After a very successful first year Chattanooga Comic Con returns in 2023. Now for those who read my review last year I was really impressed with how it was organized in general and that praise was elevated by the fact that this was the convention’s first outing. With that in mind I had my expectations set pretty high to the point where I was worried I had them so high I was setting myself up for potential disappointment. However, the reality was I should have set them even higher.

First I’ll talk about the guests. This event brought a lot of guests that I’ve met and a few that I haven’t, but one thing they all had in common is the fact that I’ve never seen them so close to home. This event had members of the Youtube channel Aphmau, actors like Wally Wingert, Xander Mobus, Mela Lee and a variety of actors from Star Wars, Ming Chen from Comic Book Men and plenty of comic book artists. It was a nice variety and like last year the lines were very well managed. It was never difficult to line up and meet anyone and I even got a chance to chat with quite a few of them.

The vendors were also pretty amazing but before I go into that I want to really highlight how great of a job the convention did to promote them. They posted about a huge number of their vendors on their Instagram to the point where I already had a good idea of what kind of budget I needed and what booths I wanted to stop by. I even managed to reach out to one of them to request a custom item, a tumbler from Otaku Dezigns, which I am very happy with. The vendors themselves had a lot of cool items from Pokemon cards, funkos, sweets, items for Dungeons and Dragons, wood etched art. They even had the wolves that I saw at another event. The only real thing I can suggest is at some point aim to have more vendors to increase this variety even further without compromising the space which was really well done this year. I had no problems at all walking around the vendors and spending a lot of money.

The panels were a lot of fun too. The cast of Aphmau did an improv panel and several voice actors did a Q&A. Something pretty cool happened during that panel as Wally Wingert decided to order a pizza and started sharing it with the other panelists and the attendees. Can’t say I’ve ever had pizza delivered via voice actor before now but I highly recommend it. Like last year the panels had a nice variety of guest focused panels and stuff that’s more interactive.

Speaking of interactive there were some cool events at this year’s convention. The first was a Mighty Morphin Maid Cafe held the night before the convention officially started at a nearby brewery. Naturally it was a 21 and up event and it was within easy walking distance from the convention center. As a Power Rangers fan I was intrigued so I attended and it was cool to mingle with the Red Ranger from Power Rangers Beast Morphers, the Power Rangers cosplayers serving snacks and the cosplay guest for the convention, Leairis Cross, who created the event. Now I’ve never heard of her prior to this convention but after having such a relaxing time at the maid cafe she has two new fans out of my wife and I. We got to enjoy snacks play Power Rangers trivia and I even won a comic. If this happens at next years event I’m definitely doing it again.

That wasn’t the only unique thing I did as Saturday night I also did a Trolly Pub with Ming Chen. With my purchase not only did I get a seat on the trolly, but a special T-Shirt and a certificate signed by Ming himself. Now these items were really nice, but the event itself quickly became one of the most out of the ordinary adventures I’ve ever had at a convention. I’m talking possibly top five and this is taking a 10 year history of over 70 conventions into consideration. The trolly was driven by a guy in a Super Mario cosplay as we rode around down going to various bars. Now I don’t drink that much I’m more of a causal drinker but even then I had an amazing time just hanging out with Ming and the other attendees, even got to hang out with some friends who host Farleycon. I actually got way more than I expected as I thought this was going to be a two hour adventure which actually went for about five hours as Ming was ready to keep going. We ended the night with tacos and I ready for bed when I got back to my room. I ended the experience with a stronger bond with friends I had from the beginning and new friendships with those that I shared this adventure with which in my opinion is a roaring success for any event at a convention.

The convention also had a few cool additions to appeal to not only a wider fan base but wider needs of the attendees. For example there was a sensory space for people to get away from the action a bit as events like these can be overwhelming after awhile. They also had a room set up for people to watch the football game going on that day. They also had a game room right next to the vendor hall with plenty of games and plenty of seating to take a break it was very nice to have that option so easy to get to.

Overall my first experience with this convention left me impressed at how well they managed to execute a well organized event for their very first year. My second experience left me even more blown away as they managed to add more events, more vendors, more guests, more to do at the convention and all while keeping the same level of organization that impressed me from their inception. I quite literally ended my experience exhausted with an empty wallet and very full luggage. So with that I am pretty committed to attending this event next that I’ve not only started making plans to do so but with the intention of going no matter what other events have to offer the same weekend. I am extremely excited to see where this event is going and I have every intention of being their to witness what is next for them.