The Best of Denver Comic Con 2016
One of the lucky things we get to do around here is let our guard down from time to time, in other words reach into our inner geek sanctum. Let's all face it we all have a bit of nerd inside us all. Our fair city played host (to among what seemed 300 other events) the Denver Comic Con on Father's Day weekend. With record breaking numbers upwards of 110,000+ it was the place to be. Three days full of panels, vendors, cosplay, sci-fi and fantasy and more. In fact Denver's version of comic con although still in it's infancy has become one of the biggest in the country trailing only cons in San Diego and New York.
Record attendance of upward of 110,000+ at this years Denver Comic Con
Denver Comic Con as mentioned has only been around for five years but has already made its mark amongst the youth in our city by promoting Pop Culture Classroom. This initiative aims to provide kids an outlet at con to attend and participate in panels, workshops, and use the abundance of resources provided by some of the industry's most beloved professionals in the field. Everything from storytelling to drawing are part of this event and seeing kids use their creativity is something we loved seeing as we witnessed it for three days.
Toys, Toys, and more Toys!!!
Another part of Denver Comic Con is the massive showroom that takes residency at the convention center. This is full of vendors hawking everything from posters to exclusive toys to one of a kind comic books. In fact if you have never attended a comic con set aside some funds as you will spend money one way or another. We found ourselves geeking out over toys all over the place, and yes we did overspend our budget, but hey that's part of attending an event like this. One of our favorite things is getting to sample the official beer of Comic Con every year by Breckenridge Brewery. This year they unveiled their Snape-ricot Ale which also came with an awesome collectors pint.
Heeelllooo Harley!
The War Boys were in the building!
On elf the other highlights of every comic con is people dressed in cosplay every year. This isn't your typical Halloween party get up either. We are talking crazy, over the top, insane costumes. Some so good you would think they were straight from the movie studio. As with every year we notice trends of popular characters every year, for example last year you couldn't turn left or right without seeing somebody dressed as Deadpool. This year we managed to see our fair amount of Rey from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a few from Mad Max: Fury Road, but probably the most popular would be Harley Quinn from the upcoming Suicide Squad movie. They were everywhere, we even managed to see a male Harley Quinn (we are still trying to unsee that as we speak). Aside from cosplay one of the other awesome opportunities is getting to see some of tv and movies best in the celebrity area. This year the main attraction was none other than the legendary Stan Lee. He had lines wrapped around the convention all three days with most people waiting hours just to meet and have their photo taken with the main responsible for introducing us to all of our childhood (and adult) superheroes. Other notables were casts from Game of Thrones, Gotham, The Karate Kid, and more. Walking around and seeing Ralph Macchio, it was hard not to think about the importance of "the crane" technique and how it has revolutionized the modern art of kung-fu. Anyways, this was by far the best Denver Comic Con that we have covered and we expect it to keep growing and growing. We will be at San Diego Comic Con in a few weeks and cannot wait to report back from San Diego stay tuned. Check out our slideshow of some of the best images we captured!
Denver Comic Con Set To Invade Denver Once Again | June 17-19 | Colorado Convention Center
In what is to become the busiest weekend in Denver next week, Denver Comic Con is back and better than ever at the Convention Center. Downtown Denver will be transformed with superheroes, villains, cosplay, and everything you might imagine. This will be our first year officially covering the event and we have some awesome coverage coming your way (be sure to check out our Instagram and Snapchat all next weekend). One of the best parts of the DCC is the amazing guests that are on hand to mingle with us common folk, tv and movie stars, comic book authors and illustrators, awesome vendors and more. This year the DCC has the honor of hosting four of the best authors around. They will be available at Author Alley as well as presenting a few panels. Info can be found here.
CR Richards:
A huge lover of horror and dark fantasy stories, C. R. Richards enjoys telling tales of intrigue and adventure. Having began writing as a part-time columnist for a small entertainment newspaper, Richards has worn several hats: food critic, entertainment reviewer and cranky editor. She has now published a handful of novels, including Phantom Harvest - book one in The Mutant Casebook Series - which took home the EPIC eBook Award for Fantasy in 2014. Richards beat out entries from the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and other English speaking countries. In January, Richards releases her epic fantasy novel The Lords of Valdeon, the first installment in the Heart of the Warrior series. Through her storytelling, Richards aims to reach lovers of fantasy who are exploring alternatives to the traditional status quo. Her message is simple: One person can be a catalyst for change.
