XCon World 9

It's May in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, which means it's getting hot, it's getting humid, and XCon World is back!  The annual convention, for all things wonderfully geeky, returned for its ninth annual appearance.

As with previous years, XCon World 9 has its share of positives and negatives.  As shown by the photos here, there were numerous cosplayers, covering characters from comic books (Harley Quinn and Deadpool were the most popular characters), movies and television shows, anime, television shows, post-apocalyptic mutants, video games, Pokemon, and more.  (A robotic Dalek and R2-D2 could also be seen zipping around the convention floor.)

The general area was expanded since I was last there, and that provided plenty of opportunities for both shopping and browsing.  Lots of artists and authors were selling and promoting their own works.  Local stores and groups were present, offering everything from toys from the 1980s and 1990s to posters, comics, t-shirts, jewelry, and medieval weaponry.

There were celebrities there as well.  While South Carolina may not attract the biggest names, XCon World 9 had former Power Ranger Michael Copon, Brian Krause (from Charmed and Mad Men), and several supporting actors.

As with previous years, though, there were problems.  The convention lacked private areas for lectures or events, so all held events had to compete with the substantial noise pollution through the convention.  The scheduled events were fairly light in both number and tone, making most of them pretty easy to ignore.  And without more events, making the rounds of the convention floor only took an hour or two before repetition set in.

 XCon World 9 is enjoyable, but down in South Carolina it's almost a default event due to the general lack of other science fiction and fantasy conventions.  I'll be going next year -- and I'll be hoping it improves.

 Written By James Lynch