McALLEN — Chuck Norris arrived at the McAllen Convention Center a little after 11 a.m. Saturday, surrounded by bodyguards and ready to enter the venue, where adoring fans waited. One of those fans, Gilberto Villanueva, was dressed like a Jedi and hoped to see the martial arts legend.
Little did he know that Norris was about to step into the same room just moments after expressing excitement to see the actor.
“I have my Chuck Norris pop and I’m here to get it signed,” Villanueva, a local martial arts teacher, said with excitement. “I have very few heroes, one is Chuck Norris … it means the world to get to see him and get a signature from him.”
A crowd of thousands descended on the convention center Saturday to see celebrities like Norris and others, as well as to celebrate their favorite characters at the seventh annual South Texas Comic Con.
Arianna Eaton, 20, attended the event with her friend Samuel Garza, 24, who were both dressed as characters of their own creation.
Eaton was covered in various shades of blue and black as she brought to life her own original character, who she described to be an oni, a creature from Japanese folklore.
Garza’s costume was also based on folklore.
He stood on stilts draped with cloth covered in fake blood and wore an animal skull-shaped mask, as he took on his own interpretation of the mythical creature the wendigo.
“It took about three months to make — all the fabric, all the construction and everything about it,” Garza said.
Both were excited to return to comic con and display their costumes as they walked among the rows of vendors.
Comic books, Funko Pop figures, collectibles and other character-based merchandise filled the convention center.
People walked from one vendor to the other admiring their creations.
One group of students attended the event with their school club, the “Pop Culture Club” at Nikki Rowe High School.
They were excited to see their fellow classmate, Francisco Figueroa, participate in the Super Smash Bros tournament, where he would be competing as Toon Link, against other video game enthusiasts.
“There is always clubs for everybody else except for kids that love anime and movies and stuff like that, so we (him and two other teachers) built it,” Gersa Galloso, the students’ teacher, said at the event. “Every year we look forward to coming here and having a good time.”
Jadee Rodriguez, a Mission resident, was first introduced to the Comic Con world in 2016 when a teacher from her middle school mentioned the event.
She has attended the event every year since then and is now a vendor at Comic Con where she sells her art prints, cosplay props and other handmade merchandise.
“Comic Con brings so many people together whether it’s because of cosplays, arts, action figures, and sometimes even (fake) weapons,” Rodriguez said. “It’s cool to see how everybody’s different interests can still be in one place.”
There were also replicas of famous cars, like the Mystery Machine, Bumblebee, TMNT van and the Jurassic Park jeep, on the convention center grounds.
People attending the event were just as colorful, dressed in various character costumes with some creating interactive scenarios for other attendees to participate in.
Roy Hernandez, 24, and his sister Brittany Hernandez, 22, attended the event as NPCs (non-playable characters). They wore signs that read “Interact? Press X to Play.”
If people choose to interact with them Roy and his sister would act out a scenario in which the participant must help them find the other, much like in a video game.
They strolled around the convention center passing by attendees eagerly waiting in line to meet celebrity guests, such as Chandler Riggs, who played Carl Grimes in “The Walking Dead.”
Riggs and other attending celebrities participated in Q&As.
The final day of the South Texas Comic Con is Sunday with doors opening for VIP guests at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. for general admission.
