Atlanta welcomed over 60,000 fans of cosplay, comics, gaming, anime and music over Memorial Day weekend — all meeting up at the Georgia World Congress Center to celebrate MomoCon 2025 and its 20th year in the city.

One of the fastest growing, all-ages conventions in the country, this year’s numbers topped the 56,000 guests that attended in 2024, and was estimated to have a $42.2 million impact on the metro area.

Equally important, the buzzing enthusiasm and pure joy of the weekend — from both attendees and featured guests — was unmatched. Everyone seemed to be having an incredible time.

Fan-favorite comic book artists

Comic book artists (and original members of the former Atlanta-based Gaijin Studios), Cully Hamner and Brian Stelfreeze made their first appearances at MomoCon this year, invited to attend and show off their work in the Artist Alley. Fans lined up to meet them, along with fellow award-winning artist and longtime friend, Wade von Grawbadger, to get photos, autographs and artwork and spend a few minutes chatting with the guys.

Hamner talked briefly about an upcoming project, “Ruby Actual” that he’s doing with Greg Rucka. “Not sure when it will come out,” he said, “But we’re hoping first quarter 2026.”

In the meantime, comic fans can continue to enjoy his previous work — the acclaimed, creator-owned RED (which was adapted into two films), the current Blue Beetle (also adapted to film) and all of the other work he’s done for DC, Marvel and other publishers over the last 30 years. They can also look forward to his return to MomoCon in the future if schedules work out.

“This has been a lot of fun,” Hamner said on Sunday, the last day of the convention. “I’d love to come back if they invite me again.”

Stelfreeze agreed. “I enjoyed [MomoCon],” he said. “I really liked seeing the younger audience.”

That definitely seemed true on Sunday, as the crowds had thinned out some and Stelfreeze had more time to hang out and talk with people who stopped by the Essential Sequential booth. With some fans, he spent ten minutes or more discussing art, comics and other topics, and even came out from behind the table at times to meet people and say hi to old friends.

Featured guests

Other featured guests also drew long lines of fans who were eager to meet their favorite creators.

Darryl McDaniels (from RunDMC and now a comic book and children’s book author), Greg Burnham (Norcross-based comic book writer known for his indie comic hits), Reed Shannon and Mick Wingert (voice actors and stars of Netflix’s “Arcane”), Ryō Horikawa (Japanese voice of Vegeta in “Dragon Ball Z”), veteran voice actor and producer, Chris Sabat, and online personalities such as Damien Haas were just a few of the standouts.

In fact, as the convention was winding down on Sunday afternoon, Haas’ fan line was still so long, the crowd filled multiple rows of the cordoned-off autograph area, both inside and outside of his designated line.

A full list of 2025 celebrity guests can be found here.

New for 2025

While most of the fun features of MomoCon 2025 were returning favorites — Artist Alley, Exhibitor’s Hall, panels, movie screenings and the cosplay showcase —convention organizers kept things fresh with a new theme (‘90s Retro) and a few new highlights, including a skating rink, an expanded online gaming area and the return of the “Bring Your Own Computer” section.

Workshops on everything from miniature painting and D&D to Gunpla modeling, as well as live performances and a massive vendors area and fan car showcase rounded out the exciting weekend.

Though tired from a whirlwind weekend of geek culture camaraderie and large (but super friendly) crowds, we can’t wait to see what MomoCon has in store for 2026.

For more about MomoCon, visit momocon.com.

Although crime isn’t on the rise, and the Gwinnett County Police Department (GCPD) is fulfilling its role in fighting crime, the City of Peachtree Corners is asking residents, business owners and city stakeholders if they believe the city should form its own police department.

With over 100 people in attendance, City Manager Brian Johnson led the discussion about the future of policing in Peachtree Corners. He presented the findings from a survey conducted by the Center for Public Safety Management (CPSM), a nationally-recognized law enforcement consulting and training firm, as well as information about patrol officer staffing, response times, costs to tax payers and a potential timeline.

Ensuring public safety

Johnson kicked off his presentation by explaining that it is the duty of the mayor and city council to ensure public safety, including reviewing law enforcement.

“Maybe it needs to grow, maybe it needs to change its focus. But city council is the one that has the decision-making responsibility,” he said.

He was also adamant that this isn’t a done deal.

“I hit this point already, but I want to hit it again. This is the start of a conversation, a community conversation and feedback to council. There hasn’t been a decision,” he said. “Council has not received this presentation from me. They’re here to watch and learn from your feedback of this.”

