I continue my yearly tradition and once again make my way to attend Chattanooga Comic Con. This is the only event I’ve attended every year since it started, and I always manage to have a great time attending. With so much to offer, there’s a lot to tell as I share with you all the things it had this year.

Starting off with the guests, we naturally have the return of Ming Chen from Comicbookmen, several voice actors from One Piece, Mass Effect, My Hero Academia, Dragon Ball Z, Red Dead Redemption, a plethora of comic book guests, Ioan Gruffudd from The Fantastic Four, David Howard Thornton, who played Art the Clown, and so much more. Like previous years, the guests were at the back of the vendors’ hall, and there was plenty of space to meet them. Even with guests who had a lot of people in line, there was never an issue getting from place to place. I found it not only easy to get around, but also easy to meet anyone I wanted to see.

There were plenty of vendors to shop and find all kinds of new merch. There was a lot to find, as I ended up seeing a lot of vendors I’ve bought stuff from before at this event and several others. Mixed in was a lot of vendors that were new to me, who had incredible finds, including homemade statues of various Pokemon, novels where combat was played out through a solo player TTRPG mechanic, rugs that I really wish I knew where to put them, and the list goes on. Like the guests, the space was plentiful to walk around and shop in. I was all over the place the entire weekend and had no issues seeing everything.

There were a number of rooms devoted to panels this year, including fan panels, creator panels, and guest panels. There was a lot to do, and every bit of it was close to the vendors. With everything so close together, it was easy to go from one place to another. I ended up at an Isekai game show because I had to do something anime-related and managed to attend a Mass Effect panel, which happened right on N7 day for a nice touch. I would say there were about three or four panels happening at any given time, and there were always seats available for anyone who wanted to walk in and check them out. I even managed to be a part of some group photos after the Dragon Ball Z and Mass Effect panels that I’m excited to find.

The convention also featured three different rooms for games. One room featured a variety of arcade games, and it was my first time seeing the Avatar: The Last Airbender Fighting game in person. Another room had a few VR games set up, and while I’m not a huge VR person myself, it was cool to see that as an option. Then finally, you have a massive room devoted to board games and TTRPGs. It looked about as big as the vendors’ hall from my perspective, which is rather impressive.

I’m still not done, as there were plenty of things to do outside of the convention, both sponsored by the event and promoted by it. Saturday night featured a concert at one of the nearby bars where fans could watch Brina Palencia, who voiced Tony Tony Chopper in One Piece, sing live. I ended up in a traveling party with Ming Chen and some voice actors and had quite a story getting there, but that’s an article for another time. Other bars and restaurants in the area had exclusive drinks that fans could order when showing their badge or wristband. I absolutely had to try a few.

Chattanooga had a lot going on this weekend, and many events unaffiliated with the convention were promoted by them. For example, there was a street fair beside one of the nearby hotels, which happened to be the one I was staying in. The fair had all kinds of food to try out, and I had to sample a few, and I honestly wouldn’t have known about it if I hadn’t been following the convention’s socials.

Chattanooga Comic Con continues to impress by offering a lot in every aspect a convention has to offer. Lots of guests, panels, vendors, collaborations with local businesses, games, and events. What makes this so impressive is how it’s so easy to do everything, and that’s exactly what I did. I’ll borrow a comment I heard from one of the guests in a group conversation as it sums up the event perfectly, “It’s just got a good vibe to it.” I couldn’t agree more, which is why I’m already saving the dates for next year.