famous for his action roles such as Toad in ‘X-Men,’ Snake Eyes in ‘G.I. Joe’, took time away from the confines of his table to freely roam the convention floor to get personal with his fans, even exchanging Lightsaber tips and tricks as he mock-dueled with a pair of ‘Star Wars’ attired attendees.
Watch our Recap Music Video to see Ray Park duel with ‘Star Wars’ fans, Vegeta tells us what he thinks of FilmFad, loads of amazing cosplay and some endorsements from the attending celebrities.
We also hit the floor to speak with artists, vendors and fans as well as highlighting all the sights and sounds straight from the convention hall for CONversations!
Celebrity guests included the aforementioned Ray Park and Jason David Frank as well as John Schneider (‘Dukes of Hazzard’), Kevin Sorbo (‘Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’), Sam Jones (‘Flash Gordon’), Nichelle Nichols (‘Star Trek’), the vocal wizard Christopher Sabat (the voice of Vegeta in ‘Dragon Ball Z’) and many more.
We spoke with Christopher Sabat who popularly voices Vegeta in ‘Dragon Ball Z’.
The celebrity didn’t stop with those special guests, as the artist alley featured a few prominent artists from major comic books and animated television series. One notable artist being Sam Ellis, lead character designer & artist of “Archer” on FX and other notable projects. Like many of the other artists, Ellis is not only gifted with the pen, but also an all-around interesting guy with a humor filled personality to match.
No convention is complete without a slew of panels ranging from DIY to Q&A to Kicking A$$ w/ JDF and Wizard World Richmond had a taste of each. Something else new and interesting at the convention this year came in the form of Live Magic Acts that were held on the main and secondary stages. While some of the magicians were better than others, the active and humor laden routines did well to liven the already colorful comic book and cosplay littered atmosphere.
The crown jewel of the convention had to be the epic cosplay contest. The panel of judges had their work cutout for them as the fun-loving and quirky hosts ushered on an unending cue of costumed players.
