By Tanya Terry
The largest summer comic con in Michigan is returning to Flint this weekend! Michael Blagborne, event coordinator for the Really Cool Comic Con, called the event “a celebration of nerd and pop culture.”
“Folks get together; many of them dress up in costume, and there is cosplay-acting out those characters,” explained Blagborne. “We get together in a large area with vendors that are selling comic books, toys or video games. We come together, kind of like in a conference. There’s panels and things you can learn, different video games that you can play and people hang out and spend time with each other in an environment really just celebrating their fandom of kind of all things pop culture. My favorite part of it is there is just such a positive vibe and a positive, supporting environment. You’ll see people regularly complimenting each other’s costumes and pointing how much they like their shirt, or, ‘hey, where’d you get that comic,’ like ‘I love that series. I read that.’ People just spontaneously make these connections. Many folks make great friends that they see at different comic cons. It’s really just an awesome community, like a huge positive vibe. People leave happy. It feels good to be sharing stories and sharing very similar interests with other folks.”
The Really Cool Comic Con is an annual event, which takes place the first weekend of August yearly. This will be the third time the event has been held in Flint. Previously, it was held in Livingston County, in the Hartland area. The event started in 2018.
“The reason we moved to Flint is we needed a larger area,” said Blagborne. “We had people driving down from the Grand Blanc area, Fenton, Flint area. We had a lot of people from Saginaw, Midland, Bay City, coming down from like the Howell area. Dort Financial Center is great. On top of that, everyone in Flint has been so supportive, from attendees to local businesses. Everyone is happy to have us in Flint. So, it’s our permanent home.”
Attendees will be able to meet some of their favorite comic artists and writers. According to information provided by Blagborne, there will be several anime voice actors/actresses from popular shows like Demon Slayer and My Hero Academia. Hall of Fame Wrestlers Jake “the Snake” Roberts and Sgt. Slaughter will also be at the convention this year.
Event goers will have a chance to win a $5,000 cash prize Video Game Tournament. In addition, there will be a $1,000 cash and prize Cosplay Contest. A kids’ costume parade, scavenger hunts, panels with guests, photo opportunities with costumes groups/props and free family focused activities will also be part of the fun!
The Really Cool Comic Con takes place from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Saturday, August 5 and from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sunday, August 6 at the Dort Financial Center.
For additional information or tickets, visit www.reallycoolcomiccon.com
