Saratoga Comic Con draws thousands to City Center
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Once again, the Saratoga Springs City Center had more than 7,000 comic, gaming, anime, and scifi enthusiasts of all ages in attendance for the Saratoga Comic Con’s spring event.
It was a two-day event, held on Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15.
Due to the rising interest in various pop culture and comic book events and the cancelation of Genericon at RPI in Troy, Chase Con Expo decided to put on this event in hopes of attracting all sorts of people. This is Saratoga Comic Con’s eighth year running and since its first convention, attendance has increased significantly.
Saratoga Comic Con founder Samuel J. Chase said “2018, was really when the numbers broke,
they really went crazy and in 2019, the numbers were pretty steady and then 2021, blew up, even bigger.” Now that COVID restrictions are easing for Saratoga Comic Con, this year was the biggest it has seen.
At the convention, there were attractions such as celebrities, artists, cosplay groups, cosplayers, gaming, Super Smash Bros. tournaments, Magic: The Gathering, TableTop Gaming, cosplay contests, panels, tattooing, live podcasts, and even a bouncey house.
The guest star lineup for this year’s convention included Jonah Scott, a voice actor who stars as many anime characters such as Legoshi from Beastars; Lindsay Seidel, a voice actor who stars in hundreds of different animes; James O’Barr, the creator and artist for The Crow graphic novel and comic books;
Romy Sharf, from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers; Bai Ling, an actor in The Crow, Lost, Anna and the King, and lots more; and Tim Clarke, known as the King of Gross, creator of Boglins and Sectors.
One vendor, Luulu Soul, a vendor for the past two Saratoga Comic Cons, said, “I love it, this is my favorite thing to do. If I could go to conventions every weekend, I totally would.” Her first convention was at Saratoga Comic Con in November of 2021 with this year’s convention being the second that she has ever attended.
The Best Craftsmanship winner of the cosplay contest, Luis Oyola, who has been cosplaying for most of his life and has been coming to Saratoga Comic Con since 2017, spent about two weeks creating his Mandalorian cosplay. He said, “It’s time-consuming and a lot of walking,” about attending conventions, but overall enjoys the atmosphere when it comes to attending conventions.
The Ultimate 8th-year winner of the cosplay contest was someone dressed as an orc from the popular fantasy tabletop roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons.
Another vendor, brothers Matt and Mike Gaddor, have been attending Saratoga Comic Con for six years, said, “We love this. That’s what it’s all about, we just make the stuff that we love and we just hope everyone else likes it too.” They paint, draw, make movies, sculptures, and many things out of wood that they bring to the conventions to sell.
There are two Saratoga Comic Con events that happen every year, one in the spring and one in the fall.