I’m gonna start this off by saying I totally miss Amazing Arizona Comic Con. I know I could easily make the trip to Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con, which is a ton of fun, but there was just something about the Arizona version that felt special for lovers of comic books, its creators, and the media spinoffs. Amazing Arizona was a celebration of all three of those with other aspects of pop culture sprinkled in. It’s founder, Jimmy Jay, is one of the most enthusiastic lovers of comic books and everything that comes with it. The creators, from what I’ve heard over the years, were always taken care of by Amazing and its staff. These are the people responsible for pop culture and Amazing, along with Jimmy, made sure the creators were given that proper respect and celebration.
It started in 2011 at the Mesa Convention Center with Amazing Arizona Comic Con kicking off a 2-day con for the first time on Saturday, January 8th (imagine that, a comic con during the colder months in Phoenix!). My experience with Amazing Arizona doesn’t start until 2013, but we will get to that later. The first year was a celebration of The Walking Dead with its creator, Robert Kirkman, being introduced by the at the time Mayor of Mesa, Scott Smith. The Walking Dead had just finished its first season on AMC and was on its way to becoming one of the most popular shows of all time. At this point, the comic book was just hitting issue 80 which Kirkman was writing and who was also credited as Executive Producer and Writer of some the episodes of the show. Along with creator Robert Kirkman, Amazing Arizona also featured guests Jon Bernthal (Shane) and Steven Yeun (Glenn) who held a panel and a group signing. Robert and Steven would also go on to judge a zombie cosplay contest later on that Saturday.
That first year also featured Deadpool creator, Image Comics founder, and Amazing mainstay Rob Liefeld. Rob would have a “comic conversation” with Marvel Vice President of Television, Jeph Loeb. Already, those two features of Amazing Arizona were probably some of the most top level programming the Mesa Convention Center had seen. The convention also featured Todd McFarlane (Spawn, Spider-Man), Ryan Ottley (Invincible) as well as some amazing locals who have done national work like Ryan Cody, Scott Godlewski, and Shelby Robertson.
Amazing Arizona Comic Con was a big enough hit to return in 2012 for three days this time on January 6 – 8. Robert Kirkman had returned in celebration of The Walking Dead along with fan favorite Chandler Riggs (Carl). Huge cosplayer Jessica Nigri was also a guest in 2012 in her Lollipop Chainsaw cosplay (who would also go on to be involved in the game’s marketing that year). The convention would see more attendees, more cosplayers, and plenty of art and staple programming such as the cosplay contest.
When the calendar flipped over to 2013, Amazing Arizona Comic Con had moved out of the Mesa Convention Center and into the South Building of the Phoenix Convention Center. At this point in my life, I had been attending San Diego Comic-Con exclusively but I was ready to explore something local. Timing was perfect as in January 2013, comic writer Kyle Higgins was a guest on the Fatman on Batman podcast w/ Kevin Smith. Kyle was going to be at Amazing Arizona Comic Con just a week later after his podcast appearance. I found a Groupon(!) for Amazing Arizona Comic Con and made my way down on January 25 (Amazing was pushed from early January to late January with dates of 25 – 27). I remember waiting outside in the rain which is always appreciated in Arizona. I only stayed for a little awhile (this was a few months before Legion of Sand became a thing), did some shopping, met Kyle Higgins and had him sign Nightwing #0, and made my way home. 2013 was also highlighted by Jim Lee, which again, for lovers of comic books which also influences mainstream pop culture, Jim was a huge name. The convention also started highlighting other aspects of pop culture which I mentioned earlier with having contestants and winners from the SYFY show Face/Off.
Amazing Arizona Comic Con returned in January 2014 with a whole host of great guests such as Rob Liefeld (Deadpool), Geoff Johns (Green Lantern), Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), and Mark Silvestri (X-Men). On top of that, The Walking Dead was still a juggernaut in media and the latest character from the show was on hand which was Danai Gurira (Michonne). The convention also had a screening of a documentary called The Image Revolution, the story of how Image Comics came to be. In attendance of the documentary was the previously mentioned Rob Liefeld and Mark Silvestri who were two of the original founders. The documentary concluded and there was a Q&A with both Rob and Mark to talk about that time in their careers. An event was also organized to beat the world record of most comic creators to complete a comic in 24 hours. 101 artists and 12 writers were able to make that happen in which 250 copies were printed to purchase. The event was supported by crowds purchasing art, comics, and collectibles with a lot of cosplay on display and some fun programming such as the zombie beauty pageant.
This was also a pretty special moment in my history with Legion of Sand, as this was the first convention I had applied for media/press and was approved. I felt a sense of obligation to cover as much as possible and it started my journey of what this site is today.
2015 saw the convention leave the month of January and make its new home during Valentine’s Day weekend in February. This was the year that Amazing dipped its toes into voice actors from popular anime which is still a staple of their convention in Vegas today. They brought out the four actors representing Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupitar, and Tuxedo Mask from the original English dub of Sailor Moon. It was also a very impressive list of comic creators that included the previously mentioned Liefeld, the late George Perez (Teen Titans, The Avengers), Todd McFarlane and Greg Capullo (Spawn), Chad Hardin (Harley Quinn), Kevin Eastman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Steve McNevin and Charles Soule (Death of Wolverine), and the late Herb Trimpe (The Incredible Hulk). This kind of lineup is rarely seen outside of large industry conventions like New York Comic Con or San Diego Comic-Con and the fact we had it here in our own backyard was amazing. I know I previously mentioned the creators who are local but these conventions are where first found individuals like Val Hochberg, Jeff Pina, Alfred Trujillo that are still putting out some great work.
Both the guests and attendees enjoyed 2015 so much that a lot of the comic creators returned in 2016 along with legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont and Rick Hoberg from the original Marvel run of Star Wars. 2016 was also very special as the convention took place Febraury 12 – 14 which also happened to be the release weekend of Deadpool in theaters. Amazing Arizona was able to partner with the nearby AMC theater for a special screening of the film with introduction by Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld. This was one of those very unique experiences that you get one shot at. While obviously there were a lot of Deadpool fans in the theater, it also played host to some of Rob’s peers in the comic industry.
What we didn’t know at that time was that 2016 would be the last year of Amazing Arizona Comic Con. The reasons why we didn’t get another year or several more isn’t my story to tell but I do appreciate what we got and look back on it fondly. Fast forward to 2025 and we do not have anything in Arizona that has replicated the passion that Amazing Arizona put into celebrating the creators of pop culture. If you missed out on Amazing Arizona and wish you could have experienced it, I do recommend checking out their Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con which is actually coming up soon.
Legion of Sand 