Conventions, conventions.
The hustle of crowds in the vendor areas, the gradual ache of your feet, the cheers of fans at panels, the long lines of autographs, the strict schedule you’re constantly checking, the interaction of celebrities with fans, and loving every single minute of it.
Of course, that’s only the tip of everything that goes down in a convention, and we were fortunate enough to be able to attend, experience, and cover the events of Chicago’s Fan Fest this past weekend.
From April 7 to April 8, the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center hosted their annual Fan Fest, which was a joint celebration of two fan conventions: Heroes and Villains and Walker Stalker.
Walker Stalker was obviously more geared towards the gathering of Walking Dead fans and celebs, and the roster showed as much!
With appearances from stars such as Chandler Riggs, Michael Rooker, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Norman Reedus, Scott Wilson, and Sarah Wayne Callies, the Walking Dead family — both past and present — thrived successfully within the Walker Stalker venue.
Heroes and Villains was located on the opposite side of the arena, and contrary to Walker Stalker, its venue was a compilation of various television series focused on superhero and comic plotlines, such as Arrow, Black Lightning, Gotham, and Riverdale.
This convention held a great roster of celebrities as well, with stars such as Stephen Amell, Mike Colter, John Barrowman, Kirk Acevedo, Aisha Tyler, Lili Reinhart, and Madelaine Petsch coming to see their fans and allowing fans a chance to meet them.
This was our first time attending Fan Fest, so here’s a little recap of our experience.
Don’t worry, we’ll be brief!
To be perfectly honest, we had a little bit of a rough start when we arrived at the convention.
Our media passes allowed us VIP access, so we were able to enter at 9AM with the rest of the VIP pass holders.
However, our quest to obtain all of our passes was a bit of an adventure in itself.
We were able to locate and pick up our media passes with no issue, but we were also joined by three General Admission attendees and wanted to pick up their passes as well, since they couldn’t enter until 10:30AM.
Perhaps it was due to slight miscommunication or maybe it was just the early Saturday morning, but we were essentially bounced around from person to person, from one location to the next, to find the Will Call area, which was where General Admission had to pick up their tickets.
Eventually, we did find the Will Call area, got the General Admission badges redeemed, and everything went smoothly from that point forth.
Our early entrance allowed us to scope out the two convention venues before the crowds started to form, so we were able to get an idea of where the celebrities were located, where the photo op area was, where the Live Stage was located, and where the panels were going to take place on Main Stage.
And if one of us (Gisselle) spazzed out and got an autograph with Stephen Amell, and if another one of us (Elizabeth) freaked and got a photo with Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter, well…
Money well spent.
The conventions became alive as the crowds were all eventually let inside, and suddenly we were immersed in the atmosphere of passionate fans, many of which displayed their creativity with colorful and detailed cosplays.
There was a good amount of people portraying themselves as Negan from the Walking Dead too, which was pretty great because we can never have too much Negan!
It was incredible just how much there was to this fan fest, aside from the main attraction of seeing your favorite celebrities in-person.
On top of events with celebrities, we also witnessed:
Thor the Impala, which allowed any passing Supernatural fan the opportunity to pose for pictures (with cosplay and props) both at the open arsenal and sitting inside the vehicle, and to fulfil their dream of sitting inside “Baby.”
A Family Fun Zone, where young children and adults alike could take a break from the con’s festivities and relax, or partake in safe archery, play on the inflatable slides, or jump around on the bungee trampoline.
Several tattoo artists were available on site in the Heroes and Villains venue for anyone wishing to get a tattoo.
A blood drive took place within the Walker Stalker venue, and we witnessed many attendees on the tables getting blood drawn from them.
We commend you all for your desire to do good!
We also encountered numerous and diverse vendor booths at both venues, selling a variety of fandom merchandise such as fanart, clothing, jewelry, single issue comic books, and we also came across someone selling a stand-in shower??
One such fan artist that was featured at the convention was Kirk Manley, a comic book illustrator and artist.
His masterful artwork was incredible to see up on display, and we encourage everyone to check out his gallery at his website, studiokm.com!
Essentially, everyone around us seemed to be having the time of their lives!
We were fortunate enough to be able to conduct a short interview with several of the fest’s attendees this weekend: Ryan Matesevac, Laura Hays, Michelle Keim, Kylie Keim Voss, Kylee LaRue, and Sarah Michels.
From convention veterans to newcomers, these attendees were kind and wonderful enough to share their experiences throughout the Fan Fest weekend:
What was your favorite
moment of the fest?
Matesevac: Normally it’s extremely hard to pick a favorite moment from a fest like this, but this year had one special moment for me.
I was able to meet Stephen Amell, and he signed a personalized message for my mother — who is about to celebrate six years cancer free after beating breast cancer — on one of his annual “F*** Cancer” campaigns. He was so genuine and kind; it’s a moment me and my mother will never forget.