Amalie Howard
*This is her 3rd year at DCC
Having landed publishing deals with three presses in just a span of one month, Howard is a sought-after novelist with her finger on the pulse of young adult readers. After the release of her first book "Bloodspell," she earned a stellar reputation as an engaging writer with a sixth sense for what young readers are really looking for in literature. Howard as been honored by the Royal Commonwealth Society and is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrates.
Sue Duff:
*This is her 2nd year at DCC
Sue Duff has dreamed of dragons and spaceships before she could even read, so it's only natural that she now combines both fantasy and science fiction as her favorite genre. Having written since high school, Duff never took it seriously until a skiing accident laid her up for an entire summer and she turned on the word processor to combat boredom. A couple years later, her first urban fantasy novel Fade to Black was one of the five finalists in the RMFW Colorado Gold Writing Contest and in 2015, Duff's writing earned her the PEN Award. Sue is a member of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and The Pikes Peak Writers. She calls Colorado home and when not saving the world one page at a time, she can be found walking her great dane, getting her hands dirty in her garden, or creating something delicious in her kitchen.
Corinne O'Flynn
Corinne O’Flynn writes stories with magic, mystery, and sometimes creepy stuff. Author of The Expatriates series, Corinne follows teenager Jim Wales as he comes to grips with his family’s lies and learns someone’s been hunting him for his power. The sequel, Promise of the Scholar releases this June and delivers even more suspense and adventure for fantasy lovers of all ages. In addition to her young adult series, Corinne has also collaborated with author Toby Neal on two novellas as part of the Lei Crime Series Kindle Worlds Project; Half Moon Girls (April 2015) and Tell the Truth (December 2015). Her speculative fiction is featured in the anthology Tick Tock: Seven Tales of Time (March 2016), which combines O’Flynn’s tale of adventure and mystery with six other writers in the Denver writing community.
2016 Denver Comic Con Beer Release Party | Friday May 20th | Stoney's
Breckenridge Brewery once again joins forces with Denver Comic Con. Since the inaugural convention in 2012, Breckenridge has brewed a special con beer and hosted a "Name the Comic Con Beer" contest. And each year what follows is a wonderful deluge of creative input, street cred for the winners, a beer release party preceding the con and other events in and around the Colorado Convention Center.
Breckenridge Brewery congratulates Noah Eisenman and Greg Nuccio, who both suggested "Snape-ricot" as the name for this year's refreshingly crisp apricot lager. The name honors actor Alan Rickman, who played Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series and recently lost his life to pancreatic cancer.
“It’s become a wonderful Denver Comic Con tradition to launch these pop-culture themed beers in the weeks leading up to the con,” said Christina Angel, Denver Comic Con director. “This year’s brew takes on a special significance as a tribute to Alan Rickman, who so masterfully brought Snape to life on the silver screen.”
Although the name was chosen by popular vote, the brewery found it to suit the beer quite perfectly. Ryan Workman, Breckenridge Brewery Brand Manager, describes the beer to be more complex than one would guess upon first impression. "The apricot our brewers added to their American lager recipe produced surprising ambiguity, much like Snape himself. It's pale and crisp, but spend a little time with it, and you'll find unexpected layers of interesting personality." Finding more parallels in Snape and Snape-ricot, he shares that the beer is "bitter and cold, yet the fruit magically transforms Snape-ricot into something not sweet, but certainly a little softer than one would've imagined."
Snape-ricot will make its first public appearance at Stoney's Bar and Grill on Friday, May 20th, at 7:30 p.m. The first 200 people to order a Snape-ricot will be given a limited edition pint glass featuring the beer's custom label artwork.
The beer and pint glasses will also be available at the 3-day Denver Comic Con, which kicks off on June 17th and features such pop culture notables as Stan Lee (Marvel Comics), Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) and Ralph Macchio (the Karate Kid) . Tickets are still available at www.DenverComicCon.com. Additionally, local pubs around the conference will feature the beer with additional pint giveaway promotions.
Past winning entries for Breckenridge's Name the Comic Con Beer contest are:
· 2012 Fantastic Pour
· 2013 Caped Brewsader
· 2014 Brews Wayne
· 2015 Hulk's Mash