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The third annual Twin Cities Con just ended on Sunday, November 5th. It has become our favorite big “comic” convention in the area.
Before I talk about TCC, let’s take a look at Minnesota’s recent convention scene.
For many years, the comic convention was represented by Fallcon (and then Springcon), put together by MCBA (Midwest Comic Book Association). Since their leader Nick Post died in 2014, the association re-branded itself as MSP Comicon, but it was a horribly run show, as I previously reported in 2015.
By 2021, all the volunteers at the MCBA reformed as MCBF (Midwest Comic Book Fans), and put on several “MicroCon” shows, before calling it quits in April 2023. In that same month, we saw the new MNCBA (Minnesota Comic Book Association) put on their first Springcon show on April 29, 2023. These new SpringCon (and FallCon which took placed last week on October 28), are much smaller shows, costing only $5 for entry. They don’t compare to the much larger “comic con” style of conventions.
Wizard World entered the Minneapolis market in April 2015. By their third year, in May 2017, Wizard World decided to exit the area, probably due to losing money for their Minneapolis shows.
Minnesota Fan Fest came on the scene in Aug 2017 and re-named itself to Minnesota Fan Fusion in Aug 2018, but have decided to not to come back.
There was a dry spell for big comic convention, no thanks to the COVID pandemic, in 2019 and all through 2020.
Once the pandemic restrictions lifted in late 2021, we now have Twin Cities Con, which started in October 2021 and focused on comics (Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Peter David were guests). Last year, TCC’s headliners were Elijah Wood and Sean Astin (both from Lord of the Rings), and hearing fans who attended, they can pack the room.
This year, the TCC theme is the “Askewniverse” … featuring many Kevin Smiths actors and associates for Clerks and Mallrats. Mallrats was especially important to the area, because it was filmed at the Eden Prairie Center mall … so it saw many of the actors returning to Minnesota, including Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Ethan Suplee, and Elizabeth Ashley.
Many of the actors and voice actors had panels, including the Clerks panel (Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, and Marilyn Ghigliotti, and Ming Chen), Naruto Cast (Yuri Lowenthal, Neil Kaplan, Brian Donovan, Tom Gibis, Michael Yurchak, & Doug Erholtz), Freakazoid! (Paul Rugg & Tom Ruegger), Avatar (Zach Tyler Eisen, Dante Basco, Jack De Sena, Janet Varney, Grey DeLisle-Griffin, & Greg Baldwin), Talking Thrawn (Timothy Zahn), Voice-a-Palooza (Wes Johnson, Monica Rial, Kyle PHillips, Paul Rugg, Tom Ruegger, & Emily Neves), A-Mewes-ing Stories (Jason Mewes), Rachael Leigh Cook, Danny Trejo, Jason Lee, Ross Marquand, and more.
Many of the programming ran against each other, so you sometime have to pick and choose where to go. A lot of the actors, like Jason Lee and Ross Marquand, had one rule: they could not talk about any upcoming Hollywood films because of the SAG strikes. So questions were often all over the place, like what kind of music they like.
Saw plenty of Genshin Impact cosplayers, who had a meetup on Sunday. The other popular anime was Demon Slayer, where you spotted so many fans wearing that green checkered cape.
There were also a lot of Chainsaw Man cosplayers, as well as Spider-Man. Also, lots of Five Nights at Freddy’s cosplayers, thanks to the popular film.
The big costume contests, which closes out Saturday and Sunday’s nights, was a big draw for attendees. All the costumes were wonderful, and judging for the winners must have been hard on the judges.
As for the conventions, there was one massive vendors area, with a food area, an autograph/epic photo area, and registration area. For the panels, there was one big ballroom, a second slightly smaller ballroom, and four small rooms on the second floor. There was also a game room, which was a little further… but it was often filled with gamers.
Although they advertised the convention taking place around 11am to 7pm, there were “After Hours” shows, which can run late in the night. If you really wanted to, you can easily spend around 8 hours a day, making the admission price well worth it.
Additionally, the convention was well organized. If panels were changed, the most updated information are posted on the front door. If you were lost, a volunteer can point you in the right direction.
With the 30,000 fans that showed up on Saturday, you may be spending a little time standing in line… but it never felt too long, especially once the line started moving.
If they can pull it off, I can easily see TCC rivalling other big shows, like Chicago Comic Con, which is the big one to beat in the Midwest.
For most fans, especially cosplayers, the convention is a place they can meet up with their friends or other fans who shares their same passion. Personally speaking, I met a few fans, who I am hoping to see again next year.
TCC 2024 already announce their next show to take place on November 8-10, 2024.
Before I talk about TCC, let’s take a look at Minnesota’s recent convention scene.
For many years, the comic convention was represented by Fallcon (and then Springcon), put together by MCBA (Midwest Comic Book Association). Since their leader Nick Post died in 2014, the association re-branded itself as MSP Comicon, but it was a horribly run show, as I previously reported in 2015.
