PHOENIX COMICON 2011 - Zombies, Zombies Everywhere!

When you hear the word zombie, what do you think of? Undead? Brains? How about Beauty? Well that was the word for zombies at the second day of the 2011 Phoenix Comicon. The 4th Annual Zombie Beauty Pageant was held following a Zombie Walk around the convention center. Hundreds of people turned out as the undead to show their appreciation for the undead. And of course, "zombie hunters" were on site to watch over the events and had additional assistance from the Arizona Ghostbusters.



The Zombie Walk was open to anyone and everyone at the convention, whether you were undead or alive. There was even a panel that attendees could go to where they could get made up like a zombie. To maintain the peace and guide the zombies along the path to the Zombie Beauty Pageant, the Department of Zombie Defense (D.O.Z.D.) was on hand. D.O.Z.D. was recruiting new recruits to help out with tonight's task and the Arizona Ghostbusters were also on site.

Around 6:30pm the Zombies started dragging their rotting corpses down the street and around toward the front of the Phoenix Convention Center. Local traffic and people attending a concert at the neighboring Symphony Hall could only look on in surprise (and some, in horror). There were zombies of all shapes, sizes and ages; zombies with blood dripping from fresh wounds and others with bones protruding from their body. There were bride zombies, star trek zombies, zombies in super hero costumes and a couple high school girl zombies (probably the scariest of them all!). The zombie army trailed their way around the Phoenix downtown area before circling back to the Hyatt Regency where the beauty pageant was to be hosted.

The 4th Annual Zombie Beauty Pageant featured 15 contestants flaunting their undead talent for prizes and the coveted Beauty Queen Crown. There was a Cheerleader Zombie that was a contortionist (nothing like seeing a cheerleader with her leg behind her head and a shin bone sticking out of a leg wound <via make up>). Creeping Beauty, the princess zombie, serenaded the audience with a fairy tale song about eating the living. Then there was Blah the painter, Zombie Momma rocking her baby, a hippie zombie, a french zombie, and a zombie chef named Ghoulia Chiles. After several talented performances, one zombie attack on the attending D.O.Z.D. guards, and some odd intermission performances by the Strange Family Circus the judges narrowed it down to three winners.

 Third Place: Hippie Zombie

Second Place: Creeping Beauty

First Place: Zombie Momma

All the contestants did a great job representing their genre. Phoenix Comicon put on a good show. And it would not have come together so well, or safely for that matter, without the Department of Zombie Defense. Check out more photos in the FanboyHQ Photo Album and remember to watch the website for more coverage from beautiful Phoenix, Arizona.

By: Martin Bright, 5/27/2011