Cincinnati Comic Expo 2026 Photos, Part 1 of 2: Cosplay!

costume of Wendy's mascot carrying a tray with a Dave's Single, fries and Frosty.

Considering the food options, we wish this were a Wendy’s.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: my wife Anne and I enjoy attending entertainment and comic conventions together, whether in our hometown of Indianapolis or in our neighboring states (and sometimes even farther). We’re the Goldens. It’s who we are and what we do.

This weekend we once again drove two hours southeast of Indianapolis to attend the sixteenth annual Cincinnati Comic Expo, their own version of our usual Midwest cons. After a two-year relocation to the Sharonville Convention Center, this year CCE returned at last to downtown Cincy’s newly renovated, erstwhile Duke Energy Convention Center — now rechristened the First Financial Center.

This was our sixth time at CCE, which we’ve been visiting on and off since 2016. We bought weekend passes for this occasion a while back, but by showtime they only had two guests list we considered absolute musts whom we hadn’t met before. So we deleted a Friday hotel stay from the itinerary and drove in Saturday morning for just the one day. We made the most of our limited time.

As is the MCC procedure, let’s start with mandatory cosplay photos! The humble duo here at MCC enjoys the panoply of costumes, and appreciates the makers and wearers who enliven every comic-con with their talents and their exaltation of various fandoms. We regret we can only represent a fraction of the total cosplay wonderment that was on display this weekend. We’re just an aging couple doing what we can for happy sharing fun. Enjoy! Corrections, elucidations, and plugs welcome!