Denver Comic Con

Denver Comic Con is a 3-day multigenre convention held annually in Denver, Colorado in the United States. The inaugural convention was held June 15 to 17, 2012 and was created as a fundraiser for the non-profit educational program Comic Book Classroom. The 2013 event was held May 31 to June 2, 2013 at the Colorado Convention Center, and will return in 2014 with a greatly-expanded space and streamlined ticketing system, on Father's Day Weekend, June 13 - 15.

Denver Comic Con embraces a host of popular arts including comic books, tabletop and video games, anime, manga, cosplay, horror and science fiction, webcomics, movies, television and literature.

The Denver Comic Con executes one of the largest programming schedules of any major genre convention, with over 250 distinct events in 2012 and almost 300 in 2013. The convention includes celebrity panels, seminars with professional creators, actors and artists, workshops with comic book professionals, and the DCC's Reel Heroes Independent Film Series. DCC's programming and guest line-ups are unique among conventions in that they actively promote the convention's twin missions of Community and Diversity. Among the distinct tracks of programming, for instance, the convention focused on comics and media featuring or produced by Colorado-area comics creators, women, minorities and the GLBT Community.

Like most comic book conventions, Denver Comic Con also features a large floorspace for exhibitors. Elements of the Con floor in Denver include celebrity autographs, a large artists’ alley, comic book dealers and collectibles merchants, as well as fan-based organizations like the 501st Legion.

During the 2012 Denver Comic Con, a special message by Stan Lee was broadcast to the Con floor, announcing his status as Guest of Honor for the 2013 Denver Comic Con. It was subsequently reported that Lee was forced to cancel his appearance due to a scheduling conflict with his cameo appearance in a Marvel movie. William Shatner, best known for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek media franchise, appeared as the new Guest of Honor.

Guests at the 2013 Denver Comic Con included Guest of Honor William Shatner, Star Trek’s George Takei, Peter Mayhew of Star Wars, Colin Baker and Daphne Ashbrook from Doctor Who, Kelly Hu of X2: X-Men United and Erin Gray of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Many of the stars of the web series The Guild also attended, including Felicia Day, Wil Wheaton, Robin Thorsen, and Sandeep Parikh. Animation guests included Phil LaMarr (Futurama), Khary Payton (Teen Titans) and Dee Bradley Baker (American Dad).

Comics and artistic guests included Neal Adams, Denny O’Neill, Chris Ware (Building Stories), Jeffrey Brown (Darth Vader and Son), Marvel legend Jim Steranko, and indie artists Peter Bagge and Jim Mahfood.

Long lines disrupted Denver Comic Con at the beginning of the 2013 event, when over 15,000 fans lined up for entry. Some fans were turned away on the order of Denver's fire marshall. Over 61,000 fans ultimately attended the convention in 2013.

Associated events include the Four Color Mixer, a private after-party, and Rock Comic Con, a genre-themed concert at the Hard Rock Café Denver. Cosplayers are featured during the annual DCC Cosplay Shindig.

Since the inaugural 2012 Denver Comic Con, Breckenridge Brewery has collaborated with the Denver Comic Con to brew and sell a specialty beer, with the name chosen by a fan contest. The 2012 beer, an American wheat ale, was named, “The Fantastic Pour.” The 2013 beer, a Belgian Wit brewed with Buddha’s Hand fruit, was dubbed "The Caped Brewsader.

Aurora Rise, a non-profit group founded to provide financial support to victims of the 2012 Aurora shooting, appeared at the 2013 Denver Comic Con.

In March of 2013, Denver Comic Con was voted “Best Fan Convention” by the editors of Westword, a local alternative press publication.