With the year getting underway, I was curious if anyone here is planning to attend any comic cons this year.

Big or small, local or major. I’ve been thinking more about getting out to events, checking out panels, artist alley, and just being more involved in person instead of only following everything online.

Would love to hear which cons people are excited about, or if you have a favorite one you try to go to every year.

Would love to make it to a comic convention this year, though my big goal over the next few years is to go back to ToyFair. Such a cool experience but it was a while ago.

I'm planning on hitting the Taipei International Comics and Animation Festival next month. It's a great if, lesser known comic and anime scene

10 hours ago, MattAguilarCB said:

Would love to make it to a comic convention this year, though my big goal over the next few years is to go back to ToyFair. Such a cool experience but it was a while ago.

Toy Fair is an awesome goal. I've never been to one. What was it like when you went?

7 hours ago, MAG said:

I'm planning on hitting the Taipei International Comics and Animation Festival next month. It's a great if, lesser known comic and anime scene

That’s a great one to have on the calendar. I looked it up and it seems to be a pretty big event!

What are you most excited to check out there this year?

Planet Comicon in KC is local to me so I'm thinking about hitting that up. I used to go every year but it's been a couple since I've made it there.

1 hour ago, Nicole Drum said:

Planet Comicon in KC is local to me so I'm thinking about hitting that up. I used to go every year but it's been a couple since I've made it there.

I looked it up and see Ernie Hudson will be there! I'm so jealous! I've heard he's so cool to talk to.

20 hours ago, Nicole Drum said:

Planet Comicon in KC is local to me so I'm thinking about hitting that up. I used to go every year but it's been a couple since I've made it there.

Hi Nichole, my wife and I are from Jeff City and we're going to be there too! Looks like a good one (our first actually!).

On 1/5/2026 at 7:33 PM, FantasticJerome said:

With the year getting underway, I was curious if anyone here is planning to attend any comic cons this year.

Big or small, local or major. I’ve been thinking more about getting out to events, checking out panels, artist alley, and just being more involved in person instead of only following everything online.

Would love to hear which cons people are excited about, or if you have a favorite one you try to go to every year.

I think I like to see the trailer of Season 2 of Your Friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man with Erica Lindbeck voicing Spider-Gwen/Ghost Spider.

On 1/6/2026 at 9:58 AM, FantasticJerome said:

Toy Fair is an awesome goal. I've never been to one. What was it like when you went?

It was actually the year that Saban announced Hasbro was buying the rights to Power Rangers, so it was awesome from that perspective, but also just seeing the booths and talking to all the companies and seeing what they were rolling out over the next year or two was really cool.

1 minute ago, MattAguilarCB said:

It was actually the year that Saban announced Hasbro was buying the rights to Power Rangers, so it was awesome from that perspective, but also just seeing the booths and talking to all the companies and seeing what they were rolling out over the next year or two was really cool.

I hope there’s possibilities of Sonic teaming up with the Power Rangers in the potential comic book series.

22 minutes ago, MattAguilarCB said:

It was actually the year that Saban announced Hasbro was buying the rights to Power Rangers, so it was awesome from that perspective, but also just seeing the booths and talking to all the companies and seeing what they were rolling out over the next year or two was really cool.

Nice! Now I really want to go to one!

On 1/7/2026 at 10:43 AM, deelysium said:

Hi Nichole, my wife and I are from Jeff City and we're going to be there too! Looks like a good one (our first actually!).

You'll love it! It's actually a great con. The location is actually pretty good for a con as well -- and if the people who make homemade rootbeer are there, I absolutely suggest trying it! It's the thing I look forward to almost as much as the con itself!

I'm looking to go to Fan Expo in Chicago this year

2 hours ago, nate1016 said:

I'm looking to go to Fan Expo in Chicago this year

Nice! That sounds like a fun one to attend.

I always have so much fun at conventions, but I've been so busy lately that I haven't been able to get to one in awhile. There's a horror-centered convention in my town annually, so I'm hoping I make it to it this year.

On 1/12/2026 at 11:34 AM, Allison Schonter said:

I always have so much fun at conventions, but I've been so busy lately that I haven't been able to get to one in awhile. There's a horror-centered convention in my town annually, so I'm hoping I make it to it this year.

A horror convention sounds fun! I love old horror movies. My goal this year is to go to more conventions, even if I need to travel to different states.

I’ve been going to New York Comic Con since 2022, and last year I also attended Anime NYC, which was held at the same venue, the Javits Center, just earlier in the year. That’s when I realized that both conventions feel almost the same now.

I feel like the charm of comics has been lost compared to how it used to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love manga and anime, but I believe Comic Con should have its own more defined space: more comics and less anime. I know they go hand in hand, but isn’t that what Anime NYC is for?

When I go to Comic Con now, there aren’t even DC Comics panels anymore, which is honestly a bit sad. It feels like manga is slowly taking over comics. I’ve also seen proposals about merging or blending everything together even more, and I’m not sure what the future will look like.

I just hope we eventually get back to conventions that are truly focused on comics and collectibles, instead of endless lines just to get a pin from whatever anime happens to be popular at the moment.

And to answer the question, no, I don’t think I’ll be going this year.

24 minutes ago, JoanPault said:

I’ve been going to New York Comic Con since 2022, and last year I also attended Anime NYC, which was held at the same venue, the Javits Center, just earlier in the year. That’s when I realized that both conventions feel almost the same now.

I feel like the charm of comics has been lost compared to how it used to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love manga and anime, but I believe Comic Con should have its own more defined space: more comics and less anime. I know they go hand in hand, but isn’t that what Anime NYC is for?

When I go to Comic Con now, there aren’t even DC Comics panels anymore, which is honestly a bit sad. It feels like manga is slowly taking over comics. I’ve also seen proposals about merging or blending everything together even more, and I’m not sure what the future will look like.

I just hope we eventually get back to conventions that are truly focused on comics and collectibles, instead of endless lines just to get a pin from whatever anime happens to be popular at the moment.

And to answer the question, no, I don’t think I’ll be going this year.

I haven't been to one in a while, but I agree with you, I prefer comics over anime and would rather see comic panels. The ones I enjoyed the most were small, but had a theme like Star Wars and everyone dressed up.