Organized fun, security, and more fun are what conventions should be all about! That is what you can expect if you go to Phoenix Comic Con aka Fan Fusion in Arizona. It is a four day very organized extravaganza that has lots to offer convention goers even compared to Chicago land conventions. I’m a Chicago land native whose been to most the major and minor conventions in Chicago, and I’d have to say Phoenix Fan Fusion tops our conventions in many ways but a few. I didn’t get to see the main artist I came to see, but the convention itself more than makes up for that. It’s a safe blast at Fan Fusion.
Three floors of organized nerdom await you at Phoenix Fan Fusion. The highlight was the Star Wars installations that were great for photo opportunities as well as some DC and Marvel installations. Who wouldn’t want to feel like Aquaman sitting on his throne or like Spider Man climbing up the side of a building!!? Star Wars fan? They had setups for that as well. On top of that there was a good amount of cosplayers making Phoenix Fan Fustion awesome for photo ops. The convention setup itself was great considering they used their floor space wisely. The basement level was for vendors, a few artists, and video gaming. The 1st floor had a hallway of rooms utilized for panels. Tons of food trucks, some cafes, and more were on the first floor, and most of the security was on the 1st floor as well. The 3rd floor had autographs from stars, pictures with stars, and a few more vendors. That’s also where the installations were at. The use of floors really added to a sense of organization that often isn’t felt on single level conventions. Oftentimes, people find themselves searching for specific areas, and they’re just hard to find when everything is on one floor. Not at this convention, which was very easy to navigate. The several floors of Fan Fusion also helped with crowd control. It never seemed too crowded, and even the aisles were wider to help counter large crowding. After all, people can take advantage of large crowds!
There are people who attend Chicago land conventions by lobby conning, and some magically get into conventions without badges. They sneak in through the crowds as guards really can’t catch and see everyone’s convention badge. This just isn’t possible at Phoenix Fan Fusion. There was a scale of security that wasn’t too overbearing yet functional. It might actually shock most convention goers not used to seeing hardly any security. When you first approach you will be stunned at the unaccustomed sight of barricades and tons of police officers upon first getting to the Phoenix Convention Center. So there is literally no sneaking into Phoenix Fan Fusion as many people at other conventions do by just walking past guards. People have to check in and get their badges while walking through the setup barricades at Phoenix Fan Fusion. This can really only be good. With all the random shootings happening in America it felt safe being at Phoenix Fan Fusion more so than Chicago land conventions. Conventions are also providing a service even if they are just a meeting place for cosplayers to cosplay, and for that they deserve to be paid, which often doesn’t happen at conventions where people lobby con and sneak in.
Phoenix Fan Fusion is a great convention, and even though I didn’t see Kevin Eastman who tends to avoid Chicago land like the plague the convention more than made up for this. There was food wherever I looked so I was happy, and I even got to try some Karen’s Kreamery homemade ice cream while at Fan Fusion on the 2nd floor. That’s a first as making homemade ice cream is hard and even harder to bring to a convention! There were tons of pictures taken, tons of awesome video games and arcades to play provided by Cobra lounge, and lots of cool people. 5 out of 5 rating, A +, and tons of kudos to Phoenix Fan Fusion. It was a great comic convention amongst conventions.
