Photo: Mike Esser announcing the winners of the King Con Cosplay Contest. Photos by Alan Hayman.
KINGMAN — The fourth King Con Comic Con brought an estimated 1,500 people out to the Mohave County Fairgrounds over the weekend in Kingman. The summer camp themed two-day event was organized by Mike Esser of Big Mike’s Toy Reunion and featured artists, celebrities, contests, and giveaways.
In addition to the nearly 50 vendors at the event, Savage Graphics hosted a fingerboard skating competition. Kingman Cornhole League and the local tabletop gaming club Wizard Club also held events over the weekend.
Various local businesses participated in the event, including The Curiosity Shop, located in north Kingman. A Camp Crystal Lake photo op scene appeared at the entrance to the expo center assembled by Curiosity Shop owner Emrich Kollar.
Leatherface actor Brett Wagner was featured at the event, though it is not his first time in Kingman. Wagner has been an MC for the Route 66 Drag Show in the past and he has come to really appreciate Kingman.
“Big Mike and his crew are doing a really good job,” he said about the Kingman Comic Con. “I’ll move here eventually, so get ready.”
Other big names included WWE Hall of Fame wrestling icon Greg “The Hammer” Valentine attending from Vegas, as well as well-known comic book artist Ruben Najera, whose works include Batman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Archie. Also present was Austin Ackert and Michael Ohaver, two of the creators of the only authorized comic based on the Tremors movie franchise.
Big Mike’s Toy Reunion owner Mike Esser says this was the biggest King Con they’ve held so far. The event was moved from its previous downtown Kingman location to the Mohave County Fairgrounds expo center because of the bigger space.
Esser says that interest in these types of events is growing but he cited the Kingman Airport as a limitation. “There’s so many people on the East Coast and the middle of the country that we would all love to see, that I could get—if I could get them here,” he said.
