Amarillo is hosting its first ConLive event this weekend at the Civic Center
Brianna Maestas
The first ConLive Comic Con: Amarillo event is being held Saturday and Sunday in the Amarillo Civic Center as a two-day event.
According to Myrisa Rutter, the public relations coordinator for ConLive, this is the event's first time coming to Amarillo. The event is being held in coordination with Yellow City Comic Convention or YC3, whose annual event was postponed to April 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is going to be our first and probably only show, so it's something you don’t want to miss out on,” Rutter said.
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The live con hosted local and non-local vendors selling various items, from figurines and comic books to handmade items such as scented candles, artwork, buttons, and stickers.
“You’ve got people of all ages coming to these events, and it doesn’t matter who you are, there's something for everybody .... So even me as a creator, I want to have something for everybody,” said vendor Joey Pineda, owner of the Troubles Back Comic booth. “COVID had made things a little difficult for having things like this, but what I've realized is our fans are resilient and there's no other way to put it.”
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The event also included gaming tournaments for popular series, such as Dragon Ball Fighter Z, Super Smash Bros, Guilty Gear, and Mario Kart Deluxe.
“We have a fun community of 'nerds' as we always do. That’s our goal, to create a place for people with similar interests to come together, make new friends that maybe you may not have met otherwise, meet celebrities that you may not have met otherwise. We want to create memories, community, and fun,” Rutter said.
There were celebrity signings by guests John Swasey and Ricco Fajardo, voice actors for "All for One"; and Lemillion, in anime series "My Hero Academia." The event also hosted voice actors Adam Mcarthur and Anne Yatco, who voiced Yuji Itadori and Nobara Kugisaki in the anime Jujutsu Kaisen.
Local cosplay artist and vendor Ashley von Bose spoke about her excitement in seeing the cosplayers who came out to this weekend's event.
“I love the cosplay community, not just doing it, but I love the other cosplayers. I love seeing the creativity. I love seeing people have an imagination. Seeing the people here, they’re breaking away from video games, TV, phone, and they're actually people. It's nice,” von Bose said.
The night of Day 1 was scheduled to end with the judging and announcement of the cosplay contest winners. The judges were cosplayers Illuminakitten, Alecta Arcana, and Mystix Panda.
The first day's event hours were scheduled for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.
On Sunday, ConLive will have the vendors room open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. At 2 p.m., the Guilty Gear gaming tournament is scheduled begin, and a discussion led by pro wrestlers Ryback and Velvet Sky will explore the difference in combat styles.