This article was written 草莓传媒鈥檚 news partner and republished with permission.
鈥� a comic convention held at the Sheraton Tysons Hotel at 8661 Leesburg Pike 鈥� is coming back this weekend for its second year.
It鈥檚 not exactly Hall H of San Diego Comic-Con, but some big names are coming to town, and like last year, plenty of other activities are scheduled.
The convention is set for June 8 and 9. are $35 for a two-day pass or $99 for a pass with 鈥渇ront of the line privileges鈥� and admission to an evening gala.
While many conventions today have swung more toward general pop culture, founder Michael McNutt told Tysons Reporter that All-Star very much goes back to the roots of comic conventions with a focus on comic books. Two of the biggest names at the convention this year are , a local who the Eisner Award last year for best writer; and , a writer with a long body of work at Marvel and DC comics.
鈥淟ast year, we tried to hit all points,鈥� McNutt said. 鈥淵ou stretch yourself out and end up being a B-student because you spread out. We wanted to focus on comic books this year.鈥�
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While there was a smattering of gaming aspects at the convention last year, McNutt said, he鈥檚 worked to double down on that this year and implement more gaming media into the convention.
If last year was any indication, cosplay will play a big part in this year鈥檚 convention, especially with Saturday night鈥檚 cosplay competition.
鈥淲e want people walking out of there embracing new fandoms,鈥� McNutt said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all brand new to me. 鈥β燙osplay was one thing in the last year I鈥檝e gotten more and more into. I made my son an Iron Man helmet and arc reactor and made my other child a Kid Flash helmet.鈥�
McNutt worked professionally in event directing for other companies and organizations, but eventually wanted to host his own event. The event is smaller than some other comic conventions across the country, but McNutt said the hotel setting gives it a more intimate and personal touch.
鈥淚 put together different types of events, but I wanted to put one together for me,鈥� McNutt said. 鈥淚 love movies and comics, so I wanted to put one of these together. You don鈥檛 have to be Scrooge McDuck sitting in a tank full of money; it just takes a lot of dedication.鈥�
For McNutt, the ultimate goal is for the convention to become more of a social group than just an annual event. The group also hosts a book club featuring local authors and meet-ups at breweries and other regional conventions.
鈥淎 lot of people are going to sit there and talk about the celebs and fun things, but our thing really is the community created through this,鈥� McNutt said. 鈥淚鈥檝e received emails about this and people have pulled us to the side 鈥� people who tell me they haven鈥檛 had the best of luck making friends. 鈥� People who were like 鈥業 can鈥檛 find my place in this world鈥� now have a place.鈥�
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