The Albuquerque Comic Con held its 15th annual gathering at the Albuquerque Convention Center the weekend of Friday, Jan. 17.
Featuring celebrity panels, meet and greets and multiple areas for vendors to sell artwork and memorabilia, the Albuquerque Comic Con sold out of tickets for its Saturday events.
Celebrity guests and fans alike were excited to be in attendance, including “Better Call Saul” and “Xena: Warrior Princess” star Patrick Fabian, who made his first Albuquerque Comic Con appearance. He said he was surprised by the large turnout.
“I know a lot of people here because I shot ‘Better Call Saul’ for three seasons, so there are a lot of people who I just know from the neighborhood who came out to say hi,” Fabian said. “That’s New Mexico friendly.”
Multiple “Breaking Bad” stars returned to the Duke City for the event, including Raymond Cruz and Dean Norris, as well as local star and Bernalillo County Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada.
Other celebrity guests, including Ashley Greene and Peter Facinelli of “Twilight,” Sean Astin and Elijah Wood of “The Lord of The Rings” and Jared Padalecki of “Supernatural” made appearances throughout the three-day event.
Fans Samantha and Patrick O’Sullivan made their third visit to Comic Con to meet some of their favorite actors and shop for art and collectable items.
“My favorite part of the Comic Con is finding unique dice,” Samantha O’Sullivan said. “I have to limit myself to a set a year or I will spend our whole budget.”
Originally, 130 celebrity attendees were announced, and despite cancellations due to the recent wildfires plaguing Los Angeles, around the same number of guests was still set to appear as of Jan. 16, according to coordinator Cody Smith-Candelaria.
Comic Con faced controversy after announcing this year’s guest list due to the presence of Kevin Spacey’s name. In 2017, the actor was accused of sexual assault or misconduct by 15 people, according to USA Today. Spacey was found not guilty of nine counts of sexual offenses in the United Kingdom last year, and not liable for battery in New York in 2022, according to CNN.
A community member organized a petition to boycott Comic Con due to Spacey’s expected appearance, which garnered 131 signatures.
Albuquerque Comic Con Promoter Jim Burleson doubled down on his decision to host Spacey in an interview with the Albuquerque Journal.
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“The inclusion of Kevin Spacey was based on all of his relevant work to pop culture,” Burleson told the Albuquerque Journal. “He was acquitted of the crimes he was accused of so we hope that our community will welcome him or at least accept the due process of our legal system … I’m squarely against the idea of letting an angry mob determine what is or isn’t acceptable.”
Burleson did not respond to the Daily Lobo’s request for comment.
Maria Fernandez is a beat reporter and photographer for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
