C2E2 2023 Recap

This Year I had the privilege of covering the 2023 Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo or C2E2 2023 at Mccormick Place on behalf of the Dorkening Podcast Network. There was a lot to take in, from cosplayers, autographs, and the huge displays to many guests in pop culture, Comic, and entertainment this year.

One of the best moments at the pop culture convention is seeing the opening ceremonies, where a Band of local volunteers gather by the iconic C2E2 sign and perform various songs of geekdom. Some include The Theme to Star Wars, The Imperial March, the Mandalorian, and the Opening Theme to Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Just for perspective, the main featured guests included Chris Evans, Tenoch Huerta, Janet Varney, Zachary Levi, Meng’er Zhang, David Boreanaz, Zach Tyler Eisen (Aang from Avatar the Last Airbender), Mae Whitman, Jack De Sena, Dante Bosco, A Boy Meets World reunion (minus Ben Savage) and the cast of the X-men the animated series from the ’90s.

This year the show was sponsored by RSVLTS ( Pronounced Roosevelts), a geek-culture-themed Apparel company. While showing a wide range of their tastes in fandoms, stretching from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Harley Quinn and beyond, they had shown several exclusive shirts only sold at the event. Part of the fun was that Celebrity Guest John Glover ( as featured on the Dorkening’s Own Splash Pages) was seen throughout the day sporting one of their shirts and delighting fans of Smallville and Gremlins 2 with his boundless capering.

One of the largest initial draws to the show this year was a nearly full cast reunion of both Avatar the Last Air Bender and Boy Meets World. With many of the original cast members present, these became huge for fans in the Chicago area. The turnout at the panels especially was evidence that their followings have not waned in the years since each went off the air, and surprisingly it was a very similar crowd. Unfortunately, Mae Whitman (Katara from Avatar the Last Air Bender), had encountered travel issues and was not able to appear as she had hoped to for Friday, Sat, and Sunday. Alas, the show had to go on, and while the full team could not be present, fans could still rejoice and take a picture of the life-sized Appa at the show.

While some show focus on Celebrity Guests as the draw, the big difference I have found is that the Chicago Comic and entertainment expo is the place to meet the world’s most talented Comic Book Creators, Artists, and Writers alike. The show draws guests from the industry worldwide and is the largest collection of industry people in the Midwest. Previous years have featured Industry Icons such as George Perez, Neal Adams, and Jim Lee, while the big names this year reflect the current popularity of Comics in the past two years.

Specifically, this was the first year in quite a long time that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Co-Creator Kevin Eastman was on the roster. The result was a resurgence in the late ’80s and early 90’s, “Turtle-mania,” evidenced by just a sea of Green TMNT t-shirts, hats, and cosplays for fans showing their support for the Co-creator. With the Hottest Independent Book of the past two years, the TMNT series “The Last Ronin,” and the sequel to the Book “The Last Ronin: The Lost Years,” Kevin Eastman easily had a line that rivaled Chris Evans.

On Saturday Morning of the show, The Dorkening was asked to join a Press Roundtable with a select group of Press and Kevin Eastman. We were each permitted to ask him questions about the Turtles, upcoming projects, and his extraordinary career. One question that made the group laugh was why the NES game from the ’80s was so hard? Kevin laughed and told us he and Peter had to field that question a lot back in the olden days of working cons and that they didn’t know much about the video games.

I wondered whether IDW ( the Publisher for TMNT) would release an anthology series or if he could tell us anything about the upcoming TMNT/Stranger Things crossover. Kevin had not heard about the Stranger Things book since he wasn’t involved but agreed that there should be an anthology series as they had in the 90s. The final question asked Kevin about the Tank he bought in the day.

He was pretty jovial about it and told the group that he found the same brand of Tank from a Hollywood supplier he knew from the comic he loved growing up called “The Haunted Tank”. This would be the M-3 Stuart light, Tank. He confessed to terrorizing his New England town and neighbors with this for a few years before selling it.

The Panels this year focused on the main Celebrity guests, including Smallville, Buffy/ Angel, The X-men from the Animated Series, Zachary Levi from Shazam the Fury of the Gods, Chris Evans, and of course, Avatar The Last Air Bender. The problem with so many guests and some with time restrictions, such as Levi, who was only attending on Friday, was a good amount of overlap, which unfortunately would prevent someone from seeing all the panels they could at the show.

The main benefit of this show which was in one of the largest venues in the Midwest, is that it’s set up in segments that cater to a specific crowd, from Artist Alley, to vendors and then Anime fans in their respective areas. The phone app is very helpful as well, with it’s schedule for panels and Photo ops, you would not have to hold on to a traditional program as in previous years. Possibly a large change due to post covid 19 restrictions.

With a lot to chose from to do and a lot to see I want to cover some personal highlights for me. First and foremost, getting to meet Kevin Eastman in person and getting a Photo Op was number one. The opportunity for this Life long Turtle fan to sit next to him at the Press Round table and discuss everything TMNT was amazing! Getting to meet a real Fraggle from Fraggle Rock is another memory I will always cherish.

Next I have to Credit all the wonderful Artists and creators I met this year in Artist Alley. Garrett Gunn ( Good Boy, from Sourcepoint Press), Gavin Smith ( TMNT and Star Trek from IDW), Zac Howard (Moonshine Bigfoot Kickstarter), Tim Seeley (The Crow, Hack/Slash, Money Shot), Sarah Meyer (IDW TMNT Sat Morning Adventures) Erik Burnham (IDW Ghostbusters, Transformers, Gi-Joe Sat Morning and TMNT the Alliance), Dave Wheeler (Wonder Boy),Jay Fosgitt (Fraggle Rock/Jim Henson company) and so many more that took the time to say hi to the Dorkening nation.

C2E2 is a destination experience worthy of the trip and Hotel stay in Chicago, and we at the Dorkening were happy to be a part of the 2023 event.