By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
Full fan immersion: That's the goal for the third annual Yellow City Comic Con, opening Friday.
The three-day expo will feature wrestling giant Jake "The Snake" Roberts, voice actor Veronica Taylor (Ash Ketchum on Pokémon), Karan Ashley (Aisha the Yellow Ranger on '90s-era Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers), as well as vendors, cosplayers, a medieval fighting arena and more.
The annual con (in its third year as a full-weekend event) runs from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday in the Amarillo Civic Center Complex North and South Exhibit Halls, 401 S. Buchanan St.
Tickets are $25 for three-day admission for adults or $10 for three-day admission for children, and $10 for either Saturday or Sunday day passes for adults or $5 for children ages 5 to 12.
"We'll have our wrestling fans out, our anime fans, our old-school Power Rangers fans, and I think we're bringing in something like 20-plus comic book artists," con co-founder Chris Anderson said. "Our vendors range the gamut of basically any type of fandom you can think of — Doctor Who, steampunk, anime, comic books, gaming."
Thousands are expected, and not just the pure, dyed-in-the-wool type fans.
"Anyone who’s seen a superhero movie, watched a Saturday morning cartoon, read a comic book, or is a wrestling fan can come and immerse themselves in the YC3 experience," said co-founder Josh Wilson in a news release.
Ashley will speak at a noon Saturday panel on the main stage, following a 10 a.m. screening of the 1995 film Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie. Roberts will speak at a 3 p.m Saturday panel, following a 1 p.m. screening of the 2015 documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake. And Taylor will speak at 2 p.m. Sunday, following an 11 a.m. screening of Pokémon: The Movie.
Also featured in panels are Carl Martin of Syfy's Heroes of Cosplay at 1 p.m. Saturday, Krystle Starr at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Jessi Arntz at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, voice actor Cory J. Phillips (Assassination Classroom) at 1 p.m. Sunday and more. Take One Improv will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, and authors Dean Trippe, A.G. Howard, Holly Hudspeth and Libbi Duncan will sign autographs.
Gaming tournaments — including Magic the Gathering, Warmachine and other card, tabletop and video games — will run all day Saturday in the South Exhibit Hall. Adult and teen cosplay contest takes place Saturday, and a children's cosplay contest takes place Sunday.
Live-action role-play medieval fighting will take place in the South Exhibit Hall, as well, with duels, skirmishes and large-scale battles taking place throughout the day.
(Click the links above for full schedules of events, panels and other activities.)
The con also will feature artist tables and a Japanese-style cafe.
Anderson said he expects attendance to rise again this year.
"Blockbusters are bringing in millions and billions of dollars every year, and they really have brought fandom into a public light," he said. "That contributes to a lot of the popularity. And I think a lot of the nerds and geeks from when I was a kid have become adults now and are still nerds and geeks and have a stronger voice.
"We're a lot older, more mature, and a lot more confident in our geekdom and fandom, as well," he continued. "I think that also contributes to the popularity."
Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
