At the Minnesota State Fairgrounds Grandstand in St. Paul on Oct. 11 and Oct. 12, the Minnesota Comic Book Association (MNCBA) hosted Fallcon, a comic convention independently owned and operated by Minnesota locals.
Fallcon offers all the adventure of a comic convention for comic enthusiasts seeking an experience closer to home. Attendees of the convention were greeted with goodie bags at the front door, filled with comics and candy to start their journey.
The first stop at Fallcon was the Arkham Carnival, where volunteers working at the convention dressed up as villains from DC Comics, such as The Riddler, Poison Ivy and even Harley Quinn. For the price of $2, attendees could spin a carnival wheel for a chance to win a prize. The prizes ranged from toys, candy, stickers and more.
Moving away from Arkham, attendees found a local celebrity, the Nomad Ghostbusters of MN, a nonprofit fan organization partnered with The American Cancer Society that raises funds to support cancer research and help the local community. At the Nomad Ghostbusters booth was Chuck, a Ghostbuster and another member cosplaying as Scream. They can be found on Facebook and TikTok as The Nomad Ghostbusters of Minnesota and at their website.
Several attendees also dressed as characters from all forms of fictional media, including Darth Maul from Star Wars, Bionicles from the Lego Universe and Spiderman. For those interested in cosplaying, there were plenty of vendors with costumes and masks for attendees to go home with.
Caped crusaders and vile villains are not the only things that Fallcon attendees of the con had to look forward to. Local artists from all over Minnesota had booths where they sold prints, pins and keychains of characters from several cartoons, movies and television shows.
“I’ve been coming to this convention for ten years,” Matt Hints, an artist at Fallcon, said, “We [MNCBA] took a hiatus due to the pandemic, but we’re back in full swing.”
Fallcon also had activities for attendees of all ages to enjoy. Near the Arkham Carnival was the game area, where attendees found video games, board games, card games and every other game in between. Across from the game area was a craft table where attendees could make capes from cut-up shirts, glitter, markers and other craft supplies.
Then, of course, there was the main event at Fallcon: Comics. Several vendors brought in tens of thousands of comics that lined the entire back wall of the Grandstand. Along with the comics, there was also movie memorabilia, action figures and collectibles. Some booths even had movie props from sets and signed pictures of famous actors.
The MNBCA hosts two conventions a year, Fallcon, which takes place in October and Springcon, which takes place in June. The entire focus of each convention is having fun, meeting new people and going home with entirely too much merchandise.
“(MNCBA) works to promote, through events open to the general public, the education, cultural influence, and significance of comics as an art form, with emphasis on local contributions to the past and current comic book industry,” according to their website.
If you missed out this fall, do not worry, as there are more comic cons taking place. Springcon 2026 will take place on June 6 and Fallcon 2026 will take place between Oct. 10 and Oct. 11.
