Recently Comic-Con International won a lawsuit granting them full ownership over the term Comic-con. As a result the Phoenix Comic-con sought to avoid the newly litigious nature of the term and changed the name to comic fest. No trademark issues there. There are other issues at play in this latest comic fest. For starters, the event has ramped up security in light of a shooter incident last year. That comic con saw a man dressed as the punisher arrive fully loaded to do battle with the cops. As a result, weapons are no longer allowed on the grounds. This includes the sale of weapons on site. No more pretty swords to purchase. Well, there is still the foam stuff.
I showed up to comicon today in a Punisher tee. Bad taste. I completely forgot what the shooter had been wearing, but apparently so did a lot of people because I only caught a handful of dirty looks. I was the only punisher in the space, and that should’ve tipped me off. It didn’t.
Day 2 ought to be a new experience. The weekend days at comicon (read: comic fest) are the most busy and thus the ones where this issue will have the greatest impact. We shall see.