Those who like to dress up as fantasy or science fiction characters will feel right at home in Casper this weekend as the Casper Events Center hosts the city’s first Comic Con.
Fantasy and science fiction costumes and costume contests, toys, clothing, art and even tattoos will all be found at the inaugural event, said founder Clint Randolph.“
There’s going to be a little bit of everything,” he said. “There will be a costume contest each day, we’ve got a lot of artists, a lot of comic books and toy dealers. It’s kind of a mix and match of everything.”
The featured guest for the weekend will be Montana native Kerry Cahill, a star of the AMC series “Walking Dead.”
Casper’s Comic Con is the latest to be organized by Randolph, whose work to set up the event in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has since grown to include seven such events in six states.
After putting on the Colorado Springs event a number of years, Randolph organized one in Salina, Kansas.
Spectra, a company that manages events at venues including the Casper Events Center, then asked Randolph to put on a Comic Con in Enid, Oklahoma. The event was so popular that Randolph was asked to stage events at other venues related to Spectra.
“Now we’ve got shows from Grand Forks, North Dakota, to Beaumont, Texas,” he said.
The growth in Randolph’s work reflects the growing popularity of the events around the country, he said.
“They are becoming more popular,” he said. “It’s what’s ‘in’ right now.”
Randolph said he may add shows in three to four more states by next year and perhaps even one in Canada.
Many attendees at the events are people who attend any Comic Con they can get to, Randolph said, while others are just curious to see what the fuss is all about.
“The appeal is it is something different that some people have never done and they want to do it,” he said.
Events will kick off Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m., with doors closing at 5 p.m. In addition to the toy, costume and comic book vendors, the events will feature daily costume contests at 3 p.m. — one for adults on Saturday and one for children on Sunday. Both offer cash prizes to the winners.
“The contests are free to enter,” Randolph said. “If you even have just a mask on, you can enter the contest.”
Cahill will appear at 1 p.m. each day.
For more information on the Casper Comic Con, visit its page on Facebook.
