Rose City 2017 part 2 By: Lexi vaughn

I had the privilege of interacting with some of the many celebrity guests Rose City Comic Con had to offer! Each experience was a positive and memorable one. The first was Grey DeLisle, who is best known for being the voice behind Daphne from Scooby Doo, among dozens of other popular cartoon voices. DeLisle was very enthusiastic, and stood in front of her table to greet and interact with her fans. She even gave out free bracelets for those that favored her talent as "Azula" from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Next in line was Tom Kenny, who voices Spongebob Squarepants. It was so surreal meeting such a major part of my childhood, and the interactions and bickering between Kenny and Rodger Bumpass, the voice of Squidward Tentacles, behind the tables made it seem like the cartoon had come to life. I ended up shelling out a couple extra dollars to take a selfie with Kenny, because who wouldn't? I then went to meet James and Oliver Phelps, who play the troublemaking duo Fred and George Weasley respectively in the Harry Potter series. Now I'm not the biggest "Potterhead", but with people around me in line in tears from excitement, I actually got a bit nervous about meeting them. However, they were absolute gentlemen, and inquired about activities to do around Portland during their stay. And lastly, I met the famous video game voice actor, Troy Baker. Baker is known for his work as Joel in The Last of Us, and the Joker in the Batman Arkham Nights series. He was quiet yet charming, and it was mind blowing how many different characters he's gotten to bring to life. He even shared a story how the late Adam West told Baker that he believed he would make a wonderful Batman, after it was announced Baker would be voicing Batman in the Lego: Batman series.
On top of all of the amazing interactions with these guests, the Rose City volunteers were all so friendly and helpful, which really made the whole experience one to remember!

Rose city 2017 By: Life of Shel

Rose City Comic Con comes once a year to Portland, OR and it’s no surprise it boasts the largest attendance of any comic book convention in our state. Not only do the streets around the Oregon Convention Center fill with all manner of geekery, but the community inside the convention rivals the warmth that the LA conventions are known for. I had few expectations when I arrived for the first time this year and was very impressed. Rose City Comic Con is an annual three day convention that comprises of panels with everything ranging from costuming to celebrity, a 255000 sq foot exhibit space filled with alleys of magical nerdiness. also was the first year that they added Friday to the event schedule and it was very well attended.

Weird Al was one of the main highlights and unfortunately Felicia Day canceled at the last minute but attendees had a plethora of other guest to fill their time with. (the voice of batman) gave me a highlighted high five.

The cosplay scene, which was my main purpose in con attendance, was AMAZING. While Portland’s cosplay community is still developing and growing, Rose City had such an strong atmosphere of warmth and community, partly due to the Seattle and Canadian cosplay communities trekking down to our galaxy. I was highly impressed by the attention to detail and character impersonations by the cosplayers. There is some extreme talent out here in the north. I attended the Saturday night costume contest with my friend Chandler (who actually won a side contest for her magnificent Anastasia costume). The costume contests were well thought out, the host was hilarious, and I would recommend it to anyone who loves costume art.

Overall, we would definitely say that Rose City Comic Con is a staple of the Portland Geek community and is a must attend for any cosplayer or cosplay curious person in the Portland area. There are many opportunities to fully participate in multiple fashions, which make for a fully engrossing weekend for many demographics. My only advice or criticism that I can offer is to arrive early to get good parking or take the city’s economical Max train (that drops off right in front of the Convention Center) or else you could be paying $20 to park 5 blocks away! Hope to see you there next year!