By 2021, all the volunteers at the MCBA reformed as MCBF (Midwest Comic Book Fans), and put on several “MicroCon” shows, before calling it quits in April 2023. In that same month, we saw the new MNCBA (Minnesota Comic Book Association) put on their first Springcon show on April 29, 2023. These new SpringCon (and FallCon which took placed last week on October 28), are much smaller shows, costing only $5 for entry. They don’t compare to the much larger “comic con” style of conventions.
Wizard World entered the Minneapolis market in April 2015. By their third year, in May 2017, Wizard World decided to exit the area, probably due to losing money for their Minneapolis shows.
Minnesota Fan Fest came on the scene in Aug 2017 and re-named itself to Minnesota Fan Fusion in Aug 2018, but have decided to not to come back.
There was a dry spell for big comic convention, no thanks to the COVID pandemic, in 2019 and all through 2020.
Once the pandemic restrictions lifted in late 2021, we now have Twin Cities Con, which started in October 2021 and focused on comics (Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Peter David were guests). Last year, TCC’s headliners were Elijah Wood and Sean Astin (both from Lord of the Rings), and hearing fans who attended, they can pack the room.
This year, the TCC theme is the “Askewniverse” … featuring many Kevin Smiths actors and associates for Clerks and Mallrats. Mallrats was especially important to the area, because it was filmed at the Eden Prairie Center mall … so it saw many of the actors returning to Minnesota, including Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Ethan Suplee, and Elizabeth Ashley.
Many of the actors and voice actors had panels, including the Clerks panel (Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, and Marilyn Ghigliotti, and Ming Chen), Naruto Cast (Yuri Lowenthal, Neil Kaplan, Brian Donovan, Tom Gibis, Michael Yurchak, & Doug Erholtz), Freakazoid! (Paul Rugg & Tom Ruegger), Avatar (Zach Tyler Eisen, Dante Basco, Jack De Sena, Janet Varney, Grey DeLisle-Griffin, & Greg Baldwin), Talking Thrawn (Timothy Zahn), Voice-a-Palooza (Wes Johnson, Monica Rial, Kyle PHillips, Paul Rugg, Tom Ruegger, & Emily Neves), A-Mewes-ing Stories (Jason Mewes), Rachael Leigh Cook, Danny Trejo, Jason Lee, Ross Marquand, and more.
Many of the programming ran against each other, so you sometime have to pick and choose where to go. A lot of the actors, like Jason Lee and Ross Marquand, had one rule: they could not talk about any upcoming Hollywood films because of the SAG strikes. So questions were often all over the place, like what kind of music they like.
Saw plenty of Genshin Impact cosplayers, who had a meetup on Sunday. The other popular anime was Demon Slayer, where you spotted so many fans wearing that green checkered cape.
There were also a lot of Chainsaw Man cosplayers, as well as Spider-Man. Also, lots of Five Nights at Freddy’s cosplayers, thanks to the popular film.
The big costume contests, which closes out Saturday and Sunday’s nights, was a big draw for attendees. All the costumes were wonderful, and judging for the winners must have been hard on the judges.
As for the conventions, there was one massive vendors area, with a food area, an autograph/epic photo area, and registration area. For the panels, there was one big ballroom, a second slightly smaller ballroom, and four small rooms on the second floor. There was also a game room, which was a little further… but it was often filled with gamers.
Although they advertised the convention taking place around 11am to 7pm, there were “After Hours” shows, which can run late in the night. If you really wanted to, you can easily spend around 8 hours a day, making the admission price well worth it.
Additionally, the convention was well organized. If panels were changed, the most updated information are posted on the front door. If you were lost, a volunteer can point you in the right direction.
With the 30,000 fans that showed up on Saturday, you may be spending a little time standing in line… but it never felt too long, especially once the line started moving.
If they can pull it off, I can easily see TCC rivalling other big shows, like Chicago Comic Con, which is the big one to beat in the Midwest.
For most fans, especially cosplayers, the convention is a place they can meet up with their friends or other fans who shares their same passion. Personally speaking, I met a few fans, who I am hoping to see again next year.
TCC 2024 already announce their next show to take place on November 8-10, 2024.
PHOTOS
Twin Cities Con on Nov 03, 2023
Twin Cities Con on Nov 04, 2023
Twin Cities Con on Nov 05, 2023
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VOICEAPALOOZA, feat. Paul Rugg, Tom Ruegger, Wes Johnson, Monica Rial, Kyle Phillips, Emily Neves, at Twin Cities Con, Minneapolis (03 Nov 2023) |
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Rachael Leigh Cook |
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Jason Lee |
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Walking Dead’s Ross Marquand |
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Costume Contest at Twin Cities Con, Minneapolis (05 Nov 2023) |
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