First Big River Comic Con

On April 13, Monroe St. Press took part in the first Big River Comic Con in Hannibal, Mo. This event drew at least 4,000 people to the Tabernacle of Praise Recreational Complex for a full day of demonstrations, seminars, cosplay and special appearances by artists, actors and other performers. 

Organizer Darin Logue noted that while many people had told him that the Hannibal/Quincy/Tri-State area wasn't populated enough to support a full-scale comic con, the response before and during the event proved otherwise. At least 800 people showed up just in the first hour and attendee traffic was heavy for most of the day. 

Nearly every character, superhero or villain from the various comic book and film/TV universes was represented: DC (Superman, Batman, Harley Quinn, Green Lantern, etc.), Marvel (Spiderman, Hulk, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc.), Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Ghostbusters, Doc Brown (Back to the Future), Michael Myers (Halloween), and many others. 

Vendors in attendance, in addition to numerous comic book and fandom/collectible vendors, included Tech Outreach of Hannibal, which creates and sells memorabilia created via 3D printing. 

We extend special thanks to Logue and his crew of volunteers who made this event happen, and to the Tabernacle of Praise Church for providing their facilities when flooding closed the originally planned venue. 

Thanks also to everyone who stopped by the Monroe St. Press table and took home a copy of one of our books, a business card or a book list. As was the case two weeks ago at the Steampunk Spring Faire, we had some returning visitors/customers from the Big River Steampunk Festivals... this year, however, we will be taking part in the Festival as guests rather than as vendors. 

Big River Comic Con 2020 is already in the works—and may be extended to 2 days due to the overwhelming response to this year's event. 

After doing 2 events in 2 weeks we're taking a bit of a hiatus, but our next two events are literally back to back— Cog County Faire (May 31-June 2, Montello, Wis.) and Cogs & Corsets (June 7-9, Bloomington, Ill.)