Pennsylvania residents know that the Farm Show Complex is the place to go for an agricultural event, the chance to see horses and other farm animals up close, and embrace the rural lifestyle. But last weekend the Farm Show Complex was filled with Power Rangers, superheroes like Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, and Spider-Man, tiny Star Wars characters, and anime favorites for Harrisburg Comic Con.

The first year convention, held on June 11-12, 2016, accumulated over 100,000 square feet of vendors, artists, and celebrity guests. The hot weather didn’t stop thousands of attendees from gathering to buy collectibles and comics, pose for photos with cosplayers, and meet celebrity guests.

There was a Power Rangers reunion with Austin St. John, Walter Jones, David Yost, Karan Ashley, Steve Cardenas, and Blake Anthony Foster.

“Well, I’m totally overwhelmed and pleasantly pleased,” David Yost said about the convention. “It’s a first year con, Harrisburg Comic Con, and sometimes they don’t go so well, but it seems like the attendance has been overwhelmingly popular, so I’m definitely happy to be a part of it.”

He also spoke highly about the interactions he had with fans. “Well, the great thing about being a Power Ranger is that wherever we go in the world and we get to meet with our fans, we always hear amazing stories about how Power Rangers influenced peoples’ lives,” Yost said. “Almost everybody that comes up to me and talks to me tells me how ‘I became a martial artist, I became a doctor, I became a lawyer, I became a scientist because of Power Rangers.’ Or if they were growing up in bad households, somehow Power Rangers gave them that extra boost that they needed to have confidence in themselves or just kept them on the right path to being away from violence and drugs and all that kind of stuff. So, every story is a standout story.”

Interviews with Karan Ashley and Steve Cardenas can be found in our In the Limelight section.

Celebrity guests were Katrina Law (Arrow), Sean Schemmel (voice actor Dragon Ball Z), Richard Steven Horvitz (The Angry Beavers), Brimstone (co-founder Hound Comics), Michelle Harrison (The Flash), Steve Coulter (The Walking Dead), and Ming Chen, Mike Zapcic, and Bryan Johnson (Comic Book Men).

Check out In the Limelight for interviews with Steve Coulter and Ming Chen with Mike Zapcic.

Artists were Neil Vokes (Untold Tales of Spider-Man), Rusty Gilligan (The Adventures of Mac and Trouble), Jeff Shultz (Archie), Jamie Snell (sketch cards Mars Attacks), Scott Straka (celebrity-character portrait artist), Ken Hunt (Batman), Bob McLeod (Spider-Man), and James Brenneman (Artboy Design).

Cosplayers included the Pirate Guys, Heroes Alliance, Kimberly Dunaway, Kati Coe, Capital City Jedi Knights, Negative Stacey, Central PA Avengers, The 501st Legion, Toranthena Cosplay, Ashen Phoenix, Costumed Vigilantes, D-Piddy, Knightmage, Sharon Rose, Kayley Marie, and the Harrisburg Area Roller Derby.

Hake’s Americana & Collectibles set up at the con and talked to collectors about the variety of collectibles in their upcoming auction and consignment prospects. “We had lots of interest in the upcoming auction, which goes online June 21. We had some preview items for the upcoming auction, and also showed some past results, including some record prices, which people seemed impressed by,” Hake’s Senior Cataloger Mike Bollinger said. “People also signed up to receive the upcoming auction catalog, and expressed interest to see what we are offering in the next auction as well as some potential consignors for upcoming auctions.”

In addition to signings with celebrities and artists, the con hosted panels and Q&As. Katrina Law, the Comic Book Men, the Power Rangers, Michelle Harrison and Steve Coulter, Karan Ashley on The Order, Sean Schemmel, Richard Horvitz, and Steve Cardenas all participated in Q&A sessions. Panels were also held with cosplayer Ashen Phoenix, YouTubers Lucy Myatt and D-Piddy, the Capital City Jedi Knights, Children’s Miracle Network raffle drawing, a guest artist demo, and Saturday evening culminated in a very well attended cosplay contests.

The Jedi Knights, Ghostbusters, and pirates all raised money for autism awareness, cancer research, and local food bank. The Children’s Miracle Network was also there accepting donations.

There were tabletop and video gaming tournaments, which included Eternal Master Draft, Shadows Over Innistrad Draft, Lord of the Rings, DC Deck Building, and Heroclix Battle Royales.

Vendors covered the gamut of buying options with vintage toys, modern collectibles, handcrafted jewelry and memorabilia, intricate mock weapons, movie posters, corsets, and stands filled with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Power Rangers figures. Comic book vendors sold discounted recent back issues, trade paperbacks and hardcovers, plus popular titles from the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Age. Representatives from local tattoo shops were set up on both ends of the con giving new ink and piercings to attendees.

Despite the heat, attendees, vendors, and guests had a great time at the first year show and are already looking forward to what next year will bring at Harrisburg Comic Con.