SOUL COMIX CON is a comics festival dedicated to celebrating Black creators, Black characters, and Black storytelling across the comics medium. Organized by DP COMIX and held at the Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center in Leimert Park, one of Los Angeles's most important African American cultural neighborhoods, SOUL COMIX CON brings together indie comics, superhero comics, and graphic novels by Black artists and writers.
Attendees can meet Black comic book creators in person, purchase original artwork and limited-edition prints directly from the artists who made them, and discover independent comics that are not available at any chain retailer. A cosplay party is included in the programming, with a focus on characters from Black-created and Black-led comics properties.
Family-friendly and all ages. Saturday June 27, 11am to 5pm. Free or low-cost admission. Leimert Park is accessible by Metro and is one of the city's premier destinations for Black art, culture, and community. SOUL COMIX CON represents the kind of niche community gathering that is the reason Falkor exists — a room full of people who care deeply about the same thing, assembled for one afternoon.
Monthly· Next Oct 14
$4-$8
Shrine Auditorium, 665 W Jefferson…
The regulars know each other. That is the first thing you notice — you have walked into a room with a history.
The longest-running monthly pop culture convention in Los Angeles, and the floor shows it. Dealer tables with original comic art, golden and silver age books, horror movie posters, vintage paperbacks, and people who have been collecting long enough to know exactly what they are holding.
The range is the pleasure of it. A box of beat-up Bronze Age books next to a signed original piece next to a stack of sci-fi paperbacks somebody clearly loved and somebody clearly let go of. If you bring a want list the dealers will dig for you. If you do not bring one, you leave with one.
Sunday morning is the quietest session and the right entry point if you are new — dealers dealing, collectors talking to collectors, the whole floor laid out in front of you.
Shrine Auditorium, 665 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles.
No activation booths, no photo-op queues. Just the floor.
May 22 – May 25, 2026
Paid - $75-$120
San Jose Convention Center, 150 W …
No corporate booths dominating the floor. The panels, the screenings, the programming — all of it organized by volunteers who have been running this for decades, which gives it an atmosphere that is genuinely hard to replicate. It feels less like a trade show than the largest anime club meetup in California.
It has run every Memorial Day weekend since 1994, drawing 25,000 to 30,000 people across four days. Programming runs 24 hours. The Saturday cosplay masquerade is a full theatrical production. The gaming hall is one of the best at any convention — tournaments, free-play consoles, retro arcades running through the night. In the dealer room and artist alley, indie creators outnumber corporate licensors.
San Jose Convention Center, 150 W San Carlos St.
Four-day badges sell out; single-day passes are sometimes available at the door. If you have done Anime Expo but never this, the culture is meaningfully different — and the difference is the point.
May 22 – May 24, 2026
Handlery Hotel, 950 Hotel Cir N, S…
Anime Conji is San Diego's longest-running fan-organized anime convention, held annually at the Handlery Hotel in Mission Valley for a three-day weekend of anime, manga, gaming, cosplay, and the specific community that has kept this event running for over a decade as an independent, fan-operated alternative to the larger commercial conventions.
The convention's fan-run character gives Anime Conji a distinct personality: the programming decisions are made by people who attend because they genuinely love the material, the guest selection reflects real community enthusiasm rather than marketing considerations, and the convention floor has the energy of a community gathering rather than a marketplace.
Anime Conji features programming across multiple rooms covering series-specific panels, AMV (anime music video) competitions, voice actor guest Q&As and signings, a dealers room with merchandise from licensed and independent vendors, an artist alley with original work from regional creators, and a cosplay competition with detailed craftsmanship judging.
The Handlery Hotel is at 950 Hotel Cir N in Mission Valley, accessible from the I-8 at Hotel Circle. The Mission Valley Trolley stop connects to downtown San Diego. Convention badge holders receive discounted hotel rates at the Handlery when booking through the Anime Conji room block. Weekend and single-day badges available through the Anime Conji website.
The final season of The Boys is NOW AIRING on Prime Video. Episodes 1–2 dropped April 8, 2026 with new episodes weekly through the series finale on May 20. Billy Butcher and the Boys face off with Homelander for the last time. Creator Eric Kripke has called this the most shocking season yet. Why watch: One of the most subversive superhero stories ever told ends here — don't miss the finale event. Updated: April 7, 2026.
May 15 – May 17, 2026
Town and Country Resort, 500 Hotel…
SD Comic Fest is San Diego's answer to the San Diego Comic-Con overflow — a grassroots fan convention held in the spring that brings together the collector, creator, and fan communities that SDCC serves but in a more intimate, accessible format that specifically celebrates the print comics, vintage collecting, and creator culture that defined pre-corporate convention culture.
Comic Fest focuses deliberately on what made comics conventions exciting before they became entertainment industry marketing events: original art dealers, back issue sellers, independent comic book creators at tables selling and signing their work, panel discussions about comics history and craft, and a collecting community that considers itself custodians of an art form. Cosplay is present but not the focal point.
The vendor room at Comic Fest is a genuine market for original comic art pages, silver and bronze age books at fair prices, Golden Age finds, and small press publications from independent creators who wouldn't command a presence at SDCC's massive floor. This is where a collector who loves comics as objects — drawn pages, printed paper, the specific history of the medium — finds things they can't find anywhere else.
