Erie hosts Comic Con

Elizabeth Shewan, Staff writer

This year, Erie will host a ComiCon convention.

The first ComiCon, according to Comic-Con International: San Diego, was held in 1970 in San Diego. Since then, cities across the world have hosted ComiCons. Erie will be joining them for the first time this year.

Mariya Moore, sales and marketing executive at Erie Promotions & Expos Inc., and co-show manager of ComiCon Erie, says the idea to host ComiCon in Erie originated about two years ago.

“We had done a lot of research, visited a lot of the cons in the tristate area, and felt it was something Erie needed,” Moore said.
ComiCon, despite its name, represents many different forms of media. ComiCon Erie will reflect this with a variety of guests, panels and other attractions that will appeal to fans of comics, sports, video games, anime and more.

“It’s just amazing to see what kind of talent Erie has,” Moore said.

The Con is encouraging cosplay, the practice of creating costumes and dressing up as favorite characters from books, TV, video games and other sources, by hosting a Cosplay Ball. Moore says the hope is to encourage “people to dress up, get involved and really have a good time”

Many people have put a lot of work into making ComiCon Erie a great event.

“We’ve really had a good response from the community, so we’re pretty excited about it,” Moore said.

ComiCon Erie will take place this weekend, Sept. 22 ( 2 p.m.- 8 p.m.), Sept. 23 (10 a.m.-8 p.m.) and Sept. 24 (10 a.m.-4 p.m.) at the Bayfront Convention Center.