Mayor Mike Mason was present at the meeting, along with all of the city council members except Eric Christ who was out of town and watching remotely.

Issues and obstacles

Johnson explained that the grounds for the inquiry were based on issues about communication, access to information and enforcement of city-specific ordinances. He cited an example where a city rule that private residences can’t be rented on a short-term basis like Vrbo or Airbnb wasn’t enforced by GCPD. An owner tried to circumvent the ordinance by only renting the outside of the house. A loud pool party ensued, and frustrated neighbors dialed 911.

“Officers showed up and they said, ‘We can’t enforce the city’s noise ordinance,’” Johnson said.

The first stage to fix this problem was creating the marshal program to bridge the gap between code enforcement and GCPD.

“[We thought] they would be able to enforce both local ordinance and state law, since they are a function of the city, and they could maybe be a force multiplier for Gwinnett since [marshals] don’t have to respond to 911 calls,” said Johnson.

But other issues arose shortly after the department was formed.

“We were still working towards getting that good balance, but we have been faced recently with a couple of things that make it harder for us,” said Johnson.

Seeking shared access

Instead of GCPD giving PTC marshals read-only, quick access to incident reports, dispatch calls and other information, the marshals department was required to file open records requests through the same process as any civilian.

“They were denied, as well as the city of Sugar Hill, [when] asked for the ability to see, not change, but see the computer-aided dispatch information, so that they would know where Gwinnett County police officers were; so that they could avoid stepping on their toes or maybe looking to support their efforts, and they haven’t been granted that,” said Johnson.

He added that the GCPD has video cameras on certain roadways that are used for various reasons, and law enforcement can use them when there’s crime in the area. Peachtree Corners marshals were denied access to those cameras.

“Conversely, we have a couple hundred cameras in the city, and we definitely want them to have access to them,” said Johnson. “So the frustration out of not being able to get that symbiosis between the marshals and police made us start thinking, all right, you know, is there another option?”

Community feedback

CPSM utilized data from GCPD to discern if Peachtree Corners could feasibly stand its own force. It also took into consideration crime trends, costs and many other factors. It recommended a 55-officer department, costing $12.1 million annually, with a $2.2 million upfront cost.

Comparing the two options to “renting vs. owning” the primary law enforcement agency in the city, Johnson presented pros and cons for each. Once the question-and-answer portion began, there was no obvious choice. Men and women, young and more advanced in age, had both similar and differing opinions.

One young man, who identified himself as a local small business owner named Alexander, argued that with artificial intelligence increasing the efficiency of administrative tasks, perhaps the city wouldn’t need a full 68-man department of civilians and sworn officers.

Some accused the city of devising a solution in need of a problem. Others were concerned that paying approximately $100,00 for a study was throwing good money after bad.

But at the end of it all, the city is continuing to seek feedback and is encouraging everyone to make informed decisions. The meeting was taped and is available on the city website along with Johnson’s PowerPoint presentation, a copy of the study done by CPSM and a survey.

As far as a timeline goes, city officials would like folks to take the summer to mull it over and come back in the fall to take another look at the proposal.

Simpson Elementary School celebrated Exceptional Children’s Week (ECW) last month with five days of special activities to recognize their special needs population and all of their exceptional students.

April 14–18 is set aside each year to celebrate children with disabilities, gifts and talents. This year’s ECW theme was Bridging Gaps and Building Futures, and the school was happy to take part.

They highlighted each day of the week on the morning news with fun facts about notable people in society — and throughout history — who have overcome challenges with their disabilities, including actor Daniel Radcliffe (who has lived with dyspraxia for his entire life), Tom Cruise, Whoopi Goldberg, Frida Kahlo and Helen Keller.

Simpson Elementary’s technology team also pre-recorded various special needs classes reciting the Pledge of Allegiance every day of the week.

Guest speaker

To end their ECW with a bang, they invited former Simpson Elementary parent, State Representative Scott Hilton, to come in and speak to their K-2 classes about raising his son, Chase (who is autistic and now a student at Norcross High School), and how being different is okay. 

“Showing kindness and being inclusive is the best version of humanity,” said Dr. Taffeta Connery, Simpson Elementary School principal, in a statement about the event.

“Simpson Elementary has a special needs population of 214 (23%) of 946 students. [And] … we strive to ensure that our students are valued, recognized and instilled with high expectations for all.”

For more about Simpson Elementary, visit simpsones.gcpsk12.org.