Heroes and Villains San Jose!
This past weekend San Jose saw the return of Heroes and Villains Fanfest. Though Logan and I have gone every year, this year had a special feel to it.
For starters, it was the fourth anniversary of the convention that started right here in San Jose and second it was joined by Walker Stalker Con, a convention revolving around The Walking Dead and horror.
What was new this year
This year Walker Stalker Con joined in on the fun. A convention dedicated to the walking dead and horror brought both new booths and new faces.
Now, being afraid of zombies, Logan and I weren’t sure how well this was going to go, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.
Industry Guests
Along with the normal CW round ups like Stephen Amell and David Ramsey, the likes of Ross Marquand who plays Aaron on The Walking Dead and Khary Payton who plays Ezekiel joined the names of stars on hand to meet.
Also names like Tom Payne who played Jesus, Steven Yuen who played Glenn and John Bernthal who played Shane and now is The Punisher were there as well. They may be gone from the show, but they are certainly never forgotten.
Over on the CW side we got new faces like Hartley Sawyer and Candice Patton from The Flash, Jes Macallen and Victor Garber from Legends of Tomorrow, Tom Cavanagh from The Flash and many others.
All the stars I met were kind and wonderful people. Candice showed a lot of appreciation for her fans and her SCPD 24 shirt was awesome.
Though for Logan, the most special moment was with Victor Garber. Victor is an openly gay actor and Logan is a Trans-Man and when Logan told him how important it was to him that Victor was out and proud, Victor put his hands on Logan’s shoulder and told him that he was doing a great job. It’s moments like that you never forget.
I won’t forget Jon Bernthal saying “hi mama” to me and David Ramsey remembering us from last year.
Logan let me know I almost ran straight into Robbie Amell while walking the floor, but unfortunately I never saw him.
Though I asked many of them if they could drop any hints on the upcoming shows, they all kept quiet on that. Ross, who plays Aaron did say he hoped that Aaron would find a boyfriend again.
New activities
Along with the cosplayers and cosplaying contests, there was also some new activities.
One was a scavenger hunt to get a free walking dead shirt or tumblr. It was free and easy to finish.
The other was a photo booth with a zombie Santa and his zombie helpers. They also had face painting and Jedi lightsaber training.
Artist row
Like always, artist row was back. Lord Mesa once again graced us with his presence and his awesome art work. He also remembered Logan and I from last year.
Rob Prior and his amazing drawing skills was there again as well, doing live drawing sessions where he showed off his talent of drawing with both hands.
I didn’t get to all of them but there were many other artistry booths.
Photo Ops
Of course those who wanted them could get professional pictures taken with their favorite stars.
Panels
Though I personally was unable to get to any, there were multiple panels over the two day span. Those are fun to go to if you have questions for a certain star or just have time and want to hear them talk.
Disability services kicked ass again
The people who run the disability service for FanFest should win a medal. They make sure all attendees have the best time they can.
From having a quiet room, where people could go to get away from all the noise to having return times so those who can’t stand in line could come back and go right up to meet their favorite stars.
They go above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that no one is left feeling unwanted and can enjoy the convention like everyone else.
A convention for everyone
If you’re looking for a wonderful convention that is small, but packs a major punch, Heroes and Villains is the right con for you. From always having wonderful deals to making everyone feel welcome, this is a great yearly treat for families and fans of all shapes and sizes.
Until next year, take care everyone.
Written by Christina Horton with the help of Logan Horton
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