Contributed by collector and Overstreet Advisor Art Cloos
Photos by Alice Cloos

The latest edition of Mitch Hallock’s TerrifiCon was held on Friday through Sunday, July 28-30, 2023, once again at the Mohegan Sun Casino Expo Center in Uncasville, Connecticut. TerrifiCon is owned, produced, and organized by Mitch Hallock’s Big Fedora Marketing, LLC. It was in 2012 that Hallock combined his lifelong love of comics and his professional career as a Marketing and Creative Director to produce his version of the “Greatest Comic Show on Earth.”

TerrifiCon has become one of the big time regional comic book conventions in the Northeast that reaches beyond the area. That was evidenced by the fact that during the show, I talked with attendees who had come in from Canada to the north, Florida to the south, and Detroit to the west. This was due in part to a strong turnout of nationally known comic dealers that included Anthony’s Original Art and Comics, Superworld Comics, Basement Comics, and Greg White Comic Books. Beyond them, there was a strong turnout of regional comic sellers including Absolute Comics and Cards, Ahoy Comics, Bobby’s Retro World, Bob’s Comics and Zines, Coleman’s, Fantasy Unlimited Comics, Moving Pictures, Next Generation Comics, Very Gary Comics, J&S Collectibles, Riche’s Comic Cabana, Agents of Slab, Hooked On Comix, The Comic Mint, Two Guys Comics, and many more. The result was a wide range of comics both slabbed and raw from key Golden, Silver, and Bronze Age books right on through to Modern keys.

There was a nice selection of original comic book art from Bob Stevenson and Anthony Snyder as well as other comic dealers who brought original art pieces to sell along with their comics.

Comic grading services Agents of Slab, CBCS, and JSA Authentication Services were there to appraise and or grade books for attendees.

As comic centric as this show is, there were a wide range of dealers who sold items beyond the comics. This included clothing, toys, prints, cosplay weapons, Funko Pops, Legos, vintage video game equipment, statues, jewelry, and videos. They were sold by various dealers like Citaadel Hobbies and Cards, Craft Addict, Crafty Dork Designs, Digital Delightz Video Games, Excelsior Games, Jaybo Collectibles, Mctoys T-Shirts, and many beyond the ones listed here.

There was a strong turnout of comic creators like Chris Claremont, Alan Davis, J. Michael Straczynski, Brian Azzarello, Tom King, Arthur Adams, Don Rosa, Joe Jusko, Dan Jurgens, Garth Ennis, Phil Hester, Ron Garney, Darryl Banks, Denys Cowan, David Finch, Jim Starlin, Amanda Conner, Jerry Ordway, Keith Williams, Don Kramer, and many more.

Media guests included Jonathan Frakes, Rebecca Romijn, Anthony Michael Hall, Genie Frakes, Amelie McLain, John Wesley Shipp, Dan Fogler, Larry Kenny, the Lost In Space Robot, and a whole lot more. As I type this, the current SAG actors’ union strike affects comic conventions the same as other entertainment venues, but the actors and actresses at TerrifiCon were able to meet fans, sign autographs, and take photos/selfies as these are personal appearances and not theatrical contracts. In addition, they could not participate in any Q&A panels to discuss or promote projects. They also could not be at cons sponsored by any corporation or movie studio they are striking against. But TerrifiCon is not sponsored by or receives compensation from any outside companies or corporations which allowed its media guests to attend.

As with every major show, TerrifiCon had panels with a strong comic centric grounding to them keeping in the spirit of what this show is all about. Some examples were the “How to Draw Cartoon Characters with Emilio Velez Jr.” panel. Kids got to draw along with Velez, the Dodgeball Teens creator, as he taught artists of all ages how to draw their favorite cartoon characters from movies and television. It was a very cool panel. Adam Walenta, the author/artist of the Punk Taco book series, taught attendees how to draw characters from his hit series. Walenta discussed the creative process and the journey of his Punk Taco from first idea to finished book. In the panel titled “Draw The Shape, Not The Thing with Nick Davis,” Davis showed how to draw Ted, the super-heroic teddy bear who protects naptime from the monsters. Attendees followed along with Davis with a supplied worksheet, and drew their own superhero. The best superhero got the Hero Ted demo art at the end of the session. There were lots more panels too, including one that Allie really enjoyed called “The Cartoon Factory with Mark Marino” in which Marino helped children and adults learn how to create a four-panel cartoon story. She also watched a Jedi Lightsaber Training program for kids, which she thought was a lot of fun.

