| Comikaze Expo | |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Multi-genre |
| Venue | Los Angeles Convention Center |
| Location | Los Angeles, California |
| Country | United States |
| First held | November, 2011 |
| Attendance | 35,000 (November 2011) |
| Official website | http://www.comikazeexpo.com |
Comikaze Expo is Los Angeles’ first and only large-scale multi-media, popular culture convention. The two day event is held during the fall at the Los Angeles Convention Center, located in downtown Los Angeles, California. Comikaze Expo embraces a diversity of genres, including comic, anime, gaming, sci-fi, fantasy and horror, with a large focus on the community. The annual event was first held on November 5 and 6 of 2011 with a total of 35,000 attendees throughout the entire weekend.[1]
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Comikaze Expo was founded by siblings Regina, Fabiano and Mario Carpinelli of Temecula, California. As children they were immersed in geek culture and were avid attendees of San Diego Comic-Con International.[2] After moving to Los Angeles, CEO Regina Carpinelli decided that the city needed a large-scale comic book convention of its own.[3] With the help from Klaus Moeller and Shelle Mannion,[4] Comikaze Expo is becoming one of the largest multi-media, popular culture conventions on the West Coast of the United States.
Comikaze Expo features a large floorspace for exhibitors. These include several vendors such as local artists, tattoo artists, comic book dealers, comic book publishers, press vendors, designers and collectibles merchants. Amongst Artists' Alley are autographing areas where celebrities and artists sign autographs and sell portraits. Traditional contests and gaming tournaments include the Cosplay Contest, the Masquerade, Magic The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, Warhammer, and several original Nintendo games.[5]
The event also includes panels featuring various celebrities, reunions, upcoming feature films, and artists. In September 2011, Comikaze Expo announced it would host horror icon Elvira's last convention appearance.[6]
| Dates | Location | Attendance | Featured Guests |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 5, 2011 | Los Angeles Convention Center | 35,000 | Stan Lee, Elvira, Mark Hamill, Tony Todd, Ernest Borgnine, Tippi Hedren, Morgan Fairchild, Jhonen Vasquez, Lisa Foiles, Kel Mitchell, Josh Server, Robert Venditti, Marina Sirtis, Garret Wang, Robert Beltran, Lori Beth Denberg, Cast of Nickelodeon's All That, Cast of Sushi Girl, Cast of Bad Kids Go to Hell, Cast of Police Academy, Select Cast of Star Trek Voyager and Deep Space 9, Top Shelf Comics, Top Cow Comics, Pow! Entertainment |