By Keaton KUGLER

The 11th Annual Los Angeles Comic-Con was held from Friday, Dec. 2 through Sunday, Dec. 4 at the LA Convention Center.

Welcoming more than 126,600 guests, the convention’s attendance this year increased by over 30% from last year, according to dorkaholics.com.

This means 2022 is LA’s biggest Comic-Con to date. Besides the thousands of fans, cosplayers and artists attending, this year’s convention boasted such celebrity guests as William Shatner of “Star Trek,” Giancarlo Esposito of “Better Call Saul” and Shang-Chi himself, Simu Liu. Many fans waited hours to get autographs and photo ops with their heroes, while other attendees shopped for merchandise, attended interesting panel discussions or watched open events on the main stage.

Each day of the convention brought new events, panels and guests. On Friday evening, Japan’s leading V-tuber unit Riot Music performed a concert on the main stage for convention-goers followed by the Limits Art Battle when two competing musicians had to produce an original musical piece in just 20 minutes. Later that evening, Discovery Channel held a one-hour presentation about “BattleBots” where professional “bot builders’ showed off their creations to an enthusiastic crowd and answered questions about the reality show’s upcoming season.

Saturday was the first full day of the convention, opening doors at 9:30 a.m. The day began with something for everyone whether attending the multitude of cosplayer meet-ups, viewing — or participating in — another Limits Battle on the stage or lining up for meet-and-greet’s with A-List celebs like Charlie Hunnam (“Sons of Anarchy”) or Ming-Na Wen (“The Mandalorian”). Later events on the main stage included a cast reunion and table read for the 20th anniversary of “Jimmy Neutron,” LACC’s 7th annual Cosplay National Championships and a very extended set list of guest questions and answers.

Some of the highlighted guests included Tom Kenny (“Spongebob Squarepants”), Steve Burns (“Blue’s Clues”), Simu Liu (“Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”), Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad”)and a very special reunion between “Lord of the Rings” stars Elijah Wood and Sean Astin. The two discussed their respective careers after LotR, as well as Wood’s passion for gaming and what they thought of Amazon’s LotR prequel show, “The Rings of Power.”

Before attendees knew it, closing time rolled around at 7 p.m. However, LACC’s official after-party would start just an hour later at the Mayan Theater featuring a treasure hunt, more special guests and live music from such celebrity bands as Tom Kenny & the High-Seas. The after-party lasted until 2 a.m., mere hours before Comic-Con would reopen.

Sunday would conclude the convention, but not without plenty of exciting events of its own. The main stage drew the attention of a brewing crowd as William Shatner took the stage followed by Keith David (“Nope”), Amy Jo Johnson (“Power Rangers”), Wil Wheaton (“Stand By Me” and “Star Trek TNG”) and a cast reunion of the beloved coming-of-age movie “The Sandlot” in honor of the film’s 30th anniversary. Plenty of pop culture icons could also be found out and about running booths or panels, including Billy Zane (“Titanic”), Tommy Wiseau (“The Room”), John Milius (co-screenwriter of “Apocalypse Now”), Marc Bernardin (podcast co-host of “Fatman Beyond”), and Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr. Dan Povernmire (“Phineas and Ferb”) was spotted as a fellow attendee.

As Los Angeles Comic-Con 2022 came to a close, the 2023 event was already scheduled for Dec. 1-3 at the LA Convention Center.

  Keaton KUGLER