Hays: I asked a question about what the actors have learned from or been inspired by from their characters during a panel with Elodie Yung and Mike Colter (Elektra and Luke Cage).
Elodie’s answer focused on how playing Elektra changed how she saw herself. Mike’s answer was inspiring.
He said that it gives hope to see characters like Luke Cage being written. Luke wants to do the right thing always, and he portrays hat we ant to see in the world.
With so much going wrong, crime, school shootings, Luke represents a desire to make it better, to do the right thing.
Keim Voss: Probably Steven [Yeun’s] panel because he’s my favorite character, and even though [Glenn’s] dead now, it was still great to see him, and we’ve met him a couple of times. Seeing him was nice.
LaRue: Getting to watch the Troublemaker group talk, because I know that they go head-against-head on the show.
Michels: My favorite part was probably the Steven panel as well. It was just really cool because he seems really genuine, and it’s nice to see that.
What/who were you most
apprehensive and excited about?
Matesevac: The thing I always get most excited about with cons is the atmosphere. I love the fact everyone there is so kind, and is just happy to be celebrate this common interest we share.
Hays: My photo ops! I was terrified I’d make an idiot of myself because I was so nervous/excited. I was in luck though, I saw John Barrowman and Nick Carter and they were both incredibly sweet and very nice.
Keim Voss: Lili Reinhart and Madelaine Petsch, and I love Riverdale a lot.
All the people from Black Lightning are here, and I also really like Black Lightning so I think it was probably them because those are people that I haven’t gotten to meet already.
It was one of those things where I haven’t gotten to see these people, so it was really exciting to know they were going to be here and I could meet them.
LaRue: I got to see Steven Ogg, and we were not that far back from him so it was fun because he’s one of my favorite people.
Michels: I was most excited for the Steven Yeun panel!
Why do you come to these fests?
Matesevac: I’m a cosplayer, and it not only helps me grow a fan base to come to these events, but just to see how excited adults and children can get when you pose with them for pictures.
It makes all the hard work and nerves of wearing a costume in public completely worth it!
Hays: To celebrate with other fans, to have a brief chance to escape everyday life and fly with the superheroes, fight the villains, and be a little kid again for a few days.
Keim: This will be our seventh fest, if you include the other Heroes and Villains fests that we went to, so seven since 2015. For us, we’re really big fans of the panels, just going in to ask questions and see them.
The autographs and taking pictures with them are nice, but panels are where you get a lot of information. We’re just huge fans of the show, so we love to come, we love to travel and get out a little bit too, so that’s exciting.
Keim Voss: Yeah, since it’s a different area that we’re not from, we get to explore the cities that we travel to. That’s always really fun to get out and explore, and then to see some of your favorite people!
LaRue: This is my second time, and I like that you see these people have one personality on the show — because that’s the character — and on the other side, you see how they actually are in person, like at their panels. That’s always interesting.
Michels: Actually, this is my first one! I came because [Keim Voss] said they were going to Chicago, and I said, ‘Take me with you!’ I just started watching [the Walking Dead]!
Why are these fests important?
Matesevac: In most parts of culture, people can gather for some specific event that they enjoy. Sports have sporting events/games, music has concerts, and so it’s important for something as big and popular these days as comics and fictional tv shows to have a event for all their fans to connect with just as well!
Hays: Our world has taken a dark turn. Politics, crime, you can’t turn on the news right now without feeling a little defeated.
Yes they’re actors, but I agree with Mike Colter, it’s about what they represent. It changes us, inspires us, and sometimes gives people courage they wouldn’t have otherwise had.
Keim Voss: A lot of these shows affect people’s real lives, and I don’t think people fully understand how much these shows actually affect a person’s life.
I think for a lot of people, getting to meet someone that has changed their life in some sort of way, it’s a really big deal for them, and I think it’s really important that we have that chance to do that.
LaRue: Everyone thinks that these people are actors and actresses, and that we can’t talk to them, they’re too popular.
This shows you that they’re just normal people. They just want to interact with people that watch their shows. This really shows you that maybe they do different things, but they’re still just human.
Michels: I think that it’s important because people can judge you outside of this place, but when you’re in here, everyone has the same amount of passion for everything in here. They’re not going to be like, ‘Oh, you watch that TV show?’ No, everyone here watches and loves it!
A huge thank you to all of these wonderful individuals who were kind enough to share with us what their experiences had been.
We are hopeful that you all had a wonderful weekend (we sure did), and we are grateful that you contributed to this fun!
Last thoughts on the convention:
Overall, Heroes and Villains and Walker Stalker created a really fun and immersive experience for all of the fans, and for the both of us!
We had a bumpy start, but it was quickly forgotten in the rush of convention life, filling our weekend with creativity, collective passion for comic-based television, and unforgettable encounters with celebrities and fans of our favorite shows!
Really great first impression, and definitely considering returning for next year!
Gisselle Lopez & Elizabeth Granato
Features Editor & Editor-in-Chief