Thousands attend comic con in Saratoga Springs

PHOTOGRAPHER: Eric Jenks

Johnnie Arrow as Dr. Frank-N-Furter from 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' and Carlos Velez, dressed as a para-military soldier from the Umbrella Corporation from 'Resident Evil' take a photo together during the 2016 Chase Con comic convention in Saratog...

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The Saratoga Springs City Center was filled this weekend with Star Wars characters, a Pokémon trainer, superheroes and more.

Thousands attended Chase Con, Saratoga’s biannual comic con event. Dozens of vendors were present, and visitors had a chance to purchase comic books, action figures, posters and other collectibles. The Saratoga Comic Con started in 2015 and has been growing with each event, its founder said. This weekend’s event was the fourth occurrence.

Attendees, many of them dressed up as popular characters from recent movies, roamed through the convention center and browsed different collectibles that were on sale.

“People are usually most interested in whatever the most popular movie that’s out is,” said Samuel J. Chase, who founded the event. He noted “Suicide Squad,” “Captain America: Civil War” and the latest X-Men movie as a few examples.

Chase said the event is a fun, safe, family-friendly activity. Many visitors on Sunday were young kids or teenagers, who also had the opportunity to attend panels that featured cast members from popular TV shows and movies.

Panels over the course of the weekend included one about the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, one focusing on “The Walking Dead” and a cosplay contest on each day, where attendees dressed in character could compete to see who had the best costume.

Chase said this weekend’s convention attracted international visitors, including some from the Philippines and the X-Men of Montreal, a group of cosplayers who dressed up as Charles Xavier, Wolverine and other movie characters and posed for photos with visitors.

“My dream was to make it a worldwide event,” Chase, who formerly was a dealer in comics and associated collectibles, said.

The idea for the Saratoga Comic Con started when Chase and a friend talked about starting their own convention after traveling to several others themselves. However, Chase’s friend gave up on the idea, leaving Chase to pull the event together on his own. The Saratoga show is the result, along with a similar event twice a year in Plattsburgh.

He said organizing the convention is “an insane amount of work,” but added that through his connections and experience working with retailers and vendors, he’s been able to make it a success.

A weekend in May is already booked at the City Center for the spring comic con, Chase said, adding that each occurrence since it began last year has grown in size and popularity. That parallels comic culture in general, which Chase said he believes is growing daily.

“New pop culture figures or new movies come out and people immediately want more of it,” he said.

Reach Gazette reporter Brett Samuels at 395-3113, [email protected] or @Brett_Samuels27 on Twitter.