After attending my first ever convention last year, GalaxyCon, I quickly learned how much the convention scene appealed to me. Last month, I decided to give Fandemic Tour 2022 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA a try.
I’m not a cosplayer, but a hobby that I picked up during the course of the pandemic was autograph collecting. What better place to fulfill that hobby by attending conventions? While Covid-19 had everything closed down, celebrities and other talents mainly participated in private signings that were closed to the public.
Many consignment/autograph collecting companies, such as SWAU, Twin Cities Comics, Official Pix, Zobie, Dark Parlor Originals, and more handled these signings with numerous talents. But as the world began to open up again, the convention world came back to life. This is what brought me to GalaxyCon last year, and just recently, Fandemic.
The Fandemic Tour is an up-and-coming popular convention/entertainment company that hosted multiple conventions in the past. The show recently returned this year to bring us a new installment of their convention.
This year saw the show have a The Walking Dead theme to it, bringing in an enormous chunk of the cast to attend the weekend. Unfortunately, numerous big-name celebrities had to cancel last minute, such as Sebastian Stan, Norman Reedus, Robert Englund, Steven Yeun, Pom Klementieff, and Jon Bernthal.
With that being said, the weekend still managed to have a stacked roster of talent. Some notable names included Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Melissa Mcbride, Michael Rooker, Stephen Amell, Cary Elwes, Ross Marquand, Michael James Shaw, Bruce Campbell, and Cailey Fleming.
Day 1 of Fandemic Tour 2022
The weekend ended up going by fairly quickly for me. I flew into Atlanta very early on a Friday morning and was able to attend part of the convention that day. We rushed to the convention around 6:30 pm, as the day ended at 8 pm.
I mainly spent Friday night scoping out the convention floor and learning where everything was. Convention floors, at first, can be a little bit overwhelming. At times it feels like an endless sea of booths and celebrities, but after becoming more familiar with the floor setup I became more comfortable.
I was only able to meet a few people on Friday such as Michael Cudlitz, Tom Payne, and Cooper Andrews. I met Cooper Andrews briefly and unfortunately did not have a ton of time to discuss anything related to Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Day 2 of Fandemic Tour 2022
Most of the action for me took place on Saturday. I spent my time on the convention floor from 10:30 am to almost 8 pm. During the day on Saturday, I mainly spent time waiting in lines to get some of my Funko Pops that I collect signed.
Being a huge fan of The Walking Dead, I also decided to get a cast signed poster signed. Since the show is in its last season, this would likely be my last chance to get a good majority of the cast together in one place.
The first person I stood in line to meet was Michael James Shaw, who had recently joined the final season of The Walking Dead but more famously played Corvus Glaive in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
I met lots of other cool guests like Ross Marquand who played The Stonekeeper (aka The Red Skull) in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame as well.
I asked both Shaw and Marquand about their time filming Infinity War and Endgame and they both spoke very highly of it. They both talked about filming in motion capture suits consistently and how it was fun to film with people such as Paul Bettany, Josh Brolin, and Chris Evans.
After that, I met Emily Swallow, the popular The Mandalorian star who plays The Armorer in the critically acclaimed Disney + show. She was kind enough to utter her classic line “This is the way” for me and then we chatted a little bit about The Mandalorian Season 3, although she mostly remained quiet on the topic.
I then mainly spent the rest of the day meeting numerous The Walking Dead cast members. Most notably, I met Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Melissa Mcbride, and Michael Rooker.
Rooker was as chaotic and fun in real life as his character Yondu from Guardians of the Galaxy. As a longtime The Walking Dead fan it was incredibly cool to meet Melissa Mcbride and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who play longtime popular characters Carol and Negan on the show.
Final Thoughts On Fandemic Tour 2022
Overall, the weekend was definitely a success. I flew home early on Sunday and arrived home just in time to unpack before going to bed.
The Fandemic Tour was another example of why I will likely continue to attend conventions and will recommend that other pop culture fans do so. Meeting actors and actresses from some of my favorite franchises have become a truly enjoyable and fun thing to do.
I’d say if you’re nervous about going to a con, give it a shot as you likely will not regret it. There is genuinely something for everyone at a convention. Whether it’s cosplay, meeting numerous talents, or shopping at the dozens of flea market-esque booths. I look forward to posting about my next con adventure here at The Cosmic Circus!
What cons will you be attending? What have you attended in the past? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter @mycosmiccircus!
