It’s no secret that conventions are all the rage these days. From firsthand experience, I have found that no matter how big or small, if you build it they will come. Such is the case with X-Travacon, a small event brought to us by the very same organizers of Motor City Comic Con that is held at The Knights of Columbus Hall in Livonia, Michigan several times per year. Having been my fifth time attending this particular show (Sunday, September 13), I wanted to help make the masses aware of it since you don’t see many doing so. If you’re in southeast Michigan, I encourage you to venture to a future show. If not, seek out a similar one in your locale. You may be pleasantly surprised.
An event like X-Travacon proves that people are more than happy to show up to a “comic con that focuses on comic books.” Sure, we all love to flock to big events like Motor City Comic Con to not only empty our wallets for some cool collectibles and artwork, but also to meet our favorite celebrities and comic book creators. What’s unfortunate is that there are those who attempt to shame larger cons for being more mainstream now that geek culture is so pervasive. Not only that, they imply that such cons are oppressive to smaller ones, not allowing them to survive. If that were true, X-Travacon and the myriad of other small cons spreading like wildfire throughout the area wouldn’t exist. I can attest that the crowd size at this event alone has increased since I started attending in 2012.
I guess you could say I have different goals when attending cons of varying sizes. When at a larger event, I do try to find back issues that I’m missing, but I intend to get comics signed by artists and hopefully purchase some quality prints. At smaller ones I go in with the intention of finding great deals on collectibles and trade paperbacks. X-Travacon always delivers in spades. Case in point: I was able to find discounted copies of the recently reprinted Batman: Knightfall Part III -Knightsend that included issues from the “Prodigal” arc and an early print of the collected edition for Batman: A Death in the Family. My collection is now healthier.
Depending on which small cons you attend, some may or may not have comic guests. Usually this event is populated by vendors, so it was cool to see some local talent set up a booth. I was fortunate enough to meet Staunch Ambition writer Brian E. Lau and chat for a bit about his work among other things. He was a pretty nice guy and we are hoping to have him as a guest on an episode of A Podcast For All Seasons before the year is out.
Hopefully I’ve made a believer out of you. X-Travacon dates for the remainder of 2015 include:
October 11
November 22
December 27
It’s also not too early to get excited for 2016’s Motor City Comic Con. Dates can be found in the graphic below.
Photographs taken by Alexander Leo Carr.