Awesome Con, the large Washington, DC comics and pop culture convention, returned on June 3-5, 2022. Thousands of comic and pop culture fans filled the Walter E. Washington Convention Center to meet celebrities and creators, explore the cons specialized areas, and buy swag from the many vendors.

The celebrity guest list included Anthony Daniels (Star Wars), Simu Liu, Meng’er Zhang, and Florian Munteanu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Melissa Joan Hart, Beth Broderick, and Caroline Rhea (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings), Haley Atwell (Agent Carter), Wil Wheaton, Anthony Rapp, and Wilson Cruz (Star Trek franchise), Noah Schnapp (Stranger Things), Sean Schemmel (Dragon Ball Z), Amber Benson and Charisma Carpenter (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Giancarlo Esposito (The Mandalorian), Kel Mitchell (Kenan & Kel), Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who), and Wes Johnson (Fallout 4).

Artist and writer guests included Alitha E. Martinez (Nubia), Amanda Conner (Harley Quinn), Ani-Mia (Bettie Page: The Alien Agenda), Daniel Govar (Tuskers), David Ebenbach (How to Mars), Emily Thiede (This Vicious Grace), Fred Van Lente (The Incredible Hercules), Gabrille Ash (The Family Cross), Gavin Guidry (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Jim Calafiore (Deadpool), Jimmy Palmiotti (Harley Quinn), Lee Weeks (Batman), Mark Irwin (Green Lantern), Mike McKone (Amazing Spider-Man), Peter J. Tomasi (Detective Comics), Richard and Wendy Pini (ElfQuest), S.L. Choi (Bad Girls Drink Blood), Sweeney Boo (Captain Marvel), and Tom Fleming (Iron Maiden).

Many of the celebrity and creator guests participated in panels and Q&As throughout the weekend. The Shang-Chi panel in particular drew a massive crowd.

Awesome Con is known for creating spaces for specialty focuses and celebration on their main convention floor. One such area is Pride Alley where they celebrate LGBTQ+ creators and comics. Curated by Geeks Out, Pride Alley brings more attention to queer creators and their work to audiences who might miss it at other conventions. Representatives from Geeks Out praised the convention for the opportunity and shared positive feedback from attendees who found new material to read.

Awesome Con also devotes floor space to the Science Fair. This area is an educational destination at the pop culture con, where attendees can learn how science impacts their favorite comics, fantasy, and sci-fi movies, TV shows, and books. NASA was set up at the Science Fair where one engineer talked about how she is working on developing air taxis for medical use in large cities.

The professional cosplay area was a popular destination for photos with Star Wars characters and more. The Battlestar Galactica and Alien cosplay booths were especially detailed and interactive. The Alien booth had an example of their armor, made with metal, replica weapons and tactical gear, and a large xenomorph egg sack attached to a foot pedal that trigged an alien to pop out at anyone brave enough to look inside. The Battlestar Galactica booth had costumes from the original and 2004 series, along with an array of replica military medals and other props.

Other special areas included Awesome Con Jr. where kids could draw their own comics, see demos from professional artists, and participate in other family-focused activities. In addition to Artist’s Alley, Awesome Con hosts a Book Fair for comic writers and novelists to promote and sell their stories.

The vendors sold what has become the typical mix of memorabilia at pop culture-focused cons. There were apparel vendors, prop weapons, jewelry stands, Funko Pops, Legos, Marvel and DC action figures, Star Wars toys, and other goodies. Comic dealers were peppered throughout the show floor. There weren’t as many as comic collectors would like, however, most offered more Silver and Bronze Age books and graded keys than $1 back issue bins. Most vendors reported favorable sales for the weekend with only a few stating that they weren’t seeing the sales they had hoped for that weekend.

The 2022 show was another successful Awesome Con with a great guest list, tons of activities, and plenty of shopping opportunities. The next Awesome Con will be held on June 16-18, 2023.

To see more photos from Awesome Con, check out our In the Limelight coverage.