Video games were provided by Game Underground, and Jamie York of Game Underground hosted the AEW panel with wrestlers Danhausen, Wardlow, and Ethan Page.

TerrifiCon celebrates, and encouraged attendees to dress up as their favorite pop culture themed characters and there were many cosplayers at the show. The show held a costume contest on the Sunday, and Allie felt that the cosplayers at this event were especially creative.

The best way to describe the show is to call it a whirlwind. So much was going on it was hard to keep up with it all. People kept messaging me to meet up or eat dinner. I barely got through the check in when I met up with our longtime friend Ankur Jetley who came up with some very nice comic art from his show searches. We actually met at the booth of Bob Stevenson, another longtime friend of ours. Stevenson had his usual awesome mix of comic book art, vintage comics, and some amazing vintage fanzines which are his specialty. I did not leave his booth empty handed. In the dealer room, I was struck by the number of comic dealers set up in there. It totally validated the con’s reputation as a show focused on comics. There was a strong mix of Golden to Modern books on display with key issues as well, and I am pleased to say that I brought home a bunch of Golden and Silver Age books and Allie brought home a bunch of Bronze Age books too. Most of the dealers Allie and I spoke to were pleased with their sales and for some, TerrifiCon is the main show that they do each year.

One very special highlight for me happened while I was taking a break from the show and went to the snack bar outside the dealer room. Since most of the tables were taken, I sat with a lady and gentleman I hadn’t met before named Jan and Craig. Jan showed me four early Golden Age comics she had, including All-Flash #1, Superman #2, and Batman #15 and #17. It turns out that Jan’s brother got the comics from a friend in the early 1940s when the friend left to fight in WWII. Jan’s brother put them in their father’s attic where they remained for many years. Then, a couple of decades ago, the three of them were watching TV and saw a news item about the incredible value of Golden Age comic books. The family joke is that when Jan’s brother asked their father to give them back to him, the dad said that he had to pay a “handling fee” first. The brother never got around to doing so, and eventually died. When their father died, Jan inherited everything including the comics. Craig was at a party at Jan’s house earlier this year, and Jan overheard Craig say that he was a comic collector, but Silver and Bronze only, he knew nothing about Golden Age. She asked him to help her sell the books with the intention of giving the money to her late brother’s daughter, who very much needs it. Craig agreed to help her sell them, which is what brought them to TerrifiCon where they met me. I examined them and they were in pretty bad shape, especially the All-Flash and Superman #2. Based on what I suggested Jan is now having the books graded and slabbed, and once that is done, she will sell them on eBay.

Allie had several highlights of her own including meeting the comic book artist Don Kramer who was such a nice person and she was very excited to meet him. She had a cover page of art of his that she brought to the show that he signed for her, and she also bought a page of art (all Wonder Woman of course) from him that he also signed.

In terms of food, the con had Wild Bill soda which sells premium craft soda and Octane Beef providing beef jerky in the dealer room, and outside of that was a snack bar with tables. Beyond that, the casino offers around 41 dining options to choose from though you do have to have patience getting in to some of them. We ate out every night of the show in the casino and two of those nights was at Ballo, a fantastic Italian restaurant with wonderful food and service. Saturday night it was with a very longtime friend Walter Scott and his better half Norma and Sunday it was with my fellow collector friend Dave Almedia and his better half Nancy. Allie and I both highly recommend it. As we left the show for the last time, Allie and I were already really looking forward to next year’s show.

The 2024 edition of TerrifiCon will be held on Friday through Sunday, August 16-18 at the Mohegan Sun located at 1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard, Uncasville, CT within easy access of New York, Boston, Hartford, and Providence and only 15 minutes from Mystic Country. This gives show attendees an opportunity to explore tourist destinations after the con ends. The casino’s hotel offered room accommodations with special show room rates and beyond the onsite hotel the entire Norwich/Mystic area has over 50 places to stay within 20 minutes of the casino and many offered free shuttle buses back and forth. We stayed in one just off the highway and had literally a five-minute free shuttle ride to and from the casino. A real plus for those driving is that over 13,000 free parking spaces are available to those going to the casino and its hotel and thus the con.

Ticket prices varied for each day of the show for adults, there were reduced rates for kids ages 8 to 13, and kids ages 7 and under got in for free with a paying adult. Of course, three-day passes and special admission packages were available as well. For further information on next year’s show, go to www.terrificon.com.

To see more photos from TerrifiCon, jump to our In the Limelight section.