A Review of Wicked West Comic Expo 2023

Written by Shae Rufe

​One week ago, Loveland Colorado was home to Wicked West Comic Expo, a comic convention unlike any other. With major corporations taking over comic conventions around the country, it’s getting harder and harder to reclaim the magic of the more intimate cons most of us grew up going to. While larger cons have their place, smaller cons also have their own charm. There’s something much more relaxing about going to a smaller, more local, convention. It brings back all the nostalgia of when most of us first started to attend conventions.
 
Wicked West Comic Expo brings something to the table that larger conventions don’t have; locality. It brings in tons of local and regional artists and vendors instead of major corporations, it allows for people to actually talk to one another, to share in interests, to have more conversations than a larger venue. Comic Cons around the country are more worried about the bottom lines than anything else. Wicked West Comic Expo was like a geeky farmer’s market, with local artists who were more than happy to have a conversation about their products than anything.

A smaller but more mighty con, Wicked West Comic Expo was the perfect place to spend a weekend making new friends and catching up with old ones. This was the type of convention that brought me right back to my early days of going to cons. It made me want to sit on the floor, huddled with friends, sharing food, and laughing about being able to nerd out openly. All while geeking out over the various things we all bought. This con is what all cons should be like, the gold standard if you will. Between the caring staff that is/was passionate about what they were doing and the kind of vendors who were happy to talk about their products and connect with people, the whole convention was a different vibe.

Much like her larger counterparts, Wicked West Comic Expo also offered a section of nerdy back drops for people to take pictures at. Whether they were cosplaying or not, these photo booths were a wonderful addition and wonderful experience since the people running them were more interested in helping people get the perfect picture instead of hurrying people along. It was the best convention to hit Colorado in a long time, and it had the perfect balance of things to do, see, buy, and of course… there was food! Wicked West Comic Expo should be here to stay for a very long time. It was put on by people who care about the con experience rather than collecting profits. The guests were just as amazing, featuring some of the amazing talents that made the comic world as spectacular as it is today, and inspired the vast media that currently exists.

This home-grown convention reminds us of what got many of us into our nerdy worlds, and hopefully it’s here to stay for good. With another amazing year down, we can only hope that Wicked West Comic Expo comes back next year, bringing us with it.

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