COVID-19 can’t keep a good con down. With the success of such superhero films as “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “The Batman,” it has been a great time to be a comic book fan. Comic book and pop culture conventions are once again popping up on the local scene. The Verde Valley Comic Expo is one such local event that has surely been missed. It’s been three years since young and old alike could dress up as Thor, Grogu aka Baby Yoda, Pikachu and their favorite Dragonball Z characters. That all ends this Saturday.
The fifth Verde Valley Comic Book Expo returns to the Cottonwood Recreation Center on Saturday, March 26, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event — a fundraiser by the Cottonwood Public Library’s Bookmarks group — brings together the talents of local Verde Valley and Arizona comic book artists, writers and authors from the world of science-fiction and other fantasy genres together under one roof.
Attendees need not have to travel all the way down to Phoenix to experience the sights and sounds of a comic book convention.
Planning an event is never easy, much less an event that hasn’t been put on since 2019.
“The biggest challenge for me was just getting my head around running a show again,” said Jeff Clark of the Cottonwood Public Library. “Because of all the changes that COVID brought on, this show ended up taking a backseat for a few years, and so it turned into a lot of talking with members of the Northern Arizona Cartoonist Association our first comic expo in 2016 — about how things were going to be done this year.”
“Also, given that it was our first year back from our COVID break, I didn’t expect quite the turnout of vendors that we ended up getting,” Clark said. “Once I saw the number of vendors starting to go up, it really helped put a jump in my step in some ways.”
With over 50-plus vendors and artists under one roof, there surely will be something for everyone. The Verde Valley Comic Expo has always brought the feel and excitement of a big time comic convention but on a smaller and more intimate scale. Fans alike are able to talk with artists and connect with fellow like-minded fans.
This year’s Verde Valley Comic Expo is a little different from past shows.
“We have a couple of big changes to this year’s show. First, we partnered with other local libraries to help really turn this into a ‘Verde Valley’ show,” Clark said. “Teen Librarian Zack Garcia of the Camp Verde Community Library will be at the show running a D&D, or Dungeons and Dragons, Character Rolling Workshop and Jan Marc Quisumbing, program and marketing coordinator of Sedona Public Library, set up four separate pre-panels to get people into the Verde Valley Comic Expo spirit.”
“We are also working with Game On, from Prescott, who will be hosting a gaming room which is where the Camp Verde library’s workshop will be,” Clark said. “Attendees can come in and participate in Warhammer miniature painting sessions as well as a board game library, where they can learn about new board games that they may have never heard of before.”
“We have more ideas that didn’t quite make the cut this year, so fans of the show can expect even more fun stuff for the 2023 show,” Clark said.
The Verde Valley Comic Expo always loves to have industry artists as guests and this year’s show is no different. While no guests of honor will be flying in from either coast, the expo only had to look in its own backyard of the Verde Valley and the Phoenix area.
- Steve Rude, whose long distinguished career includes his own creator-owned work, Nexus, as well as stints working for Marvel and DC Comics, will be joined by fellow guests of honor Ryan Cody, current colorist for DC Comics’ Justice League vs. The Legion of Superheroes.
- Jay Fotos, a multi-award-winning comics veteran whose art has been featured in such iconic properties as Todd McFarlane’s Spawn, Godzilla, Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Michael Gallagher, veteran comic book writer on ALF, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Sonic the Hedgehog, and MAD Magazine’s Spy vs. Spy
- Dave Beaty, veteran comic book artist for DC Comics and his own creator-owned comic Bushi Tales.
- Attendees should also keep a look out for the ever popular Artist Sketch Off, where Comic Expo artists will be challenged to draw on the spot a superhero character called out from the audience.
Guest of Honor Steve Rude will be showcasing his artistic skills in a drawing demo as well.
Proceeds raised from the fifth Verde Valley Comic Expo will help the Cottonwood Public Library fund its 2022 summer reading program. Admission is $5 at the door and but $3 with the donation of two cans of food. Children under the age of 10 are free, with plenty of parking available at the Cottonwood Recreation Center’s 150 South Sixth Street location.
Contact Cottonwood Public Library at 634-7559 for general information about the comic expo.
Jan Marc Quisumbing is a member of the Northern Arizona Cartoonist Association and co-organizer of the Verde Valley Comic Expo.
