An estimated 35,000 attend annual Bell County Comic Con

Cosplay, comic book, and other enthusiasts from Bell County, Central Texas, and some out-of-towners attended Bell County Comic Con, a family-friendly event this past weekend at Cadence Bank Center.

“We estimated 35,000 attendees and are still working on a count,” said CEO, Promoter, and Founder of BCCC, Johnny Huang.

BCCC kicked off with a special “Bluey Breakfast” on Saturday at 9 a.m. The cost was an additional $25 per person which included an all-you-can-eat breakfast bar with beverages, a Bluey cereal bowl to take home, Bluey cartoons played on the big screen, a surprise Bluey visit with his sister Bingo, and friend Chase from Paw Patrol for free photo ops. There were Bluey coloring pages on the tables with crayons for kids to color, balloons, and a goody bag that contained a Bluey or Bingo mask.

“The sponsors for the Bluey Breakfast were Peggy’s Coffee House which is located at the Temple Mall, Expo Quick Stop, and the Temple and Belton Holiday Inns,” said Huang.

A Ninja Turtle Pizza Party luncheon kicked off BCCC on Sunday at noon in Hall D. The passes were an additional cost to the BCCC tickets. The luncheon included pizza, beverages, photo-ops with the Ninja Turtles, and a Ninja Turtle themed gift.

When attendees checked in they received their pass to wear with a lanyard and a BCCC comic book that contained a map, the celebrity guest list and artists, attractions, passport stamp challenge, scavenger hunt, and after party information.

“The passport stamp challenge and scavenger hunt were a purposeful adventure for attendees to secure a BCCC exclusive challenge coin,” said Huang.

Table Toppers Board Game group was in Hall E, where they gave away free gear and had a variety of games to play including the Marvel Champions card game, the Harry Potter Hogwart’s battle game, and the Sentinels of the Multiverse card games.

“We invite card and board game lovers to meet and play every Tuesday at Bit Bar in Temple from 7 p.m. to midnight to play games. It’s kid-friendly from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.,” said Joey Smalls with the Table Toppers Board Game Group.

BCCC featured special celebrity guests, guest artists, and alumni.

“The celebrities were great especially Bonnie Wright, Dante Bosco, Tara Reid, who filled in at the last minute, Janet Hubert, and Karyn Parsons,” said Huang.

Sean Astin had a last-minute cancellation. Astin created an apology video explaining to fans that he couldn’t attend because he was ill.

“We had a lot of vendors. My favorite comic book vendor is Iconic Comics. They had all the creators, artist, and writers at their booth,” said Huang.

Attendees were encouraged to dress up in their favorite cosplay. There were many different costumes from anime characters, Ninja Turtles, Mario Brothers to superheroes, princesses, and bad guys like the Joker. There were different cosplay contests with categories including teen and children.

There were different cosplay panels which included sisters Areis and Arwin. They recreated a cosplay of a character from the movie The Dark Crystal.

“While I was doing the patterns, there was red dye that rubbed off on my fingers. I didn’t realize that as I was sewing the individual beads. My fingers looked like they were bruised black. I took a shower, and the dye washed off,” said cosplayer Areis.

There was a variety of food truck and beverage vendors from Pecos Pete’s natural tea and soda where a BCCC limited-edition stainless-steel mug could be purchased with unlimited refills, Dynasty Restaurant, Texas Nachos, Oh’s Seafood, and Old Time Funnel Cakes.

“This was one of our best years ever! All our staff, team, and volunteers are local community members. Our celebrity panels have done thousands of shows, and they expressed this is one of the best because of staff, team, volunteers, and attendees. They were treated like family and were treated with Texas-style hospitality. Attendees were grateful to have big talent come to our small town,” said Huang.