Three-day Cape Comic Con exceeds previous attendance numbers

Heroes and heroines disguised in full-on — some meticulous — get-ups set Cape Comic Con attendance history this weekend at the Osage Centre in Cape Girardeau, according to co-organizer Deneké Murphy.

The three-day event — now in its 14th year — attracted vendors, attendees and special guests from as far away as Atlanta and California, she said.

More than 5,200 attended over the weekend this year, Murphy’s husband and co-organizer Ken said Sunday. About 4,800 attended last year.

Murphy works alongside her husband in all-things Cape Comic Con, but mostly stays behind the scenes, she said. The rest of the family also is showing more of an interest, she added.

“It’s fun seeing people in our community that you normally wouldn’t see in other aspects,” she said of the annual event.

Jeff Hubbard of Park Hills, Missouri, sports an Odin outfit during Cape Comic Con on Saturday at the Osage Centre in Cape Girardeau.Jacob Wiegand

Cosplay — participants wearing costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character — is one area that has grown through the years, Deneké Murphy said, adding it wasn’t part of Cape Comic Con’s early years.

And the annual costume contest — now back at the Osage Centre — has grown “more than anything,” she said.

“The first time we did it, we probably had 10 people participate; and I would expect today we’d have 200,” Murphy said before the contest.

Last year, the costume contest made a jump to Cape Girardeau Central High School.

“[Attendees] didn’t want to leave here and go over to Kinder Hall,” she said. “So we decided to bring it back here.”

Guest actors and artists

Each year, Cape Comic Con welcomes an assortment of guest actors and artists. This year’s lineup included actor Butch Patrick of the “The Munsters” TV show; comic book artist Greg Land; voice actress Veronica Taylor of “Pokemon” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”; professional wrestler Road Warrior Animal; and Walter Jones, Karan Ashley and David Fielding of “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.”

Patrick, known best as Eddie Munster from the 1960s classic “The Munsters,” signed autographs Friday and Saturday next to the show’s iconic Munster Koach and Dragula vehicles.

Patrick lives in north-central Missouri, so Cape Girardeau was an easy drive down for the weekend, he said.

His favorite superhero is Superman, he said, “And I mean the George Reeves Superman. I’m old.”

When people come to his table and share memories of what “The Munsters” meant to them, he feels like “an extended member of their family,” Patrick said.

“It’s a good feeling to know you affected someone in a positive way,” he said.

As a kid, Patrick said he enjoyed Halloween, which got him interested in taking part in comic cons later in life.

“One day a year, you get to dress up. Comic Cons have sort of allowed people to take that one-day feeling and do it all the time,” he said. “It’s a way for adults to bring out the kid in them whenever they want.”

Land was penciling away on a commission piece and pointed out a nearby Catwoman-themed comic book cover he finished earlier.

He has worked on “Ultimate Fantastic Four”, and also had a hand in “Marvel Zombies.”

Land said he can trace his comic book collection back to when he was 5 or 6 years old.

Deneke’ Murphy, left, and Ken Murphy, right, co-organizers of Cape Comic Con, pose for a photo with comic book artist Greg Land at Cape Comic Con on Saturday at the Osage Centre in Cape Girardeau. Land was the first inductee into the Cape Comic Con Hall of Fame.Joshua Hartwig ~ jhartwig@semissourian.com

“I’ve been blessed to be able to do this for a living. I’ve been a professional artist since my junior year of college, so I feel very fortunate this is what I’m able to do,” he said.

Saturday afternoon, Land was welcomed into the first-ever Cape Comic Con Hall of Fame and presented an award by the Murphys.

Road Warrior Animal — aka Joseph Michael Laurinaitis — is still a big name in wrestling, even though his career started in 1983. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011, alongside tag-team partner Hawk.

And Animal isn’t new to Cape Comic Con.

He likes coming to places such as Cape Girardeau, he said, because of the time spent with fans.

“We get to have a conversation; they ask me wrestling questions,” Laurinaitis said, adding a lot of times fans aren’t able to get close to him at wrestling events.

He added, “It’s a good time for me to give back.”

Karan Ashley, known best as the yellow Ranger — Aisha Campbell — from “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” has traveled the world for 12 years participating in comic cons, “which is crazy,” she said.

“We used to do a couple shows a year, but now we’ll do 25 or 30 shows a year,” Ashley said.

Before Cape Girardeau, she was in Rochester, New York. And next week she’ll be in Belgium.

Ashley said, “I go home for, like, two days and then I’ll fly to Belgium for the first time. And it’s weird, because you’ll go to a different country, and they love Power Rangers.”

And the fact she gets to tour the globe is amazing, she said.

Known best from portraying Zordon on “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” David Fielding said being part of comic cons is “very surreal, in a good way.”

“In about 2014, I started doing conventions and meeting fans and understanding how it’s impacted so many lives.”

Original black Power Ranger from “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” Walter Jones is in his eighth year on the comic con circuit. And he loves it.

“It’s amazing for it to be something I’m still recognized for,” Jones said of his reputation. “It’s definitely unexpected.”

Jones said, “I’ve had parents, especially fathers, go, ‘Bro, thank you so much for giving me something I can enjoy with my son’ — which is something they can bond to, and that is amazing.”

“I love meeting the fans,” he added. “I love the smiles that I create, and it’s so easy to do it, because all I have to do is be myself. I feel like it’s a blessing.”

Community ties

Ken Murphy said he enjoys making connections within the community — and that’s where the friendship with The Corner Store’s owner Robert Gentry comes into play.

The Corner Store at 439 Broadway in Cape Girardeau — now in its 12th year — offers fudge, chocolate turtles, pretzel sticks, peanut brittle, peanut butter cups and peppermint patties.

“Comic books taught me how to read. I had a good friend who read comic books; I was a terrible reader. I started reading his comic books,” Gentry said of his initial connection to Cape Comic Con.

Gentry said, “I told my wife, this would be something neat to take our candy to.”

Bourbon balls, the store’s “go-to candy,” Gentry said, are made from his grandmother’s recipe.

“It’s been in our family probably about 84 years since Granny Josephine started this,” he said. “My mother and her sisters made them, and I’m the first one that took them and made them commercial.”

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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