An Anime Girl at a Comic Convention: Comicpalooza

As the rain pours over Houston this week, we look back on sunnier weekends. When we enter the George R. Brown Convention Center, the buzz of excitement washes over you almost instantly. The colorful booths, the comic and book writers waving hello to you as they displayed their works. The murmurs of the celebrities and voice actors that were waiting for us to greet them. The long lines to reach them, and the small talk between them, and the live podcast from YouTubers that had set up for us.

The smell of popcorn, and laughter as we walked around the booths of items that were ready to go to a new home. The sunshine left behind as the crowds moved towards the entrance. Comicpalooza doing so much by trying to outdo themselves each year by bringing in so many venders, comics, authors, and celebrities. What a staple for them to do in this moment as we forget our worries at the door.

While we were overwhelmed by the schedule that was set up by Comicpalooza, we were sad to miss several panels. But one of them was a delight to watch with Danny Motta, NCHammer23, Combo Panda, Richard Woloski, Sarah Woloski and Ming Chen. They gave us the insight of Mastering YouTube as rising stars. Another wonderful panel that we saw that gave us even more inspiration was How to Break into Voice Acting, led by Bradley Smith (Combo Panda) filled us with dreams that could be attainable.

While some panels were given rooms on the 2^nd floor, there were several of these panels on the 1^st floor near the artist alley and dealer room. With several panels running at the same time, the noise bouncing off of the other was slightly distracting. It was a small struggle to listen to one panel while another was going. We hope this can be fixed later down the line, especially with the number of amazing panels that was there this year.

While we did turn our attention back towards the voice actors and celebrities that made it this year. From the Charmed cast meeting up for the first time in years, Rose McGowan and Shannen Doherty was such a delight to meet. Them remembering their time and telling the stories of being on Charmed filled our young hearts again. While the long lines of Christopher Llyod nearly wrapped around the autograph and photo op section. And while John Cena came on the last day to give his own panel and his photo ops, his contagious smile filled us with glee. But it was Michael J. Fox that stirred a nerd girls heart when we were final able to meet and speak briefly with him. What a swoon moment as we took photos with him.

The convention was filled with a brightness in there as people stirred during those three days. However, we can’t end this talk without touching base with the voice actors that we meet! The SpyXFamily was present during this time, and they were such a delight to speak to and go into their voice acting career and their favorite animes they have voiced in. Alex Organ who plays Loid Forger was such a happy person to speak to during the convention. Megan Shipman who plays Anya Forger had us laughing with her stories. Natalie van Sistine who plays Yor Forger was filled with so much insight of the anime world.

However, the one voice actor that sent glee to us was Reagan Murdock, the sheer delight in speaking to him about his work. The deep dive that we spoke on with his role in A Sign of Affection, how we spoke about the diversity and the expansion on an anime that was touching on subjects of those that are deaf. The love that was in his work and yes, we did have to humble him for a bit. Which made us all laugh as we named off the number of credits he had and the amazing work he has done.

We can barely wait to see what Comicpalooza will bring next year, the weekend did feel much shorter, and we wanted even more time to explore the panels and venders. We hope to see everyone next year again.