For one weekend in March every year, if you find yourself downtown, your odds of spotting stormtroopers and Marvel villains strolling around are unusually high.
This year’s Planet Comicon runs March 27–29 at the Kansas City Convention Center’s Bartle Hall. The three-day event will once again transform the convention center into a hub for celebrity panels, autograph sessions, and a sprawling exhibitor floor. One of the weekend’s biggest draws is Saturday night’s official Cosplay Costume Contest, where competitors can show off character recreations for a shot at a $15,000 prize pool.
Planet Comicon Kansas City began in 1999 as a small comic book convention. Today, it has evolved into a multi-day event that draws tens of thousands of attendees, nationally known celebrity guests, and a vendor floor that rivals conventions in larger cities.
This year’s lineup of talent includes a great mix of stars and creators:
- Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Sin City, Wilfred, Dirk Gently)
- Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden – Lead Singer)
- Priscilla Presley (Dallas, Naked Gun, Agent Elvis)
- Kiefer Sutherland (The Lost Boys, 24, Young Guns, Designated Survivor)
- Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Goonies, Rudy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
- Keith David (The Princess and the Frog, The Thing, They Live, Gargoyles)
- Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter, Star Trek: Discovery, The White Lotus, Cars 2)
- Jared Padalecki (Supernatural, Gilmore Girls, Walker)
- William Shatner (Star Trek, T.J. Hooker, Boston Legal) …and many more!
The vendor floor will be filled with booths selling rare comics, trading cards, handcrafted merchandise, apparel, props, original art, and collectibles. Limited-edition convention exclusives and advance-purchase photo ops are expected to sell out quickly.
