McALLEN — While superheroes may be lighting up the silver screen this weekend with the release of the latest Marvel movie, they are also crowding the McAllen Convention Center for South Texas Comic Con.
With over 13,500 individual tickets sold Friday and Saturday and more than double the special guests than last year, the event was at its largest this year.
Among the 29 guests who were available for photos and autographs were actors and actresses from popular television shows and films. One iteration of the Batmobile was also available for photo ops.
New this year were the number of activities for children that were available in the “Kid Zone,” like workshops for drawing, making slime and making masks. Another new feature is an after party DJed by Kristian Nairn of “Game of Thrones.”
The large number of people in attendance was evident just by trying to navigate through the crowded main floor which housed the special guests’ booths on one side and the vendors’ booths on the other.
In simply walking from a booth that sold samurai swords and magic wands such as those in the “Harry Potter” movies, to a booth that selling Pokemon trading cards and Funko Pops of favorite characters, one would likely bump into Spiderman, Scarlet Witch, Deadpool, a few Jasons from “Friday the 13th,” Beetlejuice and a handful of Miguels from the Pixar film “Coco.”
For those who put enough effort to deserve recognition, cosplay contests were held toward the end of the event on Friday and Saturday.
Among the other main events on Saturday was a question and answer panel with Michael Rooker and Sean Gunn, both stars of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies.
Both spoke about their experiences on the films before taking questions from the audience.
Stating the process would take too long, Rooker jumped from the stage, microphone in hand, and rapidly went from fan to fan to take their questions.
Nothing big was revealed in response to the questions but Rio Grande Valley residents may take pride in that when asked if he liked the Valley, Rooker replied that he did and that it had good food.
“I’ve never eaten a better taco than down here,” he said in response to another fan who asked if he’d like to go eat tacos later.
The convention will continue through Sunday with more Q&A panels, a cosplay contest, a kids’ costume contest and workshops.
