A Promising First Year For Hartford Comic Con

by Brian LeTendre

If the Sunday I spent at the XL Center in Hartford CT was any indication, I’d say the inaugural year of Hartford Comic Con was a rousing success.

I took my seven-year-old son with me down to the show, and we both had a blast. There was a great mix of comics, toys, games both on display and for sale to attendees. The atmosphere of the show as very family-friendly, and there was a healthy contingent of cosplayers there as well.

Of course, we ran into a whole bunch of our creator friends, like Keith Gleason (Hero Envy, Swamp Tales), Matt Ryan (Free Lunch Comics), Tom Van Zandt (Unhappy Gran’Ma) and Sean Wang (Runners). Our pal John Cimino was there with his Saturday Morning Collectibles booth, and my son grabbed some great back issues from him.

We also ran into our good friend and SI contributor Sarah Hodge Wetherbe, who was rockin’ an excellent Velma cosplay.

All in all, I think the first Hartford Comic Con had a great first year. Next year I’d like to see some more panels (maybe a podcasting panel?), and some more flexible pricing for kids (under 6 was free but kids over 6 had to pay adult price), but there was a lot of fun to be had this year and I will definitely be back again for year two.