The wildly popular Denver Comic Con has always touted its educational mission — being the single-largest event of its nonprofit parent, Pop Culture Classroom — as well as its old-school emphasis on sci-fi and fantasy authors and, naturally, comic-book creators.
But for a heroic chunk of the 115,000 total attendees at last year’s gathering, the celebrity autographs and panels, cosplay contests and gaming held much of the shiny, pop-culture appeal.
That’s why most of the ink for the 2018 event has thus far gone to film and TV names, such as the newly announced Matt Smith (“Doctor Who”), Bonnie Wright and Matthew Lewis (“Harry Potter”), Alanna Masterson (“The Walking Dead”), Luke Perry (“Riverdale, “Bevery Hills, 90210”), Jason Lewis (“Midnight, Texas”), Graham McTavish (“The Hobbit” trilogy, “Outlander”), Gaten Matarazzo and Noah Schnapp (“Stranger Things”), and Pom Klementieff (“Guardians of the Galaxy”).
But as the clock runs down on the seventh annual event, June 15-17 at the Colorado Convention Center, this careful mix of candy and vegetables has gotten a bit easier to measure.
“The educational component is really the one that we’re proudest of, and something that we see more large cons investing in or featuring in some way,” said Sam Fuqua, executive director of Pop Culture Classroom. “We’ll take a little credit for that.”
Comic-book conventions in Kansas City and Salt Lake City, among others, have followed Denver’s kid-friendly lead, taking inspiration from its prominently located Kid’s Lab where speakers and guests perform or talk directly to children about comic creation and other issues. Last year’s version also featured Experience The Comix, which brought about 400 low-income kids into the convention center for fun, educational activities.
“I’ve been going to cons for pleasure since before I (co-founded) my own back in 2009, so I knew what worked and what was indelible,” said Bruce MacIntosh, programming director for Denver Comic Con. “Things like voice actors and panels and script readings always did well. The programming that used to be in San Diego (at Comic-Con International, the nation’s largest) is something I modeled our programming template on, and expanded on.”
San Diego’s version — also run by a nonprofit — has gotten away from that in recent years. But MacIntosh, who travels to cons around the country for research, remains focused on convincing comic and literary publishers to send their best authors and artists to Denver. Examples for 2018, he noted, are Terry Brooks of the Shannara, Word/Void and Landover series, and Katherine Arden (Winternight Trilogy).
Of course, everybody loves a killer lineup of comic luminaries.
“Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have been a constant ask for fans, and now we finally have them,” MacIntosh said. “We’ll have practically everyone who’s worked on Batman for the last five years.”
The six-month period before this year’s event is a busy one, with bursts of guest announcements, including nerd favorites Alan Tudyk (“Rogue One,” “Firefly”), Ron Perlman (“Hellboy”), Jonas Suotamo (the newest Chewbacca) and Lotte Verbeek (“The Borgias”), but also the occasional cancellation (sorry, Karen Gillan fans).
Next month, Pop Culture Classroom will also open its long-awaited classroom at its new home base in the Valverde neighborhood (2760 W. 5th Ave.). The nonprofit, which took in $4 million last year and taught 52 workshops for about 1,000 kids at schools and community centers in metro Denver, will now have its own, on-site space for camps and workshops — such as the tabletop-focused Camp Game On!, or Sci-Fi Camp: Episode 1, both of which start after the Denver Comic Con.
“That’s a big deal for us,” Fuqua said, noting that the site will offer drop-in hours for neighborhood kids. “It’s a manifestation of our longtime goal to work even more directly with local youth to tell their stories, develop their critical thinking, and offer a safe place to nerd out.”
Cosplay and prop-weapon policies at the 2018 convention will remain similar to last year, including a “PG-rated” approach to showing skin (or, in other words, covering up when it doubt) and banning realistic-looking guns and other firearms. That approach rankled some visitors, who had worked on costumes and props for months in the lead-up period.
“Our main concern is not to vex anyone, but simply to provide for the safety of our attendees,” MacIntosh said. “We’re very aware they spend a lot of time on their costumes and want them to be as accurate as possible. And that sometimes bothers them. But everybody was pretty mindful of the policy.”
The event will also return with access to the front of the Convention Center, which was notably unavailable last year, and which led to frustration for some disabled attendees and families who encountered long lines at side entrances.
“This year we’re back with the hall arrangement we prefer, which includes usage of the front lobby and access to the ‘Big Blue Bear’ sculpture,” Fuqua said.
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