“This is really a nice con!”  I said this numerous times as I attended the Atlantic City Boardwalk Con in Atlantic City.   This was my first time coming and this is the con’s second year in business where there was a lot of fun to be had.

 

Admission

Getting in was a breeze as the set-up was claerly marked to allow con-goers to get their tickets and get in with very little hassle.  Even if you were a VIP, regular guest attendee or everything in between, I noted no hiccups for those wanting to attend this con.

I was actually impressed with the floor layout and loved that there was an actual sitting area.  Many cons are actually starting to do this more and more because there’s nothing worse than being at a con all day with no place to rest.  The staff was friendly and most knew how to direct people.

The show was well laid out and easy to find your way to different vendors, hit artist alley, and meet with various cosplay and media guests. We even had a moment to speak to the show’s owner; Michael D’Alessio, to hear his thoughts in this clip below.

Things to do

One of the best ways to gauge a con is how much there is to do. ACBC did not let us down.  There were plenty of panels to go to, lightsaber demonstrations, meet the media guests, facepainting and more.  The best part for myself of course, is running into many of my cosplaying friends, geeking out over their new costumes and taking pictures.  Speaking of which, there was a Wonder Woman museum display there.  On Saturday, there was a large gathering of Wonder Woman cosplayers and fans gathered for a photoshoot to celebrate her 75^th anniversary.

Media guests

This, to me, made the show.  It was the fact that you could walk up to your celebrity guest and actually have some time to hold a conversation with them.   I got a chance to speak with Teddy Sears, whom I found out is also a native of MD.  We talked a bit about how he and Tony Todd brought Zoom to life. The funniest moment we had was, how each of us were shocked at how tall each of us were.  It’s an inside joke…!

We also talked to Giancarlo Esposito and he has to be one of the nicest and chilliest media guests I have met in a long time.  We spoke to him for well over 10 minutes about his new movie, Money Monster, which may be up for Oscar contention, his role in Jungle Book, which he reluctantly agreed that Shere Khan was right,  and how we may see him again on Once Upon a Time.

Later on, we ran into him again and shenanigans ensued as he and RJ Mitte did an impromptu mashup up of Breaking Bad, Once Upon a Time and Pirates of the Caribbean on a mock ship set up at the con.

After the Show

Things got interesting Saturday night as the ACBC crew hosted a game show which had contestants do weird and fun things which ended in everyone getting some cool prizes on the way out.

All in all, ACBC was a great experience that I would be glad to do again next year.  It’s good for the value and spaced out enough to allow everyone to find something to do. The show was mostly family friendly and I saw some really cute kids cosplaying as well.  I was even amazed at how reasonable some of the comic vendors were.  I actually found a few comics that I was looking for that were just below what they sell for online.

If I could fix one thing, I would say it would have to be the cosplay contest set up but, as long as everyone had fun, don’t fix what’s not broken.   It’s always shows like these that are a great alternative to the crush and controlled chaos to New York Comic Con.  This was a show where you can go at your own pace and even once you feel like you have seen it all, it doesn’t hurt to do it again. if you missed it this year, be sure to come out and see this show!

For more pictures of the show, please go here.

I will surely see you all next year!