By Teresa Peschel: The Harrisburg Comic Con on August 26-27, 2023 was our second comics convention and it was overwhelming. Our first was purely by happenstance. We were visiting my mother and that weekend, the Dover DE comic con took place. I’d enjoyed what I’d seen there and so here we are.
Harrisburg Comic Con takes place in part of the immense Farm Show complex in north Harrisburg. Despite its size, it was still dwarfed by the building we were in.
We arrived soon after they opened at 11:00 a.m. We’d tried to buy tickets online — before the Thursday 9:00 p.m. deadline — but were unable to. So we stood in line with everyone else.
Inside, we were greeted by row upon row of booths. It was crowded with regular people and an amazing array of cosplayers. Despite this being a comics convention, I recognized very few of the cosplayers as being Marvel or DC characters. Dear Daughter, a dedicated gamer and manga and anime fan, identified about one third of the cosplayers. Maybe. I recognized maybe five percent. Ghostbusters, Stormtroopers, Princess Peach, and The Penguin and so forth. You know. Characters everyone can recognize.
Not being up on popular culture, I didn’t recognize any of the headliners either. But other people did!
As you’d expect there were multiple booths dedicated to comic books. There was also every possible ancillary product, including marshmallows, a chance to get filmed in three dimensions, dragon statuary, get service with a smile, and a chance to upgrade your game room. At one booth, you didn’t have to talk to the author if you felt shy.
We spoke with Jarred and Matt of “You Have to Watch This” podcast about a possible interview about Agatha Christie films. Maybe they’ll email me. It could happen.
I also got to cross light sabers with Sarah B. of Life of Cosplay.
None of this sounds like it has anything to do with science fiction, fantasy, or genre-adjacent horror, but it was there. We always attend an event like this looking for indie authors and we found plenty. They’re all genre or genre-adjacent and willing to stand on their feet all day Saturday and Sunday. For you indie authors looking to build your fanbase, shows like this can give you a feel for whether or not the buying public will take a chance on your writing.
Let’s meet the authors and one artist. [Photo gallery and conclusion of report follow the jump.]
Edward Swing
Jacob Hilliard, artist
Jessica Eppley
Kyleen McHenry
Marie Daley
Olivia Berrier
R.A. Fischer
S.K. Ehra
Shawn McLain
Timothy Fling
Tory Gates
Viktor Bloodstone
Lots of books!
If you’ve put off attending a local comics convention because you’re concerned there won’t be anything that interests you, you may be pleasantly surprised. Yes, there were many, many booths I marched past. But there were many places I stopped at, too. The pictures are just the tiniest sampling of what we saw. You’ll have a similar experience so give your local comic con a try.
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It shocks me that I don’t see anyone wearing a mask in any of those photos.
There were some masked people; some for their health and some as part of the costume. It depended on the individual.
I find it surprising how many masks I see in photos of US SFF cons, since you see very few masks here in Germany anymore, neither at cons nor elsewhere.
There are some healthcare settings, which require masks, e.g. I visited my Dad in hospital today and had to wear a mask, because they put him in a ward with immunocompromised patients.