Was Mighty Con A Mighty Show?
It’s been a slow couple of weeks in the comic book industry, but that should be about to turn around. Summer is finally upon us, so convention season will start in earnest soon. San Diego Comic Con is a little more than a month away and with it all the major comic book news. Here in the Quad Cities though we kicked off the summer convention season with Mighty Con.
Mighty Con started last year in the summer of 2016. It’s a two day show for comic fans and collectors. They had the first con at the Davenport Fair Grounds, to an amazing turnout from what I heard at the time. I wouldn’t know as I skipped the Saturday and just went Sunday.
History repeated itself this year as I opted to skip the Saturday show, partly because I didn’t want to deal with the crowds, partly because you often get better deals on Sunday with venders willing to knock down the prices so they don’t have to lug merchandise home with them, and partly because I was planning to go the Retro Rally in the College Hill District in Rock Island.
The Retro Rally is in its fifth year, an outdoor car show with vendors, music and a pinup contest. Things kicked off at noon. My plan was to get something to eat, check out the vendors and maybe see the pinup contest. The weather had other ideas though, as even though I got there just as the rally was starting the ninety two degree heat and a limited food selection caused me to check out after fifteen minutes. From what I heard Mighty Con actually wasn’t much better as the River Center had their air conditioning go out Saturday and everyone was sweating bullets.
Lucky for me that problem was sorted when I got there early on Sunday. Box diving for back issues was prevalent from several vendors. I’m not currently on the hunt for any comic titles right now, so I didn’t spend a lot of time on that. Toys and original art were also prevalent and I found a great deal on Marvel Legends that I couldn’t pass up, so much so I had to make a special trip to get more cash to get the ones I needed. The crowd was of a moderate size throughout the day. From what I gathered at the show Saturday was a better turnout, but people just didn’t stay long because of the heat. Sunday was a light, but steady flow, which resulted in “watching paint dry” as one vendor put it.
I meet a lot of friends from the area while I was there and spent most of the day shooting the breeze with them. My biggest complaint about the show is that it’s by far the most expensive comic show in the QC. Ten dollars for a one day pass and fifteen for the weekend, which matches the pricing they had last year. This is way too expensive and I wouldn’t have gone had a friend not had an extra pass for me. I skipped the winter Mighty Con they had at the River Center in 2016, which I also skipped because the summer 2016 con had been so expensive. I don’t know how much it costs to rent the River Center, but I can’t imagine they couldn’t find the balance necessary to knock the price down at least a few bucks. I would think a five dollar one day, eight dollar two day pass would still get them to where they need to be and that’s not including table fees from the vendors.
So, while I had a good time at Mighty Con seeing the merchandise and looking for deals, I wouldn’t return for the winter show unless the entrance fee dropped or I got a free pass somehow. The next big Quad Cities comic con will be the QC Planet Con at the Holiday Inn in Rock Island. See you there.
