In August 2021, Fan Expo acquired Wizard World’s slate of conventions, adding shows in Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Portland, Cleveland, and St. Louis to their fold. The Philadelphia show returned to the Pennsylvania Convention Center on April 8-10, 2022, as the rebranded Fan Expo Philadelphia.
Celebrity guests at the show were David Tennant (Doctor Who), William Shatner (Star Trek), Ming-Na Wen (The Book of Boba Fett), Carl Weathers (The Mandalorian), Melanie Scrofano and Tim Rozon (Wynonna Earp), James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Chris Sarandon (The Princess Bride), Ron Perlman and Theo Rossi (Sons of Anarchy), and Kate Flannery (The Office). There was a Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion with Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, and John De Lancie. Jay and Silent Bob stars Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes were there, along with Clerks stars Jeff Anderson, Trevor Fehrman, and Brian O’Halloran.
A lot of prominent voice actors were at the show, such as Ashley Eckstein (Star Trek: The Clone Wars), Justin Briner (My Hero Academia), Trina Nishimura (Attack on Titan), Sean Schemmel and Christopher Sabat (Dragon Ball Z), Billy West (Futurama), Steve Blum (Cowboy Bebop), and Ken Page (Nightmare Before Christmas).
This convention had a strong pop culture presence, but they did not skimp on the comic creator guest list, bringing some big names to Philadelphia. Some of the comic creators at the show included Frank Miller (300), Marc Silvestri (Batman), Greg Capullo (Batman), Brian Azzarello (Suicide Squad: Get Joker), Donny Cates (Hulk), Ryan Stegman (Venom), Kami Garcia (Teen Titans), Charles Soule (Star Wars), Frank Cho (Wonder Woman), José Luis García-López (Superman), C.B. Cebulski (Marvel Editor in Chief), Dan DiDio (former co-publisher DC), Peter Tomasi (Justice League), Russ Braun (The Boys), Amy Chu (Rick and Morty), Michael Golden (The Micronauts), Renee Witterstaetter (Avengers), Isaac Goodhart (Postal), Scott Hanna (Amazing Spider-Man), Mike Hawthorne (Deadpool), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Steve Orlando (Marauders), Dan Parent (Archie), Ryan Parrott (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), Stephanie Phillips (Harley Quinn), Frank Tieri (King in Black), and Nicole Virella (All-New Wolverine), and Wendy Pini (Elfquest), among others.
Several of the creators reported that they had successful shows with solid book and art sales and commission work. Some of the specialty events featuring comic creators included a panel with the Venom team of writers Donny Cates and Frank Tieri and artist Ryan Stegman; a Q&A with Marc Silvestri and Greg Capullo; and filmmaker Silenn Thomas and comic creator Frank Miller hosted an exclusive screening of the documentary, Frank Miller American Genius. Comic writers and artists were also regularly at the creator stage for demos and live podcasts.
The main stage was routinely filled for celebrity panels with the likes of David Tennant, Ming-Na Wen, William Shatner, and Chris Sarandon. The stars of Sons of Anarchy and Wynonna Earp did Q&As to discuss their experiences on the cult favorite series. Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes hosted “Jay and Silent Bob in Philadelphia” to sign autographs, take pictures (as themselves and in character), and answer fan questions. Actor-musician James Marsters played an acoustic set on Friday night and The Roddenberries, a Star Trek themed band named after creator Gene Roddenberry, performed on Saturday.
The vendor area had the typical mix of material found at a pop culture/comic con. There were more comic booths than the last few Wizard World Philadelphia shows, but not by much. CBCS and CGC took submissions for grading and signature witnessing. Publishers Source Point Press and Zenescope had nice booths featuring their popular products.
The con had a smaller turnout for action figures and toys, which were dominated by the newest Marvel and DC figures and Funko Pops. Craft-type booths had a strong presence with everything from pop culture charm lockets and oven mitts to wizard wands and leatherworks. Vendors also sold t-shirts and other apparel, pint glasses, stickers and bookmarks, vintage 1980s animation cels, mystery boxes, stuffed animals, LEGOs, and more. Anime had a big presence at the convention with a dedicated area and even more booths peppered throughout the main floor. There was a booth focused on Star Trek set pieces, props, and costumes. Another showed off film and TV costumes and props with material from Harry Potter, Smallville, and horror films.
Cosplayers turned out in force, showing off impressive costumes based on DC and Marvel, Halo, Power Rangers, The Mandalorian, Doctor Who, and plenty more. Fan Expo Philadelphia had a cosplay area with professionals, a cosplay red carpet, contests, and tutorials.
Fan Expo Philadelphia shared similarities, but also important differences, with Wizard World Philadelphia. As previously mentioned, it was a mix of pop culture and comic-focused. The vendor area was similar to Wizard World, though with a slight increase in comics. The guest list was a definite improvement, most notably with all-star creators and a strong contingent of voice actors. The layout was also favorable for comic creators, abutting many with the celebrity area and others saw good foot traffic near the main stage.
One unfortunate similarity were corporate booths. A cell phone carrier and insurance company were stationed in the prime location at the show’s entrance, where they attempted to pull attendees to their booths with gimmicky games and shouting offers for deals. The last few Wizard World shows had far too many of these types of booths with aggressive sales people who would literally jump in front of attendees or accost them in autograph lines. Hopefully Fan Expo will see enough revenue to avoid repeating that trend.
Using their experience at many other shows, Fan Expo seamlessly transitioned the Philly con under their banner for a fun, successful con. The next Fan Expo Philadelphia is scheduled for June 2-4, 2023, once again at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
To see more photos from Fan Expo Philadelphia, jump to our In the Limelight coverage.
