The Convention Fans Blog

Bettendorf, IA – April 20, 2010 – QC Anime-zing!, the biggest anime festival to come to the Quad Cities, is excited to announce Robert Axelrod will be appearing at the convention June 18-20, 2010 in Bettendorf, IA. Robert Axelrod is added to the guest list also including Johnny Yong Bosch, Spike Spencer, Eyeshine, and The Man Power. Due to professional obligations, Carrie Savage will not be able to make it this year.

Robert Axelrod has been in showbusiness since childhood, eventually ending up in the Soho Avant-garde Theater scene in a show called “Little Trips”, then Off-Broadway in a play called “The Destroyers”. Axelrod then left acting for the world of music, spending eight years as a rock musician. Music brought him to Los Angeles where he decided to return to acting. Since then, Mr. Axelrod has appeared in over thirty feature films such as the Sci-Fi hit remake “The Blob.” Television appearances include guest star roles on “Amazing Stories”, “Star Trek Voyager”, “Ted And Eric’s Awesome Show”, and “The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He also starred in the Michael Jackson music video “Stranger in Moscow”.

Robert Axelrod is also a busy voice over artist. He is the voice of Lord Zedd and Finster on the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers”. The Lord Zedd voice is one of the most recognizable character voices around. He voiced Armadillomon and Wizardmon on “Digimon, Microchip, The Punisher’s sidekick, on “Spiderman”, Rico on “Robotech”, and has voiced countless Anime features including “Akira”, “The Big O”, “Cowboy Bebop”, “Brain Scratch”, et al. As Lord Zedd, he starred in both the first Power Rangers feature film and the wildly popular live show that toured the country. He was a regular character on Saban Entertainment’s “Wowser” series (as Ratso Catso), “Journey To The Heart of the World” (as Scarface), “Hallo Spencer” (as Elmer), and more. He just finished narrating the mockumentary “Safety First: The Rise of Women” and voicing four Anime series, “Gaiking”, “Danguard Ace”, “Captain Horlock”, “The Adventures of Nadja”, and “Fist of the North Star”.

Robert Axelrod will be running several panels and giving out autographs throughout the QC Anime-zing! 2010 weekend. He will be appearing in addition to voice actors Johnny Yong Bosch (Vash the Stampede, Ichigo, Power Rangers, etc) and Spike Spencer (Evangelion, Battle Angel, etc). Anime-zing! also has two musical guests this year, Eyeshine and The Man Power, who will be performing on Saturday in addition to running panels at other times during the weekend.

Previously announced Carrie Savage says she is very regretful that she will not be able to attend this year. Unfortunately professional obligations have demanded that she be in Los Angeles for the week-end that the convention is scheduled. She sends her deepest apologies to all of the fans. She said she will miss meeting all of you very much and hopes that Anime-Zing finds an awesome and amazing voice actor to replace her as a guest this year and that she will be able to attend and spend time with all of you in a future year!

Anime-zing! is only Iowa’s second anime convention. The convention is being held in The Lodge Hotel, a victorian castle themed convention center, in Bettendorf, IA. The convention center is the perfect setting for many kinds of photoshoots (Black Butler, Steampunk, Lolita, D.Gray-man). Rooms at The Lodge are $95 per night and must be reserved before May 17th, 2010.

Anime-zing! 2010 will feature events including discussion panels, a martial arts demonstration, interactive workshops, AMVs, anime showings, video games, board games, a Saturday night concert, and more. The convention will also have a ConSuite open to all attendees and late night programming.

The organizers of Anime-zing! are also running the third convention in Iowa called Anime-SPARK!. Anime-SPARK! will be held February 10-14, 2011, Valentine’s weekend, in Cedar Rapids, IA. Anime-zing! also organized an “instant anime convention” in Illinois, Anime-ZAP!, with less than 72 hours of planning. The event garnered over 150 attendees, and the organizers of Anime-zing! are hoping to run the event again in 2011 to promote the larger QC Anime-zing! convention.

Registration for Anime-zing! is available online at http://www.qcanimezing.com

Currently registration is $40, which lasts through May 20th, 2010. Registration at the door is $50.