SD Comic Fest typically runs in late April or early May in San Diego at the Town and Country Resort or similar event venue. The convention is all-ages and admission is charged at the door, with weekend passes available. Check the SD Comic Fest website for the confirmed 2026 dates and venue closer to the event.
May 16 – May 17, 2026
$20-35
2000 E Convention Center Way, Onta…
At the big conventions you queue for a photo. At this one you sit down across from the person who drew the thing, and they have time.
The floor is built around direct creator access — meet artists and writers face to face, commission original work while you wait, pick up independent titles shelved next to the mainstream publishers, and dig through a dealer room genuinely packed with back issues, figures and collectibles. Cosplay runs the whole weekend without anyone treating it as a competition.
Saturday draws the bigger crowd. Sunday moves slower, which is when the browsing gets good and the conversations get longer.
Ontario Convention Center, 2000 E Convention Center Way — off the 10 and the 60, parking on-site. Weekend passes are the better value if you are coming both days.
Bring cash and a list. You will leave with something signed by a person whose name you now know.
May 16, 2026
$12–$17
California Center for the Arts, Es…
California Center for the Arts, Escondido. May 16th, 2026. $12-$17. AniPop brings the anime pop-culture market to a performing arts venue in North County San Diego — one of the only events in the region specifically designed for the community between Los Angeles and the San Diego convention circuit.
The AniPop floor is built around independent artists and anime merchandise — handmade goods, fan art, imported items, limited-edition products that circulate at conventions and don't exist in stores. The artists who table here chose this event specifically, which means the energy of the dealer's room is different from a mall pop-up: these are people who care about the work and came to be in a room with people who care about it the same way.
$12-$17 for the day. The California Center for the Arts has the layout to handle this well — the performing arts complex gives the event room to breathe without feeling underpopulated. Escondido is thirty minutes from San Diego and an hour from Los Angeles, which puts it in reach for most of SoCal. anipop.us for tickets and the full vendor list. The artist alley is where the real discovery happens — slow down in that section. The piece you didn't know you were looking for is usually on the table you almost walked past.
May 1 – May 4, 2026
From $15
Nationwide theatrical release, Uni…
Marvel's team of antiheroes gets their moment: Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, Ghost, Taskmaster, Red Guardian, and the US Agent — assembled from the corners of the MCU that didn't get clean endings. Thunderbolts* opens May 2, 2026; the asterisk is in the title for a reason the marketing has been careful not to explain. The people who have tracked this cast across a dozen projects finally get the payoff.
Every participating comic shop in America gives away free comics today. No catch. Show up, take books. Publishers make their best issue available: Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, every indie label competing for your shelf space. For regular readers it's a holiday. For newcomers it's the best possible intro. Find your nearest shop at comicshoplocator.com.
Apr 26, 2026
From $20
Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W K…
Final day of WonderCon Anaheim. Prices in the dealer's room drop. The last-day energy is real — panels, autographs, and saying goodbye until Comic-Con.
Apr 25, 2026
From $30
Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W K…
Day 2 at WonderCon Anaheim. The panels get bigger, the artist alley lines get longer, and the cosplay gets more elaborate. The second day is always the best.
Apr 24, 2026
From $30
Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W K…
WonderCon fills the Anaheim Convention Center with comics, sci-fi, fantasy, film, and the cosplay community that doesn't need a San Diego hotel room to have the time of their lives. Panels from top creators, artist alley discoveries, and a dealer's floor that takes hours to properly explore.
Mar 27 – Mar 29, 2026
Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim…
Experience three days of nonstop pop culture action! From blockbuster panels and exclusive sneak peeks to cosplay competitions, celebrity meet-and-greets, and interactive gaming zones, WonderCon is a playground for comic, anime, and movie fans alike. Explore sprawling exhibitor halls, discover rare collectibles, and immerse yourself in the excitement and energy that only a premier fan convention can deliver.
Feb 28 – Mar 1, 2026
Adventist Health Arena, Stockton, …
Get ready for two days of pop culture immersion! StocktonCon Winter brings together cosplay enthusiasts, comic collectors, gamers, and anime fans for an unforgettable experience. Enjoy celebrity panels, interactive gaming zones, artist alleys bursting with unique creations, and epic cosplay competitions. From discovering rare collectibles to connecting with passionate fans, every moment is packed with excitement and fandom energy.
Mutants unite in thrilling adventures! Packed with nostalgia, superhero action, and epic storylines, X-Men '97 delivers heroism, excitement, and animated brilliance that fans will love.
One day only. Which is the constraint that makes this one work, because you cannot pace yourself across a weekend, so the whole floor moves at the speed of somebody who knows exactly which table they have to reach first.
Cosplay competitions where the costume that wins is usually the one with an engineering problem solved inside it. Panels with creators who are still standing in the hallway afterward, taking the questions nobody asked them on stage. Booths where the real find is three boxes deep and priced by someone who was in a hurry. Comics, anime, gaming, and film all sharing one hall, which means the conversations cross over in ways the enormous conventions have gotten too big to allow anymore.
Pasadena Convention Center, a single day of it, badges through the event site. Send it to the friend who talks about their childhood collection the way people talk about someone they lost touch with.
Jan 2 – Jan 4, 2026
SAFE Credit Union Convention Cente…
Three days of anime magic with epic cosplay, exclusive panels, gaming battles, and an artist alley full of treasures. Immerse yourself in the ultimate otaku experience.
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