Mighty Con

Hey, a $ 5 admission to a Comic Book Convention? Why the hell not?
The convention was held at the American Serb Hall, which provided its own parking lot. Parking was ample when we arrived at 9:45 in the morning but by the time we left in the afternoon, I could tell the lot was pretty packed. We got the pre-​order tickets, which allowed you early entry (thirty minutes before the event starts) and first dibs on the «Free Comics» bin.
The convention took up two rooms, and two hallways. The booths had an alright variety. There were lots of comic book stores, a good chunk of artists, some DVD booths, a few that sold adorable knickknacks (Star Wars themed Buddhas, anyone?), and a few that specifically sold toys and action figures. And let’s not forget the miscellaneous venders. I’m talking about the hot sauce booth. I mean the venders for that booth were all dressed up in awesome gothic clothing, and they were selling some kick ass hot sauce. What’s not to love?
I’d recommend walking every inch of the convention because we found some hidden gems in the less populated areas. For instance, there was a toy booth– that was kind of pushed off at the end of one of the hallways– and the boyfriend flipped when he saw that this vender sold an array of Ashley Wood toys. We’ve actually never seen so many in one setting. That was super cool.
Unfortunately, I did have a couple qualms with Mighty Con, the biggest being the social structure. I’m not sure how Mighty Con went for other females but I did feel out of place. Not because it was a comic book convention, and I was disinterested. I actually really like comic books. However, I noticed a lot of the venders would only acknowledge me if my boyfriend was by my side. It’s either a «hey, man!» or a «how are you two doing?» It got uncomfortable after the first five occurrences. My other qualm is how small the overall convention was. Then again, I have to continuously remind myself that this is a relatively new event, and there was only a $ 5 admission.
So here’s my advice if you’re going to Mighty Con in the wintertime:
1. Bring your coat. It was a wee bit chilly in there but I get it. There were people coming in and out every thirty seconds so they had no choice but to leave the door open.
2. If you’re going to be sifting through bins and bins of comics, bring gloves. Mighty Con is a one-​day event so a lot of the merch wasn’t in the facility until that morning. In short: the comic books were ice-​cold but again, it’s understandable. You can’t expect inanimate objects to be at room temperature soon after being in 12-​degree weather. That defies basic logic.
3. Buy the pre-​order tickets and come as early as possible. The event started at 10:30 but because we got pre-​order tickets, we got in at 10. You get first dibs on EVERY THING. And by 11:30, booths were getting pretty picked through.
Overall, Mighty Con was A-​Okay. I can totally see it flourishing into a decent-​sized convention in a few years, and I’d love to see it eventually expand into doing panels. I’d go again.

The name Mighty Con is a bit misleading since both the DuPage County and Milwaukee versions are rather small, but they were both fun! My husband comes for the comics and I mostly check out the arts, crafts and cosplay. It’s also a good excuse to visit with friends from the area.
Mighty Con — Milwaukee was inside the American Serb Hall. I saw Serb Days is coming up, so there’s that (if you know me, that’s kind of a bigger deal). The convention was mostly held within the large banquet hall. If I had to guess off the top of my head, I’d say there were about 50 – 80 vendors set up in the ballroom and another 5 – 10 in the bar area. They were also working with a blood drive and you had the chance to win a $ 100 gift card to Lost World of Wonders, one of the local go-​to comic shops.
I didn’t buy anything (not for lack of want), but my friend, husband, and his cousin walked away with armloads of entertainment. It may be relatively tiny, but it’s still mighty dangerous for your wallet.