Once again, kids from around the region were able to indulge their interest in comic books, science fiction, and video games with Humboldt’s Kids Camp Comic Con on July 24. The event was part of the annual Summer Fun Kids’ Camp, but was open to everyone in the community.
“With the Kids Summer Fun Camp, it is always fun to bring different things, guests, and activities for the kids enrolled to see and try and this event is no different,” said Jeff Burton, camp and Comic Con organizer. “Given the nature of the event though, we opted to open it up to the public so that it could be more of a community type event, hosted by the camp.”
The event featured a retro gaming station, free comics, posters, stickers and temporary tattoos, artist tables, bouncy castles, and people in costume from The Justice Society of Humboldt, Regina Costume League and Justice League of Saskatoon for pictures. In addition , there were door prizes including comics, figurines, and four single day passes to the Saskatoon Comic and Entertainment Expo.
There’s no official count for the event, but Burton thinks it drew 160 people, and no one thing could be pinpointed as the most popular.
“This year, some kids really loved the video games and bouncy houses. There is almost always a line up for any of the artists and the face painters and some people really love the door prizes,” Burton said.
Kids came wearing superhero shirts and some were in full costume. A costumed Darth Maul set up in a corner where kids could duel him with toy lightsabers.
New from previous years were the video game area and the bouncy castles. It also took place in the arena instead of the curling rink to get more space. It’s too early to tell right now what changes will be made, if any.
“On a personal note, I am definitely looking at adding more to this experience for our community,” Burton said.
Burton himself is a comic book fan and started the event to get kids more exposed to that world.
“I am a big comic book geek. It’s a major part of who I am and has been since I was a kid growing up here in Humboldt,” Burton said.
“Back then, I could find comics in every drug store and pharmacy. The gas stations had comic racks, the grocery stores and they were even in cafes and barbershops. Sadly, that is no longer the case as ... fewer newsstand vendors carry comics at all. With the growing mainstream exposure of comics and sadly the lack of anywhere in Humboldt to find them, I had the idea to add this type of an event to the camp line up to help introduce this more to those that don’t know much about it as well as give the ones who are fans a small taste of another aspect of this culture.”
Beyond that, Burton just hopes the kids have fun through all the different events available at the con.
“I really base the event’s success on the amount of smiling faces all over the event and the beaming comments and photos showing up online after,” he said. “The comic book world is so much more than what is on the big screen or the TV screen and by being involved in events like this I hope to give everyone the chance to see that richness, a bit of a peek in the window, so to speak, as well as showing the path if they really do want more.”
